LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) Former CAA chief/co-founder Michael Ovitz is suing Fireman’s Fund Insurance over a recent settlement reached with current Deadline Hollywood editor Anita Busch.
In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court March 23, Ovitz claims the insurance carrier is refusing to pay its fair share of the proceeds to end the matter, according to Deadline. The former Hollywood heavyweight settled with Busch days before a trial and Fireman’s is allegedly refusing to pay its total liability under his policy in the deal.
Busch claims that now-imprisoned private investigator Anthony Pellicano was hired to intimidate her into killing a story. Busch, a writer at the Los Angeles Times, when she discovered a dead fish on a shattered windshield of her car and a handwritten note saying, “Stop.” The reporter eventually accused Ovitz of orchestrating the intimidating tactic.
Ovitz denied her claims but admitted to settling the case to avoid damage to his reputation. The lawsuits dragged on for nearly 16 years but it was only with the latest claim that a settlement to Busch was confirmed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“An insurance carrier, it has been said, is a company that will sell you an umbrella when the weather is good, and take it back when it rains,” attorney Eric George wrote in the complaint. “[Fireman’s] sold its aptly named ‘Umbrella Policy’ to plaintiff, taking in substantial premiums for the promise of $30 million in excess insurance coverage. Then, when plaintiff himself was sued and sought to invoke the insurance benefits he paid for, Fireman’s refused coverage.”
It is possible that Busch will eventually sue Pellicano, who was removed as a defendant from the original lawsuit. Pellicano is scheduled to be released from jail next March.
Busch and her attorney declined comment to Deadline Hollywood.
