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Why #BoycottCinemark Has Exploded on Social Media

Jul 1, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A move by the Cinemark theater chain has sparked outrage, along with a boycott movement on social media. The backlash comes in response to the company’s effort to get victims of the 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., to pay $700,000 in legal fees stemming from a lawsuit against the theater chain.

The legal move by Cinemark comes after the victims unsuccessfully sued the chain, accusing it of not doing enough to prevent the deadly attack.

“Jurors in May ruled in Cinemark’s favor over 28 victims and their families who argued the nation’s third-largest theater chain should have done more to prevent the attack that killed 12 people and left more than 70 others injured,” the AP reports. “They sued in state court, saying security lapses allowed for the July 20, 2012 attack at a midnight premiere of a Batman film.”

The report adds: “The company’s lawyers told a judge they need the money to cover the costs of preserving evidence, retrieving and copying records, travel and other expenses, according to court documents filed this month. A judge didn’t immediately rule on the request. But Colorado courts allow the winning side of a court case to recover legal fees.”

Deadline.com notes: “The move by Cinemark has not only created anger in the social media universe, but the story’s headlines have been picked up by news outlets nationwide. Among othe 30 victims that Cinemark wants legal fees from include two families whose sons heroically saved others in the theater, a woman who had to hold her own intestines in after being shot, and a boy who was shot in the head.”

The hashtag #BoycottCinemark has blown up on social media. Deadline notes that California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was among those commenting. Newsom sent out a tweet Thursday night saying: “Shameful! #BoycottCinemark —-> @Cinemark attorneys want Aurora shooting victims to cover $700k in legal fees http://ti.me/29bHNf1.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “So who at @Cinemark gets to hand the family of the 6-year-old who was murdered in their theater the bill for this??”

Still another tweeted: “@Cinemark With all the money you morons make, you need to sue VICTIMS of a mass shooting to make more? Unbelievable #BoycottCinemark.”

Deadline adds: “News of Cinemark’s recent filing for legal fees comes in the wake of its recent quarterly earnings in which it reported revenue of $704.9 million.”

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4 Comments

  1. why is this surprising. Corporation are heartless bastards. Money is their only God. So a few people got killed, who cares? Does any corporation stand up for its people or consumers? Name one. they have grown so arrogant its mind-boggling. this is why people want Bernie or Trump….the status quo is a nightmare of greed and heartlessness.

  2. While reasonable people understand why the people (and their families) who were victims of this incident would sue over this, they also understand why they would lose.

    That said, who at Cinemark didn’t think this would be a terrible, terrible PR mistake? Who (in charge of the people who made that decision) didn’t think that it would blow up in their faces? This is the kind of short-sighted thinking that gets people fired… or ought to. Because, despite what some people believe, there is such a thing as bad publicity… and this is a mountain range of nightmare PR.

    And if Cinemark decides to sue to collect, they will likely find any jury to be less than sympathetic to their claims. I’d say they’ve already lost this battle in the court of public opinion, and if they don’t know it now, they’d better get a clue because the jury in the court of public opinion is who buys movie tickets.

    FWIW, this is one jury member in that court who has no problem with taking a stand on principle. Which will put me in a bit of a bind with the family. There are several movies out now and coming soon that we want to see, and Cinemark is the only chain in town.

    Maybe I can find an AMC theater not too far away.

  3. My heart goes out to the victims, their famines, loved ones, friends, and the entire community. It is tragic what occurred. And certainlyy the backlash should not come as as uprise to anyone.

    That said, Cinemark’s attempt to recover legal fees and expenses is a consequence of our litigious society. In this case both the victims families and Cinemark are losers; the former by verdict and the latter by public opinion. The winners are the attorneys on both sides.

    Finally, and this will not sit well with many, what Cinemark is doing is an example in favor of the point of view that there is merit in plaintiffs having to pay the defendant’s legal bills and why people need to think twice before suing. Perhaps if this occurred more often the courts would not be choked with lawsuits because the tendency today is to look for someone to blame.

    The Aurora shooting was horrific. Could anyone in their wildest imagination foreseen what happened. Sadly no.

  4. The victims and their families should be suing their lawyers who convinced them that they should undertake this suit. The lawyers are the ones who raised false expectations with the families and convinced them to undertake the suit, with no risk on the lawyers part, in order for the lawyers to make a big payday for themselves.

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