Justin Timberlake sued by director of abandoned 'The 20/20 Experience' documentary for 'loss of profit'
Justin Timberlake is no stranger to controversy. From being called out by ex Britney Spears to being accused of infidelity, Timberlake has grabbed headlines for reasons other than his music. But this time, it isn't his love life that is up for scrutiny. This time, he has been making news for the lawsuit that has been filed against him by the director of the "experience documentary" called the 'The 20/20 Experience'.
John Urbano, directed and edited the documentary, but has claimed to not have been paid for it with the exception of a $20,000 fee paid up front. The director said he was hired to shoot and edit a documentary about Timberlake's breakthrough album 'The 20/20 Experience'.
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According to the legal documents obtained by TMZ, John Urbano maintains Timberlake proposed a deal in 2012 in which he, the director, would share in the profits of the film instead of being paid a normal fee. But with the huge success of the album and the overwhelming response it got, Justin got sidetracked and abandoned the documentary, leaving Urbano without a payday. The '20/20 Experience' debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 before going on to become the best-selling album of 2012.
In the documents, Urbano claims that he filmed Timberlake for a total of 60 days around the world, and he then spent about 2,500 hours editing the footage titled 'The Making Of 'The 20/20 Experience'. Urbano says he would have been paid about $ 2,450,000 if the project was paid for upfront. Along with the $20,000 payment he received in advance, the only other money he saw from Timberlake was reimbursement for expenses made during the recording. After crunching down the numbers he claims that the money he has received to date adds up to the rough equivalent of just $7 per hour for the project that he spent months working on.
Having seen the project get put on the back burner, the director wants compensation for his work due to an alleged breach of their agreement. Along with more money from Timberlake, Urbano also wants a judge to declare that he owns the rights to the documentary. However, Justin hasn't publicly commented anything about the allegations so far. 'The 20/20 Experience' is considered the first half of a two-piece project, which was followed up by his fourth studio album, 'The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2' (2013).