It's 'Made Up!': Motown Founder Berry Gordy Files $10 Million Lawsuit Over Fiction Film That Shows Him Putting a Hit Out on Rival
June 22 2023, Published 12:46 p.m. ET
Legendary music executive Berry Gordy has filed a bombshell $10 million lawsuit over a film that portrayed him as a thug, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Gordy is suing Timothy Bogart, the son of late music exec Neil, Hero Entertainment and Universal City Entertainment Group over a 2023 film called Spinning Gold.
Gordy’s lawsuit accuses the defendants of defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In his suit, Gordy explains he has worked with everyone from The Supremes to Marvin Gaye — and even founded Motown Records.
Gordy said Timothy Bogart produced Spinning Gold which focuses on his father Neil Bogart’s record label Casablanca Records.
The film was released in the Spring of 2023 and released by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
Gordy said Timothy has said about the film “Every bit of it is true, even the parts that aren’t.”
However, Gordy said the film presents false narratives and defamatory fiction as truth. He said the film created a “made-up storyline in which Gordy is wrongfully and dishonestly portrayed as a thug and a mobster who goes so far as to order a murder for hire. The Picture is unlikely to be a commercial or artistic success. However, the picture does succeed in defaming and otherwise causing great damage to Gordy.”
Gordy accuses Timothy of creating a false subplot that portrayed him as a gangster and a thug.
He said one scene had him “putting a hit out” on Neil “purportedly because Casablanca Records lured the Isley Brothers and Gladys Knight away from Motown to join the anemic roster of artists at Casablanca.”
“None of this is true and [Gordy] is not, and has never, associated with criminals or criminal behavior, and there certainly was never any solicitation of murder by, or, on the part of, [Gordy],” the suit reads.
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“The negative portrayals of [Gordy] and the insertion of the scene concerning Plaintiff “putting out a hit” is a vile, reckless and baseless character assassination in the desperate attempt to create drama where non exists in a lackluster Picture. This wrongful and illegal content in the Picture has caused severe damage to [Gordy] and to [Gordy’s reputation,” the suit read.
Gordy is demanding in excess of $10 million.
