Halle Berry Sued by MMA Star Cat Zingano Over ‘Bruised’ Film Role Snub
Halle Berry Sued by MMA Star Cat Zingano Over ‘Bruised’ Film Role Snub https://t.co/vJkZGypvuk
- Variety (@Variety) August 17, 2021
MMA star Cat Zingano has sued Halle Berry, alleging that she passed up a key UFC fight in order to appear in Berry’s film about mixed martial arts, only to be dropped from both UFC and the film.
Berry’s film, “Bruised,” is due out on Netflix in November.
She makes her directorial debut and stars as an MMA fighter who is also a single mother.
Zingano states that Berry asked her to appear in the film during a meeting in July 2019.
Berry noted the parallels between the script and Zingano’s own life story.
A week later, Zingano got an offer for a UFC fight in October 2019, in contention for a title fight.
Berry told Zingano that for insurance reasons, Zingano could not do both the fight and the film.
Zingano informed UFC that she would not participate in the fight. UFC released her in August 2019.
Two weeks after, Berry allegedly told Zingano that she could not appear in the film, because only UFC fighters could participate. Berry then cut off communication with Zingano, who later signed with Bellator MMA.
Zingano states a claim of “promissory estoppel,” arguing that she relied on Berry’s promise to include her in the film when she turned down the UFC fight.
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