While reality TV shows often feature heated arguments and broken lifelong relationships, it’s rare that the lives of their creators imitate art.
But it’s the case for childhood friends and Luxe Listings co-creators Benjamin Scott and James Kennedy, who have elevated their bitter dispute to the Federal Court.
Scott claims Kennedy breached his duties as a co-director of their company Kentel Australasia when he sold the rights to the property reality series at a reduced price and surrendered their ownership rights.
Kennedy is also accused of secretly using Luxe Listings to showcase luxury watch brands Rolex and Patek Philippe, which he sells at his jewellery store.
The alleged product placement is estimated to be worth millions of dollars, and Scott argues he is entitled to a cut of those profits.
The allegations have been denied by Kennedy, who has been locked in a bitter legal fight with his former business partner for two years.
Related Stories
The end appeared to be in sight in March when Kentel, the entertainment business they co-founded, went into voluntary liquidation.
The company is also suing Kennedy over the alleged breaches of his duties and has acted as a second plaintiff throughout the proceedings.
But in the days before the company went into administration, its lawyers decided the lawsuit had no reasonable prospects of success and applied to discontinue the company’s involvement.
In documents filed in the Federal Court, Kentel claimed it had the consent of the other active parties in the suit.
His lawyer Richard Scruby SC hotly denied the claim and said the notice of discontinuance should be declared void.
“It was all done behind our backs,” he said at a hearing over the issue on April 8.
Kennedy came to an agreement with his former company that the proceedings would cease and it would cover part of his legal fees for the lawsuit, the court was told.
His lawyer said the two parties had come to a resolution and there was “no reason not to bring an end to these proceedings.”
Justice Peter Brereton is expected to hand down his decision on whether the company can sever itself from the proceedings on May 2.
There is no such clarity about the resolution of the battle between Scott and Kennedy over their smash hit series.
Luxe Listings was a three-season reality TV series which followed high-end real estate agents as they marketed multimillion-dollar properties in Sydney.
It premiered in July 2021 on Amazon Prime and became the platform’s most watched Australian original show.
