Legal news
Judge Dismisses Ashley Morgan Smithline’s Case Against Marilyn Manson
A California district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by model Ashley Morgan Smithline against Marilyn Manson, which accused the musician born Brian Warner of sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment. After Smithline’s attorney Jay Ellwanger withdrew his representation in October, Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha gave Smithline a 90-day window to either hire a new attorney or decide to represent herself. She did neither by the December 5th deadline, prompting Aenlle-Rocha to dismiss the case without prejudice late Tuesday. “We thank and commend Ashley Smithline for dismissing her claims against Brian Warner without seeking or receiving anything in return,” Manson’s attorney Howard King wrote in a statement. “Ms. Smithline has refused to be manipulated by others who ar...
Final Chapters of ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Claim Singer Forced Aaliyah’s Family to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreement Following Annulment
The final two installments of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries series ended with a pair of bombshell revelations about the imprisoned singer’s controversial marriage to a then-underage Aaliyah. The two episodes that debuted on Monday and Tuesday, focused in on Kelly’s 2022 federal trial, which included allegations that the singer and his team allegedly forced Aaliyah’s family to sign a non-disclosure agreement in the wake of the annulment of the performers’ brief marriage. Kelly and Aaliyah were married in secret in August 1994 when the “Rock the Boat” singer was just 15, even though their marriage certificate listed her age as 18; the marriage was reportedly annulled by Aaliyah’s parents in Feb. 1995. Interviews with some of Kelly’s and Aaliyah’s entourages revealed some of the de...
Stars of 1968 Romeo and Juliet Sue for Child Abuse over Nudity
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who as teenagers brought Shakespeare to life in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, are suing Paramount for child abuse over the movie’s nudity. As Variety reports, they are seeking damages “believed to be in excess of $500 million.” Whiting was 16 when he appeared in the movie, and Hussey began at 15 but turned 16 during production. For the famous, “It was the nightingale, and not the lark,” scene, Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, filmed Whiting’s butt and Hussey’s bare breasts. Now in their 70s, the actors allege that they had been assured there would be no nudity, only to be pressured the day of the shoot to expose themselves “or the Picture would fail.” “What they were told and what went on were two different things,”...
Barbados May Seek Reparations from Benedict Cumberbatch’s Family for Slavery
Barbados has begun seeking reparations from the descendants of slave owners, as The Daily Beast reports, and that may soon include the family of Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch’s seventh great-grandfather bought the island’s Cleland plantation in 1728 and passed down ownership until 1834, when slavery was abolished in Barbados. That plantation reportedly exploited 250 enslaved people and became the foundation of the Cumberbatch family fortune, a fact that the actor hasn’t shied away from. In a 2007 interview, according to the New York Times, Cumberbatch revealed that his mother urged him to pursue his career under an alias specifically to avoid paying reparations. He has also said that he took his role in 12 Years a Slave because h...
Another Woman Files Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Bill Cosby, NBC
A woman who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1986 sued the comedian-actor, NBCUniversal and other companies Friday (Dec. 30) in New York, where five other women filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month. Stacey Pinkerton says she was a 21-year-old flight attendant and model that year when she claims Cosby drugged her at a restaurant in Illinois and took her back to a hotel room in Chicago. The lawsuit alleges Cosby “engaged in forced sexual intercourse” with her while she was incapacitated from the drugs. The lawsuit comes more than a year after Cosby left prison after his 2018 sexual assault conviction in Pennsylvania was overturned. Earlier this year, a Los Angeles jury awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion when she...
Steven Tyler Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Minor in New Lawsuit
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has been accused of sexual assaulting a minor in a new lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, Julia Holcomb. Tyler, then 27, began dating Holcomb shortly after her 16th birthday in 1975. Holcomb’s mother signed over her guardianship to Tyler, and the two moved in together at Tyler’s Boston home. She soon became pregnant, but then their relationship went south. Their apartment caught on fire, and she ended up in a hospital, during which time Tyler allegedly forced her to have an abortion. “When I returned home to my mother, I was a broken spirit,” Holcomb recounted in a 2011 essay. “I could not sleep at night without nightmares of the abortion and the fire. The world seemed like a dark place.” For his part, Tyler contends that the couple jointly decided to abo...
