“Bones” stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz are joining executive producer Barry Josephson in suing Fox for unpaid profits.
The actors filed a complaint Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court alongside author and executive producer Kathy Reichs, claiming that 20th Century Fox cheated them out of “tens of millions of dollars” in profits by withholding documents and using fraudulent accounting.
The lawsuit alleges that auditing has uncovered that the stars and Reichs, whose books served as the inspiration for the series, “were being cheated out of more than $100 million in gross revenues and being overcharged many additional millions of dollars in alleged expenses.”
Reichs was allegedly promised five percent of the profits for her rights as well as producing services, while Deschanel and Boreanaz were allegedly due three percent each.
Josephson, who also serves as executive producer, filed his own lawsuit against Fox Broadcasting Company and 20th Century Fox last week, claiming that he was cheated out of profits as the network reaped “hundreds of millions of dollars” from the show.
According to the complaint, which alleged breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and other claims, Fox executives Gary Newman and Dana Walden also threatened to cancel “Bones” if Josephson didn’t accept lower licensing fees for Seasons 5 and 6 of the series.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.