Karen Willis, the wife of Victor Willis, claims Disney hired the Village People to perform at Disney World in Florida for at least a decade before things turned south.
- Jun 26, 2024
AceShowbiz - Village People will continue battling Disney in court. Karen Willis, the wife of Victor Willis and manager of the VP trademark for live performances, reportedly filed a lawsuit against the Mouse House late last year and despite its attempt to dismiss the case, a judge decided to keep it on.
In legal docs obtained by TMZ, Karen accused the entertainment company of blackballing the "YMCA" hitmakers from booking gigs at its theme parks. She was also upset by its hostile treatment to her husband and other band members.
Karen said Disney hired the Village People to perform at Disney World in Florida for at least a decade. While the two parties had good relationship at first, things turned south after there was a fracture in the band with old members, who were trying to keep the annual gig going.
At the end of the day, Victor and Jacques Morali were allowed to perform at Disney after winning the rights to their music from the other band members. However, in 2018, Disney reportedly treated them terribly throughout a 2-day job. Karen said "she wanted to personally help with front-of-house sound duties for a better show but was physically blocked" by its employees and even ushered away.
In addition, Karen claimed that she and her husband were physically attacked by overzealous fans in the park, whom she believed to be ordered by the spurned ex-band members. She wasn't pleased that Disney didn't provide extra security for them despite her husband's contract requiring it.
Not stopping there, Karen alleged that Disney ended up "giving them the runaround on payment with checks initially made out to the wrong people/groups." Although she and Victor attempted to solve those issues, Disney allegedly didn't care much and even failed to hire them back for any other Disney gigs.
The plaintiffs are seeking $20 million in damages. Disney, meanwhile, has yet to publicly address the matter.
