Mike Rowe Is in the Middle of a Dirty Lawsuit

The dirtiest job? Fighting in a fierce lawsuit. Mike Rowe is suing Discovery for $2 million in unpaid wages for voice-over work for the series Deadliest Catch. He claims the company did not honor the “pay-or-play” agreement in their contract, per People. The two agreed in 2020 to pay Rowe $40,000 per episode he narrates, and if he doesn’t narrate an episode, he would still be compensated, including the spin-off series. He is also asking for a jury trial. Rowe’s been the narrator for the series since 2005.

They also claim that the international versions of the show were different than the ones aired in the US. “Lab Rat and Rowe have also learned that the episodes of the original Deadliest Catch series that are aired internationally are materially different than the episodes aired in the United States,” the lawsuit states. “To the extent any of these international episodes are determined to be ‘originally produced episodes,’ the pay-or-play agreement would apply to those as well.” The lawsuit says that because Rowe was not involved in “at least 51 episodes”, Discovery owes him at least $2 million in lost wages.