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A Britain's Got Talent contestant who sued the show’s producers for more than £40 million (BD20m) has had his claim thrown out at the High Court.
Robert Aslanyan filed legal action against Fremantle Media Limited, claiming it acted negligently by failing to notify him that an audition during the Covid-19 pandemic had been cancelled.
He also claimed it breached a contract with him by failing to decide his application. Fremantle opposed the claim and applied to the court for it to be dismissed, with Judge Mark Gidden ruling in a hearing that Mr Aslanyan’s case was ‘hopeless’ and ‘completely without merit’.
The judge said it was ‘something of a mercy to end the claim now, and I agree’. He added that the claim was flawed and has already gone on long enough, instead ordering that Aslanyan pay £48,188.50 in legal costs within 28 days.
Judge Gidden said that Aslanyan planned to perform a song named Our Mother Queen for Series 15 of the programme, which he dedicated to the then-monarch, late Queen Elizabeth II. The judge continued that performing the song was Aslanyan’s great aspiration and that he anticipated it would yield a very life-changing commercial success, the value of which he placed at more than £43 million.
Aslanyan had represented himself in the claim and did not attend Friday’s online hearing.
Mark Winden, for Fremantle Media, told the court that Aslanyan applied six times for at least the last four series of Britain’s Got Talent, the 17th of which concluded earlier this year, but never got through to an audition before the celebrity judging panel.
After applying for series 15 in 2020, Aslanyan was later mistakenly invited to attend an in-person audition in December 2021, but no physical auditions were taking place due to the pandemic. Winden said that Aslanyan travelled to Cardiff with several family members for the audition, despite being sent an email by the producers confirmn Hopgood ing that the original invite was sent in error.
The lawyer added that a basic sense check would have told Aslanyan that the invitation was false and that he should have understood that it was a mistake. Winden continued that Aslanyan’s claim argued that the company was contractually obliged to inform him of its decision related to his application, and to make its decision strictly based on artistic performance.
But the court was told that producers had not breached the show’s rules nor been negligent towards Aslanyan, with Winden claiming the producers had unfettered discretion over applications for the competition.
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