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A photograph of Sean "Diddy" Combs at one of his famed "white parties" in the Hamptons in 1998, was included in a civil complaint accusing him of fondling a teenager's genitals as "rite of passage" into the entertainment business.
Lawsuits accuse Sean Diddy Combs of numerous rapes, violent assaults
The suits together present a decades-long pattern of Diddy and his bodyguards threatening to kill sexual assault victims if they spoke out about the attacks.
By JOSH RUSSELL, Contributing Writer
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MANHATTAN (CN) —Indicted entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of raping and violently assaulting men, women and at least one minor, as detailed in a batch of civil lawsuits filed in New York federal court on Oct. 14, spanning back to the mid-1990s.
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Represented by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, the anonymous plaintiffs all filed suit under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act during a two-year window that suspends legal deadlines and allows sexual assault victims to sue over abuse that might otherwise be too old to pursue.
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Earlier this month, Buzbee announced he would be representing more than 100 plaintiffs in civil sexual assault lawsuits against the embattled hip-hop producer once known as P. Diddy.
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The Southern District of New York complaints describe a pattern of violent sexual attacks by the 54-year-old mogul between 1995 and 2021, stretching further back in time than the recent federal indictment against Combs, which focuses on the period from 2008 to 2024.
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In one lawsuit a John Doe plaintiff accuses the Bad Boy Records founder of fondling his penis during one of Combs’ famed “white parties” in the Hamptons in 1998, when the plaintiff was just 16 years old. He says Combs pulled him into a private area near the portable bathrooms brought in for the party where the producer discussed his potential for breaking into the entertainment industry before demanding the teenager show him his penis.
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“Despite the pleasant conversation, which occurred, things took an unexpected turn for the worst,” he says in the complaint. “He instructed John Doe to drop his pants and expose his penis so that Combs could inspect it, explaining it was a rite of passage and the route to becoming a star, and also as a way to prove himself.”
“Don’t you want to break into the business?” Combs is quoted in the complaint asking the during the incident.
In another civil complaint filed Oct. 14, a Jane Doe accused Combs of raping her on the floor of a bathroom in a Brooklyn dance club in 1995 during a promotional party for the release of the music video for Biggie Smalls’ hip-hop/R&B hit “One More Chance,” which Combs produced when he was then known to the public as Puff Daddy.
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The plaintiff says Combs hit her to the ground after she asked him to slow down his advances, which trapped her in a bathroom of the Elk’s Plaza club. “Disoriented and in pain, plaintiff tried to escape, but Combs hit her again, making it nearly impossible for her to move,” the plaintiff says in her complaint. “Combs then lifted her dress and raped her vaginally while she lay helpless on the floor.”
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Another male plaintiff accused Combs in a separate civil suit of “orally raping” him in a stockroom at the Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan. The plaintiff, an Ecko Clothing employee at the time, recalled in the complaint that Combs was flanked by large bodyguards who brandished guns as they cornered him on his hands and knees in the stockroom.
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He recalled Combs referencing Ecko Clothing, which was a competitor in the fashion world to his own Sean John Clothing brand, during the assault. “Suck my dick, Ecko,” Combs is quoted saying.
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“While orally raping plaintiff, Combs grabbed plaintiff’s hair and made derogatory comments like, ‘You like that, White boy?’” the man says in his complaint.
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The plaintiff says he was fired from the department store shortly after the assault because Macy’s had just signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Combs’ Sean John brand.
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Combs is accused in another complaint of raping a 19-year-old college student and her friend at a Manhattan Marriott hotel after meeting them at a promotional photoshoot downtown Brooklyn in 2004. She recalls in the complaint one of Combs bodyguards telling her: “You know what you are here for,” when she asked him where they were going as they were being taken from the main room of a hotel suite afterparty into a separate bedroom.
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“Combs continued getting gradually more aggressive with the two women and eventually began forcibly touch them without consent,” she accuses in her complaint. “When they resisted, Combs ordered Ms. Doe’s friend to perform oral sex on him or else he would have them both killed.”
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Yet another male plaintiff accuses Combs in a separate suit of drugging him with GHB and then sodomizing him with other men while he was incapacitated. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a notorious nightclubbing drug, is labeled by the Department of Justice as "the number one sexual predator drug of choice.”
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Buzbee said Oct. 14 he anticipates he and his co-counsel will be filing "many more cases over the next several weeks" naming Combs and others as defendants.
