Hilton’s’ Dubai TV show runs into trouble

Dubai: US hotel heiress Paris Hilton`s Dubai-based reality TV has got embroiled in law suits over financial obligations.V Producers, an Abu Dhabi based production house, contracted Uniqon Emirates in 2009 to handle the day-to-day production of the filming of the Dubai-based version of the reality show `Paris Hilton`s My New BFF`.

However, Uniqon Emirates was subsequently "unable to fulfil their financial obligations so V Producers financed some of the final production costs in order to save the show," V Producers said in a statement. "Despite continuous efforts to resolve the matter Uniqon Emirates was unable to meet the payment deadline and V Producers were left with no other option but to pursue a lawsuit which they subsequently won," it added. According to the statement, the managing director of Uniqon Emirates, Ehab Habib, received a one year prison sentence following this lawsuit while other legal claims are in progress. The latest development comes amid reports that Lionsgate Television, the US producers of the show, had filed an USD 8 million federal suit against Uniqon Emirates in the US District Court in Los Angeles for breach of contract. According to the US reports, the law suit claims that Uniqon Emirates failed to honour a deal to pay more than USD 4.7 million to cover the production and distribution costs of the Dubai show and the programme has subsequently not been shown by MTV. The hotel heiress filmed the reality TV show in Dubai in the summer of 2009 and Liongate are seeking compensatory damages against Uniqon Emirates for the failed deal. PTI