Scott Howard, who worked for Kudrow for 16 years, claimed they made an oral agreement that she would give him commission from the re-runs of the hit NBC show.
- Feb 22, 2014
AceShowbiz - Lisa Kudrow testified against former manager Scott Howard on Thursday, February 20 in Santa Monica, California. Howard sues her for $1.7 million, alleging the actress owes him a substantial cut of her earnings from the re-runs of her hit comedy series "Friends".
Kudrow made a staggering $1,040,000 per episode by 2000 plus $5 million in back-end compensation. She continued receiving residuals on the show and Howard claimed he's entitled to a sum of the income. He alleged that he made an oral agreement with Kudrow that he would receive 5|percent| cut of her revenue even after he was fired in 2007.
"I always believed that a personal handshake kind of cemented that personal relationship, and that anything more formal felt awkward," Howard said. Kudrow took a stand under oath to confirm that she did agree to pay Howard but only for the first round of residuals and nothing more.
"I may have let him know that everyone around me, everyone was firing their managers," Kudrow said. "I think I wanted him to know that having a manager was unnecessary." She admitted to lowering Howard's commission fee during the final season of "Friends" from 10 to 5 percent. "My intention was I didn't think it was fair that Scott got more than the agents," she explained.
She also said that only agents who find work for talent get post termination fees. "I felt like the attorneys did so much towards making these deals that it seemed fair that no one got a higher share than the attorney," she said.
Kudrow and Howard parted ways after 16 years of working together. "I know for sure that once I was on 'Friends,' I didn't love having him come to every taping," she said. THR reported that $8 million could be at stake.
