Mark Burnett Slapped with Suit by Former Partner

LOS ANGELES, July 8: Mark
Burnett has reportedly been hit with a lawsuit brought by his former partner,
Conrad Riggs, who is claiming some $70 million in damages.

Burnett and Riggs have been working together since the ‘90s,
bringing Survivor to CBS and
subsequently working on a host of different shows together, with Riggs
overseeing business affairs and other areas at Mark Burnett Productions.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the suit, filed yesterday, alleges that Burnett
reneged on a longstanding agreement to pay Riggs and his outfit, Cloudbreak
Entertainment, 10 percent of his profits. The suit alleges that these payments
ceased last year, after Riggs refused to sign a formal contract, which he
maintained differed from their “agreements and practices.” He was subsequently
“removed” from the Mark Burnett offices. The suit claims that Riggs is now owed
more than $70 million. "Their joint efforts have … generated hundreds of
millions of dollars in revenues," the lawsuit said. "While Burnett
deserves much of the creative credit, Riggs played a crucial role in the
financial success of the enterprise."

Riggs' attorney, Bart H. Williams, told the Times: "We think that cutting Conrad out of the
day-to-day operations and not paying him were both designed to put maximum
pressure on him to give up his rights in the enterprise, and that's something
that Conrad simply won't do."

—By Mansha Daswani