Oksana Baiul sues William Morris Endeavor Agency (threads merged)

[leafygreens]

At this point, it's hard to tell how much of her "tumultuous life" was in fact, true; or something invented by many hands, over time..
That said. I hope that whatever the contract situation is, it can be worked out, justly.

She was an orphan with no coach for a year or so. That can't be invented. Maybe you are suggesting that she used that story as a crutch for too long into her adult years? That is possible but we will never know.

[leafygreens]

It does sound shady that her bf is her manager, but if he has already collected $9.5 million for her, he can't be such a bad guy - even if he sees dollar signs himself. What I don't understand is how that much money could be missing and she didn't even notice? Didn't she realize she was not getting paid for anything? Maybe she was so used to living in poverty, even a little bit of money seemed like a lot.

Judging by this recent appearance on The Rosie Show, I'd say not true. Either that or Galina lent it out to her for this one occasion?

Thanks for posting! I really loved the Lillehammer medals. They were so pretty. Oksana's speech/mouth seems to be different for some reason. Still love her though.

[Carolla5501]

It does sound shady that her bf is her manager, but if he has already collected $9.5 million for her, he can't be such a bad guy - even if he sees dollar signs himself. What I don't understand is how that much money could be missing and she didn't even notice? Didn't she realize she was not getting paid for anything? Maybe she was so used to living in poverty, even a little bit of money seemed like a lot.



Thanks for posting! I really loved the Lillehammer medals. They were so pretty. Oksana's speech/mouth seems to be different for some reason. Still love her though.

Considering she seemed to have a fairly affluent lifestyle I am not sure that she was only getting a "little bit of money" (Wasn't it a luxury car she had when she got the DUI?) However, that does bring up a point. If the agency did things like buy her a car that would have come out of her earnings then she wouldn't get the 'cash' I know that happens.

I expect that she's not going to find the millions she wants but... the numbers sound to high...

[Willowway]

Considering she seemed to have a fairly affluent lifestyle I am not sure that she was only getting a "little bit of money" (Wasn't it a luxury car she had when she got the DUI?) However, that does bring up a point. If the agency did things like buy her a car that would have come out of her earnings then she wouldn't get the 'cash' I know that happens.

I expect that she's not going to find the millions she wants but... the numbers sound to high...

Agencies don't do things like buy people cars or even buy cars by instruction from talent - they are just supposed to deposit your money in your account. Hopefully, it's all the money that they're supposed to deposit! Proper talent agents do not deal in stuff or in-kind compensation - they collect money, take appropriate and contracted deductions and percentages, deposit the talent's share in the talent's account.

How she spent (and spends) is not their doing. To the degree anyone would work with an athlete on items purchased, budgeting, paying bills, all that - that would be a manager not a talent agency. Talent agencies do their work up front - knowing where the opportunities are, fielding offers, drumming up offers, negotiating contracts for the athlete, making sure payment (in all forms - airline tickets, etc.) is made.

[overedge]

It does sound shady that her bf is her manager, but if he has already collected $9.5 million for her, he can't be such a bad guy - even if he sees dollar signs himself. What I don't understand is how that much money could be missing and she didn't even notice? Didn't she realize she was not getting paid for anything? Maybe she was so used to living in poverty, even a little bit of money seemed like a lot.

To preface what I say, I have no knowledge of the terms of the contracts that this lawsuit is addressing.

However, IME it's not uncommon for new managers to "discover" that their client has been allegedly underpaid or ripped off by their previous managers. It makes the new manager look good to be able to point out all the wrongdoing of the previous manager. And in some cases, the client genuinely has been ripped off, and the new manager is correcting a wrong that the client either wasn't aware of, or couldn't get fixed on their own.

In other cases, though, the new manager is reinterpreting the terms of previous contracts - to their client's benefit - and they money they get is basically go-away money from the companies who didn't actually do anything wrong but would sooner shell out some $$$ to be rid of the annoying manager. A very public and well-documented example of this is Allen Klein, who ran the Beatles' and the Rolling Stones' financial affairs for some time and managed to squeeze quite a bit of $$$ out of the record companies for them. However, he didn't do it as a public service - he took a hefty chunk of it himself, which is why both groups eventually ended up firing him (well, that and he lied to them both, but that's another story).

