Celebrities

What’s in a Name?

Publicity rights lawyers are finding there’s plenty of value in a growing practice

Nov 1, 2010 9:54 AM CDT

Randy Quaid Says Lawyers Are Trying to Kill His Career and Possibly Murder Him

Actor Randy Quaid said Thursday he is not crazy as he elaborated on claims that he and his wife could fall victim to “Hollywood Star whackers” who are secretly responsible for the deaths of Heath Ledger and David Carradine. “I’m being embezzled by this monstrous ring of accountants, estate planners…

Oct 29, 2010 3:02 PM CDT

Lawyer Convicted of Prescription Fraud in Anna Nicole Smith Drug Case

Anna Nicole Smith’s boyfriend, lawyer Howard K. Stern, was convicted Thursday of giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions for the former Playboy model and reality TV star. Stern was acquitted of seven other charges in a jury trial in Los Angeles, the Associated Press and Reuters…

Oct 29, 2010 12:16 PM CDT

Randy Quaid Seeks Asylum in Canada; Wife Claims He’s on Hit List

Updated: Randy Quaid and his wife claim they are in danger and are seeking asylum in Canada after skipping a U.S. court hearing for allegedly squatting in their former California home. The Quaids claim the actor’s life is in danger because of “Hollywood Star whackers” who are secretly responsible for…

Oct 25, 2010 12:04 PM CDT

Nevada Supreme Court Upholds Conviction of OJ Simpson

The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld O.J. Simpson’s robbery conviction for a botched attempt to recover his own sports memorabilia. The court turned down Simpson’s arguments that his case was marred by improper rulings and the rejection of two potential jurors, the Nevada Appeal reports. The court did a grant…

Oct 25, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

Mel Gibson’s Ex Hires 40th Lawyer, Even Though One Is Already Working for Free

Mel Gibson’s ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva appeared in court Monday morning with a new lawyer, although it is unclear whether Mitchell Jacobs of Los Angeles—the 40th attorney retained by Grigorieva—will stay on her child-custody case full time. TMZ reported this development and earlier posted a list of the 39 other lawyers…

Oct 19, 2010 8:23 PM CDT

Review: Hilary Swank Shines as Sis Who Got JD to Free Sib, But Movie of True Tale Lacks Fire

Hilary Swank shines and Juliette Lewis is thrilling in a much-anticipated movie about a high-school dropout who went to college and earned a juris doctor degree in a successful effort to overturn her brother’s wrongful murder conviction. But the new film is otherwise duller than it should have been, writes…

Oct 15, 2010 1:07 PM CDT

Meet Marilyn Church, Courtroom Artist Who Depicted Woody Allen and John Gotti

For over 35 years Marilyn Church has sketched the courtroom personas of celebrities such as Woody Allen and well-known criminal defendants including Dapper Don John J. Gotti. And she still finds the work interesting. “It’s people’s lives on the line,” she tells the New York Times. “The lawyers get intense,…

Oct 12, 2010 10:25 PM CDT

John Lennon’s Fingerprints, Seized Before Auction, May Have Been Lawyer’s Lost Property

The FBI seized a 1976 card displaying John Lennon’s fingerprints on Wednesday before a memorabilia shop was able to auction it off. The owner of the Gotta Have It! shop in New York City had hoped to get at least $100,000 for the card’s owner, the New York Times reports.…

Oct 7, 2010 1:34 PM CDT

‘Die Hard’ Director Gets 12 Months for Lying to Feds in Hollywood PI Wiretap Case

John McTiernan, who directed Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October, among other well-known movies, has been sentenced to 12 months for his peripheral role in a celebrity wiretap case that also brought down a private investigator and a California lawyer. McTiernan, 59, who is apparently appealing, was also…

Oct 4, 2010 7:41 PM CDT

‘Scary Yelling’ Lawyer on Apprentice Show Quits Asst. Brooklyn DA Day Job

A woman who took a two-month leave of absence from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office to film episodes on The Apprentice with Donald Trump is quitting her $50,000-a-year day job. But Mahsa Saeidi-Azcuy says she is doing so because her new-found celebrity is making it difficult for her to prosecute…

Sep 30, 2010 9:15 PM CDT

Hulk Hogan Settles Suit Over Cereal Ad Featuring ‘Hulk Boulder’ Character

Hulk Hogan has settled a lawsuit claiming Post Foods misappropriated his likeness in an advertisement for Cocoa Pebbles featuring a character called “Hulk Boulder.” Under the settlement, the commercial featuring a fight between Hulk Boulder and a victorious Bam-Bam will no longer be aired, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Other…

Sep 30, 2010 12:44 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Hear Anna Nicole Smith Estate Claim to Late Husband’s Fortune

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by the heirs of Anna Nicole Smith in a battle over her late husband’s fortune. The Supreme Court granted cert today, the Associated Press reports. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March that Smith’s heirs…

Sep 28, 2010 2:30 PM CDT

Lindsay Lohan Is Quickly Released from Jail; Did She Get Special Treatment?

Actress Lindsay Lohan spent less than a day in jail after a judge sent her there for testing positive for drugs while on probation in two drunken driving cases. On Friday morning Judge Elden Fox of Beverly Hills had sent Lohan to jail without bail until a hearing Oct. 22,…

Sep 27, 2010 3:40 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Settles ‘That’s Hot’ Lawsuit

Paris Hilton has settled her lawsuit against Hallmark for using her photograph and her trademarked catchphrase, “That’s hot.” Terms of the settlement are confidential, “but it’s believed Hilton walked away with a favorable package,” Reuters reports. The deal follows a ruling for Hilton last year by the San Francisco-based 9th…

Sep 27, 2010 1:18 PM CDT