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Representatives for Combs called Buzbee's latest lawsuits a "clear attempts to garner publicity."
"Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process," a spokesperson for Combs said in a statement. "In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
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Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted Combs over a sex trafficking conspiracy and unsealed the charges on Sept. 17 after Combs was arrested the same night in Manhattan. Combs faces three federal charges: one count of racketeering conspiracy; one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and one count of transportation for purposes of prostitution.
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He was denied pretrial release on a proposed $50 million bail package. Two federal judges each raised concerns about the 2016 surveillance video from InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles showing Combs in a bath towel violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hallway, and his subsequent efforts to bribe hotel security to coverup the attack.
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A federal judge has set a May 2025 trial date for the sex trafficking case to begin.
Categories / Civil Rights, Entertainment, Media
Bill Cosby can’t dodge lawsuit by 10 women after Nevada lifted statute of limitation
A federal judge rejected the former comedian's argument that the Nevada law violated his due process rights. She said, he has no vested property right in the statute of limitations.
By EDWARD PETTERSSON, Contributing Writer
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LAS VEGAS (CN) — A federal judge in Las Vegas allowed 10 women to proceed with their sexual assault lawsuit against Bill Cosby Jr. in the wake of a state law last year that lifted the statute of limitations for civil claims by survivors of sexual violence.​
Bill Cosby
US District Judge Gloria Navarro on Monday rejected Cosby's argument that the law, Senate Bill 129, violates Nevada's prohibition on laws that only apply to a select group of people — in this case, victims of sexual assault.
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Although the judge agreed that victims of “other heinous crimes” and “interpersonal violence" may suffer from similar trauma as sexual assault survivors, she disagreed that the perpetrators of such other crimes stand in precisely the same relation to the victims of sexual assault.
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"Indeed, the Nevada Legislature sought to address the 'uniquely intimate' crime of sexual assault, when they created SB 129," Navarro wrote. "Although victims of other crimes classified by defendant may suffer similar trauma and be reluctant to report, defendant has not shown how these other crimes are of the ‘uniquely intimate’ nature such that their victims stand on precisely the same ground as sexual assault victims.”
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As cited by the plaintiffs in their court filings, an expert witness told a Nevada Senate committee last year that, given the uniquely intimate nature of rape and sexual assault, it can take many years, if not most of one's life, for a victim to gain the strength and the courage to come forward and report the abuse.
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Likewise, the judge was unpersuaded that the state law violates the due process clauses of the Nevada and US Constitution because, she said, Cosby has no vested property right in the statute of limitations and, therefore, the notion of due process doesn't apply to his purported deprivation right.
Nor did the law run afoul of constitutional hurdles against legislation that makes certain conduct punishable retroactively, as Cosby had argued, according Navarro.
"SB 129 was not enacted to punish perpetrators of sexual assault, but instead to compensate survivors and foster healing," the judge said.
Following the report and recommendations of a magistrate judge, Navarro dismissed the sexual assault claim brought by each of the 10 women. Although all the women accuse Cosby of drugging and raping them, sexual assault isn't a civil tort claim under Nevada law. The women also brought claims for battery, assault, emotional distress and false imprisonment.
The judge deferred a decision on whether the claim by one of the women, who accuses Cosby of forcing her to masturbate him, was revived by SB 129, and said she will ask the Nevada Supreme Court to weigh in on that question.
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An attorney for Cosby did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
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The now 87-year-old former comedian has been accused by dozens of women of drugging and molesting them, and he spent almost three years in prison after he was found guilty of assaulting college sports administrator Andrea Constand.
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His 2018 conviction was foiled, however, over an old press release from the time he was first accused in 2005. The press release said Cosby would not be prosecuted because the evidence at the time made a conviction unattainable, but it also said the decision could be reconsidered “should the need arise.”
Cosby went on to settle a civil suit from Constand that year. He was deposed at time under the impression that his testimony would never be used against him. He did not invoke his Fifth Amendment right to counsel or to stay silent, and he admitted that he drugged Constand and had access to quaaludes to be used on young women he wanted to have sex with.
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Once the depositions were made public at the dawn of the #MeToo era, the investigation of him was reopened and charges were reconsidered.
Categories / Courts, Entertainment, Regional
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Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge in New York
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Prosecutors announced the new indictment last week, but the charges were sealed since Weinstein couldn't make it to court for health reasons.
