Tumbleweed alleges claims in connection with the Note and its appearance on the reality television show The Profit (the “Tumbleweed Complaint”), seeking primarily monetary damages. Tumbleweed alleges the following claims against the defendants, including FR Holdco and CW: (i) fraud; (ii) false promise; (iii) breach of fiduciary duty (and aiding and abetting the same); (iv) breach of contract; (v) breach of oral contract; (vi) tortious interference with prospective economic advantage; (vii) fraud in the inducement; (viii) negligent misrepresentation; (ix) fraudulent concealment; (x) conspiracy; (xi) unlawful business practices; (xii) defamation; and (xiii) declaratory judgment. On April 21, 2022, the Court granted a motion to compel arbitration filed by NBCUniversal and joined by all defendants, including FR Holdco, CW, and Marcus Lemonis, compelling Tumbleweed’s claims to arbitration. Tumbleweed served its arbitration demand on FR Holdco, CW, and Marcus Lemonis on May 17, 2022. FR Holdco, CW, and Marcus Lemonis filed responses and affirmative defenses on May 31, 2022. On July 20, 2022, pursuant to the JAMS streamlined arbitration rules, the Tumbleweed Complaint was consolidated together with the Weissmann Complaint. The parties have exchanged discovery. On March 11, 2024, FR Holdco’s arbitration demand and the Weissman arbitration demand were tried before a single arbitrator pursuant to the JAMS streamlined arbitration rules in a confidential arbitration hearing. On May 23, 2024, the arbitrator issued an interim award in favor of all respondents, including FR Holdco, CW, and Lemonis. On July 31, 2024, the arbitrator heard the parties arguments on the amount of attorneys’ fees and costs owed to FR Holdco, CW, Lemonis, and the other defendants, after Tumbleweed conceded the obligation to pay attorneys’ fees and costs to the prevailing parties. On September 12, 2024, the arbitrator issued a final award in favor of FR Holdco, CW, Lemonis in the amount of $3,793,455 in attorneys’ fees and $626,611 in costs. The arbitrator also awarded $4,990,006 in favor of FR Holdco. On September 24, 2024, Weissmann and Tumbleweed filed a Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles. On September 27, 2024, FR Holdco, CW, Marcus Lemonis, NBCUniversal, and Machete filed a Petition to Confirm Arbitration Award in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles. The oppositions to the petitions are due to be filed on November 4, 2024 and reply briefs in support of their respective petitions are due to be filed on November 11, 2024. The court will hear the petitions on November 20, 2024.
Precise Complaint
On May 3, 2022, Lynn E. Feldman, Esquire, in her capacity as the Chapter 7 Trustee (the “Trustee”) for the Estate of Precise Graphix, LLC (the “Precise Estate”) filed a complaint against NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Machete Corporation, and CW in which the Trustee alleges claims on behalf of the Precise Estate in connection with its appearance on The Profit and subsequent commercial relationship with CW (the “Precise Complaint”), seeking primarily monetary damages from CW. The Trustee alleges the following claims against defendants, including CW: (i) fraud; (ii) false promise; (iii) breach of fiduciary duty; (iv) breach of contract; (v) breach of oral contract; (vi) fraud in the inducement; (vii) negligent misrepresentation; (viii) fraudulent concealment; (ix) conspiracy; (x) unlawful business practices in violation of California Business and Professions Code §17200; (xi) aiding and abetting; (xii) breach of fiduciary duty; and (xiii) declaratory judgment. The Trustee did not serve the Precise Complaint on CW. On July 3, 2022, the Precise Estate filed its arbitration demand against CW, NBCUniversal, and Machete alleging substantially similar claims as the Precise Complaint. On April 4, 2023, the Precise Estate’s arbitration demand was tried before a single arbitrator pursuant to the JAMS streamlined arbitration rules in a confidential arbitration hearing. On May 31, 2023, the Arbitration was concluded and an award was entered by the Arbitrator against the Precise Estate in the amount of $7.1 million (the “Final Award”), of which CW would be entitled to $3.7 million. On June 13, 2023, the Trustee filed a notice of appeal of the Final Award with JAMS. On June 29, 2023, CW advanced the Trustee’s portion of the fee required by JAMS to advance the appeal. On July 5, 2023, CW filed an application in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the “USBC”) seeking an order, inter alia, allowing the JAMS fee as an administrative expense of the Precise Estate. On July 14, 2023, the Trustee and respondents, including CW, filed a stipulation and agreed order (the “Stipulation”) as follows: (1) upon approval and entry of the Stipulation, CW’s claim for $3,500 shall be allowed and reimbursed; (2) the Trustee will notify JAMS that she is irrevocably withdrawing and ending her pending appeal of the Final Award; and (3) the Trustee will not dispute the amount of the Final Award. On July 17, 2023, the USBC entered the Stipulation as an order, which became final upon the expiration of the ten (10) day appeal period. Precise withdrew its appeal and on August 14, 2023 JAMS closed the arbitration. On September 25, 2023, the Superior Court of the State of California, upon motion by defendants, confirmed the arbitration award. On October 6, 2023, defendants filed an application in the matter of In re: Precise Graphix, LLC, pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the “Bankruptcy Court”) seeking to have the fee award deemed an