October 7th, 2010
03:51 PM ET
Voice of 'Dora' slaps Nickelodeon with lawsuitCaitlin Sanchez, a 14-year-old from Fairview, New Jersey who voiced "Dora the Explorer" on the Nickelodeon show starting in 2007, has filed a complaint in New York County Supreme Court alleging that the network hasn't properly compensated her for her work. According to a statement issued by the lawyers representing Sanchez and her parents, the suit claims that Nickelodeon "took advantage of a hard-working teenage girl" and “charges that Caitlin and her parents were pressured into signing an unconscionable contract with convoluted, vague and undefined terms that allowed producers of the Nickelodeon hit to exploit her.” The complaint, which was filed Wednesday night, claims that Sanchez is “due millions in promised compensation for merchandising, re-runs, promotional work and recordings.”
The complaint also states that Sanchez and her parents weren’t given time to seek the advice of a lawyer and were “pressured to sign within a half-hour of first seeing” the contract. In a statement to CNN, Nickelodeon responds to the suit saying, "The claims being made are baseless. Unfortunately, Caitlin's voice changed and she was no longer able to portray the Dora character, as happened with the actress who originated the role.” The statement continued, “Caitlin's contract was extensively negotiated through her agent and in compliance with her union. She was well-compensated for her work and for personal appearances. We have enjoyed working with Caitlin on Dora the Explorer these past three years, and we did in fact offer her a contract for other work with us." |
  About this blog
Our daily cheat-sheet for breaking celebrity news, Hollywood buzz and your pop-culture obsessions.  |
Some of y'all are smart, dumb, perverted, and racist. Get over the fact she is suing Nick she has every right to and if you were in her shoes you would sue Nick, too.Then the perverted people she's only 15 now so quit saying she should be in Playboy. And quit saying she's probably not legal she was BORN in NEW JERSEY which if you were actually smart you would know is in AMERICA! Then there's the racist people or should i say person **Cough** **Cough** Stephen Pilanen. And correction people like YOU should be Locked Up. Here's why because if you knew your history you would know the Union won the Civil War and the Confederacy lost. So quit living in the past. GET OVER IT! And you don't speak Mexican, you speak SPANISH DUMMY! These comments seriously let people know how dumb people can be. *~*PINK AND BLACK*~* @;----
You know.. it makes sense. These big, huge corporations picking one girl out of 600, then if they try to bargain for fair rights, they simply suggest they will get another " Dora." They eagerly sign because.. of course they want the job... Of course they don't want to go to another girl who they know would eagerly sign the contract. Then they take advantage of her. It should be a court mandate that the contract is reviewed by neutral council or sign a contract that says "you have the job" now let the agent discuss how much the contract is for. I thinnk they took advantage of her.. and should be sued. Shame on you Nickelodeon. My little daughter watches you. Imagine if she knows you are a crook, cheating little girls out of their pay, then they are forced to sue.. and now no doubt she is black balled for suing her big corporation.
this is so dumb
Where are we going? The courthouse! Where are we going? The courthouse!
Omg!! i freaking hate Dora show anyways..lol maybe they will discontinue that damn show...lol!opps sorry!
typical white man always trying to mess over the mexican!!!
This is just how Hollywood rips people off. I can't wait for it to fall into the Ocean.
why dont they just pay this girl and send her away? They're Nickelodeon for christ's sake. They have several hit shows and can afford it. Cheap cheap cheap. Though it reminds me of the time my work screwed me, I was coming out the front door after a long day and that’s when a couple of guys up to no good started making trouble in my neighborhood I got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said you moving with your aunty and uncle in Bellaire. I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and it had a dice in the mirror if anything I can say that this cab was rare, but i thought naw forget it, yo home to Bellaire!”
Interesting that she had been ripped off for 3 years and it wasn't until she lost her gig that they thought to say anything about it. My guess is they are ticked she was let go.
I am going to have my kids stop watching the show
Wow, sounds to me like Mom and Dad didn't make as much money off of daughter as they thought they would, so now they want to whine their way to the bank. Way to go, parents. If you had an agent, and you still signed a contract that exploited your child, then either you or your agent are stupid. BTW, most of those contracts, unless thei girl was already famous, are industry standard, non-negotiable.
We are a nation of sue happy idiots. I hope she does not get squat! There are a million other young ladies that would be glad to be the voice of Dora. Move on Sanchez......move on.
Back Pack, Back Pack
ESTRELLA!
“charges that Caitlin and her parents were pressured into signing an unconscionable contract"???
Translated..."Yes we signed contract and no we did not read it because we just wanted a check!" Doesn't this girl have an agent? Did he tell her to sign a bad contract? He/she is the one that should be sued.
Swiper! No swiping!
Rule #1 of voice acting: you can be replaced at will.
