Bryan Freedman has a track record of getting multimillion-dollar settlements for TV stars and has represented celebrities like Quentin Tarantino, Julia Roberts and Seth Rogen.
Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, freshly ousted from their perches at top cable networks, have hired the same powerhouse lawyer to navigate their exits.
The prominent Hollywood lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has a track record of getting multimillion-dollar settlements for TV stars and other celebrities. He represents Chris Cuomo, the former CNN anchor who is seeking $125 million for wrongful termination after the network fired him in 2021, and secured a payout of Megyn Kelly’s full contract when she left NBC.
The news that both Mr. Carlson, until recently Fox’s top-rated prime time star, and Mr. Lemon, until recently one of CNN’s morning hosts, had retained Mr. Freedman portended possible fights ahead.
Mr. Freedman declined to comment.
Mr. Freedman, who is based in Los Angeles, founded the law firm Freedman and Taitelman with Michael Taitelman in 1997. He became known as an aggressive litigator, representing high-profile clients in the entertainment industry, including Quentin Tarantino, Julia Roberts, Mariah Carey, Seth Rogen and Gabrielle Union.
In recent years, he has represented axed TV hosts including Mike Richards, a former executive producer of “Jeopardy!,” and Chris Harrisonof “The Bachelor.”
He also represented Michael Jackson’s estate in a $100 million fight against the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which won an appeal in 2020 to go to private arbitration.
For the past 14 years, Mr. Freedman has been included in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the entertainment industry’s top 100 lawyers. In 2022, he said to the publication: “How do employers police their own? What kind of due process is there?”
Mr. Freedman was accused of sexual assault in the 1980s while he was a university student and eventually settled the case for $40,000 without admitting liability, according to court documents. Insider earlier reported the suit and settlement.
A correction was made on April 25, 2023:
An earlier version of this article misstated the title of an HBO documentary about Michael Jackson. It is “Leaving Neverland,” not “Finding Neverland.”A correction was made on April 26, 2023:
An earlier version of this article misstated the ruling in a lawsuit by Michael Jackson’s estate over an HBO documentary. The estate won an appeal in 2020 to go to private arbitration. It did not win a $100 million judgment.
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Katie Robertson is a media reporter. She previously worked as an editor and reporter at Bloomberg and News Corporation Australia. Email: katie.robertson@nytimes.com More about Katie Robertson
A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Anchors Choose Same Lawyer To Navigate Network Exits. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
