Timothy Hutton and Leverage: Redemption producer Electric Entertainment have settled a legal battle over his dismissal from the reboot after he was accused of sexual assault.
Lawyers for Hutton on Monday informed the court of the deal, which resolves claims from the actor and counterclaims from Electric. The agreement is conditioned on the completion of certain undisclosed terms within 45 days. Further details weren’t revealed.
Hutton alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2022 that his deal to star, executive produce and direct at least one episode of Leverage: Redemption included a provision that guaranteed him at least $3 million “regardless of whether Electric actually utilized his services in the production of the series.” He said the deal closed in February 2020, a month before reports surfaced that a woman had filed a complaint to the Vancouver police department alleging Hutton raped her in 1983 when she was 14.
Hutton, who was subsequently dropped from the series, has denied the allegations. Canadian prosecutors didn’t charge the actor, citing a lack of evidence.
In response to claims from Hutton that his deal was breached, Electric filed counterclaims alleging that the actor had a legal duty to disclose the allegations against him but chose not to because he knew that he would be in violation of the so-called “morals clause” in his contract, which allows for termination of a deal if there’s conduct that could reflect badly upon the other party. It alleged that he concealed attempting to pay off the victim in a settlement and kill a story exposing the accusations during contract negotiations despite knowing that “the scandal would have prevented him from being offered the role.”
Hutton said that his deal for $175,000 per episode didn’t include a provision over morals, to which Electric countered that it was assumed that industry-accepted terms identifying instances in which a producer can opt out of deal would be adopted since the two sides relied on the actor’s 2007 contract to appear in the original series when negotiating the agreement for the reboot.
A trial was set to start in February.
In a March 2020 BuzzFeed story, Sera Johnston alleged Hutton raped her in 1983. One of her friends, who was also invited to the hotel room where Johnston was allegedly assaulted, signed an affidavit backing up her account.
Hutton maintained that Johnston fabricated the accusations to extort him, saying that Florida-based attorney Jeff Herman demanded $1.5 million to resolve the accuser’s claims. Herman has publicly admitted to bringing untrue and false allegations against four high-profile people in the entertainment industry, for which he was sanctioned. The Florida Supreme Court has also found him “guilty of professional misconduct” and suspended him from practicing in the state for 18 months for “dishonest and deceitful” activities.
A tentative settlement, which would’ve paid Johnston $135,000, fell apart when Hutton continued to deny that the assault occurred.
Representatives and lawyers for Hutton and Electric didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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