Ex-Sports Illustrated Publisher Sued for Holding Brand ‘Hostage’

The owner of the Sports Illustrated brand accused its former publishing partner of failing to pay royalties, infringing its trademarks and copyrights, and decimating the brand in a lawsuit filed in New York federal court Monday.

Authentic Brands Group LLC said Arena Group Holdings Inc. and CEO Manoj Bhargava reneged on their license and used its termination as pretext to fire scores of unionized employees, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York complaint said. Bhagarva “behaved more like a gangster than a trusted business partner” while threatening to “essentially burn everything down and destroy the SI ...