Kelly Hyland has dropped her lawsuit against Abby Lee Miller and Collins Ave Entertainment, the producers of Dance Moms. After a physical altercation with Abby Lee, Kelly quit and was also fired – Kelly then sued claiming she was coerced into lashing out!
Kelly alleged that producers provoked the backstage hair pulling argument with Abby to force Kelly off the show, then detained her from fleeing in order to press charges. Abby did press charges of misdemeanor assault, which were dropped.
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Kelly’s $5 million dollar lawsuit for defamation of character, emotional distress, negligence, and breech of contract was beset with problems from the beginning. A California judge ruled to dismiss Kelly’s claims of emotional dresses and defamation citing that Kelly signed a contract with the show agreeing to be portrayed at the producer’s discretion and the judge did not find evidence that she was forced into acting. (Kelly had claimed she wasn’t able to quit without violating her contract, therefore finding herself liable to a lawsuit from the production company).
Kelly also argued that Dance Moms made her look like a drunk, a bad mother, and other untrue likenesses courtesy of Abby’s scathing commentary. The presiding judge disagreed that Abby’s “opinions” concerning Kelly or her conduct would be taken at face value to distort her image.
The judge also dismissed portions of a suit Kelly’s daughter Paige Hyland filed, which claimed Abby’s treatment caused her extreme emotional distress, resulting in panic attacks. The judge chalked that up to normal teenaged emotions.
However, the judge allowed Kelly’s case for negligence and breech of contract to go forward. Among the allegations was that Kelly, and her daughters Brooke and Paige, were owed money by producers. Kelly was also seeking to recoup money after floors in her house was damaged during filming.
After all that, the two parties settled out of court. Kelly agreed to drop her suit. In exchange the production company has to replace Kelly’s wood floors for $17,500.
They also came to agreement on wages. TMZ reports that Dance Moms is allowed to continue using Kelly, Paige, and Brooke’s likenesses in the show, credits, and to air reruns, but they have to pay! Plus royalties, I presume.
The biggest loss, however: the two parties must remain publicly amicable towards each other – i.e. no more disparaging comments to the media!
It’s not certain what the status of Paige’s suit against Abby is, but I’m guessing that’s been settled as well.
Maybe Kelly decided it wasn’t worth it to continue squeezing money from a boulder, because Abby has much more alarming legal matters to attend to. She’s just been indicted for bankruptcy fraud!
I also wonder if Kelly was cut a larger check than is being reported…
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED ABBY AND COLLINS AVE ENTERTAINMENT GOT OFF SO EASILY?
[Photo Credit: WENN]
