Judge Dismisses ‘George & Tammy’ Lawsuit Against Showtime Over Portrayal of George Richey

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In simple terms, a court case against Showtime regarding their limited series “George & Tammy” and its representation of George Richey (who wed Tammy Wynette following her divorce from George Jones) has been thrown out by a judge in Delaware. The reason for this dismissal was that the plaintiff, Sheila Slaughter Richey, may have had valid arguments, but there was no justification to involve Showtime Networks in the lawsuit, especially as the only defendant.

The court found that George Richey was portrayed negatively in the series “George & Richey,” a characterization which Sheila Slaughter Richey’s lawyers did not contest. Judge Bibas decided to dismiss this claim without prejudice, meaning it can be re-filed. However, his ruling suggested that the main issue lies with Georgette Jones, daughter of George Jones (who was not listed as a defendant), rather than with Showtime itself.

In a typical scenario, the person bringing a lawsuit for unjust enrichment must prove they have made someone else wealthier. Sheila Slaughter Richey argues that (1) Georgette Jones violated a contract with her, and (2) this violation contributed to the success of a popular TV show produced by Showtime. However, Sheila has failed to demonstrate that she herself enriched Showtime or meet an exception that would allow her to avoid this requirement. Therefore, I am dismissing her claim.

In December 2022, “George & Tammy” made its debut, breaking the record as the most-watched premiere in Showtime’s entire history. Following this success, it received a total of four Emmy nominations, with Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon among those recognized. Steve Zahn portrayed George Richey in the series.

The Richey family claims that the mini-series disregarded an agreement against negative remarks that Georgette Jones had previously made with Sheila Slaughter Richey. Georgette Jones is the author of the 2011 book “The Three of Us: Growing Up with Tammy and George,” which served as a basis for the Showtime film. In 2015, Sheila Slaughter Richey demanded compensation from Georgette Jones regarding statements made in the book and its promotion about George Richey. A settlement was reached in 2019, according to Richey’s lawyers, which included Georgette agreeing not to make further derogatory comments. In their lawsuit, they assert that Georgette breached this agreement not only by giving interviews about the mini-series but also by helping and motivating Showtime in portraying an extremely unfavorable image of George Richey.

However, Judge Bibas pointed out that the plaintiff did not prove Showtime was aware of the settlement until Georgette Jones notified them about it just before the release of “George & Tammy”. The judge permitted the lawsuit to be re-filed if Richey’s lawyers could demonstrate that the network was privy to the agreement during the production phase of the project.

In April 2022, Sheila’s attorney delivered a warning letter to the actors, producers, writers, and showrunner of a series, as well as Showtime’s parent company. The letter was concerning Georgette having signed a non-disparagement contract and the potential for legal action if they proceeded. Despite this, Showtime went ahead with releasing the show titled ‘George & Tammy’ in a few months. This series portrayed Richey negatively, suggesting he fueled Wynette’s painkiller addiction, staged burglaries to manipulate her, physically abused both Wynette and his previous wife, including hitting the latter in the face, and implied that he had tampered with Wynette’s will for personal gain. To put it simply, these depictions were undeniably critical of George Richey. Furthermore, Georgette was involved in the show’s production, leading Sheila to believe that she may have instigated or encouraged these criticisms in violation of the non-disparagement agreement.

Instead of pursuing legal action against Georgette for violating their agreement due to the success of “George & Tammy” and likely profits made by Showtime, Sheila decided to aim higher by filing a lawsuit against Showtime alone as the primary defendant.

In the judge’s written decision, it is stated that he must accept the unproven claims made in the complaint and draw favorable conclusions for Sheila. However, under Delaware law, Sheila’s claim of unjust enrichment is not validated… The ruling indicates that the lawsuit could have been filed in New York, Texas, or Delaware (where Showtime is incorporated), but it hasn’t been determined which state’s laws should be applied. But based on his state’s laws, Bibas found that Sheila would typically need to prove that Showtime benefited from her, which she has not done…

The judge explained, “Sheila did not possess the tale that Showtime utilized. The network’s ability to create a TV show from George and Tammy’s story came from the First Amendment and purchasing the rights to adapt Georgette’s book. Consequently, Showtime did not abuse Sheila’s property rights by producing the series. If anyone profited from this situation, it was Georgette. She authored the book that served as the basis for the series, she sold the book’s rights, and (I must assume at this point) she breached the non-disparagement agreement by disclosing details that made for more engaging TV. So maybe Sheila could sue Georgette for breach of contract. But she cannot sue Showtime for unjust enrichment.

Bibas pointed out that the show’s producer began adapting the book in 2011, and a film version was announced in 2016. However, at this time, Showtime couldn’t have been aware of a non-disparagement agreement that didn’t come into effect until 2019. Even though this was the case, the judge stated, there’s no proof in Richey’s claim that Showtime was informed about the agreement during the production of the miniseries. The judge explained that since he dismissed the case without prejudice, Richey can still argue that Showtime might have known about the agreement if they received a letter from Georgette during the filming process. For now, the judge stated, “Richey cannot claim that because Georgette was breaching an agreement, Showtime also knew it.

In this case, Showtime Networks had lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine in New York and Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor in Delaware representing them. On the other hand, Richey was represented by Bellew LLC based in Delaware and Hemmer Wessels McMurtry PLLC from Kentucky.

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2025-03-23 23:17