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Michael Jackson's Estate Sued For $1 Billion And Three Other Outrageous Celebrity Lawsuits

Posted 6/7/12 12:36 pm EST by in Lawsuit, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson, Miley Cyrus

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson and his estate have faced more than their share of strange lawsuits, but this latest one has got to be one of the most outrageous.

Kimberly Griggs filed handwritten paperwork in San Diego, California claiming she had an intimate relationship with Jackson in 1979 and that he went on to use personal details about her life in his music, TMZ reports. She says he wrote about their affair on his Thriller, Bad and Dangerous albums and, after exploiting her personal secrets, promised to give her the rights to the tracks.

He never did give her the rights to his music, of course, and now she is suing for $1 billion in damages.

TMZ sought comment from Jackson's estate, but the calls were curiously not returned.

This latest suit reminds us that Jackson isn't the only celeb to get slapped with a multi-million (sometimes multi-billion) dollar lawsuit that seems, well, a little off the wall (pun intended)! More than a few big names have found themselves embroiled in outrageous lawsuits, whether they're targeted by others (as is the case with Jackson today) or the ones doing the filing.

Below are three of the most outlandish celeb litigations to see the light of day. Check it out!

Miley Cyrus

In 2009, the recently engaged starlet found herself in some hot water after a racially-insensitive photo of her making "slant eyes" found its way online. She was widely criticized by Asian and Pacific Islander groups who said the photo reinforced racial stereotypes, and Cyrus issued a public apology on her website saying, "I've also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! … In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity!"

But that wasn't enough for one Los Angeles woman, who filed a, ahem, $4 billion class action lawsuit against the former Hannah Montana – who was 16 at the time – on behalf of LA's Asian-American community, alleging the pic mocked Asians and that she (and presumably many others) was left emotionally distressed after seeing it. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Read on for more! Read More...

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Jimmy Fallon Sued For Gender Bias (But It's Not What You're Thinking)

Posted 1/25/12 1:41 pm EST by in Lawsuit, Television

Jimmy Fallon

Much has been made about late night television being a boys club – from "The Daily Show" to "The Late Show with David Letterman," multiple shows have endured accusations of sexism – so it comes as something of a surprise that one late night host is now embroiled in a lawsuit charging the opposite.

A former staffer on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is accusing the popular host of "gender bias" in a lawsuit filed in New York, saying he was fired from his job because Fallon "prefers to take direction from a woman" and that he was replaced by a "totally incompetent woman," according to papers obtained by TMZ. Paul Tarascio, the first stage manager on Fallon's NBC show, claims he isn't the only man to have lost his position because of Fallon's lady-preferring ways, alleging audio technicians and a prop-master were also replaced by women at the host's request.

NBC has not responded to the lawsuit at this time, but last year, when Tarascio filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York Division of Human Rights relating to the same issue, the network said, "Any claim of sexual discrimination is without merit."

The suit comes just weeks after David Letterman's comedy booker Eddie Brill was fired after making disparaging remarks about female comics in a New York Times profile. (For its part, "Late Show" execs say Brill was let go for "speaking to the press without authorization" and not his opinion.") Last summer, feminist blog Jezebel investigated what it referred to as "The 'Daily Show's' Woman Problem" and spoke with multiple former staffers, many of whom alleged the show was a "boys club" that cycled quickly through the few female employees it hired and created a "frustrating and alienating experience" for them while they were there.

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Courtney Love Reportedly Getting The Boot From Her NYC Abode

Posted 12/15/11 10:32 am EST by in Courtney-Love, Lawsuit

Courtney Love

By Zachary Swickey

Courtney Love is at it again!

The Hole frontwoman is reportedly being evicted from her New York City pad after the owner of the property discovered the house to be a wreck with the rocker also late on $50,000 in rent.

According to the New York Post, owner Donna Lyon is taking Love to court over the four-story West 10th Street house that she’s been renting for just ten months that carries a whopping $27,000 a month payment. Lyon claims Love has ruined the home’s designer interior by painting over fancy hand-finished walls and has continuously been delinquent on her payments.

Lyon purchased the residence just last year for a cool $8 million. Describing it to the Post, she said, “It was decorated by the previous owner, interior designer Steven Gambrel. One of the requirements of the lease is that nothing should be done to the interiors.”

She then described the mess that Love has reportedly made. “I came to New York to see it and I was horrified by what she had done," she told the Post. "The walls that had been hand-painted and glazed were ruined, covered in damask wallpaper and ice-blue paint.” (In Love’s defense, ice blue sounds like a pretty rad color choice.) Read More...

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Beyonce Facing $100 Million Lawsuit Over Scrapped Video Game

Posted 12/9/11 11:08 am EST by in Beyonce, Lawsuit

Beyonce

By Zachary Swickey

With the motion capture abilities of Xbox’s Kinect, which allows users to control the system through gestures and spoken commands rather than through a controller, dance video games are all the rage – even the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has one. Beyonce was at one time poised to have the same bragging rights, but the pop starlet is now being sued for $100 million after supposedly “abandoning” the video game project.

According to the Daily Mail, video game company Gate Five is claiming that Bey “abruptly abandoned” their project for a dance video game set to feature the diva dubbed “Starpower: Beyonce.” And the company claims they lost $7 million from investing in the development of the scrapped project.

Beyonce’s lawyers made a request that the lawsuit be rejected, but a Manhattan Supreme Court judge refused to do after legal papers were officially filed against the singer earlier this year. Gate Five believes that the singer was in breach of their November 2010 contract when she supposedly backed out of the project. They are suing for $100 million – what they estimate is potential profit the game would have accrued. The company states, “She destroyed Gate Five’s business and drove 70 people into unemployment, the week before Christmas (in 2010).” Read More...

