By Jennifer Larson

Lately it seems as if legal trouble is following Wesley Snipes around like a dog follows a bone. His latest trouble stems from what zap2it says is, “an oral agreement Snipes made with the United Talent Agency (UTA) for helping him get hired for four films.” The four films in question are BLADE, TRINITY, CHAOS and MIDDLE MAN. The total amount UTA claims he owes them is 1.7 million dollars. Wow, that’s a lot of dough, even for somebody who makes several millions per picture.

But I have to ask, what is going on here? Snipes is already in the middle of a court battle over alleged tax evasion, so you would thing he would keep the rest of his economic house in order. Granted, I don’t know all the details of both sides of this story, but you know that old saying “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” It just strikes me as odd that a person who makes millions of dollars for their work wouldn’t want to make sure their bills were paid. Millions of Americans who survive on far, far, far less manage to do it on a daily basis. The talent agencies in Hollywood are heavy hitters, and you don’t want to be messing around with their bottom line. This could come back to haunt Snipes in the worst way, a lack of more work coming his way.

While it’s true that Hollywood seems to forgive many actors’ transgressions, taking money out of their pockets may be the one thing that’s unforgivable. When you think about it, it isn’t that the powers that be in this town are so magnanimous. When they “forgive” an actor for bad behavior and give them more work, it is generally because they feel it will generate them more income. I know I sound jaded, but the truth is the truth. Again, I’m not going to judge Wesley too harshly until all the information is out, but if we don’t see another BLADE in the near future, I’m betting we can guess where Wesley’s career has gown … right down the drain.