Sylvester Stallone, NBC Pummeled With $7 Million Lawsuit Over ‘Strong’ Series

“Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone might be going a few rounds in the legal system soon.

Stallone and NBC have been slapped with a $7 million lawsuit by a personal trainer who claims that the idea for the reality competition “Strong” was lifted from him.

In his suit, filed in New York Supreme Court on Friday, Robert Fletcher claims that he came up with an idea for a series called “America’s Next Great Trainer,” which would feature “a number of personal trainers and trainees competing for an ultimate cash prize and title of America’s Next Great Trainer,” and would focus on “the overall transformation of individuals in all areas related to health and fitness.”

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Fletcher says that he enlisted trainer Todd Durkin to host the show, and pitched it out to a number of entities, including 25/7 Productions. He also says he sent a proposal to Stallone’s publicist.

Fletcher claims that Durkin cut off communication with him in June 2015. He learned in early 2016 that NBC planned to air a show that was “startlingly similar” to his own, called “Strong,” and which “prominently featured” Durkin as a star trainer.

According to Fletcher, “Strong,” which premiered April 13, credits 25/7 and its CEO David Broome as creators, and counts Stallone as an executive producer.

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Representatives for Stallone and NBC have not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment on the suit, which also names Broome, 25/7 and Durkin as defendants.

Fletcher is seeking damages of $2 million, in addition to punitive damages of “not less than $5 million.”

And here Stallone probably thought Apollo Creed was hard-hitting.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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