Rev. Jeremiah Cummings

The distributor of “Religulous” has offered to settle a $50 million lawsuit filed by a Florida preacher, indicating it is ready to atone for allegedly duping him into appearing in the Bill Maher documentary.

Lionsgate Corp. (NYSE: LGF) did not disclose in a court document how much it would pay Rev. Jeremiah Cummings –- no doubt somewhere south of $50 million -- but said it has “served a written settlement proposal” on him. It has also attempted to meet with him to discuss a settlement.

“[D]ue to certain complications, namely, Plaintiff proceeding in this action without the aid of counsel, and an apparent scheduling conflict of Plaintiff’s, more time is needed to either file a Notice of Settlement or file a Joint Case Management Report,” Lionsgate said in its motion to extend the deadline for a settlement.

Cummings, a former Muslim who is the founder and director of WICC-TV (Worldwide International Campaign for Christ Television Network) in Orlando, alleged the producers of “Religulous” misrepresented to him that he had been chosen to appear in a PBS documentary called “A Spiritual Journey.”

“I was not aware at that time that I would be cast in a motion picture ... entitled 'Religulous,' nor was I told that I would be interviewed [by Maher] for a motion picture called 'Religulous,' in which my true character was distorted onscreen before millions of viewers for laughs,” he said in a complaint filed in January.

Lionsgate might have been expected to seek a quick dismissal of the case on First Amendment grounds. Florida's publicity rights law does not apply to “any bona fide news report or presentation having a current and legitimate public interest” and the Florida Supreme Court has declined to recognize the tort of false light invasion of privacy.

But Maher and director Larry Charles may not have helped Lionsgate's cause by giving interviews in which they admitted deceiving those who agreed to be interviewed for “Religulous.”

“It was simple,” Maher told the Los Angeles Times. “We never, ever, used my name. We never told anybody it was me who was going to do the interviews. We even had a fake title for the film. We called it 'A Spiritual Journey.'”

The case is similar to those filed by more than a dozen people who alleged they were duped into appearing in the Sacha Baron Cohen mockumentary “Borat.” But nearly all those suits were quickly dismissed because the plaintiffs had signed liability waivers and the First Amendment protects the film as a work of satire.

A judge in Orlando, who originally set a May 20 deadline for Cummings and Lionsgate to reach a settlement or file a case management report, granted the defense an extension until June 4. “Plaintiff wrote Counsel for Defendant an e-mail this week stating that he was 'out of town on an assignment' and could not meet prior to May 20,” Lionsgate said in its motion.

If Lionsgate does settle the case, it may run the risk of encouraging others depicted in "Religulous" to file similar claims.

By Matthew Heller
5/21/09