Mike Rowe claims that Discovery owes him millions, and he is taking the network to court.
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Rowe, host of the reality show Dirty Jobs, is suing Discovery for over $2 million. He alleges the company failed to pay him properly for narrating Deadliest Catch, according to the New York Post.
The Dirty Jobs host filed a lawsuit against Discovery Talent Services, alleging the company left him out as narrator on several spinoffs of Deadliest Catch despite a deal that was supposed to guarantee his involvement. The 64-year-old voice actor has narrated the show since it premiered in 2005.
According to the lawsuit, he and DTS entered into an agreement in 2020 under which he would receive $40,000 per episode.
Mike Rowe Accuses Discovery of Violating Contract
Rowe and his production company, Lab Rat, agreed to the lucrative deal on a "pay-or-play" basis. This means Rowe is to narrate the series. If he does not, he is to be compensated for the episodes he does not narrate, his lawyers claim in the filing.
A 2020 update to the deal allegedly locked Rowe into the arrangement "for life," covering not just the original Deadliest Catch and Bering Sea Gold but also any future spinoffs, at a rate of $40,000 per episode.
The agreement applied as planned for Deadliest Catch: The Bait and Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove, the lawsuit states.
However, Rowe claims he was cut out entirely, without pay, from Deadliest Catch: Bloodline, Deadliest Catch: The Viking Returns, and Deadliest Catch: Northern Edge.
"Lab Rat and Rowe have also learned that the episodes of the original "Deadliest Catch" series that are aired internationally are materially different than the episodes aired in the United States. To the extent any of these international episodes are determined to be "originally produced episodes," the pay-or-play agreement would apply to those as well," according to the lawsuit.
PEOPLE reported that the lawsuit seeks "at least $2.04 million" for Lab Rat, along with possible "additional payments for 12 longer episodes," interest, and a jury trial.
