Legal news
Judge Approves Britney Spears’ Request to Hire Her Own Lawyer
A judge has approved Britney Spears’ request to hire her own private counsel to represent her in her ongoing conservatorship case. In the wake of Britney’s damning public testimony last month, her court appointed attorney, Sam Ingham, tendered his resignation. During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Brenda Penny approved Ingham’s request to remove himself from the case, while allowing Britney to retain her own representation for the first time since the conservatorship was put into place some 13 years ago. TMZ reports that Britney has already picked Matthew Rosengart to replace Ingham. A one-time federal prosecutor, Rosengart is now a go-to attorney for A-list clients including Madonna, Sean Penn, and Steven Spielberg. Advertisement Related Video Britney herself appeared in court on Wednesday...
Roy Moore’s $95 Million “Pedophile Wand” Lawsuit Against Sacha Baron Cohen Thrown Out
Sacha Baron Cohen’s money, like teenage girls, should be kept out of Roy Moore’s reach. That’s the gist of a ruling from a New York judge, who has tossed out a $95 million lawsuit alleging that a segment in the show Who Is America? made Moore appear even more like a pedophile than he already did. During their interview, Cohen used a wand said to detect child sex offenders on Moore, and it beeped. That made Moore angry enough to seek legal recompense, but according to court documents viewed by TMZ, he actually signed a waiver ahead of filming giving up his right to sue. The judge also noted that Who Is America? is clearly satire, and protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment. Moore is one of the more loathsome footnotes in America’s political history. He twice ser...
Drake Bell Sentenced to Two Years Probation for Child Endangerment, Victim Calls Him a “Pedophile”
Jared Drake Bell, best known for Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, has been sentenced to two years probation for child endangerment, People reports. He is also required to complete 200 hours of community service. Charges were brought against the former child star in early June, and on June 24th he pleaded guilty to felony attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. On Monday, July 12th, the 35-year-old actor appeared virtually in a Cleveland court to hear his sentence. His victim, now 19, made a public statement for the first time during the hearing. She called the actor, “The epitome of evil,” claiming that he began grooming her at the age of 12 and allegedly sexually abused her at the age of 15, sending her photos of...
Former Disney Star Kyle Massey Wanted for Arrest After Skipping Court
Kyle Massey, who played Cory Baxter in Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven and Corey in the House, has a warrant out for his arrest after missing a court date. Last month, the former child star was charged with a felony for communication with a minor for immoral purposes. He had been scheduled to appear for arraignment the morning of July 12th, after previously missing his arraignment in late June. Following this second no-show, as TMZ and Cox Media Group have reported, a judge in King County, Washington, has issued a $100,000 warrant for his arrest. The 29-year-old actor first found himself in legal trouble in 2019, when the alleged victim in this case sued him for $1.5 million. According to the lawsuit, Massey sent “numerous sexually explicit text mes...
Lil Baby Arrested in Paris for Narcotics, James Harden Questioned by Police
Rapper Lil Baby has been detained as part of a narcotics investigation in Paris, France. He had been taking in Fashion Week with NBA player James Harden, who was also questioned by police but not arrested. The news was first reported by Le Parisien and has since been confirmed by NBC News. Reportedly, the two men were among a group stopped by law enforcement officials at around 4:50 p.m. local time. The cops said they smelled marijuana, and bystander footage shows them going through Harden’s pockets. Harden can be heard saying, “It’s ok,” and “I don’t understand.” Check out the video below. The Brooklyn Nets’ star seems to be in the clear, while Lil Baby, whose birth name is Dominique Armani Jones, was arrested alongside one other unidentified individual. The investigat...
Bill Cosby Planning Standup Comedy Tour Following Prison Release
Fresh off his overturned conviction for sexual assault, Bill Cosby is ready to make his return to show business. That’s right, the disgraced comedian wants to mount a full-blown standup comedy tour. According to TMZ, Cosby’s spokesperson Andrew Wyatt confirmed the 83-year-old’s team has started reaching out to club promoters across the country, with many allegedly saying they’d be open to having him perform. “The world wants to see Mr. Cosby,” Wyatt told the gossip outlet. Among those who likely aren’t interested in seeing Cosby back in the limelight are the more than 60 women who’ve come forward with allegations of the former Cosby Show star engaging in rape, drug-induced sexual assault, sexual battery, and child sexual abuse. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated ind...
