Celebrity Justice
Pearl -- Oprah Treated Me Like Doody!

Barry Pearl -- that's Doody from "Grease" to you - says "Oprah's Big Give" is plenty generous ... except when it comes to paying up for movie clips they use on the show.

Here's how it works -- in order to use a clip from "Grease" on TV, it must be licensed first from Paramount and then a fee needs to be negotiated with each of the actors. Pearl says Harpo skipped that crucial part.

He says when he asked for a reasonable fee from O's production peeps for a clip that was on "Big Give," they scoffed -- and called his residuals "found money." Thing is, residuals are much more than "found money" for Barry -- it's his livelihood. So when he saw "Summer Nights" playing on a TV in John Travolta's episode of "Give" -- without his consent -- he asked O's company Harpo for $7,500 for himself and three other Greasers in the clip.

That's when Barry says things got, well, Ken-icky.

Harpo countered with $5K, and when he and his agent then countered again, Harpo low-balled him with a SAG-endorsed offer of just three times the weekly wage ... from 31 years ago, i.e, peanuts. They also told Barry to be happy with peanuts, because the cash was "found money." Not so giving!

Barry is suing mad -- and his lawyer is firing off a letter to Harpo as we speak.

Harpo Productions tells TMZ: "The clip in question was included on the "Big Give" series for less than five seconds. We have been involved in discussions with SAG, Paramount and Mr. Pearl's representative in good faith. We have made a settlement offer that is in accordance with SAG guidelines, with appropriate penalties, which should bring this matter to a swift and satisfactory resolution."

Tags: Grease, Oprah

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(Page 8 of 8) Previous 15 Comments

106. As a matter of fact I am a Hard Working Stay at Home Mom!

Posted at 3:06PM on Jul 17th 2008 by Fed Up with Ignorant People

If you're such a hard working stay at home mom, why are you here and not tending to your children??????????

Posted at 12:45PM on Jul 18th 2008 by Oprah's Is A Racist Just Like Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson

107. They deserve the money. eventually BEULAH

Posted at 6:34PM on Jul 18th 2008 by aektor

108. Give me a break! Pay the man his money!
It doesn't even come out of her pocket, she has a corporation for that.
Hey Opie, ask first next time! You think you are so, so special, Hah!

Posted at 8:20PM on Jul 30th 2008 by bERYKUTE

Previous 15 Comments