Judge Judy’s $45 Million Salary Has Been Found Within Reason

Longtime telelegal fishwife Judge Judy’s annual salary has been judged appropriate by the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Judy Sheindlin’s (Her legal name isn’t “Judge Judy?“) $47 million-per-year salary might make her the highest paid person in television, but a recent claim brought against CBS over her salary has been dismissed. That’s a lot of cash for interrupting people and shrieking at them about their life choices. My immediate family doesn’t make half that much and they’re way harsher than her.

Rebel Entertainment filed the claim against CBS accusing them of paying Judy that much as part of an insidious scheme to deny them their share of profit participation from her show. Rebel was the talent agency that “originally packaged Judge Judy in the 1990s.”

Rebel Entertainment Partners filed its lawsuit in March 2016 against CBS and Big Ticket Television. The agency headed by Richard Lawrence asserted that it was entitled to a five percent share of net profits, but accounting statements were showing the syndicated show running a deficit since February 2010 largely because Sheindlin’s mammoth salary was being deducted as an expense.

Rebel claimed that when CBS doubled Judy’s salary a decade ago, it set fire to their profits. CBS begged to differ. This story would have been so much more fun if Judge Judy herself had acted as CBS’ defense and shown up to verbally chew the ass off of this Richard Lawrence dude.

CBS responded by saying that Rebel couldn’t challenge the show’s production costs and that they were complaining about a situation that actually earns them millions of dollars, the greedy bastards:

“The salary paid to Judge Sheindlin was the salary necessary to keep Judge Judy on the air, and, ironically, the salary necessary for Rebel to continue to earn millions of dollars in upfront commissions that would disappear were the show to end.”

Rebel Entertainment hasn’t been totally shut down. You know that show Hot Bench with the three judges (which is odd and not how the legal system usually works in small claims cases) that people seem to like it? It’s from Judge Judy’s producers and Rebel is trying to stake a claim to that show as well. They haven’t been turned away on that matter yet.

The plaintiff also complained about how it was shut out of Hot Bench, which Rebel saw as a spinoff that demanded compensation for the talent agency under the original deal. CBS disputed this. While dismissing the big claim over profit participation from Judge Judy, O’Donnell isn’t ready to dispense with the Hot Bench profit claim just yet.

Three Hot Bench judges do not one Judge Judy make. Judge Judy earns every damn penny that she’s paid. Have you seen that parade of malcontents that trudge through her courtroom humiliating themselves on national television for the possibility that they’ll win a small settlement and a guaranteed $35 dollars a day? Judy has to face that sadness barrage every day and still retain that volume of shellacked hair and keep a sassy attitude without breaking down and weeping on her gavel. Give her more, I say!

Pic: Wenn.com