courthouse (323 posts)

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Being incarcerated may be a pretty good excuse, but Simon & Schuster apparently doesn't care what led to Lil Kim and Foxy Brown's writers block.

The New York-based publisher sued the rappers Thursday, intending to get its money back after paying out generous advances for books that the ladies never completed.

According to the dual lawsuits filed in New York State Supreme Court, Simon & Schuster gave Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, $40,000 in 2003 for a novel that was supposed to be finished the following year. Brown was then paid $75,000 in 2005 to pen her autobiography, which was tentatively titled Broken Silence.

"Both accepted the money, and both books never were delivered," S&S spokesman Adam Rothberg told Bloomberg.com.

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Virgin

A couple of former Pumpkins are ripe for courting.

James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky-Brown, original strummers for alt-rock hitmakers the Smashing Pumpkins, have sued Virgin Records America, claiming the band's former longtime label screwed them out of royalties for ringtones, file downloads and other "electronic transmissions."

According to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Virgin inked an exclusive deal with frontman Billy Corgan in 2005 to license their tunes without Iha's and D'arcy's OKs.

"Such unauthorized commercial exploitation by Virgin constitutes a material breach under a recording agreement" the plaintiffs and Corgan entered into with the label in 1998, which included clauses covering distribution channels and "technology...hereafter developed," the suit states.

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Zuma Press

Whether he deserved it or not, Chris Cagle's little lady ended up doing him a good turn.

The country singer was found not guilty of domestic violence Thursday after Jennifer Tant, who had accused him of roughing her up in May, refused to testify against him.

"Justice was done,” Cagle's attorney, Bill Ramsey, told the Nashville Tennessean afterward. “It was ridiculous that these charges were ever brought."

Both Cagle and Tant were arrested and booked on misdemeanor domestic-assault charges after some verbal sparring at a Nashville bar led to a full-out drunken brawl at Cagle's home, during which Tant supposedly whacked her boyfriend with an umbrella and he smacked her with her own purse.

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Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

DMX's apparently never one to pass up a promotional opportunity.

The rap-sheet-laden rapper turned up in a Phoenix courtroom today for arraignment on felony charges of theft and identity theft, and aside from pleading not guilty, he took the time to offer a preview of his new album to the assembled masses.

At an impromptu press conference after the arraignment, DMX touted his forthcoming Walk With Me Now and You'll Fly With Me Later and offered short rap when asked for comment about his legal predicament, a little ditty that went something like this:

"If you ever fall down, get back up!"

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Press Association via AP Images

The third time was apparently the charm for Pete Doherty. At least in terms of punctuality.

After missing his two previous hearings on the matter, the Babyshambles frontman finally appeared in British court today to cop to roughing up a paparazzo.

Officially, Doherty pleaded guilty to a charge of causing criminal damage stemming from an encounter last summer.

The Yeovil Magistrates Court accepted Doherty's plea, with the magistrate ruling that there was a "degree of provocation" in the incident before fining the rocker roughly $2,000.

"Yeah, it was OK today. It should have been sorted out ages ago, to be honest," Doherty said outside the court. "It's been hanging over me a long time."

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ZumaPress.com

Matt LeBlanc isn't a shrink—he just plays one in court.

Facing a breach-of-contract complaint from ex-business manager Camille Cerio, the former Friends star has struck back, filing a motion this week in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a mental examination of his former pal.

In a petition filed Tuesday and obtained by E! News, LeBlanc's camp argues that a psychological evaluation by a court-appointed psychologist is warranted since his onetime money manager made her mental state an issue by claiming a 1995 termination agreement was "unenforceable" because she was stressed out when she signed it.

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Rick Gomez / Zuma Press

50 Cent has made a run for the court order.

The Get Rich or Die Tryin' rapper sued Taco Bell Corp. Wednesday for "diluting the value of his good name" with a guerilla ad campaign that he says was intended to fool the chalupa-craving masses into thinking he had endorsed the fast-food chain.

Last month, Fiddy's camp called the gimmick a "sleazy and ill-conceived publicity stunt."

"Without seeking or obtaining Jackson's authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell's business and products," stated the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

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Brad Pitt's got a Fight Club sequel in the works. His new sparring partner: paparazzi.

The actor's attorney is threatening legal action against any media outlet that publishes photos snapped "surreptitiously" of Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their family, including new twins Knox and Vivienne, on the grounds of their French estate. Jolie and the newborns checked out of the hospital on Saturday, a week after the birth.

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ZumaPress.com

Jasmine Guy's husband may be preparing to lose his wife, but he isn't giving up his daughter without a fight.

Responding to his estranged wife's April 3 divorce petition, Terrence Duckett has filed court documents requesting joint custody of the duo's 9-year-old daughter, Imani Guy Duckett.

In her original court filing, which cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split, Guy requested primary legal and physical custody.

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BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM

Sienna Miller has been called many things by the press. Pushover's not one of them.

For the second time in seven months, the paparazzi-hounded actress has launched legal action against two British tabloids for running topless photos of her—this time with new beau Balthazar Getty—thereby setting off a particularly rousing round of home-wrecker rumors about Miller.

Miller's law firm, Carter-Ruck, has served breach-of-privacy papers to News of the World, The Sun and Big Pictures, the photo agency that snapped the candids of Miller and Getty's clothes-eschewing vacation to Italy.

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Mary Ellen Matthews / NBC

Live from New York, it's trouble in Saturday Night land.

A New York judge has upheld a stalking charge against a Long Island man accused of pestering SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels.

According to the complaint, Evans Pidhajecky, a 31-year-old native of Oyster Bay, became an unwanted pen pal of the 63-year-old producer and turned up unannounced on several occasions at NBC's 30 Rock headquarters and Michaels' home near Central Park.

His reason? A distressed Pidhajecky believed his thoughts were being stolen by Michaels and then used as SNL fodder.

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It's no wonder DMX might want to be somebody else.

An Arizona grand jury indicted the rapper Tuesday on two felony counts of theft and taking someone's identify for allegedly using a false name to get out of paying a hospital bill in April, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

The 37-year-old, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is said to have tried to pass himself off as "Troy Jones" while undergoing treatment for pneumonia at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

Cops picked DMX up on an outstanding warrant Saturday at the Metrocenter mall in Phoenix, the Cradle 2 the Grave star's sixth arrest in three months.

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