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By ERIK UEBELACKER, Contributing Writer
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MANHATTAN (CN) — Harvey Weinstein was arraigned Sept. 17 on a new indictment charging the disgraced Hollywood film producer with an additional sex crime in New York.
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Manhattan prosecutors charged Weinstein with one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Weinstein, who attended Wednesday’s hearing wearing a dark suit, a light blue tie and bound to a wheelchair, pleaded not guilty.
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“The defendant, in the County of New York, during the period from on or about April 29, 2006 to on or about May 6, 2006, engaged in oral sexual conduct with a person who is known to the grand jury, to wit, contact between defendant’s mouth and the vulva and vagina of a person who is known to the grand jury, by forcible compulsion,” the one-page indictment says of Weinstein.
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Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was “somewhat relieved” to hear of the charge, but he still does not know who the supposed victim is in the new indictment.
“He is somewhat relieved because, as you all know, there were reports that there were going to be three indictments handed down today,” Aidala said. “In fact, there was one indictment that was unsealed. We’re making the assumption that that’s the only indictment that’s going to be unsealed.”
Last week, Aidala told reporters that he expected prosecutors to charge Weinstein for three separate “incidents,” likely of sexual misconduct, taking place between 2005 and 2016.
For the time being, Weinstein's latest accuser will remain under wraps, according to her attorney Lindsay Goldbrum.
“Our firm represents Jane Doe, whose grand jury testimony formed the basis of the new indictment against Harvey Weinstein," Goldbrum said in a statement Wednesday. "Mr. Weinstein is charged with one count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree. Ms. Doe has not shared this story publicly before, nor does she want to be identified at this time. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers. We would like to thank the media in advance for respecting Ms. Doe’s privacy while she prepares for her testimony.”
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The new indictment comes ahead of Weinstein’s highly anticipated retrial for sex crimes he was convicted of previously. In 2020, a Manhattan jury’s split verdict found Weinstein guilty of committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape, but acquitted him on the more serious first degree rape offense and two counts of predatory sexual assault.
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The New York Court of Appeals overturned that conviction this year, finding the trial judge had allowed prejudicial testimony from three women whose accusations of sexual assault by Weinstein were not part of the state’s case-in chief.
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Prosecutors hope to roll the new charge into the retrial of the old case “because a trial on these offenses will involve such significant overlap” with evidence, according to Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey.
“Separate trials will be extraordinarily inefficient and burdensome,” Lucey said in court Wednesday.
Weinstein’s team wants separate trials so they can have more time to prepare for the new indictment.
“We’re vehemently opposed to consolidation,” Aidala said to reporters. “This is a new case that was handed down today from 2006. We have a lot of work to do, we have to find out who the person is … [but] we’re basically ready to go to trial on the old case.”
New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber previously set a tentative trial date for November. But prosecutors on Wednesday said they won’t be ready to bring the case to a jury until January 2025.
Prosecutors announced last week that a Manhattan grand jury returned the new indictment against Weinstein, but the charge was sealed since they were unable to arraign him at the time — Weinstein couldn’t make it to court after an emergency heart surgery left him bound to a bed in Bellevue Hospital.
His health remains a roadblock. Weinstein’s legal team wants him to be kept at Bellevue until trial so doctors can more closely monitor his health, rather than return him to his prison cell at Rikers Island.
Farber is yet to rule on the request.
Weinstein remains behind bars. Despite his tossed New York conviction, Weinstein is serving a 16-year sentenced imposed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for raping an Italian model in 2013.
More than 80 women in total have come forward with accusations of Weinstein’s sexual misconduct. Weinstein denies all accusations, holding that his encounters were consensual.
Categories / Criminal, Entertainment, National
Kat Von D working on a tattoo of Miles Davis that has become the subject of copyright infringement lawsuit. (Source: U.S. court of filing)
Court settles unlicensed use of Miles Davis photo
The jury in downtown LA took only a few hours to decide the purportedly infringing tattoo wasn't substantial similar to the photo.
By EDVARD PETTERSSON, Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES (CN) — Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D prevailed in the copyright infringement trial over her unlicensed use of a photo of Miles Davis for the tattoo she inked on the arm of a friend.
The jury in downtown LA on Friday took only a few hours to reject the claims by photographer Jeff Sedlik. He sued Von D because she hadn't approached him for a license to use the photo he took in 1989 of the jazz legend raising his index finger to his lips in a "shush" gesture.
