Director Michael Bay has reportedly launched a lawsuit against the Cadillac Formula 1 team, alleging the organisation unlawfully used his ideas for their commercial during the 2026 Super Bowl LX.
The American F1 outfit made headlines on Sunday by unveiling its first-ever team livery during the Super Bowl. Marking a major milestone ahead of its debut season on the F1 grid. However, the advert has since become the centre of a legal dispute.
Days before the Cadillac Super Bowl commercial aired, Rolling Stone reported that Bay filed a breach-of-contract and fraud lawsuit against Cadillac. The document highlighted that team owner Dan Towriss asked Bay to direct the project until he was abruptly removed.
According to the legal document, team owner Dan Towriss invited Bay to develop the commercial. In turn, Bay produced multiple visual concepts and thematic ideas for Cadillac. The lawsuit alleges that despite Towriss later informing Bay that the team was pursuing a different creative direction, the final advert incorporated several of Bay’s original concepts.
Bay claims that the short video used several stylistic elements that he proposed. The document named elements such as gold-toned colour palettes, reflective chrome finishes, sun flares, dust-heavy environments, and cinematic heat distortion effects. All of which were themes drawn from his previous projects. Including The Transformers and Armageddon.
Furthermore, the American director also claims he and his production team worked under intense time pressure. His party reported multiple overnight sessions to prepare pitch materials and concept reels for Cadillac’s creative agency.
Ultimately, Bay’s lawsuit claims that Cadillac wanted the impact of his filmmaking, at a fraction of the cost.
“They steal my ideas. They try to pick my brain and give these ideas to younger, cheaper commercial directors,” The lawsuit read.
Cadillac responds to Bay’s lawsuit
With the official release of the commercial today, Cadillac have officially responded to Micheal Bay’s claims.
The American outfit maintains that they are clean of any wrongdoings, stating that the commercial creative direction was developed without the help of Bay.
In a statement, a Cadillac spokesperson said the organisation had only explored Bay as a potential director. However, they decided he could not meet the project’s production timeline.
“Michael Bay is a visionary filmmaker, and we appreciated the opportunity to speak with him about our Super Bowl commercial,” the spokesperson told PlanetF1.
“However, after initial discussions, it became clear there was no viable path forward. The concept and creative direction had already been established prior to those conversations.”
READ MORE – Cadillac launches inaugural F1 season with Super Bowl LX commercial
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