Cadillac, presentation show turns into a mystery: director Michael Bay sues the team and demands $1.5 million
The spotlight is on the commercial with which the Stars and Stripes team will unveil its first-ever Formula 1 car later tonight.
Michael Bay vs the Cadillac team
The debut season of the Cadillac team in Formula 1 looks set to begin with a rather unusual and dramatic twist. The American outfit – which enters Formula 1 this year as the championship’s 11th team – has scheduled a major presentation show tonight, delivered through a television commercial that will air during the Super Bowl halftime break, the NFL championship final between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
Michael Bay vs the Cadillac team
The debut season of the Cadillac team in Formula 1 looks set to begin with a rather unusual and dramatic twist. The American outfit – which enters Formula 1 this year as the championship’s 11th team – has scheduled a major presentation show tonight, delivered through a television commercial that will air during the Super Bowl halftime break, the NFL championship final between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
The reasons behind the lawsuit
According to Bay’s version of events, he was personally recruited by Cadillac to produce the commercial, only to later be deceived. The director claims that the team stole his ideas and then pushed him aside, excluding him from the project entirely. The 19-page lawsuit for breach of contract and fraud, filed on Friday in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone, states that Dan Towriss, the owner and CEO of the Cadillac team, directly contacted Bay on November 28, 2025, to conceive, produce and direct the team’s official presentation commercial.
Bay claims that he put other projects on hold in order to accept Towriss’ offer, despite the extremely tight timeline involved. According to the filing, Bay committed to the project in good faith, dedicating time and creative resources to ensure the commercial would meet the scale and impact expected from a Super Bowl broadcast.
However, midway through production, the situation allegedly took a dramatic turn. While Bay was still working on the project, Dan Towriss reportedly decided suddenly to “take a different direction” and handed the completion of the work over to someone else. The lawsuit alleges that Towriss and the Cadillac team “apparently stole Bay’s ideas and work for the commercial, without paying him.”
The reasons behind the lawsuit
According to Bay’s version of events, he was personally recruited by Cadillac to produce the commercial, only to later be deceived. The director claims that the team stole his ideas and then pushed him aside, excluding him from the project entirely. The 19-page lawsuit for breach of contract and fraud, filed on Friday in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone, states that Dan Towriss, the owner and CEO of the Cadillac team, directly contacted Bay on November 28, 2025, to conceive, produce and direct the team’s official presentation commercial.
Bay claims that he put other projects on hold in order to accept Dan Towriss’ offer, despite the extremely tight timeline involved. According to the filing, Bay committed to the project in good faith, dedicating time and creative resources to ensure the commercial would meet the scale and impact expected from a Super Bowl broadcast.
However, midway through production, the situation allegedly took a dramatic turn. While Bay was still working on the project, Towriss reportedly decided suddenly to “take a different direction” and handed the completion of the work over to someone else. The lawsuit alleges that Dan Towriss and the Cadillac team “apparently stole Bay’s ideas and work for the commercial, without paying him.”
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