August 2011 Archives

Who says you can't make money off of being in jail? Rapper T.I. was just released from prison, and he already has a few deals lined up. T.I. and VH1 have reportedly already hammered out a deal where the cable channel will follow the rapper's return to home from prison.

T.I. is now on his way home to Georgia after being released from a low-security prison in Arkansas this Wednesday.

T.I. was originally sentenced to 7 months in prison in 2009 after he tried to buy unregistered guns and silencers from an undercover officer, reports the AP. He was released on probation, which he violated in September 2010 when he was found to be in possession of four ecstasy pills. In October 2010 he was sentenced to 11 months in prison for his probation violation.

A "Steven Seagal: Lawman" raid gone awry has left Jesus Sanchez Llovera in a suing mood.

In March, Llovera's Arizona home was raided by Seagal, who was accompanied by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and a TV film crew. The raid was shot as part of the television series, "Steven Seagal: Lawman," where the 1980s and 1990s action star fights real crime.

Well, Llovera says not only was there no crime taking place on his property, but Seagal's raid claimed the life of his 11-month old puppy and about 100 roosters that he owned, reports TMZ.

Daryl Hannah, arrested in front of the White House, added another notch to her environmental belt on Tuesday afternoon.

Along with a group of 100 others, the Splash and Wall Street actress was participating in a sit-in protesting the Keystone oil pipeline. If approved, the pipeline will run from Alberta, Canada through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma to refineries located in Texas.

The protesters want to end the country's dependence on fossil fuels, and urged the president to instead use the funds for clean energy.

A drunk Matthew Fox punched and hit a bus driver in Cleveland, Ohio early Sunday morning after she refused to let him onto her bus, the driver alleges. Matthew Fox's assault may soon result in criminal or civil charges.

Heather Bormann, the 29-year-old bus driver that Fox allegedly assaulted says she was chartering a bus for a private party outside a local bar. She did not recognize Fox, who is famous for starring in the popular television series Lost.

She says that Fox approached several bus drivers asking if they could take him back to his hotel. Finally, he tried to board her bus. She refused to take him, telling him that the bus was already reserved for a private party. That's when Fox allegedly lost his cool, according to The Plain Dealer.

New Edition singer Johnny Gill's Twitter lawsuit has settled out of court. The singer had previously been accused of defamation by Ira DeWitt, CEO of Notifi Records.

The defamation suit started when Gill took to his Twitter account to publicly bash DeWitt. He called her "deranged," "f**king nuts," and accused her of running a "fake company."

Where did all of this Twitter bashing come from? Gill says that DeWitt hired some other singer to polish off his song. He also says that his song was then leaked on a false Twitter account by DeWitt, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

DMX arrested? Who's surprised?

The rapper, born Earl Simmons, was arrested last night in Arizona after officers clocked him going 102 in a 65 mile per zone without a valid license.

Cited for criminal speed, driving on a revoked license, and reckless driving, DMX was hauled in, but is currently out on bond.

He's sure to soon have a very nice meeting with his probation officer.

And probably the judge, too.

Was Joe Francis arrested again?

It may not be surprising that the half-baked brain behind pseudo-porn Girls Gone Wild has found himself in more legal trouble, but what is surprising is that, this time, it has nothing to do with underage girls.

Francis, along with his bodyguard Vagram Gegdzhyan, is accused of kidnapping and physically assaulting a group of three women during a January incident that culminated at his home.

Maybe "firefighter" can be a viable alternative career for Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. A fire ravaged the island home of Virgin Group's chairman and founder, Richard Branson. The fire, however, was not enough to stop Winslet's heroic efforts.

Winslet, her boyfriend and her two children, and 16 other guests were staying at Branson's home in the British Virgin Islands when flames broke out early Monday morning.

Branson's 90-year-old mother, Eve, was at the property when the fire started. That's when Winslet sprang into action. She swept up Branson's mother into her arms and carried her out of the burning mansion.

Ted Williams, the homeless "Man with the Golden Voice," skyrocketed to fame earlier this year when a YouTube video of his radio-quality tenor hit the airwaves.

Though the sudden attention brought job offers and a chance to get off the streets, it hasn't been all good from Williams' perspective.

In a lawsuit filed against his agents--the producers of America's Next Voice--he alleges that he practically signed his life away while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Though Jude Deveraux is talented enough to have had 36 of her novels reach The New York Times Best Seller list, clouded judgment may have led the author to give $20 million to a family of gypsies involved a fortune teller scam.

During testimony in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom on Friday, prosecutors described the victims of the $40 million scheme run by the Marks family, one of which happens to be a bestselling author who lost her 8-year-old son to a motorcycle accident.

Jude Deveraux also lost her son at the same age and in the same way.

Rapper Lil' Wayne has been sued for allegedly stealing the "How to Love" beat from another rapper, Rich Rick.

Rick has filed suit against the rapper and producers Drummer Boyz.

