"Wants to set an example"

Manker and Friedmann sue each other

(Bild: Karl Schöndorfer TOPPRESS V.Mitelman Krone KREATIV,)

On Wednesday, director Paulus Manker and former "Alma" actress Anna Werner Friedmann continue to argue in court. This time it's about the civil lawsuit he filed. But soon the two swap roles - then she is the accuser. 

When Alma actress Anna Werner Friedmann confronted Paulus Manker on August 9, 2023 with the fact that her salary had not yet been transferred, unlike that of her ensemble colleagues, he is said to have replied: "Then it must be because of you." - The 32-year-old then publicly resigned during the performance at Semmering with the following words: "I'm not getting paid, everyone else is."

I don't get paid, everyone else does.

Friedmann über Manker. Er klagt zivilrechtlich auf Unterlassung.

Manker promptly sued the actress for injunctive relief. Today, the dispute is entering its second round at the Regional Court for Civil Matters in Vienna. In addition to Manker and Friedmann, members of the ensemble are to be questioned as witnesses. There was already a hearing in the Palace of Justice in December.

Two attempts at negotiation failed
However, the controversial theater director may have underestimated his counterpart. The Viennese actress, who currently has an engagement in Berlin, hit back and, together with her lawyer Katharina Braun, brought a private prosecution against the 66-year-old for defamation and insult at the regional criminal court. Manker had claimed in interviews, when asked about Friedmann: "She is blackmailing and denying me."

She blackmails and denies me.

Manker über Friedmann. Sie reagiert mit Privatanklage.

Because the defendant was not in the country on one occasion and the court apparently made a mistake in the invitation on the second attempt, the trial against Manker is still pending in the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters.

But why all this mutual suing? Lawyer Braun: "My client wants to set an example and show that this is no way to treat each other."