Legal news
Florida Votes to Punish Disney for Opposition to “Don’t Say Gay” Bill
Florida Republicans are retaliating against The Walt Disney Company for its opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by passing a new law repealing Disney World’s special district status. As reported by Deadline and The New York Times, the land surrounding Disney World has been covered by the Reedy Creek Improvement District since 1967. It allows Disney to administer its own emergency services while gaining extra control over land use and environmental issues. It’s a very business-friendly arrangement, enacted for the sole purpose of enticing the House of Mouse to build a theme park, which it finally did in 1971. That special arrangement is set to end June 1st of 2023. The Florida Senate voted to eliminate the District on Wednesday, and the House followed suit today. Gove...
Pooh Shiesty Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison After Allegedly Shooting Man in Ass
Pooh Shiesty has been sentenced to 63 months in prison after allegedly shooting a man in the ass — though, if you want to be technical about it, he’ll be doing time for conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes (via Variety.) The 22-year-old rapper, born Lontrell Williams, was arrested in October 2020 following a shooting at the Landon Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, but he was quickly released from custody. In June 2021, the artist was indicted after prosecutors, using his Instagram as evidence, alleged he and two other individuals shot two people from whom they were buying weed and sneakers. When the deal went south, Williams allegedly shot one man in the rear, while his associate shot another man in the hip. The 63-month sentence comes a...
Ezra Miller Arrested Again in Hawaii, Charged with Second-Degree Assault
For the second time in as many months, Ezra Miller has been arrested in Hawaii. Per a police report, the star of The Flash was taken into custody at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning for allegedly throwing a chair that struck a woman in the head. Law enforcement responded to a call at a private residence in Pāhoa at around 1:10 a.m. They determined that Miller “became irate after being asked to leave,” whereupon the actor allegedly hurled a chair in the direction of a 26-year-old woman. The victim was left with a half-inch gash on her forehead, though she declined treatment for the injury. Police located Miller on the roadway and arrested them during a traffic stop for assault in the second degree. They were released at 4:05 a.m. pending further investigation. Advertisement Relate...
Mac Miller Drug Dealer Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
Ryan Michael Reavis, one of three men implicated in the overdose death of Mac Miller, has been sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in prison, Rolling Stone reports. Reavis, 39, was accused of being the middle man between Stephen Andrew Walter, who has pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl, and Cameron James Pettit, who supplied the pills to Mac Miller. The rapper was found dead on September 6th, 2018 of a lethal combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol. Before his sentencing, Reavis addressed the court, saying he didn’t know the pills had been responsible for Miller’s death until he was arrested a year later in September of 2019. “This is not just a regular drug case,” he said. “Somebody died, and a family is never going to get their son ba...
Game of Thrones Actor Joseph Gatt Arrested for Explicit Chats with Minor
Game of Thrones actor Joseph Gatt has been arrested on charges of allegedly having sexually explicit chats with a minor online. Citing the Los Angeles Police Department, TMZ reports that the 50-year-old actor was arrested at his Los Angeles home on April 6th after the police served a search warrant. Gatt was taken into custody on an outstanding felony warrant for contact with a minor for a sexual offense. He was released after posting $5,000 bail. It’s unclear if Gatt was speaking to multiple minors online; the LAPD’s Juvenile Division is investigating whether any other victims exist. Advertisement Related Video Gatt appeared as Thenn Warg in three episodes of Game of Thrones. His character was a member of the cannibalistic Thenn tribe, and was ultimately killed by Samwell Tarly in Se...
Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty in Forcible Touching Case
Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching after being accused of assaulting three different women in 2018 and 2019, The New York TImes reports. Gooding, 54, was arrested in 2019 after a 29-year-old woman said he had groped her breast without consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in Manhattan. Surveillance footage captured the incident, showing him putting his hand on her leg and chest. Another video clip saw her confronting him about it, which led to security intervening. Following that incident, two more women came forward with allegations of unwanted contact. One, a server at TAO Downtown, said that in 2018 he pinched her buttocks at the club. Another alleged that he forcibly and inappropriately touched her that same year at LAVO N...