Rick says that he owns the rights to the beat since he bought it straight from Drummer Boyz. He says that Drummer Boyz then went behind his back and pitched the beat to Lil Wayne.

Rick says that Drummer Boyz then got a 35% royalty agreement with Lil' Wayne, while he got nothing, reports Aceshowbiz.

Even celebrities face eviction, as Merrill Lynch has filed suit against actor Burt Reynolds for foreclosure. Reynolds has owned his Hobe Sound, Florida home, dubbed "Valhalla," for years.

"Valhalla" originates from Norse mythology, and is a great hall where Odin rules and slain heroes go to lie. In short, it's kind of like heaven.

Unfortunately for Reynolds, his "Valhalla" may go from heaven to nightmare if Merrill Lynch gets their way. The bank claims that the actor owes them around $1.2 million for the mortgage on his 4-acre mansion.

Five years after being featured on Dateline's To Catch a Predator, Joseph Roisman of Watsonville, California is finally free.

Charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor, the former member of the military was part of an online sting operation conducted by the television show and its watchdog partner, Perverted Justice.

In tossing the charges mid-trial on Tuesday, the judge implied that both Dateline and Perverted Justice lack credibility and entrapped Roisman.

If you're looking at the new Sears line of Kardashian Kollection handbags, you might be wondering where the three Kardashian sisters got their design inspiration. But, if you're designer Monica Botkier, you may end up crying "piracy!" and accusing the sisters of ripping off your design.

In August, Botkier publicly accused the sisters of ripping off the design for her "Clyde" handbag.

She did so by posting a blog post titled "K is for Knock-off" on her website. Botkier appears ready for a legal showdown - and Sears is responding.

Real Housewives husband Russell Armstrong's suicide has cast a dark cloud over the reality TV series as well as the entire reality TV industry. Russell Armstrong is survived by his estranged wife, Taylor Armstrong, and their young daughter.

It is an apparent suicide, with no suicide note found, and no signs of foul play, according to ABC News.

Russell Armstrong, 47, was a venture capitalist and financier. He faced domestic problems with his wife, Taylor Armstrong, who has told the press their marriage was abusive. On the professional side, he also faced a $1.5 million lawsuit from investors, according to Reuters.

If you're a celebrity, there are probably thousands of eyes on your Twitter account. So maybe it's no surprise that if you're a rapper named The Game, one tweet can send a flurry of calls to a sheriff's office in Compton, California. The calls were the result of a prank post on The Game's Twitter account.

Was this actually all a game to The Game? A Twitter prank may seem funny at first, but it probably gets a whole lot less hilarious when criminal charges are considered.

Understandably, the targeted sheriff's office was not amused with the rapper.

The cast of MTV reality series Jersey Shore are no strangers to the law. Next up to face a courtroom is Jwoww, now sued over one of the cast's favorite pastimes: tanning. To be more specific, the suit centers around Jwoww's tanning lotion bottle design.

Jwoww, also known as Jenni Farley, was approached by a partnership called Phigogam about launching a tanning lotion line, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Apparently, they even got so far as to hammer out what the bottle would look like, The Hollywood Reporter reports. And, like most business arrangements that end in lawsuits, the relationship then soured.

She may officially be George Soros' ex-girlfriend, but 28-year-old Brazilian soap star Adriana Ferreyr isn't ready to let go of the financial perks associated with the relationship.

In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Ferreyr claims that twice during her five year romance with the 80-year-old billionaire businessman and liberal financier, he promised to buy her a New York City apartment.

Who thinks he has whisper similar things to other young ladies around the world?

Do you want to have Jersey Shore's "The Situation" autograph something for you? Maybe you would, especially when The Situation's Ferrari pulls up next to you and the reality TV star has two women sitting on top of each other in the passenger seat.

Apparently for some New Jersey cops, the allure of The Situation might have clouded their judgment.

The Situation, or Mike Sorrentino as he is legally known, pulled up to some police officers to ask for directions in his Ferrari. An innocent move, minus the fact that he might have been breaking some traffic laws at the time, according to TMZ.

Though it's not all that uncommon to read about a Playboy Playmate arrested in a domestic dispute, barroom brawl, or for driving under the influence, Miss July 2010 Shanna Marie McLaughlin decided to go about getting arrested in her own unique way.

Police picked her up on early Monday evening after a TSA agent at Orlando International Airport observed a loaded .45 caliber Colt revolver in her carry-on bag as it went through X-ray screening equipment.

She definitely missed her plane to Los Angeles.

Embry Call, you can't shapeshift yourself out of this one: the actor who plays Embry in the Twilight series, Kiowa Gordon, was arrested early Monday as a result of outstanding warrants in Arizona.

Gordon was the passenger of a car that was stopped for a registration check.

Earlier reports had stated that Gordon had a DUI. In reality, the Twilight star was busted because during the registration check the police officer discovered that Gordon had active warrants out for his arrest, reports TMZ.

