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Woody Allen, Soon-Yi Previn Are Sued by Personal Chef they Fired

FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
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Woody Allen, Soon-Yi Previn Are Sued by Personal Chef they Fired

FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Woody Allen 's former personal chef claims in a lawsuit that the filmmaker and his wife fired him because of his service in the US Army Reserves and questions about his pay, then “rubbed salt on the wounds” by saying they didn't like his cooking.
Allen and Soon-Yi Previn “simply decided that a military professional who wanted to be paid fairly was not a good fit to work in the Allen home,” private chef Hermie Fajardo said in a civil complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
Allen and Previn knew Fajardo would need time off for military training exercises when they and their home manager hired him as their full-time chef in June 2024 at an annual salary of $85,000, the complaint said. But he was fired the following month, soon after returning from a training that lasted a day longer than expected, The Associated Press quoted it as saying.
When Fajardo returned to work, “he was immediately met with instant hostility and obvious resentment by defendants,” according to the lengthy complaint.
At the time, Fajardo had been raising concerns about his pay — first that his employers weren't properly withholding taxes or providing a paystub, then that they shortchanged him by $300, according to the complaint.
Allen, Previn and manager Pamela Steigmeyer are accused in the lawsuit of violating the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and New York labor law, as well as causing Fajardo humiliation, stress and a loss of earnings.
Representatives for Allen did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Fajardo said he was hired after being showered with compliments following a meal of roasted chicken, pasta, chocolate cake and apple pie he prepared for the defendants and two guests.

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‘Sinners’ Surges Past ‘Minecraft’ to Lead Box Office

Director Ryan Coogler, left, and Michael B. Jordan pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Sinners" on Monday, April 14, 2025, in London. (AP)
Director Ryan Coogler, left, and Michael B. Jordan pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Sinners" on Monday, April 14, 2025, in London. (AP)
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‘Sinners’ Surges Past ‘Minecraft’ to Lead Box Office

Director Ryan Coogler, left, and Michael B. Jordan pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Sinners" on Monday, April 14, 2025, in London. (AP)
Director Ryan Coogler, left, and Michael B. Jordan pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Sinners" on Monday, April 14, 2025, in London. (AP)

Brand names, not filmmakers or stars, are said to rule the box office these days. But Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” led by twin Michael B. Jordans, proved a bloody exception to modern movie rules, launching with $45.6 million in ticket sales in US and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Sinners,” a Warner Bros. release that cost about $90 million to produce, was a bold gamble on originality — albeit with genre elements — and one of the most bankable American directors in Coogler. The “Creed” and “Black Panther” director wrote and produced “Sinners,” a 1932-set vampire movie about bootlegging brothers (both played by Jordan) who open a juke joint in their Mississippi hometown.

“A Minecraft Movie,” the year’s biggest Hollywood hit, followed close behind in second, collecting $41.3 million in its third week of release. That gave Warner Bros., after a handful of disappointments, an enviable one-two punch at the box office with one original, director-driven movie and one IP-based property.

“A Minecraft Movie,” which Warner Bros. co-produced with Legendary Pictures, has amassed $720.8 million worldwide in three weeks of release.

Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, co-chairs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, celebrated the two films’ resonance with moviegoers. The studio accounted for a remarkable 64% of the domestic box office for the Easter weekend.

“Movies have the power to transport us to worlds only seen on the big screen, and Warner Bros. Pictures remains committed to bringing singular in-theater experiences to audiences looking for bold movies, both original and those based on beloved existing properties,” Abdy and De Luca said in a statement Sunday.

But all eyes were on the performance on “Sinners,” which Warner Bros. went to extreme lengths to secure. Abdy and De Luca agreed to give Coogler not just a cut of gross ticket sales but ownership of the film after 25 years — a virtually unheard of concession.

But Coogler and Jordan, whose collaborations stretch back to “Fruitvale Station,” make up one of the industry’s most potent director-actor duos. Reviews (98% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes) were stellar for “Sinners” and audiences, too, were enthralled by its supernatural twists. The film earned an “A” CinemaScore from moviegoers.

Overseas, “Sinners” faced a more uphill battle. It collected $15.4 million in 71 international markets. Domestically, “Sinners” attracted a diverse audience: 38% Black, 35% white, 18% Hispanic and 5% Asian.

Before “Sinners,” dual roles had been rough business for Warner Bros. The studio saw flops in both “The Alto Knights” (a period gangster film featuring a doubled Robert De Niro) and “Mickey 17” (a sci-fi movie with two Robert Pattinsons).

But the strong opening for “Sinners,” which should be sustained in the coming weeks given the strong word of mouth, cements Coogler’s place as one of a handful of filmmakers whose name draws big audiences. Another would be Jordan Peele, whose “Nope” (2022) debuted similarly with $44.3 million.

Angel Studios’ “The King of Kings,” an animated tale of Jesus’ life aimed at Christian audiences, capitalized on the Easter weekend, grossing $17.2 million in its second week of release. That was nearly equal to its opening weekend ($19.1 million), and brought “The King of Kings” to a domestic total of $45.3 million.

Bleecker Street’s “The Wedding Banquet,” Andrew Ahn’s reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 comedy of errors, opened on 1,142 North American screens with $922,906 in ticket sales. “The Wedding Banquet,” a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, stars Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran and newcomer Han Gi-chan.