Legal news
Kevin Spacey Must Pay $31 Million to House of Cards Producer
Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay $31 million to MRC, the producer of Netflix’s House of Cards, to cover the loss in revenue caused by the actor’s termination from the show. Spacey was fired from House of Cards prior to its sixth and final season after eight employees of the show came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an arbitrator has concluded that Spacey breached contractual obligations to provide services “in a professional manner” and “consistent with [MRC’s] reasonable directions, practices and policies.” Advertisement Related Video Because of Spacey’s termination, MCR had to completely rewrite the sixth season of House of Cards and cut the episode total from 13 to eight. Now, the actor is on the hook for a bill totaling $31 millio...
Brody Dalle Found Guilty of Contempt in Josh Homme Custody Case
A judge found Brody Dalle guilty of criminal contempt for not providing Queens of the Stoneage frontman Josh Homme with their five-year-old son during his court-ordered visitation. As Rolling Stone reports, she was declared innocent of three other contempt charges in a mixed ruling that saw Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff scold both parents for thinking that criminal law is “the answer to a family’s problems.” While Dalle was guilty of “willfully” violating a court other to deliver their five-year-old son Orrin to Homme on September 3rd, she was acquitted of the same charge for their ten-year-old son, Wolf. The judge sided with Dalle, agreeing that Wolf had refused the visit on his own. The judge also listened to arguments that Dalle committed criminal contempt b...
New York Bill Seeks to Limit Rap Lyrics as Criminal Evidence
Two New York state senators have put forward a bill to protect rap and hip-hop artists’ use of creative expression in their lyrics. Referred to as the “Rap Music on Trial” bill, the proposed legislation would seek to limit the admissibility of song lyrics as criminal evidence “without clear and convincing proof that there is a literal, factual nexus between the creative expression and the facts of the case.” In a Rolling Stone interview, Senators Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Jamaal Bailey (D-The Bronx) illustrated their point by citing classic lyrics by the likes of Johnny Cash (“But I shot a man in Reno/ Just to watch him die”) and David Byrne (“Don’t touch me, I’m a real live wire/ Psycho killer”) which are clearly understood to be artistic. Advertisement Related Video Meanwh...
Omar Souleyman Arrested in Turkey, Detained on Terrorism Charges
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman was arrested in Turkey on Wednesday (November 17th), according to Agence France-Presse. He was detained for questioning about alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish media has reported Souleyman was detained on an arrest warrant issued for “membership of a terrorist organization.” This particular charge has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of people in Turkey over the past decade as president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has cracked down on the PKK, which is considered as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the UK, EU and US. His manager told the news agency that Souleyman was brought in after a local media report claimed the musician had traveled to a region of Syria controlled by YPG, a local offshoot of the PKK. He is expected to be r...
Astroworld Lawsuit Seeks $750 Million from Travis Scott, Drake, Live Nation, Apple
A lawsuit filed on behalf of 125 Astroworld 2021 attendees, including some family members of the ten people killed in the crowd crush, is seeking $750 million in damages from Travis Scott, Drake, promoter Live Nation, and Apple Music, which livestreamed the festival. Houston attorney Tony Buzbee made the announcement on Instagram, pledging that “every individual who attended that concert and who suffered injury will be fairly compensated.” Buzbee is a colorful character — a onetime Democratic Party official who later became an ally of Republican Governor Rick Perry, Buzbee ran for mayor of Houston in 2019 as an Independent, losing in a runoff with 43% of the vote. His website, JustWin.com, boasts of “$10 billion recovered” for his clients. Buzbee said he is representing the family of...
R Kelly Associate Sentenced to 96 Months for Setting Witness’ Vehicle on Fire
Michael Williams has been sentenced to 96 months in prison for intimidating a victim-witness in the federal R Kelly sex trafficking case by lighting her vehicle on fire. Prosecutors showed that on June 11th, 2020, Williams doused an SUV with gasoline outside of a Florida home where one of Kelly’s victims had been staying. It belonged to the woman’s father, and along with lighting it ablaze, Williams wrote him a threatening message. “It might be wise for you to protect your daughter from heartache she’s gonna endure through this and after,” he said, according to his indictment. “She had to live with every stain you guys create publicly.” During the trial, the federal government produced Williams’ search engine history, which showed him asking how to make explosives out of fertilizer and die...
