TOMS RIVER, NJ — After Bruce Springsteen posed with a now-deceased Ocean County man’s vintage car for a photoshoot, the car owner’s son claims Springsteen’s team did not compensate the family as promised.
Louis A. Billotti of Toms River owned the 1968 Pontiac GTO which can be seen on Springsteen’s “Only the Strong Survive” cover album, which came out last November. Billotti, the former owner of the Louis Mobile Dry Clean, died in May 2022 due to complications from COVID-19.
His estate is suing Springsteen, as well as the singer’s management, Sony Music, and a number of individuals in Monmouth County Superior Court for negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.
Filing as the estate’s executor, Louis M. Billotti claims his father was told he would receive a contract if the GTO photos were used in album art and promotional material – and that the contract never arrived, even though the car is on the cover and used in a variety of merchandise and promos.
In October 2021, court records state, one of Louis A. Billotti’s friends informed him that someone in Colts Neck was looking for vintage automobiles for a photoshoot. The elder Billotti kept his registered historic car “in factory mint condition,” and had rented it out for film productions on two prior occasions, court documents state.
According to the lawsuit, Louis A. Billotti drove the car to an address on Muhlenbrink Road on Oct. 18, 2021, where a photographer eventually told him that Springsteen owned the property.
Springsteen arrived eventually and posed with the GTO, also spending time with Billotti “discussing the car and automobiles in general.” The photographer, Robert Demartin Jr., gave Billotti a check for $450 with “car prop” written in the memo line after the photoshoot, according to the lawsuit.
Someone “acting with authority on behalf” of Springsteen and his team told Billotti that if his GTO was chosen for the album images and tour promotional material, he would receive a contract offering him terms of compensation for use of the car.
The lawsuit claims that Billotti was never contacted by anyone representing Springsteen after he drove off the property that afternoon.
However, the GTO was not only used for the album cover, it was also used on tour merchandise including t-shirts, hats, and posters – and Springsteen even talked about the car with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show,” as the lawsuit specifies.
The lawsuit claims Billotti talked often about “the promise he received,” and asked his son often if the contract had arrived in the mail.
“Yet, (Billotti) was never sent a contract spelling out the marketing terms of which he was entitled as the owner of the GTO,” the lawsuit states. “His GTO was used in this mega-entertainment venture without his permission or reasonable remuneration.”
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and constructive damages, constructive trust, and other relief.
Kevin M. Kilcommons filed the lawsuit on behalf of Billotti’s estate. This lawsuit was originally filed in April, but an amended complaint was filed Nov. 21.
In an answer to the complaint filed Nov. 28, attorney Brian Ansell wrote that Springsteen and his management are “not liable to the plaintiff,” and that Billotti’s estate is “not entitled to any monies from either Bruce Springsteen or Jon Landau Management, Inc.”