The Village Folks
Suing Disney for Allegedly Stiffing, Blackballing ‘Em
Lawsuit Allowed to Chug On
Disney ain’t gonna be singing “YMCA” anytime quickly — ‘trigger the spouse of probably the most well-known member of the Village Folks is taking the leisure behemoth to court docket … alleging they blackballed the band from reserving gigs at its theme parks.
In keeping with authorized docs, obtained by TMZ, Karen Willis — the spouse of Victor Willis and supervisor of the VP trademark for reside performances — filed go well with towards the Mouse Home late final yr for what she claims was outright hostile remedy of her hubby and one other authentic member.
The difficulty all stems from a pair performances Willis says the Village Folks have been employed for in 2018 — when she says Disney booked ’em to do their factor at Disney World in FL.
Willis says the Village Folks and Disney had a very good relationship up till this yr — saying the band had carried out there yearly for at the very least a decade — however lately … there’d been a fracture within the band with outdated members, who have been attempting to maintain the yearly gig going.
Lengthy story quick … Willis says Victor and Jacques Morali — one other OG member — have been allowed to carry out at Disney after successful the rights to their music from the opposite guys … and after they did performances in 2018, the whole lot went swimmingly at first …however rapidly went south.
Per Willis … over the course of the 2-day job, she says she and the Village Folks have been handled terribly by Disney — claiming she wished to personally assist with front-of-house sound duties for a greater present however was bodily blocked by Disney staff and even ushered away.
What’s extra … Willis claims that she and Victor have been bodily attacked by overzealous followers within the park — whom she says have been planted by the spurned ex-band members. Willis says Disney offered no additional safety for them, regardless of her husband’s contract requiring it.
There’s much more … Willis claims the worst half is Disney ended up giving them the runaround on cost … with checks initially made out to the fallacious folks/teams.
Willis says when she and her husband tried to have these items resolved, Disney allegedly gave them the chilly shoulder — and afterward, she claims Disney has failed to rent them again for some other Disney gigs … which she believes is being completed on function.
Disney just lately filed a movement to dismiss this go well with, saying it had the proper to not rent the Village Folks if it did not wish to — however the court docket only in the near past rejected that … and now, the case will transfer ahead.
Now, it appears like Village Persons are entering into formation … and BTW, they’re asking for greater than $20 mil in damages. We have reached out to Disney for remark … up to now, no phrase again.
