The actor who played Jethro in The Beverly Hillbillies is claiming that a secret deal between CBS and Des Moines-based Jethro's BBQ is interfering with his opportunity to cash in on his role from the iconic television show.
Max Baer Jr., best known for his role as Jethro Bodine on the show, filed a lawsuit against CBS on Tuesday. The lawsuit claims that Baer negotiated a deal with CBS for the rights to use the fictional character and other motifs from the show to create a chain of restaurants, hotels and casinos.
Baer's rights to the character have been undermined by the central Iowa chain of Jethro's restaurants, according to the lawsuit. The popular chain grew from the original Jethro's BBQ location in the Drake neighborhood to six total locations in Des Moines and neighboring suburbs.
Bruce Gerleman, a Des Moines businessman and owner of the restaurant chain, said fans of Jethro's BBQ have nothing to be concerned about. The restaurant chain currently is not named as a party to the lawsuit, he said.
"We own the name, we own the trademark, it will always be Jethro's BBQ in Des Moines, Iowa," he said.
However, there's potential that the restaurant chain could eventually become a defendant in the lawsuit, said Beverly Hills attorney Jon Freis, who is representing Baer. It will depend on what kind of information is uncovered during the discovery process, he said.
"We really haven't gotten a lot of information from CBS regarding their agreement with Jethro's (BBQ)," he said. "But it is certainly possible that Jethro's could be added as a party later on."
Baer's lawsuit claims the restaurant chain worked out a secret deal with CBS to use the "Jethro" character that he was rightfully entitled to.
The 1960s television show The Beverly Hillbillies tells the story of Jed Clampett and his family, who move from their backwoods home to California after a hunting mishap ended in Clampett striking it rich in the oil industry. On the show, Baer played Clampett's nephew, Jethro.
Baer declined to speak about the lawsuit Wednesday.
"I don't wish to comment on anything," he said. "The brief says everything it should say."
Baer and CBS reached a "broad" licensing agreement in 1991 that gave the actor rights to develop motel, casino, restaurant and other properties using Beverly Hillbillies themes, Freis said. Jethro's BBQ essentially dilutes the "Jethro" brand that Baer has rights to, he said.
Under the licensing agreement, Baer has spent upwards of $1 million in efforts to develop hillbilly-themed businesses, according to the lawsuit. The actor has also paid royalties back to CBS for merchandise, including revenue from themed slot machines and a brand of BBQ sauce, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit makes four separate claims against CBS, including breach of contract. A communications executive for the company did not return a reporter's email on Wednesday.
The name and theme of Jethro's BBQ has been the center of a legal dispute in the past. After Jethro's BBQ opened in April 2008, CBS contacted Gerleman, arguing that the television company owned the rights to the "Jethro" character and other themes from the show.
The restaurant chain and CBS struck an out-of-court deal, and Jethro's BBQ changed certain elements of the restaurant, such as food dishes named after characters from the show. Gerleman believes this is the agreement that Baer's lawsuit references. The deal bars him from talking more about its specifics, he said.
"There is an agreement between CBS and myself," he said. "It's not a secret deal; we just can't talk about it."
Despite his licensing agreement with CBS, Baer was "kept completely in the dark" about negotiations between CBS and the Des Moines restaurateur, Freis said.
Gerleman said he and Baer have spoken over the phone in the past, but the actor has never directly threatened to sue the restaurant chain.
"He's a very nice man, and we get along great, and we've actually talked about and discussed working together," he said. "At some point, he was even thinking about coming out to Des Moines and sitting down and eating some of our BBQ."
