Lawsuit
Page: 10
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty
An alleged victim suing Diddy for sexual assault has encountered difficulty as her lawyers requested removal from the case.
According to reports, a woman who has accused Diddy of coercing her into having sex with his guests at one of his infamous White Parties will be without her legal team. Ariel Mitchell-Kidd and Steven A. Metcalf, who were representing Adria English, filed a formal request in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday (Oct. 2) to withdraw from the case, citing “irreconcilable differences,” including receiving conflicting instructions from English on how to proceed with the case. “As a result of a fundamental disagreement between Attorneys and Plaintiff regarding almost every aspect of the litigation,” the filing stated, “including settlement demands, causes of actions in the pleadings and Plaintiff’s undermining behavior and questionable antics an irreconcilable conflict and tension has developed between Plaintiff and Attorneys.”
English, a former adult film star who performed under the name Omunique, filed a police report in Miami, Florida, accusing the embattled music mogul of sexual assault in August. Among those claims includes an allegation that she was “groomed” into sex trafficking by Diddy, aka Sean Combs, with ecstasy-laced liquor and forced to be intimate with guests at his parties in Miami and in the Hamptons. In a phone interview with the New York Times, English confirmed that she was looking for new lawyers and spoke about the conflict she and Mitchell-Kidd had. “I’m the client; you work for me,” she said.
A bone of contention was Mitchell-Kidd’s instructions to English to not talk to the media. When contacted, Mitchell-Kidd responded via text, saying: “I never lost faith in her case, just in her. Her case is great,” she continued. “My issue was with her undermining my work and going behind my back doing things incongruent to advancing her case.”
Diddy is currently being held in a Brooklyn jail after a judge ordered him to be detained until trial. Representatives released a statement on his behalf. “As we’ve said from the start, anyone can file a lawsuit without proof — and this case is a clear example of that,” the statement said. “Adria English escalated things by filing false police reports and making baseless claims, using high-profile events as a backdrop to harm innocent people.” The news comes as lawyers in Texas have reported that they’ve been contacted by other victims alleging sexual abuse by Diddy.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Logan Riely / Getty
NBA legend Michael Jordan has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR in federal court in North Carolina.
On Wednesday (Oct. 2), NBA Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan and his 23XI Racing Team joined Front Row Motorsports in filing a federal anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR and its chairman, Jim France. The suit was filed in the Western District of North Carolina, where Charlotte is located. Jordan is also a part owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. “The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” the teams said in the filing. “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”
The main point of contention lies in the charter system which NASCAR implemented in 2016 which included revenue sharing and 36 guaranteed entries in the league’s Cup Series. Teams complained that they were presented with a last-minute offer 48 hours before the playoffs began. “Faced with a take-it-or-leave-it offer, and no competing opportunity for premier stock car racing in the United States, most of the teams concluded that they had to sign,” the lawsuit states. “One team described its signing as ‘coerced,’ and another said it was ‘under duress.’ 23XI Racing Team and Front Row Motorsports declined to sign the deal.
The lawsuit also disclosed a lack of transparency from France, complaining that NASCAR prevented teams from competing in other stock car races and forced them to buy parts only from NASCAR-approved suppliers. “No other major professional sport in North America is run by a single family that enriches themselves through these kinds of unchecked monopolistic practices,” the lawsuit said.
“Everyone knows that I have always been a fierce competitor and that will to win is what drives me and the entire 23XI team each and every week out on the track,” Jordan said in a statement. “I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans, but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors, and fans. Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.” Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins claimed that he hasn’t made a profit since joining NASCAR in 2005, despite his driver Michael McDowell winning the Daytona 500 in 2021. “We need a more competitive and fair system where teams, drivers, and sponsors can be rewarded for our collective investment by building long-term enterprise value, just like every other successful professional sports league,” he said to ESPN.
A producer who worked on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is suing the creators of the hit Broadway play Stereophonic, claiming they stole material from his memoir about working on the legendary album.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday (Oct. 2) in Manhattan federal court, Ken Caillat and co-author Steven Stiefel call the Tony Award-winning show an “unauthorized adaptation” of their 2012 book Making Rumours — and accuse playwright David Adjmi of “flagrant and willful infringement.”
“Stereophonic copies the heart and soul of Making Rumours,” attorneys for Caillat and Stiefel write in their complaint. “The striking similarity is readily apparent right from the beginning of the show.”
