LOS ANGELES — An arbitrator has ordered 21st Century Fox to pay $179 million in a dispute over profits with the stars of the long-running Fox TV show “Bones.”
The decision revealed in a court filing Friday includes $128 million in punitive damages against Fox executives for “intentional fraud and malice.”
David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, the stars of “Bones” from 2005 through 2017, sued Fox in 2015, saying it denied them profits by licensing the show to Fox’s TV division and to Hulu for below-market rates. They were joined by executive producer Barry Josephson and author Kathy Reichs, who authored the novels “Bones” is based on. The case went to private arbitration in 2016.
Fox criticized the decision and intends to fight it, saying the arbitrator “is categorically wrong on the merits.”
By The Associated Press