Britney Spears’ Court-Appointed Attorneys Resign From Conservatorship Case
Hours after Britney Spears’ longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, announced his resignation, the singer’s court-appointed legal counsel is following suit. Samuel D. Ingham III and Loeb & Loeb “tendered their resignations” as Britney’s lawyers on Tuesday, according to court documents reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter. The news is hardly a surprise, as Britney expressed displeasure with her legal representation while testifying at her conservatorship hearing last month. In particular, Britney said Ingham had failed to inform her that she had the right to request the termination of her conservatorship. “My lawyer, Sam, has been very scared for me to go forward,” Britney told Judge Brenda Penny. “He told me I should keep it to myself.” Related Video What’s more, according to a report publ...
Britney Spears Called 911 to Report Conservatorship Abuse on Eve of Public Testimony
The New Yorker has published an extensive new investigation into Britney Spears‘ ongoing conservatorship battle. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, the piece sheds new light on the circumstances leading to the court-appointed conservatorship, Britney’s medical treatment and state of mind, and the pop star’s multi-year quest to end it. Notably, on the eve of last month’s hearing, Farrow and Tolentino report that Britney called 911 to report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse. After learning of the call, members of Britney’s team reportedly began “texting one another frantically… worried about what Spears might say the next day, and they discussed how to prepare in the event that she went rogue.” The next day Britney did in fact go “ro...
Cop Plays Taylor Swift While Confronting Protestors So Video of Conflict Will Get Pulled for Copyright Infringement
During a July 1st protest at the Alameda County Courthouse, a cop played a Taylor Swift song on his phone so that footage of the conflict would get pulled from YouTube for copyright infringement. Via Gizmodo, Sheriff’s deputy David Shelby had been arguing with James Burch, the policy director for the Anti-Police Terror Project. Amid a disagreement about whether a banner constituted a “tripping hazard,” Shelby suddenly pulled out his phone and began playing Swift’s 2014 single “Blank Space.” “I don’t know why — are we having a dance party now?” Burch asked. Shelby said, “You can record all you want. I just know it can’t be posted on YouTube.” Related Video Shelby was relying on YouTube’s Content ID system, which scans videos against a database of copyrighted materials in orde...
Bessemer Trust Requests to Withdraw as Co-Conservator of Britney Spears’ Estate
Bessemer Trust has officially requested to discontinue its role as co-conservator over Britney Spears’ estate amidst the pop star’s ongoing fight to end the conservatorship that has governed her life for the last 13 years. The wealth management company, which was appointed to serve alongside the icon’s father Jamie Spears in the fall of 2020, filed the motion on July 1st citing “changed circumstances” surrounding the conservatorship, according to The New York Times. “As a result of the conservatee’s testimony at the June 23 hearing, however, the Petitioner has become aware that the Conservatee objects to the continuance of her Conservatorship and desires to terminate the conservatorship,” the company wrote in its filing. “Petitioner has heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes.” ...
Judge Denies Britney Spears’ Request to Remove Father As Conservator
Days after Britney Spears’ harrowing public testimony, a judge has turned down the pop singer’s request to remove her father, Jamie, as her sole conservator. Spears’ attorney, Samuel Ingham III, had petitioned the court to remove Jamie in November 2020. At that time, Judge Brenda Penny declined the request, but did appoint the financial company Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator of the estate. Today’s filing approved Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator while also reiterating the judge’s decision to not remove Jamie from remove Britney’s conservatorship. While the paperwork is technically in response to the November 2020 petition, it’s still significant as Judge Penny signed the document days after Britney’s testimony. Related Video Last week, Britney appeared virtually in a Califo...
James Franco to Pay $2.2 Million to Settle Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit
Back in 2019, two of James Franco’s former film students filed a lawsuit accusing him of engaging in sexual misconduct. Now, the actor-director has agreed to pay over $2.2 million to finally settle that suit. Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, the two students behind the accusations, filed their lawsuit in October 2019. They claimed that Franco and his partners “engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects.” The lawsuit named Franco, his business partner, and their production company Rabbit Bandini. Franco ran a film and acting school called Studio 4 from 2014 to 2017. It was there, said Tither-Kaplan and Gall, that the actor and direc...
