Two and a Half Men executive producer Chuck Lorre fired back at Charlie Sheen via after the actor filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit against him and Warner Bros. today.
Lorre’s attorney Howard Weitzman issued the following statement: READ FULL STORY »
A New York City judge has closed the book on a lawsuit filed by an author who claimed Jerry Seinfeld had damaged her reputation during a 2007 interview on Late Show with David Letterman. Missy Chase Lapine — who had accused Seinfeld’s wife, Jessica, of plagiarizing her idea for a kid-centric healthy cookbook (Jessica Seinfeld released Deceptively Delicious in 2007) — filed a lawsuit saying Jerry Seinfeld had hurt her reputation by calling her a “wacko” on the late-night show. According to the Associated Press, Justice Marcy Friedman threw out the case Friday, saying it was clear Seinfeld was joking and citing the comedian’s first amendment rights. Seinfeld’s lawyer released the following statement to EW: “Today’s decision is a complete victory for Jerry — and also a victory for the First Amendment and the right of comedians to tell jokes. The decision also vindicates HarperCollins and Jessica Seinfeld yet again, confirming what the two different federal courts have already ruled: Jessica independently created her bestselling book, Deceptively Delicious.”
Read more:
Seinfeld calls wife’s cookbook scandal ‘hilarious’
Amanda Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito’s lawyers are attempting to halt Lifetime’s airing of Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy, a TV movie chronicling Knox and Sollecito’s supposed involvement in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher. According to the Associated Press, attorneys for both Knox and Sollecito — who are serving time in Italy after being found guilty of Kercher’s murder — are threatening to go to U.S. court if Lifetime airs the Feb. 21 film and keeps its trailer on the network’s website. Amanda Knox stars Hayden Panettiere as the title character; both Knox and Sollecito still maintain their innocence. Lifetime is not commenting on the matter.
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Hayden Panettiere cast as Amanda Knox in Lifetime TV movie
Despite an ongoing lawsuit between the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) — which presents the Golden Globes — and Dick Clark Productions, the HFPA issued a statement today claiming that there will indeed be a televised ceremony in 2012. (Speculation that the telecast would be canceled began after some outlets discovered that HFPA lawyers put together a court filing that said it may not be able to find a new producer and network in time for the Golden Globes next year.) Said the statement: “Regardless of the legal proceedings with … Dick Clark Productions, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will present the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Show as scheduled in January 2012. The show will go on, with or without DCP.”
In November, the HFPA filed a lawsuit against Dick Clark Productions, claiming the production company signed a signed an agreement with NBC to air the show through 2018 without consulting the HFPA.
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Hollywood Foreign Press Association sues Dick Clark Prods. over Golden Globes
More than seven years after an episode of NYPD Blue featured a brief shot of a woman’s nude buttocks, a federal appeals court has struck down a penalty imposed on ABC and its affiliate stations by the FCC. According to the Associated Press, the FCC had imposed a $27,500 fine after the 2003 episode, but the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that, since TV stations are not fined for “fleeting” profanities uttered during live broadcasts, they should similarly not be fined for images like the Blue nudity. The Parents Television Council denounced the ruling, saying in a statement, “ABC intentionally chose to air a scripted visual depiction of a fully-naked woman before 10:00 pm. There was absolutely nothing fleeting or accidental about it. The inclusion of the lengthy and ogling scene was intended to pander and titillate.”
An L.A. judge has denied Disney’s request for a new trial in its six-year-long battle with Celador International, the creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. In July, a jury ruled that the Mouse House would have to hand over $319 million in damages to Celador after the British company claimed that they had not profited off of the show’s success in the U.S. (Celador had first filed a lawsuit against Disney in 2004.)
According to the L.A. Times, Disney was hoping to have the verdict overturned, alleging that the judge had “made errors in admitting or excluding evidence” during the trial. Regardless of their most current setback, Disney plans to continue fighting the verdict.
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Disney loses millions in ‘Millionaire’ case
Former Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan has dropped the most incendiary claims of abuse from the $20 million lawsuit she filed this spring against ABC, the show’s creator Marc Cherry, and Touchstone Television. Sheridan, who played Edie Britt on the series, filed the suit in April after being dropped from the show, alleging that she had been assaulted by Cherry on the set and then fired when she reported the abuse to ABC. In a joint stipulation filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Sheridan agreed not to pursue her claim that she had been subjected to intentional emotional distress or seek any damages for emotional or physical abuse. In exchange, Sheridan will not have to submit to a mental or physical examination.
Viacom is appealing a June court ruling that stated YouTube and Google Inc. had not violated federal copyright rules by enabling users to upload pirated content to the website, the Los Angeles Times reports. The appeal argues that YouTube and its founders broke the law in order to invite traffic; Viacom had asked for over $1 billion in damages when first arguing the case. Back in June, a U.S. District Court judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that YouTube had not violated the law, since they removed the videos after discovering that pirated content was online. Some of Viacom’s programming in question includes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, South Park, and MTV Cribs.
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
