Zooey Deschanel Sues Steve Madden For $2 Million

By Sarah Crow Posted Dec 20th 2010 10:45AM

Zooey Deschanel may seem like a free spirit on screen, but the actress is anything but carefree when it comes to her money.

The '500 Days of Summer' star is suing trendy shoe company Steve Madden, claiming that they never made good on a $2 million endorsement deal she inked this summer.

According to Us Weekly, after the papers were filed, Madden insisted that retailers wouldn't cough up enough cash to support the deal, forcing them to renegotiate for $1.5 million.

Although the renegotiation cut her fee by half a million dollars, it seems Madden had other plans. The suit filed by Deschanel claims that the company chose to pay her even less, giving her a total of $0.

The actress claims that she was a model employee for the company, turning away other endorsement offers while under contract.

Deschanel asserts that in addition to the agreed upon $1.5 million, her contract with Madden entitled her to a portion of the profits from sales if the campaign was a success.