When Charlize Theron broke the rules of a contract she signed, a company tried to make her pay $20 million.

When Charlize Theron was young and anonymous, an argument with a bank teller pushed her toward becoming the movie star she is today. What Theron couldn’t have known when she was arguing with that bank teller is some of the pressures that come along with being a star.

While Theron clearly is fortunate to be a movie star, some fans don’t understand all the pressures that can come along with being famous. A perfect example of that is Theron once was sued for something weird that only celebrities have to worry about.

Why Was Charlize Theron Sued For $20 Million?

In the world, the vast majority of people never have and never will be sued. However, based on the deadlines that are always showing up on TMZ and in the tabloids, it seems like celebrities get sued every day of the week.

On top of celebrities regularly being the target of lawsuits, many of them are sued for what seems to be the weirdest and most random things. In the past, Zac Efron was sued by an organic food company and Kylie Jenner faced a lawsuit over a sketchy Instagram post flaunting designer handbags.

Back in 2008, Charlize Theron became an example of a movie star that was sued for something most people could never relate to. Not only that, Theron was facing the prospect of having to pay the plaintiff in the lawsuit a staggering $20 million.

By 2008, Theron had cemented her reputation as one of the most respected actors in the business. Already a two-time Oscar nominee by then, Theron also was widely recognized as one of the most beautiful and classy-looking stars in the business.

Given the way that Theron was perceived, it makes all the sense in the world that companies wanted to be associated with her. As it turns out, Theron had business deals with many different companies to get paid significant amounts of money to wear their merchandise.

When Theron was sued for $20 million in 2008, court filings revealed several of the companies that were paying Theron at the time. When Forbes published an article looking at the $20 million lawsuit, it revealed some of the fees Theron was being paid by companies that weren’t part of the lawsuit.

“The Sept. 30 filing also revealed Theron was paid $200,000 to don Chopard baubles to the 2006 Oscars, and another $50,000 to sport gems at the same year’s BAFTA Awards in London. And though she wasn’t paid to wear Cartier jewels to the 2006 Golden Globe Awards, she had previously received a $35,000 ring, $8,000 earnings and a $7,000 bracelet from the luxury company.”

As incredible as it is to learn that Theron was making all that money for things that have nothing to do with acting, that wasn’t the most remarkable part of the lawsuit. Instead, the truly amazing thing is what Theron was sued for since it is the definition of a first-world problem.

According to the lawsuit, the Swiss watchmaking company Raymond Weil signed an endorsement deal with Theron. The terms of the agreement said that Theron couldn’t endorse or be seen in public wearing watches manufactured by any other companies between October 2005 and December 2006.

Forbes’ article about the lawsuit revealed instances when Theron allegedly broke the terms of the agreement.

“Theron had an endorsement deal to promote Dior’s J’Adore perfume and was captured on film and in still photographs posted on Dior’s Web site wearing jewelry designed specifically for the campaign.”

“Among other instances during the 18-month span, Theron was photographed at a film festival wearing a watch from the Christian Dior line and captured on a sizable billboard in Geneva, Switzerland, sporting Montblanc jewelry.”

How Much Did Charlize Theron Pay After She Was Sued For $20 Million?

When the French watchmaking company Raymond Weil filed its lawsuit against Charlize Theron, that was in October 2008. At the time, it must have been hard for Theron to be facing a $20 million lawsuit, but she didn’t have to deal with that stress for too long.

On November 4th, 2008, it was revealed that Theron had settled her legal dispute with Raymond Weil. Considering that Theron was sued for a staggering $20 million, there was only one thing that everyone who was aware of the lawsuit wanted to know.

Unfortunately for anyone who was curious how much money Theron paid the watchmaker, there was no way to know that for sure. The reason for that is when Theron settled the lawsuit, the terms of the agreement were kept confidential.

While there is no way to know for sure how much Theron had to pay to make the lawsuit go away, observers can draw conclusions about the kind of settlement that was made. The reason for that is some information is known about the lawsuit and the original deal that Theron made with Raymond Weil.

When Raymond Weil originally filed its lawsuit against Theron, they sought $20 million. However, according to Forbes, the company quickly faced setbacks as the New York District Court judge that was assigned to the case dismissed portions of Weil’s suit.

Another important piece of information to know is that according to multiple reports, Theron was only originally paid “$3 million to endorse Raymond Weil watches”.

Finally, the last thing to consider is the judge who was assigned to the case instructed both parties about what they wanted. According to Forbes, the judge “advised both parties to take part in a pre-trial settlement conference”.

Considering how much Raymond Weil paid Theron and that parts of their lawsuit were dismissed, it doesn’t seem like they were in a position to actually get anywhere near $20 million. On top of that, if Raymond Weil insisted on a number close to that figure in the settlement negotiations, it would have made more sense for Theron to go to court.

Based on all the available information, it seems reasonable to assume that Theron paid a small fraction of the $20 million Raymond Weil sought. That said, the only people who ever truly know how much Raymond Weil got are the lawyers, the people in charge of that company, and people close to Theron.