Courtney Love to pay $430 000 in Twitter case

Love claimed she was only expressing personal opinion in her Twitter rants

Rocker Courtney Love has settled the lawsuit brought against her by a fashion designer who claims she was defamed in a series of Twitter messages.

The settlement with Dawn Simorangkir (aka the “Boudoir Queen”), which sources say was being finalised Thursday and will be announced next week, will cost Love about US$430,000 (RM1.3 million). The first payment of cash is due Thursday, followed by a series of payments to Simorangkir stretched out until 2014.

The settlement ends a case that was watched as closely for the unique legal issues in play as the often-erratic behaviour of the defendant. Simorangkir, who became embroiled in a dispute with Love over a US$4,000 payment for clothing, accused the Hole frontwoman of ruining her business with a series of allegedly defamatory tweets posted during a 20 minute rant in 2009.



The trial, which was originally scheduled for late January but was postponed when the parties began talking settlement, would have been the first high-profile courtroom showdown over what constitutes defamation on Twitter.

Love argued that her rants were merely an expression of opinion and that Simorangkir could not prove how they damaged her. The fashion designer, on the other hand, pointed to Love’s influence as an entertainer and the power of social media to disseminate damaging comments, including that Simorangkir was an “asswipe nasty lying hosebag thief.”

“The amount of the settlement says it all,” Simorangkir attorney Bryan Freedman told The Hollywood Reporter. “Her reprehensible defamatory comments were completely false and US$430,000 is quite a significant way to say I am sorry. One would hope that, given this disaster, restraint of pen, tongue and tweet would guide Ms. Love’s future conduct.”

Love attorney James Janowitz said he was pleased with the deal. “Because of the extended payout it’s a modest settlement,” Janowitz added, noting that Simorangkir had asked for “vastly more” in discussions. “They got out with an amount that left them bragging rights but nothing else.”

Will Love continue to express herself on Twitter? “I don’t think she’s using it anymore,” Janowitz said. “But I could be wrong.”

Trial of Michael Jackson doctor delayed to May

File photo of Murray (centre), sitting with his lawyers Edward Chernoff (left) and Michael Flanagan, during his arraignment in Los Angeles, California on January 25, 2011

A judge yesterday delayed opening statements in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor until May 9, giving attorneys for both sides more time to share information.

The trial of Dr Conrad Murray had been slated to begin on March 24, which remains the date prospective jurors will be called upon to fill out questionnaires, according to the ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court judge Michael Pastor.

Murray is accused of illegally giving Jackson the powerful anaesthetic propofol and other drugs as sleep aids, leading to the pop star’s June 2009 death.

The doctor had been hired to aid the “Thriller” singer as he prepare for a series of comeback concerts.

The Houston-based doctor has pleaded not guilty to the charge and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Chris Brown blame Satan for Rihanna abuse photo leaked.

While we’re on the subject of violent, egotistical women-beaters, apparently Chris Brown wasn’t too thrilled yesterday when MediaTakeout.com posted two new photos from the night he beat Rihanna senseless. Fortunately he knows who the real culprit is and took to Twitter to tell everybody until his publicist shat a canary and yanked it down. Via ONTD:






- It’s ironic how “somebody” put this out right around my album time! Wow! I guess that’s supposed to be a strategic chess move! Unbelievable
- The Devil is always busy!! But when u have a destiny, nothing or no one can stop what god has planned!

Ah, my favorite bullshit Christian coping mechanism: “Bringing up your past is a trick of the devil.” Yes, that’s right, Chris Brown, Jesus forgave you, so you should never have to face responsibility for your actions again, you poor thing. How dare that horned bastard do this except, fuck you, we’re talking about fictional characters. So for this alone, and I’m not even factoring in the abuse, I want those Rihanna photos to be on the cover of every single one of your albums from here on out. Not that it would stop your fanbase, of course, but it’s the thought that counts. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to see what the Dark Lord has laid out for the agenda today. *reads list* “Keep being exceptionally salty this morning.” On it.

Kelsey Grammer marries for fourth time — on Broadway

Grammer completed his divorce from third-wife Camille (right) a fortnight ago.


Former “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer married his fourth wife, Kayte Walsh, on Friday in a colourful ceremony at a Broadway theatre where his new bride arrived wearing a white robe.

Grammer, 56, exchanged vows with British flight attendant Walsh on the stage at The Longacre Theatre on Broadway, where he has just finished a Tony-nominated run in the musical, “La Cage Aux Folles.”



