Lisa Kudrow took the stand on Thursday to testify against her former manager, Scott Howard, who claims he was unfairly cut out of Kudrow's millions after she fired him.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kudrow's earnings stem from re-runs from her mega-hit comedy "Friends," where Kudrow played ditzy blonde Phoebe Buffay from 1994 through 2004. Howard currently claims that the actress owes him $1.7 million.
The 50-year-old actress, who is estimated to be worth about $60 million, and Howard had a working relationship for about 16 years, starting in 1991. Howard claims he is owed money from deals he made with Kudrow before he was fired in 2007.
Howard presented his case in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday claiming that the two made an oral agreement that Howard would receive five or 10 percent of Kudrow's income--money she received while Howard was her manager.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Kudrow began on "Friends" at $13,500 an episode. Over the years, her pay per-episode pay increased to $1,040,000 in 2000 plus $5 million in back-end compensation. Kudrow has done many projects since "Friends" ended.
"I always believed that a personal handshake kind of cemented that personal relationship, and that anything more formal felt awkward," Howard said.
However, in court documents, Kudrow claims she has, "no obligation to pay Howard" a commission after the two ended their professional partnership. The actress's lawyers are stating that Howard was her manager and not her agent.
"I may have let him know that everyone around me, everyone was firing their managers," Kudrow said. "I think I wanted him to know that having a manager was unnecessary."
Kudrow has since gone on to star in successful series including "The Comeback" and "Web Therapy".
The trial continues on Friday.
