A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of Rebecca producers Ben Sprecher and Louise Forlenza August 18, denying a motion by the show’s publicist, Marc Thibodeau, who sought to have the charges against him thrown out.
Thibodeau, who served as publicist on Rebecca from 2008 to its implosion in 2012, is being sued by the show’s producers for tortious interference and defamation after he sent emails under a fabricated name that pointed an anonymous investor to published reports of fraud involving some of the investors behind the show. The emails also characterized the project as a bad investment.
The investor, whose contract included a confidentiality clause, pulled out of the production, taking with him the funds necessary to get the troubled show on its feet. Sprecher was forced to cancel the Broadway production a day before rehearsals were to begin in September 2012.
The order obtained by Playbill.com August 18 states that Rebecca Broadway Limited Partnership (which represents producers Sprecher and Forlenza) will now go to trial against Thibodeau on charges of tortious interference and defamation.
Erik S. Groothuis, an attorney for the show’s producers, said in a phone interview that the August 18 ruling also affirmed that Thibodeau was in breach of contract when he sent the emails to the anonymous investor — a charge he sought to have thrown out. A jury will determine damages owed the show’s producers.
A trial date has not been set.
