Henry “Bombastic” Bushkin shafted his business partner, denying him a share of the profits from his scathing biography of Johnny Carson a new lawsuit claims.
Businessman Bruce Singer filed suit Dec. 17 in US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles for $159,000 that he claims he loaned Bushkin, plus profits he was promised from the book.
The complaint includes a copy of a January 2009 agreement in which Singer agreed to pay Bushkin’s living expenses for six months through his Singer Financial Corp. in return for a partnership in the book. Singer was promised 25 percent of the book’s profits, once the agent’s fee was paid, and had a 50-50 ownership of the book and film rights, according to the agreement.
As collateral, should the book fail to sell, former Carson lawyer Bushkin put up the artwork in his Beverly Hills home.
But Bushkin’s book was a hit, bolstered by such tales as the time he accompanied a pistol-packing Carson and “a squad of men with downturned mouths and upturned collars through a rain-swept Manhattan evening” into the secret love nest of his second wife, Joanne. It claimed Carson was devastated to find photos of football great Frank Gifford on a table and men’s clothing in the closet of an apartment he was paying for.
The book hit No. 1 on the NY Times bestseller list, and stayed there for several weeks.
Singer filed suit when Bushkin failed to pay him back, give him any art, or even list him as a creditor with the bankruptcy court.
Bushkin, in New York meeting with his publisher to discuss a second book, told me he was mystified by Singer’s suit.
“He was one of my best friends. We spoke every day. I’m very unhappy about it, and I don’t understand it,” Bushkin said. “It’s not pleasant.”
On a pleasanter note, the lawyer confirmed he is engaged to marry Jackie Jordan, whose late husband owned Madeo’s in West Hollywood.
Singer declined to comment on the suit.