June 04--Actor Jim Belushi and his New York-based company filed a lawsuit Thursday charging the general manager of a Chicago comedy club with defaming Belushi by saying that he "engaged in fraud and lied and manipulated comics," according to court documents.
Belushi, who was in the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s, is the sole owner of Bessie Blu LLC, a company that owns and licenses the trademark "Belushi's Comedy Bar."
His lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court and names as the defendant Sahar Chavoshi, general manager of The Comedy Bar in River North and girlfriend of the establishment's owner, who is not a party to the suit.
The suit alleges that The Comedy Bar owner wanted to license the trademark "Belushi's Comedy Bar," but negotiations broke down in January. Chavoshi subsequently "embarked on a public campaign to malign the reputation of (Belushi and Bessie Blu) and interfere with (their) relations with comics, vendors, business associates and other third parties in Chicago and around the country."
"(Chavoshi) has made outrageous and untrue statements to third parties, including comics who have performed at a 'Belushi's'-branded comedy bar in Fort Myers, Florida and/or who intended to work with Belushi, that Belushi is a liar who has engaged in fraud and that he has lied to and manipulated comics who worked at 'Belushi's'-branded comedy bars," the suit states.
As a result of the alleged "false and defamatory" comments, two comics canceled their appearances at "Belushi's"-branded comedy bars, and a Web designer for the company stopped communicating, according to the lawsuit.
Belushi, who lives in Los Angeles, and Bessie Blu are seeking more than $50,000 in damages in the lawsuit.
Neither Chavoshi nor an attorney could immediately be reached.
tbriscoe@tribpub.com
Twitter _tonybriscoe
