The legal battle involving CHARLOTTE CHURCH and her former manager JONATHAN SHALIT got underway at the High Court in LONDON today (November 21).
Shalit was sacked in January, and is attempting to claim 20% of the 14-year-old’s earnings to the year 2002 and a cut of royalties on recordings made before then, in compensation for loss of earnings.
He claims that her mother, Maria, was a “pushy woman”. Mrs Church alleges that Shalit’s behaviour was inappropriate, claming he made a lewd comment about her daughter’s chest and swore at her during a row over a plane ticket.
Shalit, who discovered her on TV programme Jonathan Ross Big Talent Show in 1997, says he paid for demos and arranged a meeting with the chairman of Sony record label. Her first two albums sold millions of copies and she is one of only 55 females listed in the Sunday Times Top 500 richest people in Britain, earning around £10 million to date. Shalit claims that the real reason for his contract being ended was that he stood in the way of Mrs Church’s pursuit of money, according to reports on [url=]www.bbc.co.uk.
Charlotte is expected to give evidence during the case, which it is anticipated will last two weeks.