Archive for the 'Legal Troubles' Category

The story goes like this: Prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, sculpted the Stormtrooper helmets for the first Star Wars movie in 1977. Ainsworth sells replicas of the helmets and armor, made from the original molds, on his Web site.

George Lucas who has more money then God and can’t make a decent post 80’s Star Wars movie to save his flannel shirted ass didn’t like that, so Lucasfilm sued and won a $20 million judgment against the prop maker in a California court in 2006. Now he’s trying to do the same to this guy in British courts.

Ainsworth is now countersuing, and says the copyright rests with him. He wants his share of merchandising revenue from the six films which comes out to the measly $24 billion Lucas wipes his ass with every morning.

Lucasfilm claims that the design was created by Lucas and his team, and that it was already in place by the time Ainsworth was hired.

Whatever dude. I forgave you the ewoks AND the puppets you used in Jedi. But when I saw that asswipe Jar Jar and the rest of the nonsense from the prequels, you hurt me. You hurt me real bad.

Poptherapy rules in favor of the Prop guy!

Hey, I only just noticed how reinforced the crotch is on that armor. Stormtroopers probably get kicked in the nuts a lot.

[MSNBC]

A 31-minute phone conversation between Chris Rock and private eye Anthony Pellicano that was taped in 2001 shows a deadly serious side of Rock that few have ever heard. His candid conversation on rape accusastions were played as evidence in Pellicano’s wiretapping trial.

Some highlights below:
(more…)

Jessica Simpson might be “hurting millions of fat people in America” by banning the release of a workout tape produced by fitness video company Speedfit, according to owner Alex Astilean. But there are some good reasons she doesn’t want the tape made public.

“Jessica was a mess during that shoot. She had no focus, she put out something that was entirely unusable,” said a source close to Simpson. “They asked her to come back and reshoot, but she refused, and that’s why she’s facing a lawsuit now.”

So what’s the big deal? Isn’t this how we are used to seeing her?

A magazine that worked with Simpson in the past said that this is a typical problem:

“The (magazine) shoot was an absolute disaster. She showed up and looked like she’d been drinking,” said the magazine editor. “We were there for hours and we had maybe three usable photos from the shoot. We asked for another shoot, and she refused.”

No comment from Simpson. A rep for Simpson simply replied, “This is a legal matter and in the hands of attorneys.”

Sounds like typical Jessica behavior to me. Anyway, who cares. It’s not like she’s an expert on weight loss anyway. She’s always been about 90 pounds soaking wet. She actually burns calories doing simple addition. Jessica is not going to help anybody lose weight. Now teaching people to act like a dim-witted and spoiled Barbie doll, there she has some credibility.

Although looking at the above pic, she might become a chunker yet. And I have an uncanny gift in determining such things. You might say I’m psychic when it comes to future cellulite.

I am prophesizing that Jessica Simpson’s “chunker date” is January 11th 2009. Just wait and see. By that date she will be larger.

[MSNBC]

The estate of “Lord of the Rings” creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books. They claim the company failed to pay some of the gross profits for the films, which made amazing profits.

Tolkien’s estate, a British charity called The Tolkien Trust, and original “Lord of the Rings” publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema on Monday. The lawsuit claims that New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts from the films to Tolkien’s estate and the other plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are hoping to get over $150 million in compensation, plus unknown punitive damages and a court order that would give the estate the right to terminate any rights New Line may have to make more films based on Tolkien’s works.

This could jeopardize the 2-part Hobbit movie they’re planning. Peter Jackson has already signed on as executive producer on the project, and it was slated to begin production next year, with a planned release for 2010 and 2011.

Stay tuned on this one.

[AOL]

No, not for punishment for making horrible movies. Judging by some of those movies, some might say she’s been in and out of morgues for years. This is punishment for drunk driving.

The 21-year-old actress will be working at a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving. She has already spent two months in rehab and has done her share of community service. Now she will see dead people.

Two four-hour days at the morgue are part of a court-ordered program to show drivers the real-life consequences of drinking and driving. She may also spend two days working in a hospital emergency room.

Awesome idea. This should get it through those thick Hollywood heads that it is no game. Real people can be killed by their lack of common sense.

[AOL]

It’s that time of year again. Brightly decorated Christmas trees, a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, egg nog, brightly wrapped presents…and that earworm known as “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”.

Elmo Shropshire, the man who sang the now worn out Christmas song may be in court soon this Christmas season. He was sued for breach of contract Monday by a company that claims he interfered in a $1 million-plus deal to sell all kinds of cheap garbage associated with the novelty song. Everything from musical trucks and bobblehead dolls, to snow globes and cookie jars featuring characters from an animated show based on the novelty song.

