In the middle of an ongoing fight with Disney’s board, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has found time to pick another battle—with one of the planners behind his daughter’s celebrity wedding.
Peltz’s daughter Nicola, a Hollywood actress, married Brooklyn Beckham, son of famous soccer player David and pop star Victoria Beckham on April 8 in an opulent wedding at Peltz’s Florida beachfront estate.
The event featured an A-list roster of 500 celebrity guests, reportedly including Gordon Ramsey, Snoop Dogg, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The event and guest list—which of course included the entire fashion-conscious Beckham family—was such a happening that the couple sold the rights to their wedding photos to appear on the cover of Vogue.
But behind the lavish festivities and slew of high-profile attendees, Peltz had to go through not one, not two, but three planners. And one of them allegedly did such a bad job that the investor, who is worth $1.4 billion, has filed a lawsuit.
After Peltz decided to part ways with the wedding’s first planner, he was “hoodwinked” by the new firm’s replacement, Peltz alleges in a lawsuit filed December 30 in Miami. The wedding planner in question, Miami-based Plan Design Events, or PDE, was hired after most of the wedding preparations had already been completed, according to the lawsuit, and all that remained to be done was curating the RSVP list and ironing out deals with certain vendors.
But the replacement planner was allegedly unable to complete any of the remaining tasks, causing Peltz to “waste nine days dealing with PDE in lieu of a competent wedding planner,” according to the suit. Peltz alleged the company had “seriously misrepresented their skills and abilities” and “lacked the necessary skills to perform.” He also accused PDE of missing multiple deadlines and failing to attend scheduled meetings. A third planner was eventually hired at the 11th hour to bring the wedding over the line.
The lawsuit includes as an exhibit a letter sent by Peltz’s lawyers to the company that claims PDE was unwilling to refund the investor’s $159,000 deposit. Peltz is also asking for $30,000 in damages from the wedding planner, not including interest and accounting fees.
Neither Peltz’s legal team nor Plan Design Events immediately responded to Fortune’s request for comment about the case.
A lawsuit against a wedding planner is unlikely to be top of mind for the billionaire, however. He’s currently involved in a proxy fight through his investment firm, Trian, against Disney’s board over their refusal to install him as a board member.
Peltz requested to be named on the company’s board in January, saying he alone could rescue it from its “crisis” of overspending while criticizing Disney for its recent CEO turnover and the return of former CEO Bob Iger’s to lead the company, claiming it spoke to a failed succession plan. Peltz is seeking to upstage Michael Froman, a nominee to the board, before shareholders convene to vote on members later this year.
Disney staunchly opposes installing Peltz, rebuking his offer last month in a presentation titled: “The current Disney board is the right one for shareholders.” In it, the board claimed Peltz “does not understand Disney’s businesses and lacks the skills and experience to assist the board.”
On Thursday, Trian issued another letter filed with the SEC urging Disney shareholders to vote for Peltz, claiming Froman “has no experience as a public company director outside Disney,” while Peltz has “served on numerous public company boards over the last several years.
Disney’s board responded by reiterating its rebuke of Peltz in a statement on Thursday and urged shareholders to “take no action at the moment and to simply discard any materials or blue proxy card they may receive from Trian Group.”