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Jurors concluded that the tattoo wasn't substantial similar to the original photograph and that any social media posts that showed Sedlik's photo in the background of Kat Von D working on the tattoo was fair use.
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Robert Allen, Sedlik's attorney, said the verdict seemed a hurried decision and that they would appeal.
"The question of substantial similarity should never have gone before the jury," Allen said. "That should have been decided as a matter of law."
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Sedlik had sought about $45,000 in compensatory damages for willful infringement, for the tattoo and social media posts by the artist showing her work on the tattoo, or $150,000 in statutory damages.
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Allen said the case was never about money but about protection the rights of all visual artists. If the tattoo wasn't found to be substantial similar to Sedlik's photo, he said, than no intellectual property rights of visible artists were safe.
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Katherine Von Drachenberg, who goes by Kat Von D, rose to fame through her appearances on the reality TV shows Miami Ink and LA Ink, the latter of which was shot at her High Voltage Tattoo shop in Hollywood. Now a stay-at-home mom, Von D testified on Wednesday that she hasn't charged anyone for a tattoo in over a decade and only has done work for friends for free.
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"I'm excited to be done," Von D said after the verdict. "If we didn't fight this, it would have done so much harm to an industry that's already struggling."
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The Miles Davis tattoo had been a gift to Von D's friend Blake Farmer, a lighting technician who worked on some shoots for her makeup business in 2017. After talking with Farmer, who plays trumpet himself, and learning how important Miles Davis was to him, she offered to create a tattoo of the musician.
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Von D told the jurors that no one in the tattoo world gets a licenses to use a photograph as a reference for their creations. She maintained her use of the Miles Davis was "fair use" because it was her interpretation of the image and served an entirely different purpose than Sedlik's work.
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Farmer provided Von D with the photo that became the subject of the copyright lawsuit. Sedlik, however, turned out to be a stickler when it comes to unlicensed use of his work; he regularly scans the internet to find infringers. He testified how in 2014 he tracked down another tattoo artist who had posted on social media a tattoo he had done based on the same Miles Davis photo.
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That artist got away with a free retroactive license after Sedlik contacted him and agreed to waive a $5,000 licensing fee as a "professional courtesy" because, he testified, the artist apologized and showed contrition for not seeking a license beforehand.
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Von D said after the verdict that she may never create another tattoo again because her heart had been crushed by the ordeal. She added that she might make an exception for Farmer, who testified at the trial, because the lawsuit had tainted his Miles Davis tattoo.
Boosie Baddass petitions
court
Louisiana rapper Boosie Badazz, aka Torrence Hatch Jr., previous- ly known as Lil Boosie, appears in court for arraignment, May 15, 2023. Photo by Sam Ribakoff, Courthouse News
Federal attorneys opposed the request to visit fiancee, citing yet unspecified security concerns
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SAM RIBAKOFF, Contributing Writer
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SAN DIEGO (CN) — In a felony gun possession case that’s ricocheted from state to federal court in San Diego, rapper Boosie Badazz asked a judge to modify the conditions of his release on Friday to allow him to make contact with his fiancée after spending months apart.
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“We vehemently oppose that,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat.
When asked by US. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, an Obama appointee, to explain why the government is so opposed, Wheat said that they have security concerns. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper, born Torrence Hatch Jr. and previously known as Lil Boosie, has been ordered to not make contact with his fiancée since the beginning of his federal trial in June 2023, his attorney Damon Alimouri said.
Hatch appeared in court over the phone in US District Court for the Southern District of California Jan. 12.
“This seems like a fairly serious curtailment of his rights,” Bencivengo said, considering that Hatch’s fiancée is not a witness in the case and was not in California during the rapper's May 2023 arrest.
“It’s vague, unless we have some details to fill the gaps,” Alimouri said, because the government hasn’t shared what information it has to suspect Hatch’s fiancée is a security concern.
To explain the government’s position, Wheat requested a sidebar with Bencivengo. After a lengthy conversation, during which the court played white noise to prevent the opposing counsel and the public from hearing what was being discussed, she imposed another 60 days of the stay-away order.
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If there are no other objections from the government once those 60 days are up, the stay-away order will lapse and Hatch’s motion to end it will be granted.
Later on in the hearing, Hatch asked Bencivengo if the order would affect plans he had to get married in April.
“Boosie, I suggest that you remain silent and not say anything on the record,” Alimouri said.