I'm the real portalpunk. I think I'm clever and funny but really, I'm just a sad, self-abusing little troll that still lives in my mommies basement. I also have a tiny little weewee.
They signed the contract and they did not have to. End of story.
Lets teach our kids american values early.... the lawsuit
It is sad that this is news and the chemical spill is not getting this level of attention. This girl was the voice of a character...why should she get money that is made by the hands of writers, artists, market directors and the like...get over it little girl and get a job.
The more likely scenario is that the parents were pressured by their own greed to sign the contract, but then found out they could have made more so now sue over it. They signed a contract, if they didnt like the contract, its their own fault for reflexing the signature out. It was their choice to sign or not, Viacom held no weapon.
If she fell in the mud, would she be a dirty sanchez?
Please read the article before you comment folks, she wasn't the original Dora she was in fact a replacement for the first girl that grew up and matured, she had an agent, if someone screwed her I would look in that direction not at nick for needing a girls voice for a girls show....
parents saw a lot of money at the end of the tunnel. 2yrs later few millions was not enough so, they figured they were forced to sign a contract. i never heard anyone who gets only 30mins to sign a contract- i guess they didnt know what a contract is but sure know what millions are. dora is a bad influence anyway she carries a backpack and never goes to school.
1 – Who Cares
2 – She and her parents should have brought the contract to a lawyer to go over it if they did not understand it.
3 – Who Cares
If you personally don't care, why are you posting?
pendejo!
Only a fool or an idiot signs a contract without understanding it.
Exactly! Why would they sign something if the terms are not that good for them? Well, I think that they already know that by signing something, they know that they'll be legally bound with it. So why sign if they don't like it -pressured or not?
She's full of crap,
Full of crap,
Full of crap,
Full of crap,
She's full of craaappp!
You are full of feces
You are full of feces
You are full of feces
You are full of feces
You are full of feces
You are full of feces
I would like to get dirty with sanchez, but not a dirty sanchez.
Parents are just angry because the Dora gravy train ran out (due to her changing voice), and didn't lead to the millions they thought it would.
She's not even the original voice that made the show popular, Kathleen Herles had the original role and voiced Dora for over 7 years, while Caitlin Sanchez has only had the role for a bit over 2 years. I'm sorry, but she's nothing more than a sound alike replacement and had done nothing to make the show popular.
If the parents didn't like the contract, they didn't have to sign it.
I'm going to file a lawsuit, un pleito. Have you ever sued anyone? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Bueno!
I want people to really look past the BS in this. Just because it's a young girl does not mean she is a "victim"! She was making NOTHING until Nickelodeon brought her aboard and opened doors for her but now someone has gotten in her head and said "Your not getting enough"! It's a cartoon people and it's not based on her at all she is only the voice! DORA has been around long before this girl!! Sad state of affairs in America that some little brat can make everyone believe she is a "victim". She is a brat plain and simple and her parents should be ashamed of their greedy a&^ selves!!
She shouldn't be doing Dora anymore with looks like that, she should be doing Playboy
Dude she is only 14, you are disgusting wanting a young girl to be in playboy.
They call me Dude Who Explores the Bottle...
Nickelodeon has responded by calling her Whora the Explorer.
Your comment is distasteful. You think yourself funny? You are a simpleton.
It is funny! Calm down johnnydoe.
Dora's a little punk and so are her creators. Go Sanchez!!!!
The contract dispute is due to the fact that she can't perform the contracted voice of Dora and she wants to play the voice even if she sounds like a old lady.
Listen, she signed a contract pressured or not she could have said no I need more time but that was not the case. I'm sure her parents were there when it happened too. This is by no means Viacoms fault for trying to get what they need for the least amount of money or the people that produce Dora. If these people cant realize what there service is worth and get taken advantage of its their own fault, hire a good agent and a legal team and this will not happen. Its sad that it has to be this way but thats life. Now if its in her contract and they are not paying thats a different story and she has a legitimate complaint. I'm just sick of people that sign on the dotted line and cant keep to their end of the contract.. thats why they call it a contract. Better luck next time.
I agree totally! You put it more eloquently than I could.... But see our culture now has turned everyone into a victim and making individual choices and being responsible for what YOU sign is no longer fair! I remember when a handshake was all you needed to keep your word and I am only 34!!
Swiper No Swiping!
Did someone checked to see if she was a legal alien.
Hey, thanks, I needed my daily dose of idiotic racism.
did somebody check her resdental statis.but what would you know thhis contry was built by imegrants from every part of the world.and to think we as americans have the right to to call people ilegal aliens you are or any me for that fact not legal it was the indians that are the only ones legal.and the evil that so called americans like you to ask did somebody checked to see if she is a iligal alien
SHUT UP about greed. Everybody has a right to be properly compensated.
