After a gaming company slapped Kevin Hart with a lawsuit blaming him for the poor performance of a mobile game he teamed up with them to create, the comic has now countersued.
Earlier this year, Stand Up Digital sued Hart for $7.2 million claiming the first app launched, “Gold Ambush,” did poorly last year because Hart came clean about cheating on his wife. Plus, the comic alleged he was being extorted over a sex tape a month ahead of the game’s launch, The Blast reported.
The app was set to be released on Apple’s App Store in September 2017. However, after Hart’s revelations, Apple yanked its commitment to sell the game, which the developer claims cost $1.25 million to develop.
(Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage)
Now, documents obtained by the celebrity news site state that Hart is not taking ownership of that. Instead, the star, whose likeness and family’s likeness is used in the game, said he couldn’t have anticipated the incident would have occurred. He added the app’s debut could have simply been delayed.
Hart said he “suffered through an extremely difficult period in his life, where he was subjected to attempted blackmail to prevent disclosure of an extramarital affair.
“Instead of giving in to his would-be blackmailer, Mr. Hart took the extraordinary step of admitting his mistake publicly, apologizing to his loved ones who were no doubt hurt by this revelation, and promising to ‘do better’ in the future,” the filing continues. “Whereas many persons go through the exact same marital strife, Mr. Hart and his family were forced to endure it publicly, all because an extortionist sought to take advantage of Mr. Hart’s fame for his own financial advantage.”
Drawing a comparison between the extortion attempt and his suit from Stand Up games, Hart said the company is “using this meritless lawsuit to extract more money from him.”
He also said it’s Stand Up Games that is refusing to take responsibility for the game’s downfall when it was “released into an app market where the overwhelming majority of gaming apps make insignificant revenue, and the few successful games, such as ‘Game of War,’ have advertising budgets in the tens of millions of dollars.”
Citing assisting the FBI investigation into the extortion attempt for why he kept quiet to the company about the legal issue, Hart said he was preserving his reputation, which would be beneficial to the game’s success.
But that’s not all. Hart claims he has not seen any income from the app. He’s alleging Stand Up hasn’t given him the accounting for the profits of the game, noting that despite it getting released, he has no clue about what the sales were. It is currently not available in Apple’s App Store.
Additionally, Hart says his only commitment to the game was to market it and his sole contribution was a say in how he was portrayed in the app.
“Mr. Hart’s responsibilities to the project were solely for the purpose of marketing, and he had no authority or input over any facet of the game except for how his avatar appeared,” his countersuit states. “Plaintiff was solely responsible for all aspects of the creative and development process, including marketing strategy. And not surprisingly, Plaintiff is responsible for the app’s ultimate failure.”
