"Bachelor" Bob Sings Lawsuit Blues

Mon., Dec. 22, 2003 10:00 AM PST by

Bachelor Bob's getting some tough love from the people who made him a star.

Bob Guiney, the chubby funny guy on ABC's The Bachelorette who transformed himself into the slimmed-down dorky-cute Don Juan on this fall's The Bachelor, has been sued by show producers over his attempt to launch a music career.

And Syndicated Productions, a division of Telepictures Productions, which makes The Bachelor/Bachelorette series for ABC, has sued Guiney for breach of contract, claiming he violated an exclusivity clause in his TV contract that barred him from promoting other products without the producer's permission. And Syndicated Productions says Guiney committed a legal faux pas when he did appearances and interviews and shot a music video to hype his new album, 3 Sides.

The suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Guiney and indie record label Wind-up Records, says producers "spent millions of dollars turning the previously obscure Mr. Guiney into 'Bachelor Bob,' a much-loved worldwide celebrity closely associated with the series."

The suit claims the aforementioned much-loved worldwide celebrity attempted to capitalize on his newfound fame by making a "windfall profit at ASP's expense, thereby diluting the value of Mr. Guiney's public image, and tarnishing the series' goodwill and public esteem."

The producers are seeking unspecified monetary damages and plan to petition a judge to halt Guiney from making future promotional appearances for the record, which bowed exclusively on Amazon.com in October and is expected to hit stores sometime next year.

Calls to Burbank-based Telepictures Productions seeking comment were not returned; reps for Guiney were not immediately available.

Before finding reality stardom as a suitor in the first season of The Bachelorette--he was passed over by Trista Rehn in favor of poetic fireman Ryan Sutter, but Guiney did make cameo appearances at Sutter's bachelor party and wedding, as chronicled in ABC's three-part telecast of Trista and Ryan's Wedding--Guiney earned a living behind the mic for four years in the early 1990s, writing and singing tunes for his Michigan-based band, Fat Amy, and also touring.

After his stint as titular star of the fourth season of The Bachelor--where he ultimately picked Estella, but the two have since reportedly called it quits--Guiney decided to revive his Bob Rock persona, collaborating with several of his Fat Amy band mates to make 3 Sides.

Unlike his karaoke scenes in The Bachelor, Guiney's 12-track album sounds similar to John Mayer, down to its themes of, yes, love and devotion with ditties like "Craziest Girl I Know" (Trista? Estella? His ex-wife?), "Fortunate" and "Girlfriend."

Per Amazon's customer ratings, 3 Sides rates three-and-a-half stars out of four based on 44 reviews; the CD's sales rank currently stands at 395.

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