Celebrities

Ex-Bull Scottie Pippen Blames Law Firm for Bad Investments, Seeks $8M at Trial

A famous former basketball player for the Chicago Bulls says he lost money because an Illinois law firm didn’t do enough due diligence on the trusted adviser who allegedly cost him millions in bad investments. Scottie Pippen has already settled for $1.5 million with the bankrupt adviser, Robert Lunn. But…

Jun 9, 2010 11:34 PM CDT

Judge Raises Lindsay Lohan’s Bond Because of Bracelet Report

A Los Angeles judge raised Lindsay Lohan’s bond to $200,000 on Tuesday after an alcohol monitoring bracelet detected a small amount of liquor. Lohan’s lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, told CNN that her client posted the new bond. “Having just received the report, I am not in a position to speak…

Jun 9, 2010 1:24 PM CDT

Republican Candidate Infringed Henley’s Songs in YouTube Ads, Judge Says

California senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore violated rocker Don Henley’s copyrights on two songs when he used them as the basis for YouTube campaign commercials, a federal judge tentatively ruled this week. Although DeVore claimed that the First Amendment protects political speech and he had a fair use right to Henley’s…

Jun 4, 2010 2:31 PM CDT

No Permission, No Problem: Gary, Ind., Plans Michael Jackson Museum

You might think Indiana officials would have learned a lawsuit lesson from the Dillinger Museum. After a seven-year litigation saga, tourism officials in Hammond reached an undisclosed settlement with the great-nephew of notorious gangster John Dillinger that permitted the facility to reopen to the public. But now their Gary counterparts…

Jun 3, 2010 10:57 PM CDT

Obama’s Chief of Staff Is Subpoenaed as a Defense Witness in Blagojevich Corruption Trial

The chief of staff for President Barack Obama has been subpoenaed as a defense witness in the upcoming political corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, the impeached ex-governor of Illinois. Rahm Emanuel is a “critical” witness for Blagojevich in the federal case to be tried in Chicago starting tomorrow, says defense…

Jun 2, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

Hulk Hogan Challenges Post Foods to a Lawsuit, Cites Humiliating Defeat in Cartoon Ad

Hulk Hogan claims in a lawsuit that a character named “Hulk Boulder” in a cartoon commercial for Cocoa Pebbles is a misappropriation of his likeness. In the commercial, a blond Hulk Boulder with a mustache takes on Flintstones characters in a wrestling match, according to stories in the Hollywood Reporter,…

May 28, 2010 3:43 PM CDT

Adviser to Stars Arrested in Alleged Ponzi Scheme Linked to Partner in Prominent Law Firm

An adviser to Hollywood actors and Court TV founder Steven Brill has been accused of using investment money to live lavishly, while diverting control of some of the funds to a partner in a prominent law firm and a national political official. Manhattan moneyman Kenneth I. Starr—no relation to the…

May 28, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Talking Heads Singer Sues Fla. Gov, Seeks $1M for Song Use in Attack Ad

A former lead singer for Talking Heads has sued Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, contending that he used the group’s 1985 “Road to Nowhere” song in an online attack ad against Marco Rubio without permission, reports the County Grind blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. He is represented by attorney…

May 25, 2010 11:18 PM CDT

Summer Events Planned to Celebrate 50th Birthday of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Lawyers and others are planning a series of summer events to wish a Happy 50th Birthday to a famous book that revolves around a Southern trial and the small-town lawyer who represents the African-American defendant accused of raping a white woman. There will be readings from To Kill a Mockingbird…

May 25, 2010 6:51 PM CDT

Lindsay Lohan Will Sport Alcohol Monitoring Bracelet, But Your Child Likely Won’t

An angry judge in Beverly Hills ordered Lindsay Lohan on Monday to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet after the actress claimed she couldn’t leave the Cannes Film Festival because of a stolen passport. Photos from the French festival showed Lohan partying on a yacht on the day of her scheduled…

May 25, 2010 2:07 PM CDT

Kevin Costner & Trial Lawyer Partner Come to BP’s Aid With Oil Spill ‘Vacuum Cleaner’

Desperate for ideas about how to contain a record-breaking oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has turned to a movie star and his trial attorney partner for help. The oil company is going to give six centrifuge machines developed and donated by Kevin Costner a whirl this week,…

May 20, 2010 9:05 PM CDT

7th Circuit Nixes 30-Day Jail Term for Infomercial Pitchman Whose Fans Flooded Judge’s E-Mail Inbox

A 30-day jail term for criminal contempt imposed on an infomercial pitchman after his followers flooded a federal judge’s BlackBerry and courthouse computer inbox with e-mail has been nixed by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals. Because U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman didn’t actually see the conduct at issue,…

May 20, 2010 5:59 PM CDT

Clinton Adviser Vernon Jordan Makes Cameo Appearance on ‘Good Wife’

Forget Matt Damon and Demi Lovato. As far as viewers of The Good Wife are concerned, it wasn’t mainstream celebrities but a former Bill Clinton adviser who was expected to spark their attention during the critical May television sweep ratings. Vernon Jordan made a cameo appearance as himself about 35…

May 12, 2010 7:59 PM CDT

Lawyers Spot Justin Bieber on Flight, But Didn’t Recognize Justice Stevens

On an American Airlines flight out of Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport today, a young Chicago-bound couple were thrilled to notice—as they passed through the first class section—that tween heartthrob Justin Bieber was on their flight. “We were laughing because we didn’t think he was real,” said one of them.…

May 3, 2010 5:57 PM CDT

Famed Seinfeld Name Helps Win Copycat Cookbook Claim

Jessica Seinfeld is the wife of celebrity Jerry Seinfeld. So readers of her cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, are particularly unlikely to confuse it with Missy Chase Lapine’s The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals, the New…

Apr 28, 2010 9:05 PM CDT