'Most Interesting Man' Has 'Worst Legal Strategy'

The "Most Interesting Man in the World" is having a rough year. First Jonathan Goldsmith learned Dos Equis would be replacing him as spokesman with a younger actor. Now the 77-year-old has been ordered to pay almost $60,000 in an ongoing lawsuit, reports My News LA. William Klein and talent agency Jordan Lee Inc. sued Goldsmith last October, claiming that in November 2014 he stopped paying the company 10% of his earnings—$2 million in 2015 and 2016, reports the Los Angeles Times—as agreed upon in a 2002 contract. So Goldsmith filed a countersuit in February, which the Hollywood Reporter took a look at: He claimed Klein and the agency played no role in his Dos Equis deal, which he says he renegotiated in 2012—and he alleges they stepped in it by disclosing that deal's terms in violation of its confidentiality clause, thereby damaging his relationship with Dos Equis.

But a judge dismissed Goldsmith's countersuit in May, and last week ordered him to pay $59,000 in legal fees. "The only thing interesting about this guy is how he could have created the worst legal strategy possible," says one of Klein's lawyers. The larger issue of whether Goldsmith reneged on his contract remains in legal limbo. In the meantime, he's focused on "finding a more interesting next gig," per Fast Company. He's already helped raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, canine cancer research, and drug dogs to combat a heroin epidemic. "So many people just take up space, just live that quiet life of desperation," he says. "That's a pretty f---ing boring way to live. Make a difference, leave something behind." (Another thing he has done: hunt land mines.)