Faizon Love sues Universal over ‘Couples Retreat’ movie poster – Deadline



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Faizon Love sued Universal Pictures today, accusing him of violating California’s fair employment and civil rights laws with the international poster for his 2009 comedy film. Couples retreatt, calling it an “act of racism”. He also claims the studio reneged on their promise to secure future roles for Love when they initially sought to appease him in the face of controversy.

Love co-starred in the film with Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell, Jason Bateman, Malin Ackerman, Jon Favreau, Kristen Davis, and Kali Hawk as a quartet of couples traveling to a tropical island where marital therapy classes are mandatory .

Retirement posters for couples

The international film poster, left, and the American poster
Universal

Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, the 45-page lawsuit (read it here) from Love and her loan company The Burning House told that Universal’s marketing for the film in domestic markets during its original presented the four couples in key art. Faizon and Hawk, the only black couple in the set, were excised from the international English poster, both in the photo and in the cast list.

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The gap was noted in the UK when the film was originally released in 2019, with a spokesperson for Universal at the time saying the cut was “to simplify the poster for the most recognizable actors on the international markets ”. Universal eventually withdrew the international poster from overseas use, although part of Faizon’s lawsuit today indicates that it remains in circulation as part of the film’s promotion.

“Rather than enjoying maximum visibility with the film’s release, Mr. Love was demoted to the proverbial ‘Invisible Man,’ as Ralph Ellison wrote,” the lawsuit read. “Although Couples retreat Named No. 1 in the opening weekend box office leaderboard and kicked off a spectacular run that grossed over $ 171 million worldwide, Universal Studios placed Mr. Love in the backseat of the race enjoyed by his six white teammates. Mr. Love and his black co-star, Kali Hawk, were completely erased from the film’s main international publicity, while the other ‘couples’ reveled in the publicity and cheers of an international box office success. .

Universal declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also includes allegations of fraud, breach of contract and false promise against the defendants Universal City Studios LLC, Eden Resort Inc. and Relativity Media LLC, with Faizon and his attorneys saying he contacted the studio at the era and “[r]other than reacting with adversity… strived to engage constructively.

“Universal Studios (on behalf of the defendants), in turn, attempting to appease Mr. Love and prevent his legal action, pledged both (i) the immediate cessation of the racist international poster and (ii ) a quick reward to Mr. Love in the form of lucrative film roles and career-makers, ”the costume adds.

“Universal Studios lied. Not only did he flout his promise of helping Mr. Love’s career, Universal Studios continues to use the offending poster to this day – not only internationally but now nationally as well. What Universal Studios initially described to Mr. Love as an unintentional act of surveillance and neglect was, we now know, an intentional act of disparate and discriminatory treatment by Universal Studios and the other defendants.

“To Universal, his contract meant nothing, his promises to correct his blatant behavior meant nothing, and his commitments to Faizon Love meant nothing,” Love’s senior lawyer Eric George of BGR said today. “Yet this is not just a breach of contract and good faith: it is nothing less than a deliberate act of racism on the part of Universal Studios at the highest level.”



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