Can you say "deep pockets"?
In response to a suit from the family of Darryl Hammond, who was an extra in "The Longest Yard," the studio says there's a difference between playing professional football and what happens during the making of a movie.
By now, it's widely established that football is a dangerous sport, causing elevated risks of brain injuries. But how about the impact of participating in football movies? According to Paramount Pictures, medical autopsies showing high rates of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy "pertain to professional football players playing professional football, not body doubles filming carefully choreographed football scenes for a movie."
The statement comes from Paramount on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court in defense of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Darryl Hammond, who played 15 years of arena football. Paramount's involvement in this suit (alongside the Arena Football League) is traced to Hammond's role as an extra in the 2005 film The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. Disney is a co-defendant, too, because Hammond was an extra in the 2006 film Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg.
In response to a suit that alleges defendants should have known about peer-reviewed scientific studies showing the dangers of repeated traumatic head impacts and their toll on a player like Hammond who died in 2017 after suffering more than 200 concussions, Paramount seeks to escape negligence and fraud claims. The studio has filed a pair of motions — one aimed at striking the suit for interfering with its First Amendment activity, the second challenging whether Hammond's family has stated facts supporting a cause of action.
https://apple.news/AgC2NQU31TZid7iGWluIZtg
= new reply since forum marked as read
