April 06--Homeowners who attended several Chicago-area home shows over the last year expecting to see home improvement TV legend Bob Vila went home disappointed.
But don't blame Vila for that, a federal lawsuit filed this week by his lawyers says -- nobody had told him he was supposed to be there.
Vila, 69, of Palm Beach, Fla. -- best-known for long-running TV shows "This Old House" and "Bob Vila's Home Again," -- claims in the suit that an Illinois businessman who falsely purported to represent him sold his celebrity endorsement rights to unwitting event promoters for at least $5,000 a pop.
And Vila didn't find out about it until February, after Burr Ridge-based Brilliant Event Planning had already run several events using his name without his permission, the suit states.
Robert Smith, of Loves Park, near Rockford, has not responded to the allegations and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
But the suit alleges he sold Vila's endorsement without permission to both Brilliant Event Planning and Indiana-based Window World of Indianapolis.
Based on Smith's "misrepresentations," Brilliant Event Planning used Vila's photo and videos to promote events, leading homeowners who showed up to expect to see Vila, the suit states.
"When attendees questioned when (Vila) would appear at the event, attendees were told that it was unclear; that he had yet to arrive; that he had already departed; or that he had failed to show up to the event entirely," the suit states.
"These false statements and misrepresentations resulted directly from (Smith's) own fraudulent misrepresentations," it adds.
Smith wrote to Vila in July 2015 requesting permission to use Vila's name in Twitter posts but was denied that permission, and knew he had no right to represent Vila, the suit claims.
It describes Vila as "a household name" whose endorsement is valued by businesses that make "products and services related to home building, restoration, improvement, and remodeling."
Vila is demanding $2 million in damages for each unauthorized use of his name.
Nobody at Brilliant Event Planning, which is not named as a party to the suit, was available to comment immediately on Wednesday afternoon.
kjanssen@tribpub.com