Judge Upholds Cardi B’s Win in Back Tattoo “Misappropriation” Trial
A California judge has upheld Cardi B’s win at a recent trial where jurors found her not liable for using a portion of plaintiff Kevin Brophy’s back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1, Rolling Stone reports. Brophy, a model, sued Cardi for $5 million in 2017, claiming the cover of the mixtape — which depicts a man apparently performing oral sex on the rapper — misappropriated his likeness by using an image of his tattoo, and that he was suffering “distress and humiliation” because of it. Brophy asked the court to toss their October 21st, 2022 verdict, which found Cardi not liable. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney ruled Wednesday that Brophy’s request to toss that ruling had come too late and lacked merit, and subsequently ordered him to pay Cardi’s legal...
Tory Lanez Found Guilty on All Counts in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Trial
Rapper Tory Lanez has been found guilty on all three counts in the closely-watched trial over whether he shot Megan Thee Stallion in the foot, ending a nearly two-week trial over the July 2020 incident and setting the stage for a potentially lengthy prison sentence. The verdict was handed down by a jury in Los Angeles court on Friday (Dec. 23). Lanez was convicted on all counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He faces up to 22 years in prison. Upon the reading of the verdict, Lanez’s father, who was present in the gallery, began screaming. “This wicked system. Shame of all of you!” he cried out. In the course of the trial, Lanez’s defense team made their best effort to sow doubt ov...
Movie Studios Can Be Sued for Deceptive Trailers, Judge Rules
US District Judge Stephen Wilson has sided with two Ana de Armas’ fans in a lawsuit against Universal Pictures, Variety reports, ruling that movie studios can be sued for deceptive trailers under the California False Adverting Law and the state’s Unfair Competition Law. The plaintiffs rented the 2019 film Yesterday after seeing de Armas in the trailer, only to find that all of her scenes had been cut before the film’s release. They then sued Universal, who tried to get the lawsuit thrown out under the free speech protections granted by the First Amendment. “Universal is correct that trailers involve some creativity and editorial discretion, but this creativity does not outweigh the commercial nature of a trailer,” Wilson wrote in his December 20th decision. “At its...
Journey’s Neal Schon Hits Bandmate Jonathan Cain with Cease and Desist over Mar-A-Lago Performance
Journey’s Neal Schon has hit bandmate Jonathan Cain with a cease and desist over Cain’s performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort. In November, Cain participated in a singalong of “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Trump sycophants Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake. The performance struck a nerve with Schon, who fired off a cease and desist. “Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political,” Schon’s attorney wrote in a letter (via The Guardian). Advertisement Related Video “Mr. Cain’s unauthorized af...
Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Eyewitness Offers Confusing Testimony, Pegs Both Tory Lanez and Megan’s Ex-Friend as Shooter
Sean Kelly, an alleged eye witness to the 2020 incident in which Megan Thee Stallion was shot, offered confusing and contradictory testimony Tuesday (Dec. 20) about what really happened, saying he never actually saw a gun — but also that he saw a man matching Tory Lanez’s description holding one, and that Megan’s former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris may also have fired. During the seventh day of the blockbuster trial, Kelly (a key witness for Lanez’s defense team) testified that when he first looked outside his home on the night of the incident, he saw Megan and Harris kicking and punching each other outside of a vehicle. “They were pulling their hair and hitting each other. It was quite violent,” he told Lanez’s attorney George Mgdesyan. Shortly after a man matching the description o...
Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Rape in L.A. Trial as Jury Reveals Mixed Verdict
Harvey Weinstein on Monday (Dec. 19) was found guilty of rape in a Los Angeles trial. The conviction further cements his plunge from one of the most influential producers in Hollywood to the face of the #MeToo movement. But the jury acquitted Weinstein of sexual battery by restraint against a different Jane Doe accuser. Jurors also couldn’t reach a decision on three sexual assault charges, including rape. This trial centered on testimony from four women, all known as Jane Does in court, who accused Weinstein of raping or sexually assaulting them from 2004 to 2013. Four others also testified that they were assaulted, though their claims didn’t lead to charges. In total, prosecutors called 44 witnesses to the stand to make their case against the former movie mogul. Weinstein faced two c...
