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American Morning
Mob Family Feud
Aired March 12, 2003 - 07:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We will lighten things up just a bit here now. "Forget about it; sue me, sue you," that's the kind of dialogue you might expect on "The Sopranos."
The legal battle between HBO and the show's star, James Gandolfini, providing a bit of real drama in real life. Yesterday, HBO responded to his breach of contract lawsuit with a countersuit of its own.
Gandolfini mentioned the squabble Sunday night, if you were watching the Screen Actors Guild awards in L.A., while accepting an award for his appearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES GANDOLFINI, ACTOR: Maybe there's some stuff lately that's made me seem slightly ungrateful, but to HBO I just want to say I am very grateful for what you've done, and it's a wonderful place to work. And...
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Some wonder if the words were forced on Sunday night. Could Tony Soprano end up getting whacked himself by the network fight?
Michel Bryant, legal correspondent for "Extra," joins us live today on this sue -- issue, rather, from L.A.
Good morning to you. I should note that HBO is a division of AOL Time Warner, CNN's parent company.
Nonetheless, Michel, is this battle all about cash? Do you see it that way? Or is there more to it?
MICHEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are one or two arguments going on out there, Bill. One is, yes, it's all about money. Tony Soprano just wants some more money. The other is that maybe he's got something else better that he wants to do, and at the last minute he thought, you know, let me get out of this fifth season of "The Sopranos" and go do it.
HEMMER: Yes, well, he says that HBO failed to notify him that his services were needed for another season. You're an attorney. You look at contracts all of the time. Is that a fair point, or is that just being picky, trying to find some sort of loophole?
BRYANT: Well, if you look at the background that led up to the lawsuit, it looks like the guy is being picky, because if they did blow the deadline, it was probably during some good-faith negotiation period. In fact, the HBO folks say, hey, we've been talking to this guy about renewing his contract. We've done that in good faith the last few years. This year, 2003, things didn't go quite as well as we might have liked. He got mad, and now he's pulling this, hey, you didn't tell me in time, so I'm walking.
HEMMER: Yes, well...
BRYANT: That's the argument.
HEMMER: ... I mentioned the idea of cash. It's been reported that he makes about $400,000 per episode, about a dozen, maybe 13 episodes per season. He wants to double that essentially. Is that the same report you get?
BRYANT: Right. Well, we're also hearing that HBO has effectively made that offer, which was rejected. So, if he truly has been offered $800,000 an episode and he said, no, I don't think so, you have to wonder if money is the motivation. Maybe he's got a magic number in mind like -- oh, I don't know -- a million. That's always got a good ring to it, even these days.
HEMMER: Well, listen, the folks...
BRYANT: Maybe even (UNINTELLIGIBLE) money.
HEMMER: The folks at "Friends" are ringing that true. But HBO is saying they could lose -- what -- $100 million without his presence.
BRYANT: Yes.
HEMMER: If you look at "Friends" and the money they make per episode, HBO makes a fair amount of cash based on "The Sopranos" series and what it brings to that network. Would he be off the mark?
BRYANT: Well, you know, in theory, no. But then, we don't know as much about HBO's dollars as we do a show like "Friends," because it's easy to figure out "Friends'" income; it's commercials. HBO is a totally different structure, and HBO would argue that, hey, we can't just make that apples-to-apples comparison. Its not the same, you can't do it.
On the other hand, are they going to throw away -- ready for this, Bill? Are they going to rub out an entire season, you know, to save a couple of hundred grand. That's not likely.
HEMMER: Yes, we'll see. Going to be worked out or not? What do you think? Your guess now is what?
BRYANT: Oh, yes, it's going to happen.
HEMMER: Yes.
BRYANT: I mean, there's just no way these guys are that stupid, and pardon my freedom...
HEMMER: Well, we'll see.
BRYANT: ... I don't know what the hell they're doing right now. But these guys are going to work this thing out.
HEMMER: God bless your freedom. Listen, thank you, Michel -- Michel Bryant, correspondent there working for "Extra" out there in L.A.
