Caitlin Sanchez, the teen-age actress who provided the voice of the title character in Nickelodeon’s popular Dora the Explorer series, has filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show claiming they forced her to sign a contract that allowed them to exploit her and deprive her of millions of dollars, reports the New York Daily News.
The lawsuit alleges that the actress was not paid for hundreds of hours of recording sessions and was required by the contract to fly around the country to promote the show on a daily stipend of $40 per day, the paper reports.
It also alleges that Sanchez and her parents were pressured into a signing the 14-page contract without an opportunity to have an attorney review it on their behalf, the Daily News reports.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Sanchez and her parents in Manhattan Supreme Court by attorney John Balestriere and names as defendants Nickelodeon, MTV Networks and Viacom International.
Michael Fricklas, executive vice president and general counsel for Viacom, told the newspaper the filing was expected and the complaint is without merit.
The network later issued a statement that read: “Unfortunately, Caitlin’s voice changed and she was no longer able to portray the Dora character, as happened with the actress who originated the role,” the Daily News reports.
Sanchez became the voice of Dora in 2007.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/07/2010-10-07_im_dora_the_exploited_says_voice_of_cartoon.html#ixzz11iCEQwbO
