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[VIDEO] Hollywood Director Michael Bay is Suing GM over its Cadillac F1 Super Bowl Ad

Feb 12, 2026

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[VIDEO] Hollywood Director Michael Bay is Suing GM over its Cadillac F1 Super Bowl Ad

Photo Credit: Cadillac F1 Team

Michael Bay, the director of Bad Boys II, Armageddon, and Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) music video, is suing General Motors’ new Cadillac F1 team for $1.5 million, claiming breach of contract, fraud, and intellectual theft.

A copy of a lawsuit filed last Friday, obtained by The Athletic, alleges that Cadillac F1 team CEO Dan Towriss approached Bay in November 2025 about producing and directing a Super Bowl spot to reveal the livery of its first Formula 1 car, then moved on from Bay, proceeded to use his ideas, and failed to pay him for his contributions.

According to Bay, a written proposal used by Towriss and his ad agency to recruit him into the director’s chair said they were looking to make something “Very American” and that the “legendary project” called for “one of the most legendary storytellers of our generation to help bring it to life.” Bay added that he was asked to complete the project on “an extreme rush basis,” so it could be submitted in time for the NFL’s February 2nd deadline for Super Bowl LX commercial approval.

The February 8th commercial’s truncated timetable allegedly began with a Webex call where Bay and Towriss kicked around ideas, including background audio from a speech by President John F. Kennedy – something Bay had used in his prior work – and a desert backdrop. Two days later, after Bay’s official pitch, Towriss verbally hired him, and the Cadillac team began working alongside him as if he were the director for a week of extended hours. Then, on December 6th, Bay’s people were notified that GM’s F1 effort would be “going in a different direction,” and he would no longer be involved in the project or paid for his time.

Bay’s lawyer claims that “They planned all along to rip him off. They wanted a ‘Michael Bay’ commercial, in other words, at a bargain-basement price,” and Bay, himself feels particularly hurt by Cadillac’s actions after having a 25-year working relationship with GM, one that saw him feature exclusive and concept vehicles in his blockbusters, including the Cadillac Cien used in The Island, the Corvette Stingray Concept used in multiple Transformers films, and, most notably, the Camaro-based “Bumblebee” Transformers characters that Bay claims to have had a helping hand in designing.

For his input, Bay is seeking director and producer fees for the project along with “general and compensatory damages” in excess of $1.5 million. Meanwhile, GM maintains innocence, admitting through a spokesperson that they had “talked with [Bay] about directing our Super Bowl ad. But after two meetings, it became clear he couldn’t meet our timeline, and there ultimately wasn’t a path forward,” and continued with, “the concept and creative were already developed and we were only exploring him as a director.” In a roundtable attended by The Athletic, Towress said the following in hopes of resolving the lawsuit: “We’re confident this will be resolved appropriately. Even so, we still admire Michael Bay’s creative brilliance and would welcome the opportunity to work together in the future.”

“Our reaction is we have a lot of respect for Michael [and are] disappointed that he chose to do that.”

“Certainly, all the creative was done well in advance of ever speaking with him. We were wanting to talk to him about a role as director, not taking creative ideas from him. The group, Translation, that we worked with, did an excellent job developing all that, so we are confident it’ll be resolved amicably. From our standpoint, last night was a huge success, and we are very proud of the work that was done, and that’s all I can say on it.”