"American History X" Director To File Suit

October 2, 1998

Tony Kaye—who directed the controversial New Line Cinema film American History X, which stars Edward Norton as a neo-Nazi skinhead—has announced his intention to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Directors Guild of America and New Line for "interference with a contract" and "breach of contract."

Kaye charges that the studio violated the Basic Agreement protecting the rights of directors and producers, when it allowed star Norton to enter the editing room before Kaye had completed editing on the film. Norton's changes to the film increased the length of his role, and Kaye responded to the alterations, which he believes "violated the concept of the film," by petitioning the Directors Guild to have his name removed from the film. His complaint claims that the guild violated its own set of rules by taking no action to protect his right to finish editing the film, by then refusing to allow him to remove his name from the film, and by denying him the right of due process when he wasn't afforded a hearing on the matter. Kaye commented, "I was astonished to learn that my union, the Directors Guild, attempted to deny me the right to speak freely."

As for the other barrel aimed at New Line, Kaye contends that the studio is guilty of both interference with and breach of contract. Kaye counsel Mark Lane is fine-tuning his client's complaint and plans to have it filed sometime next week. The prominent Washington, D.C., attorney says, "Kaye will also seek from the court a declaratory judgment holding that the provision of the agreement which denies a director the right to criticize the film while seeking to withdraw his name from the project is void as a violation of free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution."