Tyrese accuses Teddy Pendergrass' widow of damaging his reputation in $1M lawsuit over singer's biopic

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a retaliatory move, Tyrese Gibson has accused Teddy Pendergrass' widow of damaging his reputation by snubbing him and taking credit for a biopic about her singer-songwriter husband.

Tyrese asserted in documents that Joan Pendergrass, despite "excluding him" from the biopic after 2022, is "still promoting and shopping the project within the motion picture industry" and using his name to do so, as reported by Radar Online.

Tyrese Gibson's $1M lawsuit against Joan

According to the outlet, Tyrese filed a $1 million lawsuit against Joan, claiming that Voltron Entertainment, his production company, had acquired the rights to her late husband's life story in 2011. He claimed that she approved the deal in return for a $450,000 investment.

In 2022, the actor from 'Fast X' stated that Joan declined to sign the documents necessary to prolong the contract. Tyrese claims she is "making representations to third parties that Mr Gibson is attached to star in the Project," which he claims damages his reputation. This is stated in his most recent filing, dated November 28.

The documents read, "Plaintiff is further informed and believes and, based thereon, alleges that Joan is falsely holding herself out as still working with Voltron and Mr. Gibson for her own and the Estate's reputational and financial gain, and to open doors in the entertainment industry that otherwise would never open for her."

Joan's actions 'significantly harmed' Gibson's reputation

Tyrese claimed that Joan's actions not only "irreparably harmed" the movie, "but also significantly harmed Mr. Gibson's and Voltron's professional reputations after they staked their names, efforts and money on the Project to promote it in the industry for nearly a decade, only to have it derailed just as it was getting off the ground with Warner Bros."

The 'Sweet Lady' singer also claimed that his company "suffered significant financial harm as a result of Joan's conduct," claiming that Voltron "contributed several hundred thousand dollars to support and promote the Project in reliance on Joan's repeated representation and promise, which they would otherwise not have contributed."

Joan denies wrongdoing

Joan requested a court to dismiss Voltron's accusations against her, denying any wrongdoing. She claimed that in 2019, Tyrese's business gave Warner Bros the rights to Teddy's life story, "thereby making Warner Bros. the successor-in-interest to Voltron with respect to the Option Agreement and Voltron no longer a party to the Option Agreement."