Andy DehnartChad Rogers has left Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, something we first learned last April, but the terms of his departure are so important that his lawyer has threatened a TV critic–even though the critic’s reporting is based on something Bravo’s president said. In addition, his lawyer also claimed “Chad enjoys extremely positive publicity.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Rob Owen reported on Monday that “Bravo executive Frances Berwick said his departure was a ‘mutual’ decision,” quoting the word “mutual.” Berwick also told him, “We’d done three seasons with the three of them and it was really time to bring in new blood. We found somebody who’s absolutely great in a complete different way from Chad.”
But Chad’s lawyer, Wendy Heller, insisted in a highly ridiculous and aggressively aggrieved cease and desist letter to Owen that claim is “inaccurate and inflammatory information” and added, “This allegation is false, which you would have determined had your facts been adequately checked.” She says “Chad’s decision to leave the Series was decidedly not mutual with Bravo – Chad elected, in his sole discretion (vis a vis Bravo), to leave the Series.”
Remember, Owen’s information came from Bravo’s own president.
The lawyer insists “Chad is a successful individual who has spent considerable time and money to advertise and promote his name” so “Chad enjoys extremely positive publicity and has built up significant goodwill.”
Um, really? Chad’s lawyer might want to Google him sometime.
The lawyer also said that Owen’s “use of his name is a clear infringement of Chad’s valuable state and federal trademark rights. Such unauthorized use constitutes a blatant, serious and intentional violation of Chad’s valuable rights of publicity and privacy, all of which expose you to substantial compensatory and punitive damages.”
Read the whole letter, which is at the end of the post; it’s hilarious, and not in the way Chad’s stilted acting was hilarious.