Val Kilmer Reaches Settlement With Artist Who Accused Actor Of Ripping Him Off
By Ryan Naumann on December 11, 2019 at 8:12 AM EST
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Val Kilmer has reached a confidential settlement with an artist who claimed the actor stole his designs.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Kilmer and New Mexico artist Bale Creek Allen informed the court of the deal, which came days after the actor denied all allegations of stealing Allen’s work.Last year, Allen filed a lawsuit against Kilmer for allegedly reproducing his artwork and selling it as his own.
Allen has created gold colored tumbleweed sculptures for years, which are featured in art galleries in New Mexico and Texas. He said Kilmer approached him about buying his work but eventually claimed he couldn’t afford the piece.
Allen later discovered Kilmer was selling a knock off of his work for $150,000 at a private gallery. Kilmer made once piece which was a tumbleweed dipped in 22k gold and bronzed.
Once Allen discovered the alleged rip off, he reached out to the actor demanding he stop selling the work. He says he never heard back from Kilmer. His lawsuit sought unspecified damages and an injunction against Kilmer from infringing on his copyrights.
The Blast
Kilmer denied the allegations he stole Allen’s work. He threw a little shade in court documents, “Although Allen’s process is undoubtedly pain-staking and takes a high degree of skill, his resulting sculptures are replicas of tumbleweeds from nature— except covered in gold.”
He continued, “Because it is clear from the Complaint that Kilmer did not copy any particular golden tumbleweed of Allen’s but reproduced a different tumbleweed from nature, there can be no possibility of infringement.”
Kilmer was adamant he didn’t steal from Allen but instead “made a realistic sculpture of a different tumbleweed.” He demanded the entire lawsuit be thrown out.
The settlement was reached only days later.
Kilmer recently announced he is releasing a memoir entitled "I'm Your Huckleberry."
He shared the news on Instagram writing, "It’s been a lifetime in the making and I’m finally able to lift the veil on one of my most personal projects. I will be publishing my memoir I’mYour Huckleberry with @simonbooks ! Yes, it’s quite a story and the first thing I can tell you about it is that its got an official release date - April 21, 2020."