Johnny Depp’s Defamation Trial Against Amber Heard Begins with Explosive New Claims
The trial for Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard began on Tuesday, April 12th in Virginia. Deep sued Heard in 2019 for $50 million over her Washington Post op-ed in which she referred to prior allegations against her ex-husband, while also saying she had become “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although Heard did not refer to Depp by name or go into any details of the abuse, Depp’s attorneys have accused her of fabricating the claims in order to derail his career and advance her own. That allegation led to Heard filing a $100 million countersuit of her own. And after losing a libel lawsuit against The Sun in November 2020, the trial represents a second opportunity for Depp to refute Heard’s allegations of abuse. Jurors in Fairfax, Virgin...
Man Accused of Shooting Lady Gaga’s Dog Walker Mistakenly Released from Jail
The man charged with shooting Lady Gaga’s dog walker during a brazen armed robbery in February 2021 was mistakenly released from custody on Wednesday. TMZ reports that James Howard Jackson, 19, was discharged from a Los Angeles county jail due to a “clerical error.” Citing law enforcement sources, NBC News reports that the mixup apparently occurred after Jackson’s initial charges were dismissed and replaced by a superseding grand jury indictment unsealed at a court hearing on Wednesday. However, the new charges were never updated in Jackson’s jail records, and he was “dismissed” from custody later that day. Jackson’s current whereabouts are unknown, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is asking anyone with information to contact its office. Advertisement Related Video On February 24th...
Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Defamation Trial to Air on Court TV
Next week, Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard goes to trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. With expected witnesses including James Franco and Elon Musk, it will draw plenty of media attention on its own and now, Court TV has announced it will be providing the televised feed. The network will be the official pool feed provider for the lawsuit, promising in a press release to “provide viewers unobstructed and unbiased views of the proceedings.” Of course, Court TV will also air its own analysis of the trial. “Court cases that are as high-profile as this one often create a lot of noise, and it can be difficult for viewers to break through these distractions to have a clear picture of the facts, but that’s where we come in,” said Acting Head of Cour...
Chris Rock Declines to Press Charges Against Will Smith
It was the slap seen around the world, and yet Will Smith will walk away from the 2022 Oscars with an Academy Award trophy and no criminal charges. According to the Los Angeles Police Department (via Variety), Chris Rock has declined to file a police report against Smith, despite being slapped on stage by the actor. Prior to announcing the winner for documentary feature, Rock cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, prompting her husband Smith to walk up to Rock and strike him with his open hand. Advertisement Related Video The US broadcast quickly cut the sound, but the international feed captured the full interaction. Rock said, “Wow, Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me.” Smith returned to his seat, where he hollered, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” “Wow, d...
Judge Moves to Terminate Amanda Bynes’ Conservatorship
Amanda Bynes may be mere hours away from freedom. On March 21st, as TMZ reports, a judge ruled that the former child star’s conservatorship is “no longer required,” paving the way for the legal oversight to officially end at a hearing scheduled on March 22nd. Bynes lost control of her personal, medical, and financial affairs in 2013 after she set a neighbor’s driveway on fire. Her mother was named conservator, and since then the All That standout has struggled with drug addiction and bipolar disorder. In 2020, a judge ordered her into a psychiatric facility. After nine years, Bynes filed to end the conservatorship last month. Reportedly, her parents are supportive of the decision, which is one of the reasons that the often slow wheels of justice are moving so quick...
Jussie Smollett Released from Jail Pending Appeal
Less than a week after being sentenced to 150 days in jail for staging a hate crime and lying to police, a court ordered Jussie Smollett to be released from custody as his attorneys ready an appeal. On March 10th, a Chicago court sentenced Smollett to 150 days in jail and 30 months felony probation for falsely reporting to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. He was also fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution. Today (March 16th), a court agreed to stay last week’s sentence, or put it on hold. The actor will be freed on bond pending an appeal. In 2019, Smollett told Chicago police that two men approached him on the street at 2:00 in the morning, attacking him with a rope and bleach and hurling racial and homophobic slurs. After investigating the...
