Sean Penn wins legal battle
2003-06-24 13:50
California - Actor Sean Penn has won the latest round in a legal battle against Hollywood producer Steve Bing.
The two men were suing each other over their failed collaboration on a yet-to-be-made film called Why Men Shouldn't Marry, SkyNews reports.
Penn sued Bing for $10 million, accusing the producer of firing him for vocally opposing the US-Iraq war.
Bing countersued for $15 million, alleging that Penn tried to extort money for a film role he never accepted.
But a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled that Bing cannot sue Penn for attempted civil extortion because the claim does not exist in California law.
The producer also claimed that Penn broke a promise to waive script approval so Woody Allen would agree to undertake the project.
Bing said the money he is seeking will repay his pre-production costs and Allen's salary.
The politically active Penn said that his controversial and highly publicised visit to Iraq before the war and other anti-war activities prompted Bing to bounce him from the film.
In court filings, the actor accused Bing of "borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood blacklisting".
- News24