The Most Controversial Legal Issues Surrounding Pawn Stars

It looks like suing family members isn’t off the table for the “Pawn Stars” cast. In February 2022, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Rick Harrison’s mother, Joanne Harrison, slapped him with a lawsuit over the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. The suit states that when she and Rick’s father, Richard Harrison, started the shop, she was given 51% of the ownership. After Richard died in 2018, his shares went to Joanne. In the early 2000s, Joanne was in the hospital and allegedly unknowingly signed away her shares to Rick after waking up from a coma. Additionally, she accused Rick of hiding details of her late husband’s assets and failing to provide her monthly allowances.

The legal drama got worse a month later. As reported by KSN, Joanne filed a temporary restraining order against Rick to prevent him from stopping the monthly payments to her and hiding any family assets. The restraining order stated, “While Rick enjoys his comfortable life as a celebrity firmly in control of all the family businesses and finances, Joanne is left frightened, and unsure of if she will have enough resources to pay for her considerable medical and personal expenses each month.” It’s unclear if the suit is still ongoing or if the Harrison mom and son settled the issue privately.

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Austin Lee Russell, better known as “Chumlee” to “Pawn Stars” fans, was caught in the middle of a search involving a sexual assault investigation in March 2016, USA Today reported. While he wasn’t named in the allegation, the authorities did find meth and marijuana in his house, along with firearms. Russell joined the lengthy list of reality stars who have been arrested when he was charged with 19 counts of drug possession and one count for the weapons. Following the arrest, Rick Harrison told Fox News, “We don’t have details yet, but we are here to help Chumlee any way we can.”

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Chumlee managed to avoid jail by taking a plea deal that required him to go to counseling sessions, per CBS News. He also got three years of probation, during which he had to keep his record clean or he would go to prison for the weapons charge. The deal stated that if he stayed out of trouble, his felony weapons charge would be wiped clean and he’d only have the misdemeanor drug charges on file. It seems the “Pawn Stars” cast member managed to stay above the law, as there have been no further arrests since.

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Corey Harrison is another “Pawn Stars” staple and unfortunately, he’s made it on the list of cast members who had a brush with the law. In September 2023, TMZ reported that the son of Rick Harrison was pulled over in Las Vegas because he was reportedly swerving his car. After telling the officer that he had only one drink seven hours prior, Corey was ordered to take a breathalyzer test, even though he was told it was broken. He was then taken to jail but released after a blood test.

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Corey wasn’t going to let the charge go through without a fight and told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I’m not going to say, ‘(Screw) Metro! Drinking and driving should be legal!’ I’m not trying to be that guy. But I’m the guy who, when I get punched in the face, I am going to fight back.” He also shared that the sobriety test wasn’t easy to perform as his leg was injured and the other officers on the scene sped away to another crime. Corey explained, “They hit their sirens and go flying by. This is when I’m trying to stand on this leg, that leg.”

Things can get pretty hairy when a “Pawn Stars” customer is unhappy, which is why Antwaun Austin was hired as the intimidating security guard for the cast’s store. However, in 2012, a World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop visitor named Daniel Callahan claimed that it was Rick Harrison and his father Richard Harrison who roughed him up. As reported by “Right This Minute” (via the New York Post), disabled veteran Callahan alleged that he brought a rifle to the shop but ended up getting dragged around by the neck and tossed out of the store by the father and son duo. He sued them for $20,000.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Corey Harrison claimed that his father and grandfather weren’t even present during the altercation and that Callahan was yelling aggressively in the shop while holding his gun. “I’m going with my employees because if I were out there, I would have done the exact same thing. The way he was acting, it was in our best interests to get him out of there,” Corey insisted.

2012 was a bad year for the tragedy-plagued “Pawn Stars” cast, legally. That October, a former promoter for the cast sued Richard Harrison, Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison, and Austin Russell, aka Chumlee, for breach of contract, AP (via CNBC) reported. The plaintiff, Wayne Jefferies, claimed that he was hired by the group to sell their reality show to various networks in 2007 but was eventually fired and owed money. He provided emails as evidence that he was the liaison between the pawn shop employees and network executives.

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That December, talent agency Venture IAB Inc. filed a lawsuit against the four “Pawn Stars” castmates, claiming that they dropped the company and went to a rival one instead, per The Hollywood Reporter. The agency alleged that it lost the $5 million it would have received in fees off of the stars’ salaries. The suit blamed the History Channel’s execs Nancy Dubuc and Mary Donahue for steering the Harrisons and Russell away from Venture and straight to another agent, Michael Camacho. “As a result of the intentional interference with Agency Agreements, Plaintiff has lost millions of dollars of income,” the legal documents stated. While the “Pawn Stars” cast has had much success over the years, they definitely experienced a case of “more money, more problems.”