In Monday’s unofficial Most Bonkers News of the Day category, you might want to file away the following update to an ongoing story reported via The Hollywood Reporter that involves some mind-blowing information about the lawsuit over Judge Judy Sheindlin’s salary and why the entertainment company responsible for the show’s packaging and production, Rebel Entertainment Partners, is seeking more money by cutting her salary.
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The lawsuit, first reported on in August 2017 by THR, was brought by Rebel against CBS (the network that Judge Judy airs on) and Big Ticket. In the lawsuit, Rebel alleges they have been cheated out of their fair share of the profits of Judge Judy — estimated to come in somewhere around $75 million a year — because of the way payment is structured. Because of the preexisting structure, a great portion of the show’s profits go to Sheindlin herself in the amount of a $47 million salary per year.
Yeah, that’s right. Judge Judy makes $47 million a year for the work she does on the show. Bonkers, right?
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In the deposition taken back in August, Sheindlin defended her salary and made it clear she wouldn’t be taking a pay cut anytime soon. “They pay me the money that they do because they have no choice. They can’t find another one. They’ve tried to find another Judy. If they find another Judy, good for them. So far they haven’t. … And until they do, they have their local news on all their O&Os [owned-and-operated stations]. They have international, which were involved with the — the Judy program is all over the world, and even though they had to take a deep breath, they paid the money because they know otherwise,” she testified.
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Now, Rebel appears to want to restructure the way money is distributed and hopefully be compensated for its fair share of the profits from Judge Judy. It looks like Rebel is hoping to get Sheindlin’s salary reduced slightly, but still in the exorbitant millions, which they argue is still well beyond the norms of a reasonable salary.
Who knows how this will shake out, but it’s clear this dispute over the Judge Judy coffers isn’t ending anytime soon.
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