The Fred Rappoport Co. of California contends it has the rights to use the song for products featuring characters from that program. Rappoport claims it got those specific rights under a 2004 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Shropshire.

This new lawsuit seeks at least $2 million. Talk about getting run over. By corporate Reindeer no less.

Rappoport “can sell any characters he wants from the movie,” Shropshire said. “But I own the copyright from the song. He can’t use the song without my permission.”

The song about Santa running over a drunken grandma with his sleigh was first heard in 1979 and has become a holiday favorite for some.(While others pray to get through a year without it assaulting our senses. It inspired an animated TV program in 2000 that runs every year around the world.

Strange music video of the song for your amusement:

[AOL]

That was Hallmark’s response to Paris Hilton’s lawsuit in which she claims they used her image to sell cards.

The company’s motion to dismiss:

“Hilton has become a household name, based in large part on her efforts to draw attention to herself. Having done so, she has subjected herself to public scrutiny and the parodist’s pen. The First Amendment does not allow her to respond by welcoming the fawning and flattering, but silencing the critical and comical.”

Ouch! That was quite a Hallmark moment. Looks like they have your number Paris. Unfortunately for you, we do not live in a world where people only kiss your ass and tell you how pretty you are. That’s what your little doggy is for. And for the love of God woman, stop dressing like bad 70’s porn!

Hallmark’s motion to dismiss…Now That’s hot!

[TMZ]

The used to be large former loud mouth of “The View” is being accused of turning her back on an organization dedicated to helping plus-size women and teens. The founder of Full & Fabulous, dished all the dirt to TMZ. She said that her group hired Star to speak at an event last year, but after accepting several perks and partial payments, Star Jones never showed up to the function.

They had to hold several fundraisers to pay Star’s appearance fee and expenses. Sheesh. Way to diss the fat, Star.

The Founder claims they paid Star a $10,000 deposit, then another $6,000. They also provided Star and her husband, Al Reynolds, with first-class plane tickets to the event in Detroit. Star says she never got that $6,000, and apparently those airline tickets weren’t good enough, either.

Adding insult to injury, after Star bailed on the function, she used those plane tickets to promote her book and enjoy some Super Bowl festivities.

(We choose to use the picture of “Large Star” next to “Unnatural thin Star” to show how thin Star looks kinda Alien-like and just weird.)

[MSNBC]

In a scene that must have been reminiscient of Jabba the Hutt pulling a resistant Princess Leia closer by her chain, Don Vito of “Viva La Bam” fame, got caught groping a few underage girls.

The often stammering Vito was convicted Wednesday of two counts of sexual assault on a child. He was accused of groping three girls ages 12 to 14 during an autograph signing event last year at mall skate park near Denver. In a weird dramatic moment, he fell to the floor after the sentence, cursing and yelled, “Just kill me now.”

He could get anything from probation to six years in prison on each conviction. If he doesn’t undergo sex offender treatment as part of the sentence, he could potentially spend life in prison. Which might actually be good for his health. How many inmates do you see that are his waist size?

His defense attorney argued that he took on the persona of “outrageous and profane Don Vito”. She said that Vito learned that the crazier he acted, the more his fans loved it.

Let’s face it. This guy wasn’t going to get laid…ever, if not for this show. And let’s face it, it must have still been hard for a man of his, ummm lard. So, he played grab-ass and got what he could get.

Unfortunately, it was alot more then he bargained for.

[Yahoo]

We know him as Prince. Oh yeah and also that weird-ass symbol. But to his momma and the law he will always be Prince Rogers Nelson. According to TMZ.com, Pop Star Prince decided to do a little early Trick-Or-Treating. The trick was that His Purple Majesty took 12 AVID hard drives and the treat for Prince was that he never paid for them.

A lawsuit was filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court. In it, Ian Lewis claims that the Purple clown Prince of rock took 12 AVID IS SCSI Shuttle Drives that are worth $12,000. He also says that the pop star and his people never had any intention of returning or paying for them.

He’s also claiming that he loaned Prince a $25,000 computer, which got returned by his people broken. The man is seeking damages of $1,000,000.

Some of us more paranoid types have long suspected that “Prince” aka “weird symbol”, is really Batman’s arch nemesis, the Joker. I mean c’mon…Skinny and weird, bad fashion Purple Suits, very effeminate, and now, crime!

The Joker is the clown “Prince” of crime after all! It all makes sense now.