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Former 'Spider-Man' Director Sues Broadway Production

Posted 11/9/11 10:32 am EST by in Lawsuit

Spider-Man

By Zachary Swickey

As if the new U2-scored musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” hasn’t had enough troubles already, original director Julie Taymor has announced she is suing the producers of the show for unpaid royalties.

The New York Times reports that Taymor is seeking $1 million in damages with the claim that her creative rights have been violated by the producers, and she hasn’t been paid appropriately for all the hard work she put in. The production has already been widely reported as the most expensive musical of all time (supposedly $75 million expensive) – adding another million should definitely secure it that honor. The ex-director will also be seeking half of all profits from the original run of the show and a permanent ban on her name or likeness being featured in a filmed documentary made about the catastrophic early days of the musical.

Taymor, who directed “The Lion King” on Broadway and worked on Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” tour, famously “left” the production in March after the show got savaged by critics. The musical had been plagued with stage accidents, poorly received previews and multiple casting replacements that caused numerous delays and millions of dollars in lost revenue. The frequency of accidents even became a running gag on Conan O’Brien’s show. Taymor was relieved by William McKinley in April when the musical was put on an indefinite break, which allowed the new director to revamp the production for its return in June of this year. Read More...

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Here's Who Should Sue Coldplay ...

Posted 5/5/09 4:13 pm EST by in Lawsuit

By Joel Hanek and Adam Murphy, with spiritual guidance from Jim Cantiello

In spite of being one of the biggest acts in the world today, Coldplay continues to take flak for releasing songs that are, er, evocative of other songs. The band is being sued by guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani for alleged similarities between his song "If I Could Fly" and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" — and Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) is now saying that "Viva la Vida" sounds remarkably similar to his song "Foreigner Suite." (Note: In 2003, Islam and the Flaming Lips agreed to share royalties after similarities were noticed between their "Fight Test" and his "Father and Son.")

Whether you agree with those accusations, we thought it might be fun to make a lighthearted list of artists and individuals who could be suing Coldplay on general principle ...

1) U2. Ask any scientist — heck, anyone: If it weren't for U2, there would be no Coldplay. Exhibit A: Chris Martin's Bono posturing in the "Speed of Sound" video. Bono has been belting out plaintive falsetto croons since Martin was in short pants. If U2 really wanted to stick it to Coldplay, they'd simply go back in time and not make The Joshua Tree. However, that would leave Coldplay seeking inspiration in albums like U2's subpar Pop LP — a lose-lose situation!

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Suge Knight Really Misses His Diamond Earring

Posted 11/12/08 10:06 am EST by in Kanye West, Lawsuit, Suge-Knight

Suge KnightFormer Death Row boss Suge Knight has a well-established reputation as a tough guy. From his supposed over-the-balcony, by-the-ankles dangling of Vanilla Ice to a beatdown he allegedly dealt in a hotel lobby the night Tupac Shakur was gunned down, the former UNLV defensive end always gave off a manly vibe. Why, then, is the gangsta-rap guru suing Kanye West over the "loss of use and enjoyment" of a 15-carat diamond stud earring?

Read the whole story of Suge Knight's lawsuit against Kanye West here.

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Dr. Dre Files Suit Against 'Rollin' With Dre' Author

Posted 10/29/08 1:07 pm EST by in books, Dr.-Dre, Lawsuit

Dr. Dre is suing the author of the book "Rollin' With Dre: The Unauthorized Account: An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop" over an alleged loan the rapper gave him, according to TMZ.
Read More...

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Lindsay Lohan Sued By Three Unwilling Joyride Passengers

Posted 10/22/08 12:33 pm EST by in Lawsuit, Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan
Three young men who claimed Lindsay Lohan commandeered their vehicle and took them on a white-knuckle high-speed chase on Santa Monica-area highways that ended with the actress' arrest on DUI charges last July have filed suit over the bizarre incident, The Associated Press reports.

Dante Nigro, Jakon Sutter and Ronnie Blake sued Lohan last week for battery, false imprisonment, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, slander and negligence, seeking damages in excess of $25,000. Two months after the incident, the actress pleaded guilty to two counts of being under the influence of cocaine that night and an earlier drunken-driving arrest, serving 84 minutes in jail before entering rehab.
Read More...

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Lil' Kim Being Sued For Being Lil' Kim

Posted 10/9/08 9:23 am EST by in Lawsuit, lil-kim

Lil' KimYou've got to love Lil' Kim's lawyer, Londell McMillan. A suit filed Tuesday by Brookland Media, an upstart label that claims it inked a deal with Kim earlier this year and planned to release her LP as its debut offering, contends that the MC has made "outlandish" demands not covered under the terms of her contract. One such demand calls for Akon and Wyclef Jean to be hired on as additional producers for the project.

In trying to demonstrate why that demand fit their definition of "outlandish," Brookland's suit charges Kim is "known in the music industry for her extravagant and costly excesses."

McMillan's response, which he gave to the New York Daily News, was honest. "Surprise, surprise — an artist of superstar stature wants to protect her image," he said.

The suit also claims that the rapper refuses to record another note until her contract is renegotiated. The label is seeking $2.5 million dollars for the undelivered album, and recently was awarded a ruling that bars Kim from taking her rhymes elsewhere.

According to McMillan, it's unlikely the case will make it to court: "We'll work it out around a conference table, in front of a judge or over some martinis," he told the News.

Read more about Lil' Kim's latest legal woes here.

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