Legal
R. Kelly Witness Says She Cooperated With Investigators Because She Didn’t Want to ‘Carry His Lies’
A woman who says she was sexually abused hundreds of times by R. Kelly before she turned 18 testified Friday (Aug. 19) that she agonized several years ago about whether to cooperate with federal investigators who were looking into child abuse allegations involving the singer, but that she ultimately did because she didn’t want to “carry his lies.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news But the witness — who is now 37 years old and going by the pseudonym “Jane” at the trial — also conceded that even after she began cooperating, she lied at one point when she told federal agents that she wasn’t sure if Kelly had abused minors other than her. She said she lied because she didn’t want to get others in trouble. Jane testified for over four hou...
Here’s Why Mariah Carey Is Facing a Legal Battle Over ‘Queen of Christmas’ Nickname
Mariah Carey is in a legal showdown over her efforts to secure a trademark registration for name “Queen of Christmas,” sparked by another singer who says she’s used the name for years. Likely playing on her perennial smash hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Carey’s company (Lotion LLC) applied last year at the federal trademark office to register the “Queen” name as an exclusive brand name for a variety of different goods and services, ranging from music to alcohol to fragrances. But in a legal opposition filing last week, singer Elizabeth Chan and her attorneys at the law firm Wilmer Hale asked the office to reject Carey’s application. They say Chan (“pop music’s only full-time Christmas singer”) has been repeatedly dubbed the “Queen of Christmas,” and that it would be unfair to let C...
R. Kelly Chicago Trial Focuses on Whether Potential Jurors Watched ‘Surviving R. Kelly’
Jury selection in R. Kelly’s federal trial on charges that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial began Monday (Aug. 15) with the judge and attorneys quickly focusing on whether would-be jurors watched a 2019 documentary about sex abuse allegations against the R&B singer. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news After denying a request from Kelly’s attorney to automatically exclude anyone from the jury who watched the six-part documentary series, Surviving R. Kelly, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber quizzed potential jurors about how much they watched, what they could recall about it and whether they could be impartial if they were selected. Jurors were asked whether they watched the documentary in a questionnair...
R. Kelly Accuser to Give Key Testimony on Trial-Fixing Charge
R. Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago that starts Monday (Aug. 15) is in many ways a do-over of his 2008 state child pornography trial, at which jurors acquitted the singer on charges that he produced a video of himself when he was around 30 having sex with a girl no older than 14. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news There’s one big difference: This time, prosecutors say, she will testify. Kelly, 55, goes into Chicago federal court already sentenced by a New York federal judge to a 30-year prison term for a 2021 conviction on charges he parlayed his fame to sexually abuse other young fans. Among the most serious charges the Grammy Award winner faces at his federal trial is conspiracy to obstruct justice by rigging the 2008 trial, including by...
Bob Dylan’s Lawyers in Sex Abuse Case Demand Punishment For Attorneys Who Filed Lawsuit
In the wake of a failed lawsuit that claimed Bob Dylan sexually abused a child in 1965, the singer’s legal team is now demanding serious penalties against the lawyers who filed it – citing “brazen” misconduct in a case that they “should not have brought.” The suit, filed last year by an unnamed woman, included salacious allegations against the iconic singer, but historians said it wasn’t chronologically plausible and the accuser suddenly dropped the case last month after Dylan’s lawyers said she had destroyed key evidence. Now, Dylan’s attorneys are out for blood – demanding “real consequences” for attorneys Daniel Isaacs and Peter Gleason over their “systematic discovery violations” while handling the case. “Mr. Isaacs and Mr. Gleason should not have brought this action — accusing defenda...
Taylor Swift Tells Judge That ‘Shake It Off’ Was ‘Written Entirely by Me’
Taylor Swift herself weighed in Monday (Aug. 8) on a lawsuit that claims she stole the lyrics to “Shake It Off” from a song about “playas” and “haters,” filing a sworn declaration in which she said the words were “written entirely by me” and that she’d “never heard the song” she’s accused of copying. Seeking to finally end a yearslong lawsuit that claims her 2014 chart-topping hit had infringed the copyright to the 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by the group 3LW, Swift was unequivocal: “The lyrics to Shake It Off were written entirely by me.” “In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed...
