How Disney ripped off the creator of “The Cheetah Girls”

Posted at: Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 9:49 pm

From the LAT, the latest entry in an old book with many chapters. Deborah Gregory, the author of “The Cheetah Girls,” a series of books for young teens, sold the rights to Disney for 4 percent of the net proceeds. Three movies, and millions of CDs, DVD and concert-sale tickets later, she’s made a grand total of slightly more than $100,000.

Gregory said she’s pocketed $125,000 over the last nine years in option fees and payments for her title as co-producer of the movies. Although she’s asked for them, she has never gotten “net profit participation statements” from Disney, spelling out details of expenses and revenues. If anyone is getting rich on this formidable franchise, Gregory noted, it’s not the woman who created it

What does Disney say? No comment:

Disney officials, asked to explain why Gregory has not received any net profits — and to estimate the collective revenue that “the Cheetah Girls has generated — declined to respond. “Disney Channel doesn’t comment on the terms of its contracts,” spokeswoman Patti McTeague said in an e-mail.


2 Comments so far

  1. Dan Coyle February 14th, 2008 9:04 am

    I feel for her, I really do, but shit, she signed up for NET, what was she thinking?

  2. Chris A April 21st, 2008 9:30 am

    Yeah, I read about that elsewhere. I’m not fond of lawyers, but I would hire a team of them before I went into a room with any major company. I’m sure Disney has put a ton of money into the Cheetah Girls, money that has probably come back pretty good. But they never planned on paying a whole lot for it. And I bet if she didn’t sell in the first place, they would have made ‘The Jaguar Chicks’ and she wouldn’t have made a dime. Dan Coyle is right. They will always say that their is a new expense that eats into profits. She essentially made herself the last person getting paid. Tough.

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