12:51 PM EDT 05/10/2013
Trials & Lawsuits
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Kobe Bryant to Mom: Don't Sell My Old Trophies!
Originally posted 05/04/2013 10:15AM
When your son grows up and moves away, what to do with all his stuff? Old basketball jerseys, tarnished high school trophies, um, a few L.A. Lakers' championship rings?
If you're Pamela Bryant, the mother of Lakers star Kobe Bryant, you might consider selling them for a tidy sum.
But better check with Kobe first.
In a cease-and-desist letter to Goldin Auctions of West Berlin, N.J., Bryant is seeking to block his mom's June sale of 42 pieces of early Kobe memorabilia worth an estimated $1.5 million. He alleges the items are not hers to sell.
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Lady Gaga Goes Off on Former Assistant
Originally posted 02/01/2013 01:05PM
There's apparently no gagging Lady Gaga when it comes to raging against former assistant Jennifer O'Neill, who is suing her onetime employer for alleged unpaid overtime.
While being deposed in the case, Gaga, 26, dropped a series of F-bombs, according to a videotape of the Aug. 6 session that's been obtained through court records.
"If you're going to ask me questions for the next five hours, I am going to tell you exactly what f––king happened, so that the judge can read on this transcript exactly what's going on," Gaga told one of O'Neill's lawyers.
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Ariel Winter Suffered Emotional Abuse by Mom: Children's Services
Originally posted 11/20/2012 06:35PM
Ariel Winter, 14, will remain in the care of her adult sister, Shanelle Gray, for now, a judge ruled Tuesday in the family's bitter fight over the Modern Family actress.
A Department of Children and Family Services report to the court found evidence of emotional abuse by Ariel's mother, Chrisoula Workman, but that Ariel's allegations of physical abuse were "unsubstantiated."
The report also recommended that Gray be awarded permanent guardianship. A trial date will be set to settle that question.
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Ariel Winter: How Her Family Drama Exploded in Court
Originally posted 11/15/2012 04:00PM
Is Ariel Winter's mother an out-of-control child abuser – or a pushy but protective stage mom doing the best she can with a temperamental teenager?
Those are among the issues facing a judge who'll decide as early as Nov. 20 who will raise the 14-year-old Modern Family star: her mother Chrisoula Workman or her 34-year-old sister Shanelle Gray.
The long-brewing family drama exploded at an Oct. 3 emergency guardianship hearing, where mother and daughter traded incendiary allegations, according to a newly released court transcript that contains previously unreported claims.
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Halle Berry Can't Move to France with Daughter: Report
Originally posted 11/09/2012 08:30PM
It doesn't look like it'll be bon voyage for Halle Berry and her daughter, at least not permanently.
A judge in Los Angeles on Friday denied the actress's request to move from Los Angeles to France with 4½-year-old daughter Nahla, according to TMZ.
Nahla's father Gabriel Aubry, a Canadian actor and model who works primarily in L.A., objected to the move.
Berry, who is engaged to actor Olivier Martinez, has maintained that France is a safer place for her to raise her daughter, noting stronger paparazzi laws.
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Ariel Winter's Mom Denies Abusing the Modern Family Star
Originally posted 11/07/2012 06:45PM
The mother of 14-year-old Modern Family star Ariel Winter denied Wednesday allegations she abused her daughter, who has a restraining order against her mom and has moved out of the house.
"It's all untrue, it's all untrue," Chris Workman tells PEOPLE.
According to court papers filed Oct. 3 in Los Angeles, Winter – who plays Alex Dunphy on the hit show – alleges her mother subjected her to "ongoing physical abuse (slapping, hitting, pushing) and emotional abuse (vile name-calling, personal insults about minor and minor's weight, attempts to 'sexualize' minor, deprivation of food, etc.) for an extended period of time."
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Britney Spears and Family Win Court Battle Against Sam Lutfi
Originally posted 11/01/2012 08:00PM
A three-year legal battle abruptly came to an apparent end for the Spears family.
A Los Angeles judge threw out Sam Lutfi's entire lawsuit on Thursday after attorneys for Britney Spears and her family argued that he hadn't proven his case after six days of testimony.
Lutfi, 38, a onetime confidante of the singer, sued Britney for unpaid fees, her dad Jamie Spears for allegedly punching him, and mom Lynne Spears for purportedly defaming him in her 2008 book.
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Britney Spears Trial: Paparazzo Adnan Ghalib Recounts Their Romance
Originally posted 10/30/2012 04:30PM
Another familiar face from Britney Spears's chaotic past surfaced in court Tuesday: Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo she once dated as her life unraveled in 2008.
Wearing a black suit and his trademark landing-strip goatee, Ghalib, 40, testified in a posh British accent that his relationship with the pop star changed from work-related to romantic beginning in December 2007.
Asked how often he was with Spears, he quietly replied, "Daily. I was there everyday."
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Britney Spears Trial: Attorneys Describe 'Battle for Life and Death'
Originally posted 10/20/2012 01:15PM
An attorney for Britney Spears's father Jamie told jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday that the struggle to get control of the pop star during her breakdown beginning in 2007 became a "battle for life and death."
In day two of the trial between Britney's former confidante Sam Lutfi and her family, Jamie Spears's attorney Leon Gladstone portrayed Britney's parents as humble, working-class folks from Kentwood, La., who supported her Mouseketeer beginnings, grew overwhelmed by their daughter's superstardom and who ultimately took extreme measures to save her life.
Lutfi, 38, is suing Britney, 30, for allegedly not paying him 15 percent of her earnings as her purported manager; Jamie Spears for alleged battery; and Lynne Spears for defaming him in her 2008 book, Through the Storm.
Gladstone said Britney's parents saw her as "a ray of light, humble and nice," but that began to change after her painful breakup with Justin Timberlake in 2002, leaving their daughter "depressed and angry" in her early 20s.
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Katherine Jackson Reinstated as Guardian of Michael Jackson's Children
Originally posted 08/02/2012 03:00PM
The Jackson family turmoil appears to be settling down as matriarch Katherine Jackson was reinstated as a guardian of her grandchildren and Jermaine Jackson backed off on a challenge of his brother Michael's will.
At a hearing Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff found that Katherine was doing a "wonderful job" with the late singer's kids, Prince, 15, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 10.
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