- Michael Bay has filed a $1.5 million USD lawsuit against the Cadillac F1 Team, alleging his creative ideas were used without compensation in the team’s Super Bowl commercial.
- The Cadillac F1 Team reportedly engaged Bay in late 2025 to direct a high-profile Super Bowl ad ahead of its Formula 1 debut, before abruptly ending the partnership.
- Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss and team representatives deny the allegations, stating the creative direction was developed independently and that Bay was unable to meet production timelines.
It’s not been a good week for the Cadillac F1 team after renowned Hollywood actor Michael Bay filed a $1.5 million USD (~AU$2.2 million) lawsuit against Formula 1‘s latest American import, alleging Dan Towriss, the team’s CEO, stole a host of creative ideas for the direction of Cadillac’s Super Bowl ad.
As reported by The Athletic, the Cadillac F1 team approached the Transformers and Bad Boys director in November 2025 to produce and direct a big-budget Super Bowl commercial, meant to announce the American outfit to the world, ahead of its debut Formula 1 season.
Given that the Super Bowl typically draws more than 100 million viewers worldwide and represents one of the most distinctly American sporting spectacles, the platform was seen as an ideal launchpad for the team.
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Bay alleges that he pitched a number of ideas to Cadillac, such as the use of a John F. Kennedy speech over the top of the creative, in addition to a desert scene (yeehaw), and even presented references of his work, including Transformers 3 and Armageddon, which were well received.
After getting the green light, Bay and his team went to work. But, by December 6, Bay received the call to say that Cadillac were going “in a different direction,” although many of Bay’s original ideas made it into the final cut. Bay is suing for breach of contract and fraud for his stolen ideas.
“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.”
Dan Towriss, Cadillac F1 CEO
“Michael Bay is a cinematic genius, and we talked with him 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,” a spokesperson for Cadillac F1 said in a statement to The Athletic.
The complaint alleges that Bay’s team went as far as to produce a draft commercial, complete with dialogue and music from other projects, which was presented to Cadillac on December 5. It’s understood that the partnership ended just a day later.
With the season yet to begin, Formula 1’s newest entrant now finds itself dealing with an off-track controversy worthy of a Hollywood script. Someone give Brad a call, I’ve just had an idea.