Hatch initially faced charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm in San Diego County Superior Court after he was arrested in a traffic stop where police said they found him and a companion with two loaded handguns in their car.
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According to prosecutors, a San Diego police officer was watching an Instagram Live video of what they described as a local gang member when they spotted Hatch, and the handle of a pistol in his waistband.
Hatch was in San Diego to perform and shoot a music video.
That charge was dismissed in June 2023, but after Hatch exited the courtroom, he was arrested by federal agents and handed an identical charge in federal court. The timing of the federal charge, and why the case was transferred from state to federal court, also came under discussion at Friday’s hearing.
Alimouri claimed that he was told by a state prosecutor that they would not even consider agreeing to a plea deal that would have kept Hatch out of jail, even though a judge had offered one, because of social media videos showing Hatch leading his audience at his concert in town in a chant of “fuck San Diego Police.”
Hatch’s attorneys asked the government to produce records of written communications between the US Attorney’s Office and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office relating to the case to try to demonstrate that claim.
“There’s nothing I see that would support that,” Bencivengo said.
“I doubt that would be put in writing,” Alimouri retorted, which Bencivengo agreed with.
Hatch’s defense hasn’t yet filed a motion alleging prosecutorial vindictiveness, though Alimouri said they were open to it.
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“The court finds nothing there to claim that this is vindictive,” Bencivengo said. “It’s a legitimate case in federal court.”
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Another status hearing in the case is set for mid-February.
Hatch, known for his bluesy Southern drawl and his pain-soaked lyrics chronicling the struggle to overcome poverty, systemic injustices afflicting Black Americans and the criminal justice system, is one of rap music’s most influential and celebrated artists.
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Hatch has had several prior run-ins with the law in Louisiana and Georgia. In 2009, Hatch pleaded guilty to a charge of marijuana and gun possession in Louisiana. In 2011, Hatch pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle drugs into prison, which added more time to his previous sentence. Hatch was also arrested in 2019 in Georgia on gun and drug possession charges.
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In 2012, Hatch was acquitted in a 2009 murder case in Louisiana.
“I honestly think this prosecution is overblown and exaggerated,” Alimouri said after the hearing. “And this wouldn’t have gone on for so long if Boosie wasn’t Boosie.”
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Keywords: Courts, Criminal, Entertainment, Rap, Boosie Baddass
While defense attorneys argued that lyrics are forms of protected free speech and should be excluded from the upcoming trial, Atlanta prosecutors told the judge they were admissions of gang activity.
Judge rules rap lyrics as evidence in Young Thug’s racketeering trial
By MEGAN BUTLER, Contributing Writer
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ATLANTA (CN) — Rap lyrics can be used as evidence by prosecutors in the upcoming racketeering trial against award winning hip-hop artist Young Thug and others, a judge ruled Nov. 9.
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During an hours-long hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors argued that the lyrics were "admissions" of criminal activity committed by members of what they claim to be an Atlanta street gang called "Young Slime Life."
“The question is not rap lyrics. The question is gang lyrics,” said prosecutor Mike Carlson. “These are party admissions. They happen to come in the form of lyrics.”
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Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, has been accused of being the co-founder and leader of YSL, although the artist claims that the acronym only applies to his record label, "Young Stoner Life."
The 32-year-old Grammy winning rapper has been in jail since May 2022 after being one of 28 people charged in the sweeping gang and racketeering indictment.
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Prosecutors contend that certain lyrics and music video scenes glorified YSL’s alleged criminal activities, including fatal shootings of at least three rival gang members, selling drugs and violence against police.
Defense attorneys fought to have the lyrics excluded from evidence, arguing that the rap verses were protected forms of creative expression and subject to interpretation by the listener.
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“Rap is the only fictional art form treated this way,” Doug Weinstein told the judge. The attorney represents defendant Demontre Kendrick, who performs under the stage name Yak Gotti. “No other musical genre, no other art is treated the same way.”
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Weinstein said that the stage name his client uses represents a character he portrays on screen and in performances and argued that the lyrics such as "bodies on bodies" can have multiple meanings and interpretations.
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"If you let it in, there is a high risk that the jury will misinterpret that," Weinstein said.
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The attorney gave several examples of music artists from other genres, including Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, that never had their lyrics used against them in court.
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But prosecutors argued that is because those artists were never charged with committing crimes expressed in their lyrics.
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“We are aware that the Johnny Cash metaphor is here but no one’s ever come up with … proof that Johnny Cash was ever accused of murdering a man in Washoe County, Nevada,” Carlson, said, referring to the 1965 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.”
