Legal news
Kevin Spacey Loses Appeal to Overturn $31 Million House of Cards Damages
Last year, Kevin Spacey was ordered to pay MRC, the producer of Netflix’s House of Cards, $31 million in compensatory damages following his termination from the show. He later petitioned to have the order reversed, but at an August 4th hearing, a judge determined the actor’s appeal had no standing. Spacey was fired from House of Cards in 2017 after eight employees of the show accused him of sexual misconduct. After his termination, MRC was forced to rewrite the show’s sixth and final season to exclude Spacey from the plot, and cut the season down from 13 episodes to eight in order to meet streaming deadlines. After an internal investigation and an evidentiary hearing, a neutral arbitrator concluded Spacey had violated the show’s anti-harassment policy and ordered him to...
Jury Orders Alex Jones to Pay Sandy Hook Parents $4 Million in Damages
A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist and Infowars owner Alex Jones to pay the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim $4 million in compensatory damages in an ongoing defamation lawsuit. Jones has spent almost a decade arguing that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School — which left 28 people, including 20 children, dead — was a hoax, and that the parents of the victims were “crisis actors” upholding the lie. One set of parents, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, sued Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, in 2018 for defamation, and originally asked for $150 million in compensatory damages. In a verdict signed by 10 members of the 12-member jury, the group landed on $4 million, but a separate trial to decide how much Jones will pay in punitive damages is still forthco...
Lady Gaga Dognapper Receives Four-Year Prison Sentence
One of the three men charged with the armed robbery of Lady Gaga’s former dog walker Ryan Fischer has been sentenced to four years in state prison after accepting a surprise plea deal. Jaylin Keyshawn White pleaded “no contest” to second-degree robbery on Wednesday, August 3rd in return for prosecutors dropping two other charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. Judge Richard Kemalyan sentenced White to three years for the robbery conviction and gave an extra year for gun enhancement because another defendant involved in the case, James Howard Jackson, was armed. Fischer, who was shot during the February 2021 dognapping, suffered from nerve damage and a collapsed lung as a result of the attack. Rolling Stone reports that he gave a tearful speech in court. “You left me b...
Man Who Killed Nicki Minaj’s Father in Hit-and-Run Sentenced to One Year in Jail
Charles Polevich, the man who killed Nicki Minaj’s father Robert Maraj in a February 2021 hit-and-run, has been sentenced to one year in jail. Polevich, now 71, struck Maraj, 64, while he was walking in the village of Mineola on Long Island, New York. Polevich drove off and hid his car, while Maraj was taken to a Nassau County hospital, where he died. Using security footage, Nassau County police were able to track down Polevich’s vehicle. “He’s absolutely aware of what happened,” Nassau Police Homicide Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick told CNN. “He got out of the car and he looked at the deceased, got into his car and made the conscious decision to leave. Instead of dialing 911, instead of calling an ambulance for the man, he went and went home and secreted his vehicle.” Advertisement Rel...
Law & Order Writer Says Alex Jones Trial Too “Dumb” for Fiction
Forget about Law & Order‘s dun-dun, this is just dumb-dumb. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is currently standing trial for a defamation lawsuit brought by the parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, but his own legal team have torpedoed the case. On Wednesday, August 3rd, it was revealed that Jones’ lawyers accidentally emailed the full contents of his phone to the attorneys representing the parents, in the process providing dozens of emails and texts that contradicted Jones’ sworn testimony and suggesting he committed perjury. The reveal was so bizarre that longtime Law & Order writer David Slack weighed in, writing that the twist was too outlandish for fiction, because “on Law & Order we wouldn’t have let a lawyer do something that dumb...
Netflix Sues The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Creators for Copyright Infringement
A scandal worthy of Lady Whistledown’s poisoned pen. On Friday, Netflix filed a lawsuit against the creators of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical for copyright infringement. In the court papers, which were filed in a Washington DC District Court, the streamer alleges duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear “have taken valuable intellectual property from the Netflix original series Bridgerton to build an international brand for themselves.” “Bridgerton reflects the creative work and hard-earned success of hundreds of artists and Netflix employees,” the court filing reads. “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton. Barlow & Bear cannot take that right — made valuable by others’ hard work — for themse...
