Hollywood director Michael Bay sues Cadillac F1 for £1.1m over Super Bowl advert ‘rip off’
Hollywood director Michael Bay has filed a lawsuit against the Cadillac F1 team over their Super Bowl advert, alleging the team ‘ripped off’ his ideas after he worked on the commercial project
Michael Bay is suing Cadillac F1(Image: WireImage)
The Cadillac Formula 1 team has issued a statement following Hollywood director Michael Bay’s legal action claiming his concepts were “ripped off”.
Bay is seeking £1.1million in compensation, alleging breach of contract and fraud against TWG Motorsports chief Dan Towriss in the lawsuit, which has been lodged in Los Angeles. Bay’s grievance focuses on the team’s advertisement shown during Super Bowl LX on Sunday night, which revealed the livery of their maiden F1 car due to compete in the 2026 season.
The livery features an asymmetrical pattern, chiefly white on one flank and primarily black on the other, disclosed for the first time during the 30-second spot aired during the NFL showpiece, one of the most-viewed annual television spectacles worldwide.
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Bay, famous for directing explosive Hollywood epics including Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and several instalments from the Transformers series, claims he was approached directly by Towriss in late November.
The timeframe provided was incredibly demanding, as the advertisement required completion within merely two months to secure its expensive Super Bowl placement, for which Cadillac presumably spent millions of pounds.
All proposed advertisements for the Super Bowl were required to be submitted to the NFL for clearance by February 2.
Bay claims he “worked nearly nonstop” for several days, including multiple all-nighters, only to be subsequently told the team was “going in different direction,” reports the Mirror.
The lawsuit alleges Cadillac “have apparently stolen Bay’s ideas and work… without paying for them”, and claims the team “planned all along to rip him off”.
Cadillac has dismissed these allegations, stating that the concept for the advert was already established and Michael Bay was approached only as they were “exploring” potential directors for the project.
“Michael Bay is a cinematic genius and we talked with him about directing our Super Bowl ad,” read a team statement.
“But, after two meetings, it became clear he couldn’t meet our timeline and there ultimately wasn’t a path forward. It’s unclear why he is bringing this claim, since the concept and creative were already developed and we were only exploring him as a director.
“It’s also unusual to raise this now, given the ad hasn’t even been released. We’re confident this will be resolved appropriately. Even so, we still admire Michael Bay’s creative brilliance and would welcome the opportunity to work together in the future.”
Cadillac’s claim that Bay couldn’t fulfil their production schedule was made in response to Bay’s lawsuit allegation that he had shelved other projects to focus entirely on the commercial.
The director revealed that he had made Towriss aware of his obligations to create films for big-name studios such as Amazon, Apple, and Universal.
In response, the Cadillac boss reportedly said: “OK, let’s get to work, I will let everyone know.”