Iman Shumpert, Ex-NBA Star & Teyana Taylor’s Husband, Arrested at Texas Airport
Former NBA player Iman Shumpert was arrested at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport last weekend for allegedly trying to bring 6 ounces of cannabis through security. The police report from the DFW Airport Department of Public Safety shows police were called to a TSA checkpoint at about 3:40 p.m. on Saturday and told there was a “sizeable amount of marijuana” found. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The police report says Shumpert told officers that the bag contained marijuana and “asked if there was any way he could make his flight” to Los Angeles, where he was supposed to pick up his daughter. He has two daughters with entertainer Teyana Taylor. Shumpert was told no, arrested for felony possession of marijuana and taken to the airport ja...
Netflix Sues ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Creators Days After Sold-Out Live Show
Days after musicians Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear performed their Grammy-winning Unofficial Bridgerton Musical to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center, Netflix is suing them for “blatant infringement” of the company’s rights to the popular period drama. In a complaint filed Friday (July 29) in D.C. federal court, Netflix accused the duo of piggybacking on “the creative work and hard-earned success” of hundreds of artists and staffers behind Bridgerton – using the company’s copyrights and trademarks without permission to build a “brand for themselves.” “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton,” the company wrote. “Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for th...
Netflix Sues ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Creators Days After Sold-Out NYC Live Show
Days after musicians Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear performed their Grammy-winning Unofficial Bridgerton Musical to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center, Netflix is suing them for “blatant infringement” of the company’s rights to the popular period drama. In a complaint filed Friday (July 29) in D.C. federal court, Netflix accused the duo of piggybacking on “the creative work and hard-earned success” of hundreds of artists and staffers behind Bridgerton – using the company’s copyrights and trademarks without permission to build a “brand for themselves.” “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton,” the company wrote. “Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for th...
Britney Spears Won’t Have to Sit for a Deposition in Legal Battle With Dad, Judge Rules
A Los Angeles judge sided with Britney Spears on Wednesday (July 27) and rejected her father’s demand that she sit for a deposition. At a hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge Brenda Penny finalized her earlier tentative decision to deny a request from attorneys for Jamie Spears to depose his daughter amid ongoing litigation over his alleged misconduct during her controversial 13-year legal conservatorship. Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, argued there was no reason for the pop star to face a deposition in the case, and called it an act of revenge by her father and his lawyers. “Whether he believes it or accepts it, what she went through under him [was traumatic]. What would a decent dad do? He would say, ‘That’s my daughter, I love my daughter,’” Rosengart said...
Rap on Capitol Hill: Proposed Federal Law Would Ban Lyrics From Criminal Cases
A proposed law introduced in Congress on Tuesday (July 27) would heavily restrict when federal prosecutors can cite rap lyrics as evidence during a criminal case, mirroring recent efforts in California and New York to limit the increasingly controversial practice. Introduced by U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) would sharply limit when any form of creative or artistic expression could be used as evidence against the person who created it. “Our judicial system disparately criminalizes Black and brown lives, including Black and brown creativity,” Bowman said in a statement announcing the bill. “We cannot imprison our talented artists for expressing their experiences nor will we let their creativity be suppressed.” The bi...
Self-Described R. Kelly Manager Pleads Guilty to Stalking
A self-described manager and adviser to R. Kelly pleaded guilty Tuesday (July 26) to an interstate stalking charge, less than a week after he was convicted of making a phone threat that gunfire was about to occur in a Manhattan theater where a documentary about the singer was about to be shown. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Donnell Russell, 47, of Chicago, entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation to silence one of Kelly’s sexual abuse victims. Kelly, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison last month, was convicted last year of racketeering and sex trafficking. Peace said in a statement that Russell sent threatening messages to the woman and her mother...
