Courtney Love's Ex-Counsel Loses Round in Libel Suit re Singer's Tweet, Can't Depose Love's Daughter
Courtney Love. s_bukley
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In what amounts to a victory for attorney Rhonda J. Holmes’ former client, Courtney Love, the attorney has been denied permission by a California judge to depose the adult daughter of the grunge singer and actress in a defamation lawsuit.
After filing suit over a comment Love allegedly made in a Twitter tweet, Holmes and her law partner, Frederic Gordon, sought to depose Frances Bean Cobain. Now 20, she is the daughter of Love and deceased former Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, recounts the Hollywood Reporter.
Frances Cobain, who is reportedly not on great terms with her mother and successfully sought emancipation as a teenager, nonetheless did not wish to be deposed and moved for a protective order from the Gordon & Holmes witness subpoena. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted the motion on Tuesday, agreeing with Cobain that she had no relevant information to provide. The judge also nixed the law firm’s effort to get access to a sealed guardianship file concerning her emancipation case.
The firm had argued that Cobain was also a victim of false Twitter statements made by her mom.
Cobain was represented by Bryan Freedman of Freedman & Taitelman, the entertainment publication reports. He called the witness subpoena “preposterous” and harassing. “We are thrilled the judge agreed with our client’s position,” he said, “and went so far as to sanction the law firm for the costs Ms. Cobain incurred based on the disingenuous and improper conduct of the plaintiff.”
LAist also has a story.
Hat tip: Reuters.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Former Lawyers for Courtney Love Claim She Libeled Them in a Tweet”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer’s Defamation Suit Against Courtney Love over Tweet May Be Headed to Trial”
Clash: “Courtney Love Sued”
Slate: “Courtney Love Is In Trouble Again. Why Do I Still Care?”
