Viva Artists Agency (VAA) filed a lawsuit at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court against Nadine Lustre late last week after the actress allegedly violated the contract that she had signed with the company.
VAA said in a statement that Lustre should be exclusively working with the company. However, the actress has been “contracting independently with advertisers, promoters, and third parties.”
Lustre first signed with VAA in 2009, and it was renewed in 2014 for another 10 years, or until June 30, 2024. That same contract was renewed for another five years in 2015, which means that it will expire on June 29, 2029, VAA said.
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VAA pointed out that it was the one that “developed, built, and nurtured Nadine’s career to make her one of the most sought after artists in the entertainment industry.”
“Despite her continued success as an exclusive artist of VAA for almost a decade, Nadine still chose to violate and disregard her contract with VAA,” the company added.
It was in January when Lustre announced that she had left VAA, saying that Article 1920 of the Civil Code of the Philippines gives her the right to terminate her contract. However, VAA said that the law prohibits Lustre from “unilaterally withdraw[ing] from her contact.”
Shortly after the filing of the complaint, Lustre’s lawyer Lorna Kapunan told ABS-CBN that they welcome it and said that “the truth will come out about VAA being predatory, oppressive and abusive not only of Nadine but its many other talents.”
Kapunan added that it should be VAA that should be sued for breach of contract. She added that Lustre has the right to manage her own career and earn a livelihood without VAA getting “an unconscionable amount in agency fees which it does not deserve.”
“The contract is an Agency contract and Nadine is the Principal — and it is the right of the Principal to terminate the Agent when it is not performing its commitments under the Agency Agreement,” Kapunan said.
“We are prepared to prove VAA’s material breach of the contract. We are likewise prepared to show that VAA is guilty of tortious third party interference by its threatening/ pressuring third parties dealing with Nadine in good faith and scaring them with potential court cases.”
Lustre first joined Viva as a member of the all-female singing group Pop Girls. She rose to fame in 2014 after starring in the movie Diary of an Uggo, alongside her loveteam partner and ex-boyfriend James Reid. In October, she released a visual album titled Wildest Dreams under Reid’s record company Careless Music Manila.
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