Roberto Clemente's Sons Sued for Allegedly Selling Rights to Major MLB Player's Life Story to Multiple Parties

The family of baseball legend Roberto Clemente is being sued after the rights to the Hall of Fame's life story were allegedly sold to multiple parties.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court names Roberto Clemente Jr. and Luis Clemente, the sons of the Pittsburgh Pirates icon, claiming the siblings “fraudulently” sold and resold the rights to the story of their father's life “for their own, substantial financial gain.”

Deadline was the first to report the news.

Roberto Clemente spent 18 years in the MLB, leading the Pirates to two World Series titles (1960 and 1971) and earning 15 All-Star nominations and the 1971 World Series MVP. Clemente died tragically in a road accident. plane on December 31, 1972, at the age of 38, while trying to provide aid to earthquake survivors. The Puerto Rico native was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 (the mandatory five-year waiting period was waived). He was the first Latino elected to Cooperstown. In 2002, MLB dubbed September 15 “Roberto Clemente Day.”

ONLY 19 LATINOS IN THE HALL OF FAME? This figure has increased and will continue to increase

According to the lawsuit obtained by Deadline, Inside the Park LLC (the plaintiff) alleges that Clemente's sons and their agent sold them “an exclusive, irrevocable option” in January 2023 to develop a feature film based on the life of Roberto Clemente and the 2013 film. book “Clemente – The True Legacy of an Eternal Hero”.

Inside the Park LLC claims that Clemente's son engaged in “fraudulent conduct” to renew his interest in the Clemente brand, which led to the Clemente family's “entering into a miniseries deal of $60 million and a 7-figure, multi-year sponsorship deal with Capital One for Roberto Clemente Day's naming rights with Major League Baseball. But after gaining exposure and popularity with his project in early 2023, the plaintiff claimed that Clemente's sons had already sold the “same” rights in 2015 and had a prior option agreement with Legendary Pictures Productions that had not expired, as Clemente's sons claimed. .

“Because this information was deliberately withheld… (Inside the Park LLC) took substantial steps and spent considerable sums of money to begin development and production of a feature-length film based on the rights,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants’ fraud and breach of contract caused Plaintiff significant reputational harm, beyond his loss of time, effort and personal expense.”

Inside the Park LLC is suing for breach of contract and fraud, in addition to breach of implied covenant of good faith and fraud. The plaintiff is seeking $5 million to “recover the significant sums it lost as a result of the defendants’ wrongdoing.” The Clemente brothers' licensing entity, 21 in Right, is also named in the suit, along with their agency CMG Worldwide, its president Mark Roesler and Legendary Pictures Productions.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Roberto Clemente's sons sued for allegedly reselling rights to their life story