Producers Plan To File For Arbitration Against Tearful Jeremy Piven

NEW YORK — Jeremy Piven is not off the hook yet.

The producers of "Speed-the-Plow" said Friday they will file for arbitration to settle their dispute with the actor for abruptly quitting the Broadway show after his doctor said he was suffering from mercury poisoning.

The action came after no agreement was reached Thursday in a grievance hearing requested by the producers. A panel composed of Actors' Equity and Broadway League representatives were unable to reach a required unanimous decision.

In a terse, two-sentence statement, the producers said: "The grievance went as expected yesterday. The grievance committee (made up of League and Equity representatives) did not rule for either side and we will be filing for arbitration as provided by our contract."

No date was given for the filing by lead producer Jeffrey Richards.

Samantha Mast, Piven's spokeswoman, said: "We're not aware the producers have filed anything to initiate an arbitration, but if they do so, we are confident that the producers will not prevail in arbitration, just as they did not prevail in the grievance proceeding they initiated."

Under Actors' Equity rules, the arbitration will be heard by a professional arbitrator, acceptable to both Equity and the League. He or she will be chosen from a list of nine designated people, who will hold the hearing within 30 days of the filing and issue a decision within 30 days of that meeting.

The 43-year-old Piven, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning star of HBO's "Entourage," departed the production of David Mamet's satiric comedy after his physician said he had high levels of mercury in his body.

In a tearful interview with The New York Times after Thursday's hearing, Piven said his illness stemmed from eating fish twice a week for 20 years, not from consuming too much sushi, as some reports suggested.

"Speed-the-Plow" opened last October to favorable reviews and by the time the revival ended its limited engagement Feb. 22 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, it had recouped its $2.26 million production costs.

Three different actors _ understudy Jordan Lage, Norbert Leo Butz and William H. Macy _ followed Piven in the role of movie mogul Bobby Gould. Mamet's three-character play about Hollywood glamour, sex and power, also starred Elisabeth Moss of AMC's "Mad Men" and Raul Esparza.

Comments

[proudandtrue]

The star of 'Speed & C oke' needs to chill on the sushi. And, what's it called again,....ah, yes ....the C*O*C*A*I*N*E. Ease up on the moon dust, bro.

[marignymitch]

Tears! Great performance, Piven.

[harriettubman]

Piven better have his medical records in order. If he did truly have mercury poisoning, then he will have to prove it. He hasn't been out of the spotlight so that shows a propensity to lie. With mercury poisoning, he should've been resting for quite a while. We shall see if he was telling the truth.

[AngryAmishJunior]

Speaking as a sociopathic lawyer/playwright/director/leatherfetishist/Katrina survivor who spends all of my free time (which is ALL of my time) fl agging the comments of anyone who disagrees with me, I'd have to say: Give Priven a break.

[Cowboylove]

Which leg do you suggest?

[Eric8869]

I think he's hot too but he acted like a diva and unprofessional. He has earned this negative attention. Hopefully he will learn from it.

After the TV show is over his star is likely to fade - he better not burn bridges in the theatre community which has saved many an actors career.

[skymuffin]

Bad actor. Can't even fake an illness.

[TheBaffler]

Why does HoofyPoo insist on running a story about this nobody every fecking week?

[haval2]

Hamachi Boy .... why did you do it?

[Steamboater]

If Piven is working and in production with "Entourage", he has no excuse to have broken his contract and leave the show. Who knows what's going on here though? It's obvious the show was headed in the right direction because it was a hit. Piven would have known that so maybe he really is sick.

[Cowboylove]

Petulant at the very least...

[Rosey]

Obviously he did not want to do the show. If he is really and truly ill, why is he constantly out partying?

[Zeroes]

Leave the poor boy alone...he smells fishy...let him do what he wants...obama will get his paycheck in the new tax for actors...

[Cowboylove]

Are you referring to that massive 3 percent tax increase on the wealthiest Americans? The ones who pay no social security tax on income over $102,000? I say make everyone pay social security tax on every dollar they earn, like most working Americans, and there will be a budget surplus immediately.

[harriettubman]

I fall into that tax bracket and YES I do pay income tax. Where did you get that info?

[andvoodoo2]

William H. Macy was one of the actors who replaced Piven. The audience should be thrilled. Macy is a thousand times the actor Piven is.

[jukesgrrl]

You can say that again.

[rzan1]

Not quite a thousand times.

[Cowboylove]

Love Bill Macy and as an actor, he far surpasses anything Piven has done to date. Still, Piven is a little cuter.

[rzan1]

Piven is pretty cute, I have to agree.

[lioness39]

Hahaha gag! You think Brad Pitt is a good actor. What a gut buster.

[wordvarc]

There's a new dialysis styled magnetic treatment for removing metals from the bloodstream. That strored in liver, fat, or tissue is harder to get.

[trudem2]

Why can't his doctors step forward with proof -- medical records, tests -- that demonstrate the man was too ill to work and they advised his as such. Doesn't his contract have an escape clause allowing for "ability" to perform? Why haven't doctors, Piven, and producers sat down and resolved this thing? Why has this turned into such a big issue? There must be personal feelings and vendettas entangled.

[PhilipB]

Good point

[wordvarc]

Once confidentiality is released, all information that provider holds is not protected. Releasing medical records is hardly ever a good idea for anybody.

[jp5472]

I do believe that there are procedures (correct me if I am wrong please, trained legal minds) for the records to be presented to the judge for his perusal without them becoming public and maintaining confidentiality.

[Tenley]

The news reports yesterday did include mention of the doctor, I think he's associated with Harvard Medical. I don't know; the actors' union agreed with Piven down the line in taking the doctor's advice, it was the producers down the line who disagreed and no decision thus could be reached. Honestly, Piven might have a case when this is all over for suing the producers for defamation if this is the kind of result he gets not just this time but again.

[wial]

If he has mercury poisoning it's detectable. If it's neurological damage it affects his judgment and willpower. If the fish industry and governments it manipulates were honest, we wouldn't be eating any farmed or Atlantic fish.

I've worked with annoying divas in community theater so I understand how many enemies they can make, and I understand how important it is to a cast that everyone valiantly sticks it out, but I thought progressives understood the importance of grounding judgment in scientific data, and clearly a lot of the commenters here do not. If he's sick, he's sick in a way that stupifies him, and fish contamination, along with the massive damage to the planets whole system being done by overfishing, is one of the biggest problems we face.

If he's lying, fine, but mercury contamination is detectable and real.

Appalling.

[skippyB]

And I would have told Dan White to Lay Off The Twinkies. Sounds like Mr. Piven thought he'd look even more special eating sushi around the clock. He probably thought he'd look even more wonderful if he ate large predator fish, the most expensive and mercury-laden ones. All the time.

I suspect he fit the part he was playing to a tee, and is very missed. I also suspect he's very very special and wonderful.

[Eric8869]

He was trying to get out of the show and suddenly "got ill" and left without saying anything to anyone.

Progressives understand scientific data but we're not stupid either.

I'll say it again - if he was really sick the entire production would have rallied behind him - he wasn't and they knew it. Hence all this drama.

People are out sick on Broadway all the time without this drama.

All he had to do was be professional.

[johnnygoodwud]

WWAD, what would arie do? not cry