Sayings its claims are “bizarre” and on thin ice, a federal judge on Tuesday tossed a $400 million lawsuit by Olympic figure-skating champion Oksana Baiul against her former agents.
Manhattan federal Judge Katherine Forrest dismissed the suit filed against William Morris Entertainment, some of its agents and others. It claimed the defendants stole more than $57 million in earnings from Baiul through a “criminal enterprise” that took advantage of the ice queen by signing her in 1994 when she was a 16-year-old minor and could not understand English.
But Forrest practically laughed off the claims, saying in her opinion that the suit alleges “a sweeping conspiracy spanning more than two decades” and is “frivolous and, frankly, bizarre.” She also questioned why Baiul waited until 2011 to begin investigating the matter before initially filing the lawsuit last year in state court.
William Morris has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Forrest’s decision comes two weeks after she dismissed as frivolous another lawsuit by the 1994 Winter Olympics star. That suit alleged cable network NBC Universal and promoter Stephen Disson falsely used Baiul’s image in ads to promote two televised shows in 2011 and 2012 after she declined to perform.
Reps for Baiul did not immediately return messages.