Chuck Norris Settles $30 Million Lawsuit Against CBS Over ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Profits

Chuck Norris settled a lawsuit with CBS and Sony Pictures. Norris alleged that at least $30 million in profits for Walker, Texas Ranger was withheld from him.

Through his company Top Kick Productions, Norris filed the suit in 2019, claiming that the companies violated a term in his contract requiring he be paid 23% of profits “earned from any, and all, exploitation of Walker.” He accused CBS of marketing the series specifically towards streaming-video-on-demand (SVOD) viewers instead of television station and DVD viewers in order to avoid paying Norris his share of SVOD revenue.

The suit deemed that Sony Pictures was contractually bound to the same terms as CBS, as it entered into a licensing agreement to distribute the series. The company was dropped from the filing last year.

“The institutional system for exploiting Walker and follow-up reporting by CBS is designed to keep Top Kick in the dark, unaware of the precise sources and amounts of revenue at issue, and to prevent Top Kick from knowing the various methods and contractual terms through which the 23% Profile Profit Clause has been diluted, reduced and materially breached,” the complaint said.

50 BEST CELEBRITY BIKINIS SLIDESHOW!

Top Kick sued for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The case went on for five years until a Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed it on Monday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though both sides agreed to settle.

Walker, Texas Ranger ran for eight and a half seasons and generated over $692 million in revenue.