Latest in Courts

UPDATED with afternoon session: A woman who said filmmaker Paul Haggis "attacked" her in 2008 during a meeting in his office in Los Angeles said she stood up and backpedaled through an emergency exit door with her hands up and her eyes peeled on Haggis as he kept "trying to grab" her until she got to the…

You may think that most Wall Street analyst reports are a waste of paper and pixels. But they’re newsworthy because they often move stock prices. That’s why business news organizations are breathing a sigh of relief today following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling that upholds their right to…

Another hey-you-didn’t-pay-me-my-profits lawsuit. This time a Los Angeles jury sided with Don Johnson who was both the star and a producer on the 1990s crime series Nash Bridges. Johnson sued 3 entertainment companies in 2009, claiming he was owed millions in profits from the 1990s crime series by Rysher…

Normally, Deadline doesn’t cover the personal lives of Hollywood types, except under circumstances which affect their professional lives. But the Lindsay Lohan saga is worth mentioning because it gets sadder and sadder since she was a once-promising young actress. Lohan was sentenced today by a judge in Beverly…

Rod Blagojevich was considering appointing Oprah Winfrey to the Illinois Senate seat to replace Barack Obama, according to a wiretap played today at the former Illinois governor’s corruption trial. Per news reports, on the tape recorded on Dec. 2 Blagojevich and his former chief of staff John Harris go over…

UPDATE: In connection with the summary judgment ruling today in its litigation against Google and YouTube, Viacom Inc made the following statement: “We believe that this ruling by the lower court is fundamentally flawed and contrary to the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the intent of Congress, and…

BREAKING NEWS! UPDATE: Lionsgate insiders tell me: “This isn’t a big surprise and doesn’t change the dynamics of the Icahn takeover fight.  Cuban was one of Icahn’s nominees for the Yahoo Board of Directors in 2008, and we always thought it was likely he would tender to Icahn.  We think if he does tender to Icahn at…

Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen will plead guilty and serve jail time over misdemeanor charges stemming from his Christmas Day arrest for alleged domestic violence, according to several sites, including People and TMZ. But the 30-day sentence, which is expected to be reduced to 15-17 days for good behavior…

2ND UPDATE WRITE-THRU 1:30 PM: The indictment of financial advisor and accountant Kenneth Starr has the potential to be every bit as serious as the one that gripped Hollywood when Cassanda Group’s Dana Giacchetto fell from grace after defrauding some of Hollywood’s biggest names in the 1990s. Starr was arrested along…

UPDATED WRITE-THRU: The indictment of financial advisor and accountant Kenneth Starr has the potential to be every bit as serious as the one that gripped Hollywood when Cassanda Group’s Dana Giacchetto fell from grace after defrauding some of Hollywood’s biggest names in the 1990s. Starr was arrested along with an…

UPDATE AT 6:15 PM: More details have surfaced in the shocking indictment of Bonnie Hoxie– the administrative assistant to Disney corporate communications head Zenia Mucha—and Hoxie’s boyfriend Yonni Sebbeg for allegedly trying to peddle an early quarterly report to hedge funds for cash payment. In the annals of…

UPDATE 11 AM: The Walt Disney Co. just issued the following statement relating to the complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney on May 26 in New York: The Walt Disney Company has been fully cooperating with this investigation. The reference in the complaint to conversations regarding the ABC Network were and are false. PREV…