Watch brand sues ambassador Charlize Theron for £12m

by Staff, Brand Republic 13-Oct-08, 08:55

LOS ANGELES - Actress Charlize Theron has been ordered to appear in court for breaching her contract with Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil, which is seeking $20m (£12m) in damages from the Oscar winner for wearing a Christian Dior watch.

The legal action stems from a 14-month contract Theron signed with Raymond Weil in 2005, which stated that she must only wear Raymond Weil timepieces during public events, especially when the paparazzi is present.

In 2006 during a film festival in Austin, Texas, Theron was snapped at a press conference wearing a Christian Dior watch, with photos appearing in newspapers across the country the next day.

Theron fought the initial claims, stating simple oversight rather than a deliberate breach of her contract.

However, last week a New York judge ruled that Theron was guilty of repeatedly ignoring the terms of her contract with Raymond Weil, citing several other instances of breach, including a separate advertising contract with Christian Dior and a Montblanc billboard in Geneva.

Judge Colleen McMahon told the courts: "By wearing a Christian Dior watch at the film festival, Theron breached her covenant not to 'wear publicly any watches other than Raymond Weil.

"Theron recognises as much, calling her decision to wear the watch 'regrettable'. It was more than 'regrettable' it was a clear breach of the agreement."

Both sides have been ordered to reappear before the courts in November for a pre-trial settlement. Should both parties fail to reach an agreement, the case will go before a jury next year.

Comments

Stuart Kilroy - 13/10/2008

Will any celeb want to sign a deal with Raymond Weil now??

Amod Munga - 13/10/2008

I still can't believe people buy into celebrity-endorsements. Maybe this will be an eye-opener.

Tom Barker - 13/10/2008

Personally I can't see why it's so hard for celebrities to stick to their contracts. Presumably they get free products as part of the deal, so what's stopping them just putting all competitive stuff into storage? Seems like a no-brainer to me, yet it seems to happen all the time...

Daniel Bryan Hopwood - 13/10/2008

Think its ridiculous that Theron has pretty much sold her free will off...its her own fault in a way. But I just think suing someone for not wearing an item is pretty ridiculous also. I suppose when your dealing with Celebrity's and companies all logical thinking is thrown out the window.

joe woollen - 13/10/2008

What is worse, is advertising that their brand ambassadors do not want to wear their product \(or at least appear that way)! This is not good for either party.

Cameron Yarde Jnr - 13/10/2008

If it was me I'd make sure that they gave me enough watches so that I'd always have one when I was going out. It really isn't that difficult to wear only their watches, but it is easy to forget. If anybody from Raymond Weil is out there give me $20 million and I'll wear your watch for 14 months!

Pamela Edmond - 13/10/2008

I think this is bad news for our industry. The next time any of us are talking about endorsement or ambassador strategies, we'll have to work hard to reassure our clients that we won't recommend someone who can't remember to work with, obviously, what will be a product that you can be proud of, or someone who doesn't know how to honour a commercial contract. Thanks Charlize! You'd never see Bond make that mistake.

FOUAD NAEEM - 14/10/2008

Charlize breached the contract... she must pay or proof by law, she didn't ... no corcodile tears. Brand spend millions for celebrity endorsment just to get credibility to their products so the game from celebrity side should be fair as well. They must not damage the brand they endorse, the way charlize did.