Shakira Facing Eight Years in Prison, $24 Million Fine for Tax Fraud in Spain
Prosecutors in Spain are seeking a prison sentence of eight years and two months for Colombian pop star Shakira after she rejected a settlement deal in her alleged tax fraud case. In July 2021, Shakira (full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) was charged with failing to pay the Spanish government €14.5 million ($15 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014. According to the AP, prosecutors are also seeking a fine of €24 million ($24 million). The indictment includes six charges against Shakira. Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged she lived more than half of each year from 2012 through 2014 in Spain and thus should have paid taxes in the country, while Shakira has argued that her fiscal residence was in the Bahamas. Advertisement Related Video In a statement issued to The Independent, Shak...
Bob Dylan Accuser Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Following Allegations of Destroyed Evidence
An anonymous woman who accused Bob Dylan of sexually assaulting her as a child has dropped her lawsuit against him after being being accused of destroying evidence, Billboard reports. Last year, a woman identified only as J.C. accused Dylan of sexually abusing her over a six-week period in 1965, claims the artist called “false, malicious, reckless and defamatory.” The woman’s case first came under scrutiny after her timeline of events failed to match up with records of Dylan’s 1965 touring schedule. Then, at a hearing on July 28th, she asked the federal judge overseeing the case to dismiss it “with prejudice,” meaning it will be permanently closed and cannot be refiled. J.C.’s request to end the lawsuit came after she failed to turn over texts and emails pertinent to the case pri...
Amber Heard Files to Appeal Verdict in Johnny Depp Defamation Case
Amber Heard has filed to appeal the verdict in the defamation case brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp, as The Daily Mail was first to report. “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment,” a spokesperson told TMZ. “We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.” Depp’s lead attorney, Ben Chew, responded that the motion is “What we expected, just longer, no more substantive.” Advertisement Related Video A Virginia jury tried to award Depp $15 million — $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages — though since Virginia law caps punitive damages at $350,...
Restraining Order Against Ricky Martin Dismissed After Accuser Withdraws Request
A judge has dismissed a temporary restraining order against Ricky Martin after his accuser reportedly withdrew the request. Martin’s accuser, identified as the singer’s 21-year-old nephew Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, was initially granted the restraining order on July 2nd. Sanchez claimed that he and Martin had been in a seven-month romantic relationship. Martin allegedly refused to accept their breakup and was found loitering outside of Sanchez’s home on three different occasions. Sanchez also accused Martin of physical and psychological abuse. In a statement to TMZ, Martin’s legal representatives said Sanchez’s decision to withdraw his request for a restraining order “was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure.” Advertisement Related Video “The accuser confirmed he was satisfied ...
Kevin Spacey Pleads Not Guilty to Five Sexual Assault Charges in UK Court
Kevin Spacey pled not guilty to five sexual assault charges at a court hearing in London today (July 14th), Deadline reports. A trial date has been set for June 6th, 2023. In May, Metropolitan Police charged the Oscar-winning actor with four counts of sexual assault and one of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The alleged assaults occurred between 2005-2013 in London and nearby Gloucester county against three men who are now aged in their 30s and 40s, and Spacey has repeatedly denied the accusations. The judge in today’s hearing also continued Spacey’s unconditional bail, which was granted last month. Back in 2019 in Massachusetts, Spacey was charged with indecent assault and battery in connection to a July 2016 incident involving an 18-...
Judge Rejects Amber Heard’s Claim of Jury Fraud in Johnny Depp Defamation Trial
A judge has rejected Amber Heard’s motion for a new trial, ruling that a mix-up between a 52-year-old man and his 77-year-old father did not constitute jury fraud. The jury awarded Johnny Depp $10.35 million in his defamation lawsuit, and Heard has not yet filed an appeal, possibly because Judge Penny Azcarate ordered her to pay an $8.3 million bond before any appeal could go forward. Instead, she’s focused her legal efforts on this father and son. While the identities of the two men have been redacted, they live together, and publicly available information suggests that they also share a name, although it’s unknown if one is a “Jr.” or “II.” But the 77-year-old was summoned for jury duty, and instead the 52-year-old showed up, ultimately getting enrolled on the jury. Heard’s leg...