Billion dollar corporation is pulling this type of bologna
This is why they are a multi-billion dollar corporation. screwing people. . . .
Swiper no suing. Swiper no suing. Swiper no suing.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
I prefer Ni Hao Kai-lan anyways.
Hoho, Yeye, and Tolee.
Hey! Thanks alot 'Dora'... My kid can't speak English thanks to your show. Where's my money biyatch?! This story smells of pure greed. I say that by the time she's 17, she will be in rehab with Lohan.
Here, here.......right on!!!
If you think yr kid can't speak English for watching Dora the Explorer, a show that is 95% in English, perhaps it is the kid's getnetics, and not the show that are causing the problems.
The whole Dora thing is awful. Here's an idea, you come to this country, learn English, not the other way around!
according to your comment it sounds like your daughter watches a lot of dora.and runs around the house speeking a lot of spanish.well at lest she lerned from dora.as for your dum ass you cant teach your daughter english.lol bet your dum as hell.watch me make you respond.got you trained go head respond.
I love when people call others "dum as hell" and are too stupid, ignorant or both (I'm guessing you're "both") to spell "dumb" correctly. A first grade English teacher would send you back to kindergarten based on that post alone, you troll.
Guess her parents shoulda looked in her backpack, backpack for a lawyer before signing the contract. Say "click" take a pic cuz this lawsuit is goin nowhere. Maybe they can freeze the bobos and use the map get some sort of compensation.
It's a pity her parents are suing. She's a pretty girl and could have been offered a Nickelodeon teen show like i Carly or Victorious, but her parents got greedy.
Did they really expect her to sound like a toddler forever? Only Yeardly Smith (Lisa simpson's voice) can get away with that.
she will be hired icons never die.and altthogh your littlr lisa simpson is who you like im shure most parents would pick dora for a role model for their kids before a possed little lisa running around with a butcher nife.so i personally stick with dora kids and parents who bake cookies with thier kids.and those of you that rather watch simpsons and junk like south park why not sit down and smoke crack with them while your at it lol.
Man, some people's greed constantly amazes me. That little girl will probably never have to work at a fast food job or experience the types of jobs most teenagers go through, and her family wants to complain! That's what's wrong with our society....
Next thing you know the parents will claim they were "bullied" into signing the contract. Far as I'm concerned this is the girls first lesson that the world is not a "fair" place. Get over it, parents, and move on. You're just creating a future "sue happy" whining adult of the future.
Never have to work as a teenager? Put some perspective into that. How many millions is the Dora franchise worth? How many millions upon millions do they rake in from all the Dora products? If she didn't get a fair share of that, she should fight for it.
How can anybody make a judgement of the motives based on a silly, simple article? How can you judge the parents without knowing anything? Is it greed on their part or jealousy on yours? You would've done EXACTLY THE SAME THING if you thought your child was being taken advantage of.
umm hello..did u read how much she was getting payed??? she was getting payed 40 bucks a day...40 bucks a day?? payed well?? greedy?? yeah u know damn well u'd sue if u were getting payed that crap
lolz at portalpunks last post
Looks like you're the only one laughing.
HAHAHA there, better?
I'm the real portalpunk. I'm just a sad little troll that thinks he's funny and clever. I still live with my mommy in the basement and self-abuse all day long. I've never had a real girl because I have a tiny little weewee. Please continue to feed my ego but really, I'm so scared that I pee my panites everyday.
Well, now I know what I'm NOT getting my kids for Christmas. If freakin' Dora the Explorer herself is getting ripped off by Viacom, then I will have no part in it.
Please tell me this is sarcasm and that you do know the difference between Dora, a fictional character, and Caitlin Sanchez, a human being. Also, she was paid $5100 per episode, per contract. Hardly "ripped off."
Greedy idoits. Doesn't she (and her family for that matter) realize that by doing this, she pretty muchs eliminates any chance she has of doing any more work with these types of companies (Nick, Disney, CN, Fox)?
Wow. Yah, I should let my employer keep the money he owes me because otherwise, I couldnt work for him again, or others like him.
Awesome logic...
You're right. She's just a woman. It's not like she deserves any of it.
i heard she was getting payed $40 a day..how is she being greedy again???!!..lol
Who cares? Everyone knows Boots is the star of that show.
Ripping off Dora, now that is low
Unless they put a gun to the parents head and said 'sign or die', then the parents are to blame for not reading the contract or taking it to a lawyer. Most than likely, to get their daughter the job, they would have signed anything.. To come back a few years later once she has found some fame and say it is unfair is wrong.
i’m sure glad we have lemonade in the fridge, cause I’m firsty!
lolwut? i dont get it.
HAHA! I'm stealing that to use in the future.