A video on TMZ.com and pictures on various celebrity websites showed the couple arriving for their reception at The Plaza Hotel with Walsh dressed in a white, lace, sleeveless wedding gown.

A spokesman for Grammer said the pair were married “at a private ceremony for family and friends.”

People magazine reported that Grammer’s former “Frasier” co-star David Hyde Pierce and actor Alan Arkin were in attendance. The New York Post said Grammer and Walsh were married by Terry Lavell, who plays a drag queen in “La Cage” and is licensed to officiate weddings.

Grammer, an Emmy winner, rose to fame playing psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane in the sitcoms “Cheers” and “Frasier,” which aired from 1993 to 2004. His career includes TV shows, movies and numerous stage roles.

He finalised his divorce with third wife, Camille Donatacci Grammer, just two weeks ago. They broke up in 2010 when Grammer began seeing Walsh, 29, who in October suffered a miscarriage with her and Grammer’s baby. She is the daughter of former English soccer player Alan Walsh.

Chris Brown allowed near Rihanna, 2 years after attack

A court order was lifted yesterday that had prevented R&B singer Chris Brown from coming into close contact with his ex-girlfriend Rihanna since a violent altercation two years ago.

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Patricia Schnegg downgraded the stay-away order that said Brown, 21, must stay 50 yards away from Rihanna, or 10 yards at entertainment industry events.

Schnegg replaced it with a less stringent order that bars Brown from harassing or annoying Rihanna, but allows him to speak to her.






Rihanna was not in court but her lawyer said that the “Rude Boy” and “Umbrella” singer had no objection to the change.

Brown, 21, who did attend yesterday’s brief hearing, pleaded guilty in 2009 to assaulting Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to five years probation and community service and recently completed a year-long domestic violence course.

Brown last week skipped the music industry’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, despite being nominated for three honours. Rihanna performed on the show but failed to win any of the four awards for which she was nominated.

Judge warns Lohan guilty plea means jail

Lohan was offered a six-month sentence by prosecutors

Lindsay Lohan was warned yesterday that any plea bargain on her jewellery theft charge would involve jail time, but the troubled actress seemed set on rejecting any deals and opting instead to risk a trial.

Lohan, 24, was given until March 10, to consider a plea deal offered by prosecutors on a charge that she walked out of a Los Angeles jewellery store in January without paying for a US$2,500 (RM7,750) necklace.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed at yesterday’s hearing — the latest in a series of trips to court that have halted Lohan’s once promising movie career.




But celebrity website TMZ.com, citing unnamed sources connected to the case, said prosecutors want Lohan to plead guilty and serve six months in jail to avoid a possibly longer sentence if convicted at trial of stealing the necklace.

Lohan and her lawyers had been hoping for an arrangement that would avoid any more time behind bars. The actress spent two weeks in jail last summer on a probation violation in a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine conviction.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz told her sternly that “this case does involve jail time. Period. If you plead (guilty) in front of me and the case is resolved in front of me, you are going to jail, period.”

Lohan pleaded not guilty to grand theft at an initial hearing earlier in February, and has told friends she believed the necklace was on loan.

Schwartz said yesterday he doubted Lohan and her lawyers would accept a plea deal. “I get the impression you are not going to accept the (prosecutors’) offer, okay. I don’t have a crystal ball, and I’m not privy to any inside information, but that is the feeling that I got.”

TMZ.com reported that Lohan told a friend after leaving the courtroom she was not guilty and would not accept going back to jail. She has until March 10 to consider her response.

“I don’t care that you are Lindsay Lohan versus John Doe,” Schwartz lectured the “Mean Girls” actress. “You will be treated exactly the same as anyone else, no better or worse.”

Lohan, dressed in cream pants and a low-cut black blouse, said little during yesterday’s hearing, conferring quietly with her attorney and answering the judge, “yes, your honour,” when asked if she understood what he said to her.

Lohan faces a separate court hearing before a different judge in her 2007 drunk driving conviction. She remains on probation in that case and in January completed a court-ordered three month stay in rehab — her fifth stint in treatment in three years.

Schwartz said he would recommend psychological counselling for Lohan as part of her sentence, telling her “I don’t want you to be a repeat offender....I want you to get on with your life and move on.”

Lohan made her name as an 11-year-old in the Disney movie “The Parent Trap” and went on to have hits with “Freaky Friday” and “Herbie Fully Loaded”.

But she lost her lead part in a movie about 1970s porn actress Linda Lovelace while she was in rehab last year.