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“Had that happened, his lyrics would, in all likelihood, be used against him.”
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Despite the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court being largely criticized by First Amendment advocates as prejudicial, Carlson argued that free speech protections do not apply because the defendants are not being prosecuted for the lyrics. Instead, he said the lyrics refer to the criminal act or intent behind the charges.
One of the songs included in the state’s evidence is Young Thug’s 2018 track “Anybody” featuring Nicki Minaj, where he sings, “I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that body,” and later refers to himself as “a general.”
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During trial, prosecutors plan to argue that in the song, Williams is admitting to being the leader of the purpor- ted gang and ordering to have people killed.
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Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville said there were 17 sets of lyrics that he would preliminary admit as evidence, and that additional verses may also be admitted if prosecutors can “lay the foundation” and tie them directly to the crimes.
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The trial against Williams and five others is set to begin Nov. 27 after a grueling 10 monthlong jury selection process. Some defendants also charged in the case reached plea deals or were separated to be tried later.
Kevin Hart
Judge dismisses woman's suit vs. Kevin Hart over leaked sex tape
VAN NUYS (CNS)—A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a woman who
accused Kevin Hart of secretly recording them having consensual sex in 2017 and using the video for commercial reasons.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Shirley K. Watkins issued the order June 22 during a final status conference in plaintiff Montia Sabbag's $60 million suit against the 43-year-old comedian, which alleged negligence and invasion of privacy. Neither Sabbag nor an attorney appeared on her behalf for the proceed- ing, but two lawyers made remote appearances for Hart.
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The dismissal ruling was "without prejudice," meaning the case can be refiled.
Sabbag's suit was originally brought in federal court, where it was dismissed. She then filed suit in Superior Court in April 2020 and her last amended com- plaint was brought there in August 2021. Sabbag alleged Hart knew their sexual encounter in his hotel room at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in August 2017 was being recorded and that he used the publicity it generated to promote his "Irresponsible Tour" as well as to increase his overall pop culture status.
Last August, the judge dismissed all of Sabbag's claims, including negligence and invasion of privacy, against Hart's former friend, Jonathan "JT" Jackson.
Jackson was originally charged with trying to extort money from Hart, but the criminal case was dismissed in 2021.
Sabbag alleged Hart allowed Jackson access to the comedian's hotel room and that the two men conspired to record the sexual encounter. Hart has maintained that he had no idea that there was a camera taping his encounter with Sabbag and he urged the judge to dismiss the part of the case against him at the same time she did so with Jackson.
"I did not participate in any videotaping or recording of Sabbag, either while she and I were engaged in sexual relations or
at any other time, nor do I know who did," Hart said in a sworn declaration in which he also maintained he "did not conspire with anyone to record or videotape" the plaintiff.
But in her 2022 ruling rejecting dismissal at that time, Watkins said there was a triable issue as to whether defendant Hart knew there was a camera recording, based upon Sabbag's own sworn declaration in which the plaintiff said the comedian moved or adjusted the mirror in his bedroom prior to the intimate encounter.
Watkins further wrote that Sabbag additionally said in her declaration that the sex tape appears to show that the recording device was placed in front of the bed in Hart's bedroom and that it seemed to be reflecting off the same mirror Sabbag says she saw Hart move and adjust before their intimacy.
Rock & Roll Queen Tina Turner succumbs
LOS ANGELES (CNS)—The music and entertainment world is mourning the loss of dynamic singer/dancer/ actress Tina Turner, the undisputed Queen of Rock 'n Roll who died in Switzerland at age 83 following a long
illness.
"I'm so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner," Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger wrote on his Twitter page. "She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her."
Jagger was said to have developed his energetic stage presence by watching Turner's high-octane performances.
Tina Turner
Gloria Gaynor called Turner an "iconic legend who paved the way many women in rock music, Black and white."
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"She did with great dignity and success what very few would even have dared to do in her time and in that genre of music," Gaynor said.
Turner was a two-time inductee into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, first as part of a duo with husband Ike Turner then later as a solo artist.
"Two-time inductee Tina Turner worked hard to reimagine the role of a Black woman in rock & roll—one that was firmly placed front and center," according to a statement from The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "During her time in the duo Ike and Tina Turner (inducted in 1991), her electric onstage presence forever raised the bar for live performance.
