The family of baseball legend Roberto Clemente is being sued after the rights to the Hall of Famer’s life story were allegedly sold to multiple parties.
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday names Roberto Clemente Jr. and Luis Clemente, the sons of the Pittsburgh Pirates icon, claiming that the siblings “fraudulently” sold and resold the rights to their father’s life story “for their own, substantial financial gain.”Roberto Clemente spent 18 years in MLB, leading the Pirates to two World Series titles (1960 and 1971) and earning 15 All-Star nods and the 1971 World Series MVP. Clemente tragically died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972 at the age of 38 while trying to deliver aid to earthquake survivors. The Puerto Rico native was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 (the mandatory five-year waiting period was waved). He was the first Latin American elected into Cooperstown. In 2002, MLB dubbed Sept. 15 “Roberto Clemente Day.”According to the lawsuit, obtained by Deadline,Inside the Park LLC (the plaintiff) alleges that Clemente’s sons and their agent sold “an exclusive and irrevocable option” to them in January 2023 to develop a feature film based on Roberto Clemente’s life and the 2013 book “Clemente – The True Legacy of an Undying Hero.” Inside the Park LLC claims Clemente’s son engaged in “fraudulent conduct” to renew interest in Clemente’s brand, which led to the “Clemente Family’s closure of a $60 million mini-series deal and a multi-year 7-figure sponsorship deal with Capital One for naming rights to Roberto Clemente Day with Major League Baseball.” But after gaining significant exposure and traction with their project in early 2023, the plaintiff claimed that Clemente’s sons had already sold the “very same” rights in 2015 and had a previous option agreement with Legendary Pictures Productions that had not expired, as Clemente’s sons alleged.
With this information being deliberately withheld… (Inside the Park LLC) took substantial steps and expended considerable sums to commence development and production of a feature film based on the Rights,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants’ fraud and breach of contract has caused Plaintiff substantial reputational damage, above and beyond its wasted time, effort and out of pocket expenses.”
Inside the Park LLC is suing for breach of contract and fraud, in addition to breach of implied covenant of good faith and fraud. The plaintiff is seeking $5 million to “recoup the significant monies it has lost as a result of Defendants’ wrongdoing.” The Clemente brothers’ licensing entity, 21 in Right, is also listed in the lawsuit, in addition to their agency CMG Worldwide, its president Mark Roesler and Legendary Pictures Productions.