It looks like Uncle Sam is bullying The Broad Street Bully, as rapper Beanie Siegel's tax fraud might be landing him up to three years in prison. The former State Property rapper pled guilty to the charges in federal court, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The government says that Siegel failed to pay his income taxes from the years 2003-2005, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Despite having racked up 10 months in prison for charges of illegal gun possession in 2005 and six months in a halfway house for violating his probation on the gun charge, Siegel apparently earned $1 million of income that he did not pay taxes on.

Fans of the 1980's, take a seat. There's been a Kid N' Play arrest.

His career may be long gone just like his funky, high hair, but word is that Christopher "Kid" Reid still hasn't figured out how to act like a normal person.

Or show up in court.

The House Party has-been is currently being held in a Los Angeles jail on an arrest warrant issued last month after he failed to show up to a court date for the second time in the last few months.

Outkast's Big Boi was arrested in Miami. According to authorities, Big Boi had drugs on him - his own little small haul, including MDMA powder, ecstasy pills and Viagra.

Big Boi is half of the popular rap duo Outkast. He also has appeared in several films and has released his own album.

Big Boi's arrest also came at an awkward time for the rapper. He was disembarking from a cruise, likely high off his latest vacation, when he was stopped by drug sniffing canines that had likely gotten a whiff of his contraband, reports MTV.

A lot of people are raising eyebrows at Linda Evangelista's child support request from her 4-year-old son's father, French billionaire Francois Henri-Pinault.

The model asked a Manhattan Family Court judge last week to grant her a monthly award of $46,000 dollars, which her lawyers said will pay for an around-the-clock nanny, two gun-toting drivers, extracurricular activities, and the child's schooling.

Of course, there are also the essentials, like pricy clothing, and vacations.

Though the judge seemed to be sympathetic to Evangelista's request, it's got a lot of people asking how child support is actually calculated.

Ever wanted to know what's in a reality TV contract? Well, a glimpse into MTV's Real World contract, signed by its participants, seems to indicate that as a reality TV star, you're signing away a lot of your rights.

Maybe MTV and other networks need to have these kinds of contracts in place. After all, they probably want to make sure that they're able to (1) capture all those emotional breakdowns and slap fights on camera, and (2) not be liable for injuries that might occur during said slap fights.

And, there are some real gems in the contract terms.

Contrary to a recent rumor, R&B singer Etta James is not dead. The "news," which has been debunked by James' son, appeared on a size that looked suspiciously like celebrity gossip site TMZ. The hoax may have set off death rumors, but it may also be the starting point of a lawsuit.

TMZ has now said that it is investigating the fake article on the website, posted on August 3rd, which claimed James was dead, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The fake TMZ article looks very similar to the real TMZ website. Much of the layout has been copied and pasted over, with graphics and headings that look almost identical to the real TMZ site's look.

Faye Dunaway evicted? Isn't she a famous actress or something?

You may be baffled by the situation, but the potential eviction of Faye Dunaway actually has nothing to do with the actress' failure to pay rent or poor residential behavior.

No, it has to do with New York City's rent stabilization laws, which have allowed Dunaway to pay $1,048.72 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

That's about half of current market value.

Did Alexis Knapp give birth to Ryan Phillippe's daughter? Knapp and Phillippe previously dated, but have since broken up.

Knapp gave birth on July 1st, with Phillippe at her side, reports Today.

And, maybe the baby girl's name is an indication of who her mother thinks the father is: Kailani Merizalde Phillippe Knapp, according to People Magazine.

A motivational and self-help company in New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Oprah, alleging that the media powerhouse stole the phrase "Own Your Power," which Harpo Studios uses to brand Oprah's OWN network and parts of her website.

According to Simone Kelly-Brown, the woman behind the Oprah lawsuit, she and her company, Own Your Power Communications, have been around since 1996, originating the phrase and its acronym (OYP).

And laying claim to it with a registered trademark.

Ex-Lindsay Lohan lover Samantha Ronson's DUI arrest on Monday has made headlines, partially because of the mugshot that came out of the ordeal. Ronson was arrested after she was pulled over in Baker, California.

Ronson, 33, was driving a Porsche. Officers at first stopped her because of her driving speed. She had been going about 19 miles above the posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour.

Well, once pulled over, officers suspected that she was also under the influence, reports US Weekly.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' soon-to-be divorced couple Russell and Taylor Armstrong are being sued for $1.5 million for allegedly misleading investors.

Russell, a venture capitalist, held a stake in a medical records company called MyMedicalRecords.com (or MMR). He allegedly misled investors by selling them shares of another company, NuWay Digital Systems (NDS) and telling them that they would get a share of MMR - but instead kept the money for himself and his wife.

The Armstrongs then used these funds to redecorate their mansion and fund part of a restaurant with Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, reports NBC Connecticut.