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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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'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' Battle for No. 1 at the Holiday Box Office

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
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'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' Battle for No. 1 at the Holiday Box Office

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures and Sega of America shows the character Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3". (Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc. via AP)

Two family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" winning the three-day weekend over "Mufasa" by a blue hair.

Paramount's Sonic movie earned $38 million, while "Mufasa" brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a normal weekend counting Friday, Saturday and Sunday ticket purchases, the winner would be somewhat clear.

But when the Christmas holiday falls on a Wednesday as it did this year, the studios look at two sets of numbers: The five-day earnings and the three-day weekend earnings. With the five-day tally, The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" had the edge, bringing in $63.8 million.

It all adds up to a rather robust theatrical landscape, helped by the continued success of "Wicked" and "Moana 2," which are on their sixth and fifth weekends, respectively.

The vampire horror "Nosferatu" also debuted fairly triumphantly. Robert Eggers' modern reimagining of a 1922 silent film starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp rose to the top of a starry batch of Christmas Day newcomers, which included the Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," with Timothée Chalamet; the drama "Babygirl" with Nicole Kidman; and "The Fire Inside," about boxer Claressa Shields.

"Nosferatu" landed in third place with $21.2 million from the weekend and $40.3 million from its first five days. Not accounting for inflation, it had the best Christmas Day opening ever for a genre film, with $11.6 million (besting "The Faculty's" $4.4 million in 1998). Focus Features released the R-rated film in 2,992 theaters.

It was a gamble to open "Nosferatu" on Christmas, when family films or all-ages blockbusters tend to be prioritized. But it paid off, attracting the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic to theaters.

"It was a risky move, but we knew that we had such a great film," said Lisa Bunnell, who leads distribution for Focus Features. "A lot of people thought we were insane. But I think the more that people thought we were crazy, the more we all felt like it was the right thing to do."

The response to the unconventional counter-programming was gratifying. The sarcophagus-inspired popcorn buckets are even reselling for over $100.

"People keep talking about 'how do we get people back into the movies?' I think the only way you can get people to go back is to shake it up," Bunnell said. "You don't just spoon feed them the same things over and over again."

The Bob Dylan movie, directed by James Mangold, also got off to a bright start with $11.6 million over the weekend and $23.2 million since Christmas. The 5-day total is a record for Searchlight Pictures since Disney acquired the company in early 2019. It's been well received by both critics (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A on CinemaScore) and will likely get more of a boost from the awards race.

"Babygirl," an A24 release from filmmaker Halina Reijn, played on 2115 screens, earning $4.4 million over the weekend and $7.2 million since Christmas. The film stars Kidman as a married, buttoned-up CEO who begins an affair with a young intern at the company, played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman won the best acting prize for her performance at the Venice Film Festival.

"The Fire Inside," from Amazon MGM Studios, meanwhile got a bit lost in the mix despite strong reviews. It has earned a total of $4.3 million, with $2 million coming from weekend showings where it played in 2006 theaters.

Thanksgiving releases continued to perform well through the Christmas timeframe. Fourth place went to "Wicked," which earned another $19.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $424.2 million. On Tuesday, the lavish movie musical will also be available to rent or purchase at home. It's a move that has drawn some critics who believe making it available at home after only 40 days in theaters will cannibalize profits.

"Moana 2" rounded out the top five films this weekend with $18.2 million. The Disney movie has made $882.5 million globally and is closing in on $400 million domestically.

Christmas Day itself was massive for the industry, with $61 million in ticket sales. Thursday was nearly as big, with $50 million.

"Every day was like Saturday at the box office because of the way the holidays lined up," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's senior media analyst.

Comscore is projecting that the year will net out with about $8.75 billion in domestic box office receipts. That's down about 3.3% from last year, which cracked $9 billion, and the pre-pandemic normal of $11 billion.