"Their hits 'River Deep-Mountain High' and 'Proud Mary' endure to this day. But this Queen of Rock & Roll went on to make music history again with her solo career (for which she was inducted again in 2021) and with her bravery in sharing her life story as a book, film, and Broadway musical. There was nothing her deep, robust voice couldn't do, as displayed on her solo hits like 'What's Love Got to Do with It' and 'Private Dancer.'"
Musician Bryan Adams wrote on Twitter, "I'll be forever grateful for the time we spent together on tour, in the studio and as friends. Thank you for being the inspiration to millions of people around the world for speaking your truth and giving us the gift of your voice."
Singer Ciara wrote, "Heaven has gained an angel. Rest in Paradise, Tina Turner. Thank you for the inspiration you gave us all."
Laker legend Magic Johnson posted a photo with Turner on his Twitter page, noting that she gave "one of the best live shows I've ever seen."
"Tina [had] so much energy during her performances and was a true entertainer," Johnson said. "She created the blueprint for other great entertainers like Janet Jackson and Beyoncé, and her legacy will continue on through all high-energy performing artists. Cookie and I are praying for her husband, friends and family."
Flowers will be placed on Turner's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She received the star in front of the Capitol Records building in 1986.
In addition to her singing career, Turner occasionally showed up on the big screen, most notably portraying The Acid Queen in the 1975 film version of The Who's rock musical "Tommy." She also appeared in the Beatles musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," played a mayor in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Last Action Hero," and portrayed the leader of a post-apocalyptic wasteland city in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."
"The world lost a legend [...]," the SAG-AFTRA union said in a statement, noting that Turner was a member of the union since 1961. "Tina Turner was a genre-defying powerhouse singer, dancer, actress and author who
rightfully earned the title of rock 'n roll queen. She broke down barriers for generations of artists to come."
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx remains hospitalized in stable condition
​HOLLYWOOD (MNS)—Nearly a week after collapsing in an undisclosed location in Atlanta, where he was filming Netflix's Back in Action, Jamie Foxx remains hospitalized, but reportedly in stable condition.
One new report suggests the actor is undergoing various tests to determine the cause of the "medical complication," according to CNN.
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"They are running tests and still trying to figure out what exactly happened," a source affiliated with the actor told the news network. The spokesperson for the actor said the medical complication didn't occur on-set or while he was filming scenes, and that He wasn't taken to the
hospital in an ambulance, but by private vehicle instead.
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The exact medical scare hasn't been revealed or reported on, and Foxx's state was first revealed through a family statement shared by his daughter Corinne.
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"We wanted to share that my father, Jamie Foxx, experienced a medical complication yesterday," she wrote in a statement shared on Instagram. "Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery. We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers. The family asks for privacy during this time."
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In addition to Back in Action, Foxx has long been attached to Todd McFarlane's long-gestating Spawn reboot.
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"I know that in all my conversations with Jamie, he's never wavered on being in this movie, actually, to the opposite, he leaves me messages all the time like 'Let's get going, man, come on man. The moments here we gotta strike. Let's go,'" Spawn creator Todd McFarlane told ComicBook.com in an interview last year. "We've been talking about this being a sophisticated movie, right? I mean, I've been up on stage going, I'm gonna write, produce, direct and here it is going to be. I've been pushing that on Jamie and he's sort of in that world."
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"The writers want to do something different. Let's leave it at that, they don't want to repeat (what anyone has done)," McFarlane added.
Chadwick Boseman: Virtuoso, actor, movie star, culture hero
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Chad Boseman
Film star Chadwick Aaron Boseman, known most prominently for his role as the superhero Black Panther in the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe film, which made him an international star, was tragically taken from this life Aug. 28, 2020.
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Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, which eventually progressed to stage IV before 2020. He had never spoken publicly about his cancer diagnosis. During treatment, involving multiple surgeries and chemotherapy, he continued to work and completed production for several films, including Marshall, Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and others.
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Boseman died at his home as a result of complications related to colon cancer on Aug. 28, 2020, with his wife and family by his side.
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Chadwick Boseman’s early life
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Boseman was born and raised in Anderson, SC to Carolyn and Leroy Boseman. His mother was a nurse and his father worked at a textile factory, managing an upholstery business as well. According to Boseman, DNA testing indicated that some of his ancestors were Krio people from Sierra Leone, Yoruba people from Nigeria and Limba people from Sierra Leone.
