courthouse (1262 posts)

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Ojani Noa says he's moved on since his brief marriage to Jennifer Lopez more than a decade ago.

Minus the 12-year-old home movies he's peddling and his desire to make a feature-length comedy that touches on their courtship, that is.

Noa, 35, has admitted to trying to sell footage of him and Lopez from back in the day. But, he added, there's no graphic sexual activity on the video—and therefore no one should be making such a big deal about it.

"They think I have a sex tape with her and that I'm trying to sell it," Noa says in an exclusive interview with E! News. "My tape is from our honeymoon, the wedding, us hanging out. There's no nudity—maybe one spanking.

"There's moments of her fighting with her mom…couples having fun and kissing. If someone has a sex tape, it's not me."

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Moms can be embarrassing. Even—or maybe especially—if you're Oprah Winfrey.

Luckily, the big O's mama is once again leaving the headline-grabbing to her daughter, thanks to the recent settlement of the lawsuit filed against her for failing to make good on a $155,547 debt at a Wisconsin clothing boutique.

Valentina Inc. filed suit against Vernita Lee in July 2008 after the Oprah-birther failed to make good on her minimum monthly payments. Attorneys for Lee played the blame game in their defense, saying the store was at fault for extending her a line of credit in the first place, what with her history of less than stellar repayment practices.

Still, the suit has now been settled and will remain sealed, giving some credence to the report that it was Oprah herself who stepped in to bail out her mother. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the store will receive a partial payment of what was owed.

"We're happy with what transpired," Valentina co-owner Tony Chirchirillo told the paper. "We can get on with our lives; they can get on with theirs."

A judge still needs to sign off on the secret settlement, and a hearing to do just that has been scheduled for Dec. 7.

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Did you hear? Oprah's gonna be out of a job soon. And by soon, we mean in 22 months.

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The rivalry between ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and her accused stalker is far from over.

Michael David Barrett, who supposedly attempted to sell nude footage of the beauty, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to a federal charge of interstate stalking. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The trial is scheduled for Jan. 12 before United States District Judge Manuel Real, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek confirms to E! News.

Last week, evidence was shown to reveal that the 47-year-old Illinois man followed the sports announcer to Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee, as well as Nashville, where he shot his peephole video.

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Keep up with the story right here.

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Well, that's one less Howard K. Stern legal headache has to worry about.

With a criminal trial looming on the question of whether he conspired to drug Anna Nicole Smith, the lawyer has settled a $60 million defamation suit he filed against former MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby over a tawdry tome she wrote.

A petition for dismissal was filed on Friday, Stern attorney Steve Sadow confirms to E! News, but he would not comment further "pursuant to the terms of the settlement."

That sound you're hearing is the husky-voiced journo clearing her throat in relief.

Stern was seeking big bucks for several blockbluster allegations in Cosby's Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death that he insisted were outright lies.

Cosby falsely claimed Stern engaged in sexual romps with Smith's baby-daddy Larry Birkhead and also suggested the former paternity foes hatched a secret deal in which Stern agreed to support Birkhead's eventually successful bid to gain custody over Dannielynn in exchange for the celebrity photographer backing Stern to remain as executor of the late Playmate's estate.

Earlier this year, Stern dropped similar defamation claims against former Smith bodyguard Mark Speer, whom Stern claimed was Cosby's main source. Stern is still seeking punitive damages against defendant Elizabeth "Jackie" Hatten, a sister of one of Smith's ex-beaus.

After all, he's got his own legal bills to pay.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller

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Jon Gosselin came bearing gifts. He left one giant step closer to losing a wife.

The artists otherwise known as Jon & Kate met face to face at a Pennsylvania law office on Saturday for a daylong arbitration meeting to essentially put a stake in their marriage.

Sources close to TLC's former fun couple say that the Gosselins closed in on finalizing custody arrangements for the eight and the division of assets. Jon even showed up with a bouquet of roses at the start of the meeting as a symbol of his newfound commitment to make things right.

But while Kate seemed amenable to the terms of their divorce, she left sans flowers.

The final episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (at least as we know it) airs Monday. Their marriage could be over before the new year.

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Whoever said "everything leaves a paper trail" was damn right.

Dr. Conrad Murray has admitted to giving Michael Jackson the surgical anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, and police say they know where he got it.

According to additional search warrant documents released Friday, investigators found receipts in Murray's Nevada office showing that the cardiologist purchased five bottles the drug from a Las Vegas pharmacy on May 12 and had it mailed to the L.A. mansion Jackson was living in when he died a month later.

All of which should come as no shock to anyone, according to Murray's attorney.

