The trouble is far from over for the cash-flow-negative Planet Hollywood restaurant franchise.
The celebrity-themed food chain — which filed for Chapter 11 in October 1999 — is being sued by tennis champs Andre Agassi and Monica Seles, golfer Tiger Woods and retired Super Bowl champ Joe Montana for breach of contract, Reuters reports.
The suit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Delaware, alleges that Planet Hollywood has continued to use their names, photographs and memorabilia in its promotion, despite the fact that the four athletes had notified the restaurant chain last month that they consider their 1996 endorsement contracts to be terminated.
In the contracts, the sport figures were to receive shares of Planet Hollywood stock in exchange for their endorsements.
But the four sports greats say that Planet Hollywood defaulted on the contracts when they filed for bankruptcy protection. They have asked that their photos and memorabilia be inventoried and seek unspecified damages and legal costs.
An emergency hearing today will determine whether to ban Planet Hollywood from further using the athletes’ names and photographs.
