Caitlin Sanchez, voice of Dora the Explorer, and her family are suing Nickelodeon/Viacom. According to an article posted by the NYDailyNews.com, "Lawyers for Caitlin Sanchez, 14, of Fairview, N.J., charged that she and her parents were duped into signing an 'unconscionable' contract that allowed producers of the Nickelodeon hit to exploit her." The article goes on to say that Caitlin's agent pushed her family into signing the contract, saying that Nick would just go hire some other girl if they didn't sign. The law suit claims that Caitlin was cheated out of millions, "perhaps tens of millions."
Of course, comments on the article go both ways. Some say that it is true that millions of little girls would gladly take the role, and that the thousands of dollars per episode Nick payed her was fair. Others look at it as big business cashing in on her talent without sharing an equal amount of the pay. Not knowing the full story and not having seen the contract, I can't really speak to which side is right or wrong on this, but I'll tell you what, the whole situation speaks to the fact that the entertainment business can be a dirty game. Also, wow, those people are all making a lot of money, including the child actors.
Whatever happens, I wish the best to Caitlin, who is as darling as can be and obviously very talented. I will admit, though, that I am curious to see how this suit plays out. Did Nickelodeon dupe her family and bully them into signing an "unconscionable" contract? What will the courts have to say about this?
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