HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Vanessa Hudgens is being sued by a music producer who claims the young star bailed on paying him.
Johnny Vieira filed the lawsuit on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the "High School Musical" star and her manager-father, Greg Hudgens, of breach of contract and fraud. The 19-year-old star's record label, Hollywood Records, is also named in the suit, in which Vieira is seeking more than $27 million in damages.
In his court filing, Vieira claims that he reached an agreement in 2005 to share equally in the Disney star's advances, royalties and merchandising revenues.
He argues that he was removed from Hudgens' management team soon after she landed her role in the hit Disney musical franchise.
Soon thereafter, he claims, Hudgens agreed to pay him a percentage of her earnings from her first three solo albums with Hollywood Records, but he says that settlement was never honored. Vieira claims he has gone unpaid since receiving a share of Hudgens' first album advance and some merchandising revenues from the first quarter of 2007.
Vieira is also suing Hudgen's father for defamation, claiming that he sent e-mails to industry insiders characterizing Vieira as a "predator" who "prayed [sic] upon other young artists."
Representatives for Hudgens and Disney have yet to comment on the claims.
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