Jaume Roures: "Tatxo Benet is paving the way to not return the money he owes me."

BarcelonaA few days after being sued by Mediapro, the audiovisual giant he founded and left a year and a half ago, Jaume Roures is attacking the company and, in particular, its other managing partner, Tatxo Benet. In a conversation with Jordi Basté on RAC1, the producer reflected on the breakup of a friendship that dates back to when the two began working together in 1983, founding TV3. Roures explained that he left him "a lot of money that he used to fund the Censorship Museum and build his entire image as a patron" and that he should return in a couple of years. "The only thing I can think of is that he's paving the way to not return it to me. I can't find any explanation," he concluded.

Mediapro sued Roures for misappropriation, considering that the producer illegally retains ownership of Versatil Cinema, a production company. According to the Chinese-owned conglomerate, it's true that he appears as a shareholder in the company, but if he did, it was as a member of Mediapro. In his radio appearance, Roures explained a different sequence of events: "I was the one who filed the complaint first, because they weren't paying me what they owed me. Certain amounts had to be paid under the exit agreement, and there was an arbitration process to resolve any potential conflicts. I appealed to the media about this arbitration a year ago. They fabricated some accusations." Roures recalled that, when he left, he signed his exit from around sixty companies and that no one demanded that he leave this one as well. He believes that taking the matter to court allows it to be swamped, because arbitration would resolve it much sooner.

Robles has been harsh about the company's current situation. "The situation has become increasingly complicated for them, and they need to distract their staff," he explained, referring to the contract for the production of Spanish La Liga matches, which they lost to a joint venture led by a Swiss-based group after many years of handling this task. "Moody's downgraded their rating. And when they lost the La Liga contract, they sent out three or four statements in a single week. Disorientation comes at a price." Company sources reject this account and point out that the lawsuit was filed in February, before either the La Liga contract was lost or Moody's downgraded the rating. Therefore, it is impossible to consider it a reaction to any of the factors mentioned by Roures. Furthermore, they argue that Mediapro deposited the check corresponding to the bonus money calculated from the 2024 accounts, but that Roures did not withdraw it, as he refused to accept the recognition that he was the apparent, not the actual, owner of Versatil, under a trust that the group was demanding he dissolve.

In any case, when Basté asked him if he felt "anger," the producer said no. "Since I do a lot of things, I have little time to think about it." However, he noted that his name has been removed from the credits of the successful film. The 47, despite having been its producer and having actively participated in the final editing: "They physically erased me, in the credits, like when Stalin erased Trotsky."