#BritneyIsFree: Judge Terminates Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
At last, Britney Spears is a free woman. On Friday (November 12th), Judge Brenda Penny formally terminated the singer’s conservatorship, ending a 13-year period in which every aspect of Spears’ life and career was controlled by her father. “The court finds and determines that the conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required,” Los Angeles County Judge Penny said during the hearing. “Effective today… the conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is hereby terminated.” The decision came after her father, Jamie Spears, agreed to step down as conservator and petitioned the court to end his daughter’s conservatorship amid mounting pressure and public outcry. Judge Penny suspended Jamie as conservator during a hearing in late Septembe...
Nine-Year-Old Boy Injured at Astroworld Remains in Coma, Family Sues Festival
The family of a nine-year-old boy who was seriously injured at Astroworld Festival is the plaintiff in the latest lawsuit filed against Travis Scott and Live Nation. Ezra Blount was sitting on his father’s shoulders during Scott’s headlining set on Friday night when the two suddenly found themselves trapped in a crowd surge. During the chaos, Blount’s father passed out and his son fell to the ground, where he was “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death,” according to the lawsuit. Blount sustained severe injuries to his liver, kidney, and brain, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest. Doctors put the boy into a coma to minimize brain and heart function so the swelling can go down. Advertisement Related Video Immediately following the festival, Blount’s whereabouts...
Lawsuits Filed Against Travis Scott, Drake & Live Nation Over Astroworld Tragedy
The first two lawsuits have been filed against Travis Scott, Live Nation, and other entities affiliated with Astroworld Festival in light of Friday night’s tragic events that left eight people dead and hundreds injured. In a lawsuit filed Saturday in Harris County District Court, an attendee named Manuel Souza, who was injured at Astroworld, said negligence on the part of Scott and Live Nation led to a “predictable and preventable tragedy.” “Defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner,” said Souza’s attorney, Steve Kherkher of the law firm Kherkher Garcia LLP. “Instead, they consciously ignored the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers, and, in some cases actively encouraged and fomented dangerous behaviors.” Advertisement Related Video Souza’s lawsuit speci...
Judge Tosses Out Restraining Order Requests Filed Against Josh Homme on Behalf of Sons
On Friday, a judge dismissed the pending restraining order petitions filed against Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on behalf of his two young sons. Judge Lawrence Riff ruled that Homme’s ex-wife and the boys’ mother, Brody Dalle, had sought the restraining orders without the proper court authorization, according to Rolling Stone. The petitions previously failed to win emergency approval. A restraining order taken out against Homme by the former couple’s 15-year-old daughter remains in place. Advertisement Related Video Homme also took the stand on Friday to testify in a contempt hearing related to Dalle’s refusal to share custody with Homme during the times allotted he him in August and September of this year. Dalle has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The trial is set to begi...
Carole Baskin Sues Netflix for Using Footage of Her In Tiger King 2
Chances are that during the early weeks of the pandemic, you spent more time with Carole Baskin than your best friends. But the big cat rights activist, who rose to national fame last year with Netflix‘s Tiger King, isn’t so keen on returning to the small screen: Baskin and her husband, Harold, are suing the streaming giant for using footage of her in the forthcoming sequel, Tiger King 2. According to Variety, the colorful couple filed suit in their Tampa hometown Monday (November 1st) against both Netflix and the show’s production company, Royal Goode Productions. In the documents, Baskin alleges that Royal Goode breached contract by continuing to use footage of her in Tiger King 2, as they had only legally agreed to appear in the docuseries’ first season. The Baskins also added that they...
Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Distribution in Connection to Mac Miller’s Death
One of the men charged in connection with providing Mac Miller the fentanyl that led to his untimely death has agreed to plead guilty. As TMZ reports, Stephen Andrew Walter will enter a guilty plea to federal charges of distribution of fentanyl. In exchange, another charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance was dropped, though Walter still faces up to 20 years in federal prison. According to the plea agreement, Walter “knowingly and intentionally directed Ryan Michael Reavis to distribute fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills, to Cameron James Pettit” on September 4th, 2018. Reavis was Walter’s runner, while Pettit was the drug dealer who eventually delivered those pills to Miller. Miller died from an overdose of fentanyl in combination with cocaine and alcoho...