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Boseman graduated from T. L. Hanna High School in 1995, where, in his junior year, he wrote his first play, Crossroads, and staged it at the school after a classmate was shot and killed. Boseman attended college at Howard University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. One of his instructors was Phylicia Rashad, who became a mentor. She helped raise funds, notably from her friend and prominent actor Denzel Washington, so that Boseman and some classmates could attend the Oxford Mid-Summer Program of the British American Drama Academy in London, to which they had been accepted.
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Boseman wanted to write and direct, and initially began studying acting to learn how to relate to actors. Returning to the US, he went on to graduate from New York City’s Digital Film Academy.
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The entertainer lived in Brooklyn at the beginning of his career and worked as the drama instructor in the Schomburg Junior Scholars Program, housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. In 2008, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
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Boseman got his first television role in 2003, in an episode of Third Watch. That same year, Boseman portrayed Reggie Montgomery in the daytime soap opera All My Children, but stated that he was fired after voicing concerns to producers about racist stereotypes in the script; the role was subsequently re-cast, with Boseman’s future Black Panther co-star Michael B. Jordan assuming the role. His early work included episodes of the series Law & Order, CSI: NY, and ER. He also continued to write plays, with his script for Deep Azure performed at the Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago; it was nominated for a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work. In 2008, he played a recurring role on the television series Lincoln Heights and appeared in his first feature film,
The Express: The Ernie Davis Story. He landed a regular role in 2010 in another television series,
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Boseman had his first starring role in the 2013 film 42, in which he portrayed baseball pioneer and star Jackie Robinson. He had been directing an off-Broadway play in East Village when he auditioned for the role, and was considering giving up acting and pursuing directing full-time at the time. About 25 other actors had been seriously considered for the role, but director Brian Helgeland liked Boseman’s bravery and cast him after he had auditioned twice. Robinson's widow, Rachel Robinson commented that Boseman’s performance was like seeing Jackie again.
In 2013, Boseman also starred in the Indie film The Kill Hole, which was released in theaters a few weeks before the film 42.
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In 2014, Boseman appeared opposite Kevin Costner in Draft Day, in which he played an NFL draft prospect. Later that year, he starred as James Brown in Get on Up, doing some singing and all of his own dancing. In 2016, he starred as Thoth, a deity from Egyptian mythology, in Gods of Egypt.
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In 2016, he began portraying the Marvel Comics character T'Challa / Black Panther, with Captain America: Civil War being his first film in a five-picture deal with Marvel. He headlined Black Panther in 2018, which focused on the character and his home country of Wakanda in Africa. The film opened to great anticipation, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year in the US. He reprised the role in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which were released in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Both films were the highest grossing of the year they were released, with Endgame going on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Also in 2019, he starred in 21 Bridges, an American action thriller film directed by Brian Kirk, as an NYPD detective who shuts down the eponymous 21 bridges of Manhattan to find two suspected cop killers.
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In 2019, it was announced that Boseman was cast in the Netflix war drama film Da 5 Bloods, directed by Spike Lee. The film was released on June 12, 2020. Lee, in choosing Boseman for the divine like character of “Stormin” Norman said, “This character is heroic; he’s a superhero. Who do we cast? We cast Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, and we cast T’Challa.”
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Reviews
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According to film critic Owen Gleiberman in Variety, “Boseman was a virtuoso actor who had the rare ability to create a character from the outside in and the inside out [and he] knew how to fuse with a role, etching it in three dimensions [...] That’s what made him an artist, and a movie star, too. Yet in Black Panther, he also became that rare thing, a culture hero.” Similarly, reviewer Richard Brody in The New Yorker finds the originality of Boseman's formidable acting technique in his ability to empathize with the interior lives of his characters and render them on screen as fully and completely belonging to the character. The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw wrote of the actor’s “beauty, his grace, his style, his presence [...] These made up Chadwick Boseman’s persona [and he became] the lost prince of American cinema[,] glorious and inspirational".
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Personal life
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Boseman began dating singer Taylor Simone Ledward in 2015. The two reportedly got engaged by October 2019, and they later married in secret, as revealed by Boseman’s family in a statement announcing his death.
Boseman was raised a Christian and was baptized. He was part of a church choir and youth group and his former pastor said that he still kept his faith. Boseman had stated that he prayed to be the Black Panther before he was cast as the titular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In his last tweet on Aug. 12, he congratulated Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on her nomination.
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Wikipedia contributed to this report.