Dos Equis 'Most Interesting Man' Actor Locked in Legal Battle With Ex-Manager
Jonathan Goldsmith is fighting accusations he stopped paying his talent agency.
— -- He plays the "most interesting man in the world" in commercials and now Jonathan Goldsmith -- the face of Dos Equis Beer -- is locked in a most interesting legal battle.
Goldsmith’s former talent agency is suing the star for breach of contract, claiming they're owed 10 percent of what Goldsmith will have earned from late 2014 through 2016, which it says is some two million dollars.
Goldsmith is now counter-suing, claiming his manager disclosed the terms of a 2012 confidential agreement and “jeopardized his future as the spokesman for Dos Equis beer.”
In court documents filed last October in California, the talent agency, Gold Levin Talent, claims Goldsmith stopped making payments in November 2014, alleging that Goldsmith deemed they had earned "enough".
“Apparently Goldsmith's preference for Dos Equis intoxicated him into believing that he could ignore his promises and obligations,” the complaint reads. The court documents also say of Goldsmith, “As it now turns out, had Goldsmith landed a role that more accurately portraying his true character; he would have landed the role of "The Least Honorable Man in the Entertainment Business.”
In his own complaint, filed earlier this month, Goldsmith calls his manager, who goes by the names Butch Klein and Tim Jordan, a “a failed "C" list actor who appears in ‘D’ movies, and now a failed personal manager."
ABC News could not reach Jordan’s attorney for comment. Jordan began representing Goldsmith in 2002, according to court documents.
Goldsmith’s attorney called his client an “honorable man.” The attorney also told ABC News that Jordan is no longer representing Goldsmith.
"My client has been in the entertainment business for over 50 years, he is an honorable man , he’s never cheated anyone” Goldsmith’s attorney, William J. Briggs II, told ABC News.
"As one of the most interesting men in the world, he is a fighter," Briggs added.
Goldsmith is seeking actual damages, interest and attorneys’ fees. The agency is seeking 10 percent of Goldsmith's pay during the period of lapsed payment.
