Earlier this year, Vivica A. Fox hosted a Lifetime reality show about male dancers, entitled “Vivica’s Black Magic.” The show ran into trouble when Fox, in a promotional interview, seemed to indicate that it was not intended for gay men.
The show’s executive producer, Jean-Claude LaMarre, distanced himself from her, declaring that “all are welcome.” The incident caused a bitter split between them, and the two then launched rival touring shows based on the TV series.
LaMarre has now taken the beef to court, filing a lawsuit Monday accusing Fox of libel, slander, and contract interference.
“LaMarre conceived the idea of a live all black male revue,” the suit states. “Fox employed a concerted effort of defamation, intimidation and misrepresentation to steal talent from ‘Black Magic Live,’ and to confuse ‘Black Magic Live’s’ audience, providing the public with false statements that Fox’s copycat dance venture was in fact the real ‘Black Magic Live’ dance revue.”
LaMarre wrote and directed the 2015 film “Chocolate City,” which aimed to be a black version of “Magic Mike.” Fox was one of the stars of the film, as well as of its 2016 sequel, “Chocolate City: Vegas.” According to the suit, LaMarre subsequently sought to establish a touring show featuring black dancers. He was introduced to reality show producers, and ultimately Lifetime bought the idea of doing a reality show based on setting up the tour. Fox was again brought in to play the owner, the suit states.
According to LaMarre, all was going well until Jan. 6, 2017, when Fox appeared on the Breakfast Club, a morning radio show in New York. When asked if the dancers would perform for gay men, Fox said “Hell no.”
“There’s no need to,” she said. “They dance for women. It’s called ‘the ultimate girls’ night out’ for a reason.”
The comments were seen as homophobic, and LaMarre apologized to TMZ on Fox’s behalf, calling the comments “out of order.” Fox later said on Instagram that she did not intend to offend anyone, but “I’m woman enough to apologize if you felt that way.”
According to LaMarre, Fox was angry at him and retaliated against him by launching her own traveling dance show, “Xplicit Minds.” She also recruited four dancers from the TV show, getting them to defect from LaMarre’s “Black Magic Live.” LaMarre alleges that she also called and threatened those who stayed loyal to him, telling them they had to pick a side and if they went with LaMarre, they would not be included in the second season of the TV show.
When LaMarre began to promote the tour, Fox went on Twitter and Instagram and said that he was misusing her name.
“I will not be at this show and neither will most of the dancers! Buyer beware,” she said on Twitter.
“As a result of Fox’s defamatory social media campaign, LaMarre’s customers canceled ‘Black Magic Live’ tickets and demanded refunds at shows,” the suit states. “Fox’s homophobic interview comments and vindictive campaign against LaMarre and ‘Black Magic Live’ destroyed any economic advantages LaMarre expected to enjoy following the reality show.”
Lifetime has no plans to bring the TV show back for a second season. The network declined to comment on the suit.
Fox’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