Trending on Billboard
Featuring the music of Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, Stereophonic debuted on Broadway last fall, eventually winning five Tony Awards including best play, best direction of a play and best featured actor in a play.
Critics quickly noted the similarities to the infamous story of the recording session for Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which featured high tensions and heavy drug usage. A reviewer for the Wall Street Journal said the play was “fictionalizing Fleetwood Mac”; another critic said the play “isn’t literally about Fleetwood Mac, but c’mon.”
In their lawsuit, Caillat and Stiefel say the hit play “presents a nearly identical story arc as Making Rumours,” told from the same perspective of a sound engineer in a recording studio, about five characters who are “undeniably analogous to the members of Fleetwood Mac.”
“Stereophonic is undoubtedly a play based on plaintiffs’ memoir Making Rumours because substantial similarities exist between the two works, a reality that has been independently confirmed by those familiar with plaintiffs’ book who have also had the opportunity to review the play,” the duo’s lawyers write.
The new case presents tricky legal questions. Under U.S. law, historical events cannot be monopolized under copyrights, and nobody can claim exclusive ownership over the real story behind the making of Rumours. But specific creative elements of how such a story is told can be protected by copyrights, and film, TV and stage producers often license non-fiction books as the basis for their works.
In their case, Caillat and Stiefel claim that Adjmi copied those exact kinds of creative choices when he created his play: “Stereophonic’s audience not only sits in the same place that Mr. Caillat sat, but the show also depicts Mr. Caillat’s wild ride as it is described in Making Rumours.”
Adjmi is no stranger to copyright litigation. Back in 2014, he filed a preemptive lawsuit over his off-Broadway show called 3C, which riffed on the sitcom Three’s Company. In that case, filed after the sitcom’s owners threatened litigation, Adjmi argued the play was clearly a legal parody of the earlier show. And he eventually won, securing a ruling that his play was a legal “fair use” of the famous show.
In their complaint, Caillat and Stiefel noted that earlier case, but pointedly argued that such a defense would not work this time around: “Stereophonic is not a parody, and it is not in any way a fair use of Making Rumours.”
Reps for Adjmi did not immediately return requests for comment.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Lauryn Hill was the target of a lawsuit from her Fugees bandmate, Pras Michél which alleges that the celebrated rapper and singer breached a contract that sank plans of a reunion tour among other claims. Lauryn Hill fired back with comments herself, shooting down Pras Michél’s claims immediately after.
Variety exclusively reports that Pras Michél filed the lawsuit on Tuesday (October 1) in federal court, alleging instances of fraud and a breach of contract in connection to a 2023 tour featuring all three members of the Fugees which includes Wyclef Jean.
From Variety:
In a scathing lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, Michél alleges that Hill grossly mismanaged the setup, marketing and budgeting of their scuttled 2023 tour, which “was actually a veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself,” the complaint states, adding that the singer then secretly siphoned off money from the tour guarantees. The full list of claims also include breach of fiduciary duty and refusal to permit an audit of the Fugees’ tour.
After the report was published, Lauryn Hill issued her version of events via a statement to the publication:
In a statement to Variety, Hill calls Michél’s suit “baseless” and “full of false claims and unwarranted attacks.” The Grammy-winning artist adds that Michél’s complaint, filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, omits that her former bandmate “was advanced overpayment for the last tour and has failed to repay substantial loans extended by myself as an act of goodwill.” (Michel’s suit does note that he did not make money on the 2023 tour that was canceled due to Hill’s vocal strain and instead is in the hole for $900,000 in unrecouped expenses.) In her statement, she adds that the 2024 tour, which was canceled by Live Nation days before it was scheduled to kick off, “was being planned whether the Fugees were involved or not.” (Michél’s suit claims that his and fellow co-founder Wyclef Jean’s involvement was a stipulation made by Live Nation.)
The publication examined the finer details of Michél’s lawsuit, with a claim stating that Hill turned down $5 million for the Fugees to perform at Coachella. The lawsuit adds the reason Hill shot down the offer was that No Doubt received top billing over the group.
The Fugees were set to hit the road earlier this summer but the tour was suddenly cancelled just days before it was set to kick off.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty
Donald Trump has yet another legal issue to deal with. A Haitian nonprofit organization has filed a lawsuit against him for his false pet eating claims.
As reported by News 5 Cleveland, the Haitian Bridge Alliance has a submitted a claim against the former President and his running mate JD Vance. Their executive director Guerline Jozef expressed their reasoning in a formal statement. “Over the last two weeks, both Trump and Vance led an effort to vilify and threaten the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio,” Jozef wrote. “Together, they spread and amplified the debunked claim that Haitians immigrants in Springfield are eating cats, dogs, and wildlife.”
