Since the Tijuana controversy went viral in March, Lee has made public apologies for the anecdote, claiming on an April 5 episode of TigerBelly that the entire story was a complete fabrication stitched together from multiple different stand-up bits he’s told at different points in his career. It is unclear whether Wondery sent TigerBelly the termination notice for their 39-month contract before or after the apology, but, regardless, Lee and his company claim that the grounds of the termination are unlawful — according to Lee, he never agreed to a “morals clause.”
Morals clauses are provisions within a contract to curtail behavior that could create scandal and reputational damage for the parties involved. Lee’s lawsuit does not dispute Wondery’s supposed assertions that Lee breached the morals clause by telling the story repeatedly for almost a decade — it simply says that Lee never signed one in the first place, and that Wondery would have known about the Tijuana tale when they agreed to terms in December 2022. Lee and TigerBelly intend to take the case to trial, seeking multiple millions of dollars in damages.