1Adidas and Scientology Clause
Adidas has a clause in its contract that allows them to terminate the deal if the player belongs to any organization or association representing the principles of L. Ron Hubbard (i.e., Scientology).
2. American Rock Band Van Halen had a "no brown M&Ms" clause in their contracts, which was designed to ensure that venues adhered to the safety standards outlined in the contract. If there were brown M&Ms present, it served as a telltale sign that the venue might not be in compliance.
3. William Shatner directed 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' due to a clause in his contract dating back to the original series. This clause ensured that whatever Leonard Nimoy received, Shatner would too. After Nimoy directed 'Star Trek IV', Shatner insisted on his turn at directing a movie.
4. Samuel Jackson has a clause in his film contracts that grants him the freedom to play golf during film shoots whenever he desires.
5. Voice actress Julie Kavner, who voiced Marge in The Simpsons, has a clause in her contract exempting her from promoting herself on camera as Marge's voice.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Messi's Napkin Contract
Lionel Messi's first contract with FC Barcelona was written on a restaurant napkin during a meeting with executives. That napkin is now securely held in a safe at Credit Andorra Bank.
7. Actor Andy Kaufman insisted that his alter ego, Tony Clifton, a drunken, cigarette-smoking lounge singer/insult comic, have guest appearances on ABC sitcom Taxi with a separate contract. After showing up to set with two prostitutes, Clifton was fired. A week later, Andy returned as if nothing had happened.
8. Jeremy Meeks, a member of the Crips street gang, gained a modeling contract based on his attractive mugshot while he was still in jail. He served 13 months and walked in NY Fashion Week a year later. Within five years of his release, he also walked in Milan Fashion Week, helped launch a fashion line, acted, and more.
9. After an Iranian government contract for a British company was given to Siemens instead, a British embassy investigation revealed that Siemens' Iranian sales agent allowed the Shah to sleep with his wife in exchange for the contract.
10. Carrie Chapman Catt, the women's suffrage leader of the early 20th century, included a special clause in her 1890 wedding prenuptials. This clause guaranteed her four months of free time every year so she could campaign to secure women's right to vote in the US.
11Roddenberry's Tricorder Clause
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, added a clause to his contract with Paramount specifying that if anyone actually made a functioning tricorder, they would automatically earn the right to call it a tricorder if they wanted to.
12. In Major League Baseball, there's a trading clause known as the "player to be named later." Thanks to its ambiguous nature, four MLB players have been traded for themselves (as of 2023).
13. In 1965, a 90-year-old Frenchwoman named Jeanne Calment, who had no heirs, signed a contract with a 47-year-old lawyer, giving him her apartment upon her death. However, he had to pay her a monthly allowance until she died. Surprisingly, she outlived him, and his widow continued the payments, ultimately receiving approximately double the value of the apartment. She died in 1997 at the age of 122.
14. F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen nearly bankrupted his Lotus team. They included a €50,000 bonus per point in his contract, thinking he wouldn't score many. However, Kimi scored 390 in two years, including 15 podiums and two race wins.
15. Jackie Mitchell was a female minor league pitcher who struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back-to-back in 1928. Babe Ruth was furious about the outcome. The Baseball Commissioner took his side and voided her contract, claiming baseball to be "too strenuous" for women. In 1952, the MLB officially banned women from playing, a prohibition that was not rescinded until 1992.
16Mikhailov's Declined $1M Offer
Boris Mikhailov, captain of the USSR hockey team, was offered a $1 million contract to leave Russia in 1980 after the Miracle on Ice. He declined the offer, as KGB agents were standing next to him when the offer was made.
17. Michael Keaton, a longtime Pittsburgh resident and fan of its sports teams, negotiated a break in his Batman movie contract in case the Pirates made the playoffs that year. "They thought I was kidding," he said. "I wasn't."
18. The Grandfather Clause emerged after the American Civil War, when Southern states implemented literacy tests to prevent former black slaves from voting. When whites also failed these tests, an exception was made for anyone whose grandfather was eligible to vote, as most whites had eligible grandfathers while few blacks did.
19. Sarah Jessica Parker had a no-nudity contract clause while working on "Sex and the City." She was the only one of the four leading actresses not to do nude scenes.
20. Jake 'The Snake' Roberts "can't stand snakes and is scared to death of the damn things," yet he carried around a 100-pound python and later a king cobra because "there were enough zeros on [his] contract to make him forget about his fear [of snakes]."
21Japanese Insurance Suicide Clause
After World War 2, Japanese insurance companies began including one-year exemption clauses in their policies. People who signed up had to wait one year before taking their own lives to receive the insurance money. Consequently, the suicide rate spiked on the thirteenth month of the contract.
22. Fred Mertz does not appear in two episodes of "I Love Lucy" due to actor William Frawley's contract, which stipulated that he did not have to work if the NY Yankees were playing in the World Series.
23. Elon Musk explicitly wrote into SpaceX's contract with Orbital Outfitters that the company's new spacesuits must look "badass."
24. Lobster used to be so plentiful in Massachusetts that servants had a clause in their contracts demanding not to be fed it more than three times a week.
25. In 2010, as an April Fool's joke, UK game retailer GameStation inserted an 'Immortal Soul Clause' into their EULA, stating that customers agreed to transfer their souls to the company. Over 7,000 users neglected to uncheck the box.
