Paparazzi giant Splash News & Picture Agency in LA has cited the Corona virus situation and recent legal battles as it files for Chapter 11 today.
Splash told PAN this afternoon: ‘The decision to take the business into a Chapter 11 process was driven by Covid 19 trading conditions and also by litigation risk, including an action taken against the company by the Duchess of Sussex on behalf of her son. If the legal action were to be successful, Splash would be liable to pay her legal bills which are sizeable.’
‘Having tried unsuccessfully to reach a settlement with the Duchess, it is the view of the Directors that this places an unacceptable risk to the survival of the business, and have regrettably taken the business into Chapter 11 to protect our employees from an action which we believe is designed to destroy the business.’
The agency will continue to trade as normal and no jobs will be affected by this announcement.
…more on as we get it.
• Related on PAN – Dec 2020 – Updated: Splash News and Picture Agency Limited in administration settles Meghan privacy case
• View all Splash News articles on PAN