The Untold Truth Of Reading Rainbow

In 2011, LeVar Burton went into negotiations with the original producers of "Reading Rainbow," WNED, to obtain a brand license for their planned mobile app, "Skybrary." For years, it appeared they had struck a deal. However, in 2017, WNED filed a strongly-worded lawsuit against Burton, claiming that the app's successful Kickstarter was a breach of their initial agreement and that the license had been revoked since 2015.

WNED also claimed that Burton's later efforts to maintain the "Reading Rainbow" brand using his name actively took bargaining power away from the company for future projects. One example was Burton's new podcast, "LeVar Burton Reads," launched in 2017. The podcast was marketed as the adult answer to "Reading Rainbow" and even features his trademark catchphrase, "But you don't have to take my word for it." WNED claimed Burton had no right to use the slogan as the parties' brand license agreement had dissolved.

Thankfully, in later in 2017, WNED withdrew the lawsuit following a public outcry from fans who asserted that you ultimately couldn't separate Burton from the "Reading Rainbow" brand. Burton confirmed this at that year's New York Comic Con, telling Vulture that "there was an amazing outpouring of love and support of fans... I was advised not to comment, and as difficult as that was for me, it was nice to have people come to my defense."

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