Actor wants $50 mil from Academy for being 'imprisoned' at the Oscars

By Matthew Belloni

An actor who was denied entrance to the Oscars last month has sued the Academy for false imprisonment, claiming he and his wife were detained for hours without their consent.

Michael Avila, whose IMDb profile says he appears (under the name Michael AvMen) in the upcoming films "Battle: Los Angeles" and "Straw Dogs," claims in a lawsuit filed today that he and his wife Mandy were unlawfully imprisoned outside the ceremony after a ticket mix-up.

The Venezuela-born actor says his publicist (unnamed) arranged for him to attend the March 7 ceremony at the Kodak Theater and told him he could pick up his tickets once inside the venue. But when the Avilas arrived on the red carpet without tickets, they say they were "rushed away to an AMPAS detention center where they were held and questioned about how they had been able to get onto the red carpet." Six hours later, they were transferred to the police station and released without any charges.

"Until approximately 10 p.m., Plaintiffs continued to be held against their will by AMPAS personnel, continued to be questioned, and continued to repeatedly request to be allowed to return to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel," the complaint alleges. "At no point had Plaintiffs been arrested, been read their rights, or been allowed to contact legal representation to understand why they were being held against their will and badgered with all sorts of personal questions."

The lawsuit says the couple suffered "sustained injury to his and her body and shock and injury to their nervous system" and have been experiencing "humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress." They want $50 million in exemplary and punitive damages to punish the Academy.

AMPAS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment (UPDATE BELOW). We've previously chronicled the org's aggressive enforcement of its legal rights, including the extra-tight security around the Oscars. But does this guy (or his publicist) really think you can just show up at the Oscars without tickets and expect to pick them up at Will Call?

The suit, filed by Beverly Hills attorney Timothy Hall, claims causes of action for false imprisonment and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

UPDATE: AMPAS has provided us this statement: "The Academy can confirm that Edgar Michael Avila, also known as Michael AvMen, was among those detained by the Academy for attempting to enter the 82nd Academy Awards without a ticket. We note that Mr. Avila has to date sent his complaint to a trade paper rather than to the Academy, and that he discussed his suit earlier in an interview in which he described himself as “set to star” in two upcoming features, neither of which lists him in that capacity."