The point being that if someone claims they have collected money on behalf of their client - and AFAIK in Oksana's case this is claimed in the lawsuit, I don't know if it's been agreed on as a fact by both parties - that doesn't mean the money was genuinely owed or that the previous managers actually ripped off the client.

[NadineWhite]

I haven't read the article or thread, but my first thought was she must be having a tough time of it financially.

Such a sad story all around, sorry to see it end this way.

But the memories, those I'll never forget, the way she skated, the way she expressed herself, like no one else, totally unique, an original. To this day she remains my favorite artistic skater of all time. And ah when she was on her jumps just flew, the russian way, that huge 3L! The speed, the power, the flow....memories....

[jenniferlyon]

I haven't read the article or thread, but my first thought was she must be having a tough time of it financially.

Such a sad story all around, sorry to see it end this way.

But the memories, those I'll never forget, the way she skated, the way she expressed herself, like no one else, totally unique, an original. To this day she remains my favorite artistic skater of all time. And ah when she was on her jumps just flew, the russian way, that huge 3L! The speed, the power, the flow....memories....

Oksana was also one of only a handful of skaters who could perform to ANY kind of music. Today, most people remember her for her classical programs (especially "The Swan") but that girl was completely comfortable skating to anything-- Broadway showtunes, Spanish flamenco music, Michael Jackson, Enigma, Aerosmith. You never knew what she was going to do next, and I mean that in a good way.

[Susan M]

At one point it was pretty common for Russian coaches to be paid a percentage of the skater's earnings instead of fee for coaching. ... Now whether a percentage of 30% is fair, and for how long the skater should be on the hook are separate questions.

I think 30% of earnings was pretty standard arrangement for Russian coaches back in the 1990s. We have seen other skaters mention this figure. There comes a point though where a pro skater really does not need the same level of time and attention from a coach, so they should switch to a different arrangement.

[kwanfan1818]

To be fair, though, the first thing new managers do is review old and existing contracts and arrange an accounting review. While there's most often a "I can do better" aspect/message, it's a good idea to find out the history instead of starting from scratch.

[Iceman]

I am concerned this story will eventually have a very tragic end. It seems headed that way. Does anyone know why Oksana separated from Galina and family? I suspect that was a bad move as both Galina and Victor seemed there for her. To be in the world without family is a dangerous place to be. Her birth family is gone and she doesn't seem to have been able to establish her own.

[tralfamadorian]

A couple more details from the courthousenews.com summary of the lawsuit: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/21/52475.htm

More than a decade later, Baiul's manager discovered that while William Morris had collected $9.5 million on her behalf, it had failed to go after fees she was owed, and had executed contracts to transfer some of her earnings to "legal strangers" - Olympic Champions Ltd. and Ukrainian Financial Group, according to the complaint.
...
The agency transferred $200,000 of her earnings to settle a dispute between Olympic Champions Ltd. and Ukrainian Financial Group agents, and took larger than agreed-upon fees, the complaint states.

[leafygreens]

A couple more details from the courthousenews.com summary of the lawsuit: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/21/52475.htm

So they were giving her money to people she didn't know? Why would they be doing that?

[leesaleesa]

I am concerned this story will eventually have a very tragic end. It seems headed that way.

Why do you say that? It's a matter of finding out how much assets she has, how much money is coming in steadily, how much debt is owed, and probably downsizing and figuring out how she's going to make money from now on. She's loopy for sure, but not a complete wreck.

[MacMadame]

So they were giving her money to people she didn't know? Why would they be doing that?

They were giving her money to people she had no legal relationship with. Or so the suit claims.

It sounds like they were paying companies for stuff related to Baiul. That happens all the time.

[overedge]

It sounds like they were paying companies for stuff related to Baiul. That happens all the time.

Ukrainian Financial Group at least has a website, but "Olympic Champions Ltd." doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere on the Internetz except for in this lawsuit....

[MacMadame]

It probably went out of business.

[Fancypancy]

She has burned so many people I think this will put
the nail in her coffin

[Willowway]

She has burned so many people I think this will put
the nail in her coffin

That's an extremely unfortunate metaphor. Hopefully she has a long and healthy life. As you reference though, she has burned so many bridges in the skating/producing community that she has very limited professional options going forward. I hope she can figure out something productive using her experience - the whole arc of her career is simply sad.

I'm a New Yorker where 'observe and criticize' is a competitive sport and I can be a pro, but honestly I wouldn't want a minute of OB's life, even the good parts. What I feel for her is compassion.