Fired Star Wars: The Acolyte Producer Sues Lucasfilm For Breach of Contract

Yesterday’s news that Lucasfilm was shelving both Kevin Feige and Patty Jenkins’ upcoming Star Wars films took a lot of fans by surprise. But this isn’t the only bombshell Star Wars news of the week. Deadline brings word that Karyn McCarthy, who briefly worked as a producer on the upcoming Disney+ series, The Acolyte, has filed a breach of contract suit against Lucasfilm over her dismissal from the show last year.

According to the report, right around the same time that McCarthy was offered a producing job on The Acolyte, Apple TV+ was also courting her to help run Sugar, a P.I. series featuring Colin Farrell in the lead role. Ultimately, she chose to sign with Lucasfilm in April 2022. But after two weeks of work, Lucasfilm informed McCarthy “without explanation, without reason, [and] without justification,” that it was reneging on their deal. And by this time, it was too late for her to go back to Sugar, because Apple had already found a new executive producer for the series.

The filing reads, “As a result of its bad faith and wrongful termination, Defendants deprived Ms. McCarthy significant employment, from which she would have earned millions of dollars over the [life] of the series.”

McCarthy subsequently contacted Lucasfilm in the hopes of getting paid for her brief stint on The Acolyte. However, the studio allegedly claimed that they never had a formal agreement in place, “even though (1) they had made their offer, containing all of the material deal points; (20 McCarthy accepted that offer; (3) Lucasfilm had McCarthy start right away; and (4) Lucasfilm sent to McCarthy a memorandum of agreement, memorializing the terms including that McCarthy had already commenced working.”

Instead, McCarthy claims that Lucasfilm offered to pay her $5,000 for just one day of work. But she rejected this “anemic and insulting” amount, prompting her to take the studio to court. In the end, McCarthy’s lawyers are seeking a wide range of damages. Per Variety, McCarthy also still wishes to be credited as an executive producer on The Acolyte to enhance her goodwill throughout the industry and “command higher future wages and more lucrative employment opportunities.”

What do you think of McCarthy’s lawsuit against Lucasfilm? Let us know in the comment section below!

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