BRYANT: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: We'll see what happens. They're going to go tape this thing in about two weeks for a new season. Thanks, Michel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 12, 2003 - 07:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We will lighten things up just a bit here now. "Forget about it; sue me, sue you," that's the kind of dialogue you might expect on "The Sopranos."
The legal battle between HBO and the show's star, James Gandolfini, providing a bit of real drama in real life. Yesterday, HBO responded to his breach of contract lawsuit with a countersuit of its own.
Gandolfini mentioned the squabble Sunday night, if you were watching the Screen Actors Guild awards in L.A., while accepting an award for his appearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES GANDOLFINI, ACTOR: Maybe there's some stuff lately that's made me seem slightly ungrateful, but to HBO I just want to say I am very grateful for what you've done, and it's a wonderful place to work. And...
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Some wonder if the words were forced on Sunday night. Could Tony Soprano end up getting whacked himself by the network fight?
Michel Bryant, legal correspondent for "Extra," joins us live today on this sue -- issue, rather, from L.A.
Good morning to you. I should note that HBO is a division of AOL Time Warner, CNN's parent company.
Nonetheless, Michel, is this battle all about cash? Do you see it that way? Or is there more to it?
MICHEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are one or two arguments going on out there, Bill. One is, yes, it's all about money. Tony Soprano just wants some more money. The other is that maybe he's got something else better that he wants to do, and at the last minute he thought, you know, let me get out of this fifth season of "The Sopranos" and go do it.
HEMMER: Yes, well, he says that HBO failed to notify him that his services were needed for another season. You're an attorney. You look at contracts all of the time. Is that a fair point, or is that just being picky, trying to find some sort of loophole?
BRYANT: Well, if you look at the background that led up to the lawsuit, it looks like the guy is being picky, because if they did blow the deadline, it was probably during some good-faith negotiation period. In fact, the HBO folks say, hey, we've been talking to this guy about renewing his contract. We've done that in good faith the last few years. This year, 2003, things didn't go quite as well as we might have liked. He got mad, and now he's pulling this, hey, you didn't tell me in time, so I'm walking.
HEMMER: Yes, well...
BRYANT: That's the argument.
HEMMER: ... I mentioned the idea of cash. It's been reported that he makes about $400,000 per episode, about a dozen, maybe 13 episodes per season. He wants to double that essentially. Is that the same report you get?
BRYANT: Right. Well, we're also hearing that HBO has effectively made that offer, which was rejected. So, if he truly has been offered $800,000 an episode and he said, no, I don't think so, you have to wonder if money is the motivation. Maybe he's got a magic number in mind like -- oh, I don't know -- a million. That's always got a good ring to it, even these days.
HEMMER: Well, listen, the folks...
BRYANT: Maybe even (UNINTELLIGIBLE) money.
HEMMER: The folks at "Friends" are ringing that true. But HBO is saying they could lose -- what -- $100 million without his presence.
BRYANT: Yes.
HEMMER: If you look at "Friends" and the money they make per episode, HBO makes a fair amount of cash based on "The Sopranos" series and what it brings to that network. Would he be off the mark?
BRYANT: Well, you know, in theory, no. But then, we don't know as much about HBO's dollars as we do a show like "Friends," because it's easy to figure out "Friends'" income; it's commercials. HBO is a totally different structure, and HBO would argue that, hey, we can't just make that apples-to-apples comparison. Its not the same, you can't do it.
On the other hand, are they going to throw away -- ready for this, Bill? Are they going to rub out an entire season, you know, to save a couple of hundred grand. That's not likely.
HEMMER: Yes, we'll see. Going to be worked out or not? What do you think? Your guess now is what?
BRYANT: Oh, yes, it's going to happen.
HEMMER: Yes.
BRYANT: I mean, there's just no way these guys are that stupid, and pardon my freedom...
HEMMER: Well, we'll see.
BRYANT: ... I don't know what the hell they're doing right now. But these guys are going to work this thing out.
HEMMER: God bless your freedom. Listen, thank you, Michel -- Michel Bryant, correspondent there working for "Extra" out there in L.A.
BRYANT: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: We'll see what happens. They're going to go tape this thing in about two weeks for a new season. Thanks, Michel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
