Neil DeGrasse Tyson Sued Over StarTalk Series

Famed astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has landed in some hot water over his radio show "StarTalk." Tyson was sued for copyright infringement, fraud and breach of contract by his former business partner and photographer David Gamble, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

According to Gamble's account, he approached NASA employee Helen Matsos in 2006 with the idea of turning her podcast into a radio show. Matsos and Gamble then took the idea to Tyson. The trio pooled $10,000 each to found Curved Light Productions and create what would become the "StarTalk" radio show.

Gamble was undergoing daily dialysis treatments in 2011 when Tyson and Matsos began to "systematically exclude" him from decisions about the show, the Hollywood Reporter said Thursday, citing Gamble's account.

"On or about August 2012, Matsos and Tyson approached Gamble and informed him that he was spending too much time on dialysis and that, as a result, he should cease receiving his customary production fee — Gamble’s sole source of income at the time — and instead, receive a monthly consultant fee of $1,000 for a term of one year only — subject to renewal only upon mutual consent of the parties,” Gamble’s attorney, Olivera Medenica, said in the lawsuit. “By majority vote, the members of CLP reduced his income, which previously averaged $4,500 per month, to $1,000 per month.”

After Gamble sold his interest in the company to Matsos and Tyson for $350,000, the pair defaulted on the payments, Gamble said. They then agreed the lower the amount he would be paid. Gamble also alleged the lawsuit that Tyson used his photographs without permission: the photographer said Tyson used a portrait he took for promoting his own personal brand and even splashed them on highway billboards without permission.

Tyson had not yet responded to the lawsuit, according to the Hollywood Reporter.