Back in early August, PBS affiliate WNED filed a lawsuit against LeVar Burton and his RRKidz digital reading company for “theft and extortion” of the Reading Rainbow brand, including the use of Burton’s catchphrase on the show, “You don’t have to take my word for it,” which WNED technically owns.
RRKidz now goes by LeVar Burton Kids and is no longer affiliated with the Reading Rainbow brand, which made his use of the catchphrase irksome to the company for whom he had been, but no longer was, a brand ambassador.
WNES took issue with Burton saying the phrase on his podcast LeVar Burton Reads, as well as calling the show a “Reading Rainbow for adults.”
The full story is a little complicated, but basically, in 2011 Burton and WNED partnered up to try to revive the Reading Rainbow show through a combination of digital development that Burton would be in charge of through his RRKidz brand, and WNED working to get the show back on TV.