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When Miley Cyrus' infamous slant-eyed photo leaked online, we knew there was going to be trouble. When a Los Angeles woman filed a class-action suit against the Disney star on behalf of her Asian brothers and sisters, we knew it was going to be a lengthy battle. But when it turned out she was seeking roughly $4 billion—yes, billion—in damages from the teen, we knew what outcome was inevitable.

In a win for common sense everywhere, an L.A. judge today threw out Lucie Kim's lawsuit, saying that while the photo may have been offensive, it didn't break any state laws.

Especially not the one Kim claimed it did.

In her complaint, Kim accused Cyrus of violating a statute that prohibits businesses from discriminating against minorities, specifically in terms of offering equal access to public accommodations.

And while Miley's clearly a budding empire, she's not, strictly speaking, a business. Or, so far as we know, offering shelter.

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Not paying your taxes for five years? Understandable. Going to prison for three years as a result? Totally unreasonable. At least according to Wesley Snipes' crack (but not that crack) defense team.

Attorneys for the Uncle Sam-dodging Blade star have filed an appeal against the actor's would-be imprisonment, calling the sentence "unreasonable" and claiming that his tax-evasion trial—which came to a close last February after Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a return—should have taken place in New York and not Florida.

Nevermind that the 47-year-old actor's housing records showed that he lived in both states or that his legal team had ample time prior to the years-in-the-making trial to seek the location swap.

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Fame Pictures Inc

A blast from Britney Spears' past is going away for awhile.

Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo who dated Spears at the height of her public meltdown two years ago, has been sentenced to 45 days in the slammer today stemming from a hit-and-run incident.

The 37-year-old shutterbug agreed to a plea deal to avoid deportation for running over a process server trying to deliver a restraining order on behalf of Spears' conservatorship. He ultimately wound up being permanently barred from further contact with the "Toxic" songbird.

Ghalib was immediately taken from the courtroom today to begin his jail time. After he gets out, he still must do 45 days of roadside trash pickup and 52 weeks of anger-management classes, as well as pay various fines and fees. And then he still has to deal with a civil suit from the run-in.

To paraphrase his former squeeze: oops!

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Adnan's not the only one facing legal problems. Check out E! Online's Court Appearances photo gallery.

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Eddie Cibrian is a one-woman guy and he's got the lawyers to prove it.

The soon-to-be divorced actor has followed through with his promise to sue Life & Style, filing a defamation suit against the magazine today for reporting that he's been two-timing girlfriend LeAnn Rimes.

"Since the separation from his wife, Eddie Cibrian has not had a romantic or sexual relationship with any woman other than Ms. Rimes," the lawsuit states.

Citing an online article from Nov. 4 ("Eddie's Cheating on LeAnn Already!") and a story in the Nov. 16 issue (a more detailed version of the same), Cibrian's camp accuses L&S of doing nothing to verify its story, which turned out to be "rife with demonstrably false accusations."

And that article in turn led to "hundreds of articles" alleging rampant infidelity on Cibrian's part, the suit alleges.

Sure, it was that article...

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Chris Brown is on the up and up.

At the singer's first checkup hearing since being sentenced for attacking Rihanna in February, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg said she had received "an extremely favorable progress report" on him from the probation department.

Brown, who arrived early for his afternoon appearance today, was sentenced in August to 180 days of community labor, which he's been serving in his home state of Virginia, five years' probation and a one-year anti-domestic violence program.

So far, he's keeping up with the court's expectations. Schnegg said Brown has provided the court with DNA samples, paid all fines and court fees, performed more than 100 hours of community service and completed seven domestic violence classes to date.

The thumb's-up from the judge came at a great time for Brown, who's been busy shooting music videos and working on his new album at a pace that has rivaled only...well, Rihanna.

Plus, he just kicked off his "Fan Appreciation" tour to thank the loyal "Run It" lovers out there for sticking by him through this turbulent year.

He has carte blanche to travel within the U.S. but would need to get the judge's permission if her wants to leave the country.

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Catch up on Rihanna's side of the story right here.

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Let's just say this doesn't look good for the defense.

The surrogate mom who gave birth in July to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's twin girls took center stage today in her own courtroom drama. Michelle Ross testified in the criminal trial of an Ohio lawman accused of orchestrating a break-in at her home to dig up dirt he could then sell to the tabloids.

Ross said she learned of the alleged scheme by Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter from a paparazzo, who had come to town hoping to snag a picture of her while she was pregnant with the Sex and the City star's children.

She said she noticed someone had rifled through her belongings and, per the local WTOV-TV, some items were misplaced, including a plaster cast of her tummy when she was preggers with her own son, not Parker and Broderick's.

Ross, who refused to be videotaped or voice recorded while on the stand, also told the jury that ultrasound pictures and documents with tax information had disappeared.

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