Hollywood stars at war over spill
6th June 2012
From the "You couldn't make it up" dept...
Hollywood stars Kevin Costner and Stephen Baldwin are facing off in court over claims `The Bodyguard` actor and director cheated the Baldwin brother out of his share of a multimillion deal to sell oil cleanup devices to BP following the `Deepwater Horizon` disaster.
The Telegraph is reporting a federal lawsuit lodged against Costner by Baldwin and business partner Spyridon C. Contogouris alleges that Costner cheated Baldwin and Contogouris out of their share of a multimillion-dollar deal under which BP bought 32 oil and water separation devices developed by a Costner-owned company.
The OTS V20 centrifuge at the centre of the spin and the usual suspects
On Tuesday, the case focused on emails and text messages among the parties before BP made an $18 million advance payment for oil extraction devices to be used to clean up after the April 2010 Gulf oil spill.
Both actors once invested in Ocean Therapy Solutions, the company that owned the oil-separating centrifuges. Baldwin and Contogouris claim that Costner and his associates defrauded them by hiding details of their deal with BP. The plaintiffs seek damages of $15 million to $20 million, said James Cobb, attorney for the plaintiffs.
Costner's defence contends that the plaintiffs were not actual investors in Ocean Therapy Solutions at the time of the BP deal, and therefore their claim is not valid.
Both actors were expected to appear in court every day of the trial before US District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman and eight jurors.
We say: Never mind the spill, who's got the movie rights?