The organization’s attorney Subodh Chandra detailed how Trump and Vance’s claims have forever negatively impacted the Haitian community in Springfield. “If anyone else had disrupted public service, made false alarms, and engaged in telecommunications harassment in the manner Trump and Vance did with their relentless and persistent lies—even after the governor and mayor said what they were saying was false, they would’ve been arrested by now,” he said in a written statement. “They must be held accountable to the rule of law in the same way any of the rest of us would be.”
During the recent presidential debate Donald Trump made some baseless claims that immigrants were stealing pets and cooking them. “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump when asked a question about immigration. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.” JD Vance also promoted the false narrative and would later admit that on CNN that he is not above spreading falsehoods in order to sell in his agenda.
Neither politician has yet to formally respond to the matter. According to the Haitian Bridge Alliance’s website they advocate “for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services.” You can read more about their organization here.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently behind bars at a detention facility in New York as he awaits sentencing and his legal troubles are still mounting. A new lawsuit filed by Thalia Graves alleges that Diddy and a bodyguard brutally assaulted her and that the incident was filmed.
As reported by CNN, Thalia Graves, 48, held a press conference alongside Gloria Allred on Tuesday (September 24) in Los Angeles. Graves was a former resident of Queens who encountered Diddy around 1999 and 2000 as her boyfriend at the time was a part of the Bad Boy Records executive team.
In her lawsuit, Graves says that in the summer of 2001 while at her mother’s home, she entered into a vehicle with Combs and his bodyguard Joseph “Big Joe” Sherman and accepted a glass of wine. She alleges in the suit that after having the wine, she began to feel strange after consuming the beverage.
Graves said that she eventually passed out from the wine, which she alleges was tainted with drugs, and woke up naked in a Manhattan studio with her hands tied behind her. She goes on to say that Combs sexually assaulted her and used force to keep her stationery as she tried to resist. She added that Sherman sexually assaulted her as well as she regained and lost consciousness.
While flanked by Allred, the current Texas native said that the encounter with Diddy left her physically and emotionally damaged.
“The combination of physical and emotional pain has created a cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free,” Graves said, through tears. “I want to continue on this journey towards recovery and healing. I’m glad that he is locked up, but that’s a temporary feeling of relief.”
While Combs’ legal team has yet to respond to Graves’ 26-page complaint, Sherman issued a statement saying that Graves’ assertion of him assaulting her were “false and baseless accusations” and added that Graves is looking to cash in on a financial settlement.
“These accusations are not only false but damaging to my character,” Sherman said. “I have never met the accuser, and I was not working with Sean Combs during the time in question. I will be pursuing legal action to address this defamation and protect my name.”
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Nelly burst onto the scene in 2000 with his debut album Country Grammar and rolled with the St. Lunatics group comprised of his childhood friends from his hometown of St. Louis. Nelly now faces a lawsuit alleging that he failed to credit the St. Lunatics for their hand in crafting his debut album.
As reported by Variety, Nelly, real name Cornell Haynes, is facing a copyright infringement for what the St. Lunatics say is uncredited and unpaid work that went into the making of Country Grammar.
The St. Lunatics collective includes Ali (Ali Jones), Murphy Lee (Torhi Harper), Kyjuan (Robert Kyjuan), and City Spud (Lavell Webb). The group filed the lawsuit earlier this week in New York federal court.
The outlet overlooked the lawsuit which said that Nelly and the St. Lunatics were friends since grade school and began writing songs together in the 1990s. They then signed separately to deals at Universal Music Group and the lawsuit claims that the St. Lunatics contributed heavily to Country Grammar. Their side said they tried to negotiate with Nelly regarding the crediting and were allegedly told things would move forward but in 2020, they discovered they were duped and that he took full credit for their work.
The St. Lunatics said they learned of their missing credits after Willie Woods Jr. filed a lawsuit in 2020 demanding royalties for his contributions to the hit single “Ride Wit Me” which opened the door for the latest legal actions. It appears that Nelly himself didn’t shoot down the St. Lunatics but instead, his legal representatives, which promoted the group to assert that the rapper never intended to give them proper credit.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Getty
The Wendy Williams saga continues. Her representatives claim she was only paid $82,000 for the controversial documentary on her life.
