Judge Judy at center of lawsuit by former 'agent' who claims CBS is withholding money from him ... tv judge makes $47MILLION a year

Photo: Getty Images Suit: Richard Lawrence and Rebel Entertainment are suing CBS claiming they are owed money for their work on Judge Judy (above)

   Richard Lawrence and Rebel Entertainment are suing CBS claiming they are owed money for their work on Judge Judy
 

'We worked with Judy Sheindlin and CBS to put the show together, which debuted in 1996'
   'We are entitled to 5% of net profits, but haven't seen money in years.' - Lawrence

    'I met Mr. Lawrence for two hours some 21 years ago. No card, no gift, no congratulations from him in 20 years,'

     'He has somehow received over $17,000,000 from my program ... Now complaining about not getting enough money, that's real chutzpah!' - Sheindlin
Story after the cut ....

The man who claims to have discovered Judy Sheindlin and had a hand in creating her hit show Judge Judy is suing CBS for failing to pay him and his company millions of dollars.

Richard Lawrence of Rebel Entertainment claims that he and his company helped Sheindlin and CBS put the show together back before it debuted in 1996, and as a result are entitled to 5% of net profits, but have not seen any money in years.

Lawrence claims in his filing he stopped seeing in money in 2010, shortly after Sheindlin's salary increased to $45million a year for the show. He also claims that she is now making even more money, putting her salary at $47million a year.

Photo: FilmMagic

Big bucks: It is revealed in the court filing that Sheindlin (above getting star on Walk of Fame) makes $47million a year

Sheindlin, just like her television persona, immediately fired back at Lawrence, saying; 'The fact that Richard Lawrence is complaining about my salary is actually hilarious. 

'I met Mr. Lawrence for two hours some 21 years ago. Neither I nor anyone involved in the day-to-day production of my program has heard from him in 20 years. Not a card, not a gift, not a flower, not a congratulations, yet he has somehow received over $17,000,000 from my program. 

'My rudimentary math translates that into $8,500,000 an hour for Mr. Lawrence. Not a bad payday. Now complaining about not getting enough money, that's real chutzpah!'

Deadline reports that Lawrence also calls Sheindlin overpaid in his filing, no doubt because the larger her salary the less money he and his company would make due to the fact that they receive a percentage of only the profits.

Richard Larwence (above) filed the suit

'And in 2013, when Scheindlin [sic] was reportedly receiving $47 million annually, no one else came close, as the next highest salaries in non-scripted television were Jon Stewart ($30 million), Matt Lauer ($25 million), and Jay Leno ($20 million),' claims the court filing. 

'In making this deal with Scheindlin [sic], Defendants blithely ignored their contractual obligations to Rebel. As a result, almost immediately after Scheindlin’s [sic] pay raise, Rebel’s backend compensation nosedived.'

Lawrence and Rebel are also asking to be compensated for The Hot Bench, a reality show Sheindlin helped to create in 2014.

Shiendlin responded to this by saying; 'Since I have not spoken with Mr. Lawrence in over 20 years to suggest that he had any involvement in my creating The Hot Bench is equally laughable.'  

Courtesy: dailymail

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