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Ali Sues To Reclaim Rights

August 19, 1999 / 1:12 AM EDT / AP

Lawyers for Muhammad Ali have filed a lawsuit claiming a one-time personal lawyer of Ali and an associate duped the former heavyweight boxing champion into signing away the rights to his life story.

The lawsuit, filed last Friday in U.S. District Court, accused Richard Hirschfeld, a longtime friend as well as lawyer of Ali, of taking advantage of Ali's weak condition while he was being treated for Parkinson's disease.

Ali asked the court to declare his 1988 business agreement with Hirschfeld and the associate, Ali's former manager and spiritual adviser, Jabir Herbert Muhammad of Chicago, null and void.

Columbia Pictures has announced plans, with Ali's cooperation, to make a movie about Ali, who will be portrayed by Will Smith.

According to Ali's lawsuit, he was never paid anything for signing the contract giving 40 percent interest in his life story to Hirschfeld and Muhammad. The contract created a Virginia company called Muhammad Ali Productions Inc., with Ali, Hirschfeld and Muhammad as directors.


Muhammad Ali wants the rights to his life story back. (AP)

According to court papers, the company owns exclusive rights to any autobiography or authorized biography of Ali's life, including books, TV shows and movies.

Dale Cooter, a Washington lawyer for Muhammad Ali Productions, said Wednesday that Ali got a fair deal when he signed the contract and was not misled. "Muhammad Ali entered into a business transaction, and he knew exactly what he was doing," Cooter said.

In March, Muhammad Ali Productions filed a lawsuit in federal court in Roanoke, Va., to block the Columbia Pictures movie. The lawsuit sought $50 million from Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., parent company of Columbia Pictures. The suit was dropped in June, and Cooter wouldn't say whether the case would be refiled.

"We're weighing all of our options," he said.

Hirschfeld, who spent four years in prison for a 1991 tax and securities fraud conviction, fled the country in 1996 after being indicted on additional fraud charges. Cooter declined comment on Hirschfeld's whereabouts.