Reggae star Banton convicted in US drug case

Jamaican reggae star and Grammy winner Buju Banton was found guilty on federal drug charges and could face 15 years to life in prison.

A 12-member jury in Tampa found Banton, 37, guilty yesterday of conspiring with two other men to possess 5 kg or more of cocaine in Sarasota, Florida, in December 2009. The verdict came after a four-day trial.

Banton (picture), whose real name is Mark Myrie, won a Grammy for the best reggae album of 2010 for “Before the Dawn” on February 13. He was unable to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles because he was preparing for the start of his trial the next day in Tampa.





Banton testified at the trial that he was entrapped by federal informant Alexander Johnson and never wanted to buy drugs. Banton said he met Johnson on a trans-Atlantic flight and talked about drugs to impress him because he thought Johnson had connections in the music industry.

Jurors were shown a video of Banton tasting cocaine in a Sarasota warehouse two days before his two associates were arrested trying to buy the drugs from an undercover officer. Banton was arrested at his home in Miami.

About 20 supporters of Banton prayed for his acquittal in the hallway of the US District Courthouse while the jury deliberated.

This was Banton’s second trial on the drug charges. The first trial ended last year when the jury could not agree on a verdict.

A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

Clooney says women, drugs rule him out of politics

Clooney believed drug-addled sexual promiscuity did not go well with politics.

Actor George Clooney will play a flawed presidential candidate in his latest movie, but he has again rejected the notion of running for politics in real life.

“I didn’t live my life the right way for politics, you know,” the Oscar-winning actor told Newsweek magazine in a cover story about his humanitarian work in Sudan.

“I f**ked too many chicks and did too many drugs, and that’s the truth,” said Clooney, who has twice been declared People magazine’s sexiest man alive.




Clooney, 49, said a smart political campaigner would “start from the beginning by saying, ‘I did it all. I drank the bong water. Now let’s talk about issues’ That’s gonna be my campaign slogan: ‘I drank the bong water.’?”

Clooney, who won an Oscar in 2006 for his supporting role in “Syriana”, gave a similar rejoinder in 2007 to suggestions that he should run for the US Senate against Republican Mitch McConnell.

Clooney, a political liberal, was named a United Nations messenger of peace in 2008 for his efforts to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

He told Newsweek his job in the region was to “amplify the voice of the guy who lives here and is worried about his wife and children being slaughtered”.

“And if he finds me and asks, ‘You got a big megaphone?’ and I say ‘Yes.’ ‘You got a decent-size mountain to yell it from?’ ‘Yeah, I got a pretty-good sized mountain.’ ‘Will you do me a favour and yell it?’ And I go ‘Absolutely.’“

Clooney is currently working on the movie “The Ides of March” about an idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate who gets a crash course in dirty politics. Clooney will direct and star in the film, and he co-wrote the screenplay.

The Situation Did Blow Coke On The Air

With shows like Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, and Skins, it's unclear why MTV hasn't been burned to the fucking ground yet, but in case you're wondering what goes on when these shows are on while you better things to do, take a look at the above screencaps of last Thursday's episode. It's just a reality "star" doing coke in a Miami club. No big deal.

On last Thursday’s episode of Jersey Shore, Mike “The Situation” commits a robbery on Pauly D’s ex, but some keen Fork Party readers noticed that they also enjoy something off Situation’s gold crucifix chain...This isn’t the first time Situation or Jersey Shore has run into cocaine allegations. Last year rumours floated around of coke use in the house…. hard to believe in Miami and from such model citizens! MTV is oblivious to the cocaine allegations, but a few sources have been quoted to say that the cast of Jersey Shore are veterans at dodging MTV’s film crews when they want to. Radar Online knows the identity of the Jersey Shore cast member that is allegedly buying the drugs (in Miami it was incredibly easy to do), but they have not published it publicly. We have a feeling we know who it was buying all the coke for the Jersey Shore cast in Miami, but we’re not about to give that out as the situation is pretty obvious in the photos above. Whoops.


My neighbor Catherine forced me to watch Jersey Shore with her once, and besides looking like a cartoon propaganda poster against Italians, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is an unhinged lunatic who blows up and makes life miserable for everyone around him if people don't do exactly what he wants them to do the minute he wants them to do it. Basically, a he's a pouting child on steroids with a fucked up haircut and low-self esteem that he tries to mask with tanner and Affliction shirts. Gee, I wonder what could make someone a paranoid sociopath who basically dry humps women then throws a tantrum when they push him off? Oh, I know. Lots and lots of blow.