Paparazzi photo agency Splash News filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, citing the global pandemic and its “unbearably expensive” legal battle with Meghan Markle in the U.K.
“Splash’s financial problems stem from three sources,” Splash President Emma Curzon says in an eight-page statement included in the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.
“As a consequence of the global pandemic the availability of celebrity images has declined and budgets within media companies have been cut to reflect wider macro-economic challenges,” Cuzon said.
“This situation has been exacerbated by two ongoing litigation cases and the costs of defending these cases,” she said, naming the privacy battle with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, as being “unbearably expensive” to defend.
“Furthermore, if the plaintiffs were to prevail in that case it would likely result in a large attorney fee award against Splash. Notwithstanding the merits of the case, the company has sought to settle this matter but has been unable to agree (to) a financial settlement within its resources,” she said.
The case involves allegations that Splash invaded Meghan’s privacy when it took photos of the Duchess carrying her baby Archie in a sling and walking her dogs during a “private family outing” in a park in Canada.
The second litigation is an employment-related lawsuit in California, Cuzon said.
Splash reported in its petition that it has eight employees, no real estate, about $88,000 in its bank accounts and estimated liabilities between $1 million and $10 million.
Meghan and her husband Prince Harry have fought back repeatedly against paparazzi coverage of their personal lives.
In October, they settled a lawsuit with agency X17 that involved more than a dozen “intrusive and illegal” photos taken of their toddler son Archie during a paparazzi “feeding frenzy” outside their secluded California estate.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex filed their invasion of privacy lawsuit in July, saying an unidentified party had shopped the photos to hundreds of potential buyers in a “disgusting and wrong” bid to profit off their son.
The photos, purportedly taken with a drone and high-powered zoom lens, showed a then 14-month-old Archie with his maternal grandmother in a “private garden” on a Beverly Hills compound owned by movie producer Tyler Perry.
As part of the settlement, X17 agreed to stop shopping the pics and reimburse a portion of the royal couple’s legal fees, the royal couple’s lawyer said in a statement to the Daily News.
“This is a successful outcome. All families have a right, protected by law, to feel safe and secure at home,” lawyer Michael Kump said.
“We apologize to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their son for the distress we have caused. We were wrong to offer these photographs and commit to not doing so again,” X17 said in a statement shared by Kump’s office.
.png?w=600)