As spotted on Huffington Post the media mogul’s caretakers are taking action against the production company who developed the Lifetime series Where Is Wendy Williams?. Released earlier this year the four part project gave her fans a behind the scenes look into the rollercoaster life of the former talk show host. The footage showed that the Ocean Township, New Jersey native was dealing with mental health issues, alcohol abuse as well as being placed under guardianship. Ultimately a large portion of her fanbase felt that the documentary showed her in a poor light.
Earlier this week Wendy Williams’ legal team filed a suit against the state the procedures alleging they “viciously and shamelessly exploited” her and depicted her “in a highly demeaning and embarrassing manner. According to court documents she was only paid $82,000 for her participation and her rights. “This is a paltry sum for the use of highly invasive, humiliating footage that portrayed her in the confusing throes of dementia, while Defendants, who have profited on the streaming of the Program have likely already earned millions,” the filing reads. “As our complaint shows in painful and excruciating detail, A&E, Lifetime and Mark Ford viciously and shamelessly exploited Wendy Williams for their own profit while she was obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia,” said Kaplan Martin LLP and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in an exclusive statement.
In turn her team is looking for the production company to forfeit all earnings on the project to cover her medical expenses. The defendants have yet to formally respond.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty
Pharrell Williams opened up about his relationship with former Neptunes partner Chad Hugo and stated the two aren’t speaking, presumably due to a legal dispute.
The rift between Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo has been noticeable, and the multifaceted producer has confirmed how deep it is. In a recent interview, Pharrell spoke at length about the new documentary on his life, Piece By Piece. He was asked about Hugo and the lawsuit that was filed against him by his former partner who claims that Pharrell is trying to monopolize The Neptunes, which the two performed under. “I always wish him the absolute best,” Pharrell replied. When asked if the two were on speaking terms, he answered: “No. But I love him, and I always wish him the absolute best, and I’m very grateful for our time together.”
The lawsuit by Hugo was filed in a federal court in April, alleging that Pharrell’s move to register a sole claim to The Neptunes name, which the filing states goes against the duo’s prior agreement that everything be equally divided. Williams made the filing through his PW IP Holdings LLC company in 2022. “Throughout their over thirty-year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” wrote Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich in the filing. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
In response, an attorney for Pharrell claimed the “Happy” artist was “surprised” by the lawsuit, stating that “We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer.”
The news comes as Piece By Piece recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Focus Features film, which is animated by LEGO figurines, features Jay-Z, Snoop, Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliott, Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, and Busta Rhymes lending their voices – as well as Hugo. “This is a next level of breaking so many norms and boundaries of what a typical narrative is. This one feels like it could be the most special thing we’ve ever done,” said Focus Features chair Peter Kujawski.
Johnson & Johnson is facing a lawsuit that accuses the pharma giant of “rampant infringement” of copyrighted instrumental music in YouTube and Facebook videos.
In a complaint filed last week in Los Angeles federal court, Associated Production Music (APM) claims that J&J released nearly 80 different internet videos featuring unlicensed “production music” — an industry term for stock tracks created for use in videos, podcasts and other content.
“At no point did defendant ever obtain APM’s license, authorization, or consent to synchronize the Recordings with the Videos,” the company’s lawyers write. “Moreover, despite being repeatedly contacted by APM regarding Defendant’s unlicensed uses of the Recordings, Defendant has refused to obtain proper licenses or admit wrongdoing.”
APM, a joint venture of Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing, describes itself as the top purveyor of production music in the country, controlling huge libraries of songs that have appeared in TV shows (Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and Spongebob Squarepants), movies (Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and The Big Sick) and video games (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and MLB: The Show). One particularly notable APM song is “Heavy Action,” the theme to Monday Night Football.
Trending on Billboard
Earlier this year, APM says it discovered that J&J had been using the company’s songs without permission. The lawsuit lists out 79 different videos featuring 30 different APM songs, like a YouTube video posted by J&J in May 2021 called “Nurse Leaders Disrupting Healthcare.” The video, which features an upbeat instrumental track behind narration, allegedly used an APM track called “Driving Inspiration” without securing a license.
The lawsuit is light on details, and it’s unclear how a sophisticated company came to release dozens of videos without securing licenses for the music. A representative for J&J did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations.
Though the songs in question are hardly Hot 100 hits, intentionally using them without a license would still be a costly decision for J&J. Under federal copyright law, a judge can award as much as $150,000 per song infringed if a defendant acted willfully — nearly $12 million for all the songs involved.