- Title: Showbiz in 2023: Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow among celebrities in court
- Date: 5th December 2023
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 13, 2020) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** COURTHOUSE SIGN GOODING JR. ARRIVING AT THE COURTHOUSE WITH HIS LAWYER, MARK HELLER Sean 'Diddy' Combs NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 1, 2017) (REUTERS) MUSIC PRODUCER, SEAN 'DIDDY' COMBS WITH THEN-GIRLFRIEND, SINGER, ACTOR AND MODEL CASSIE VENTURA
- Embargoed: 19th December 2023 03:57
- Keywords: Cassie Ventura Cuba Gooding Jr Danny Masterson Ed Sheeran Guns N' Roses ex-singer Axl Rose Gwyneth Paltrow Jamie Foxx Jonathan Majors Kevin Spacey Music industry veteran Jimmy Iovine Peter Nygard Robert De Niro Russell Brand Sean 'Diddy' Combs celebrity trial court case showbiz trial
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
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- Country: Various
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00N943624072023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Oscar winners Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Robert De Niro were among the famous names taking to the stand in several high-profile legal trials and lawsuits in 2023.
A jury in a London court found "American Beauty" star Kevin Spacey not guilty of carrying out multiple sex assaults on four men.
After 12 hours and 26 minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted the U.S. actor by a majority on nine charges which he was accused of committing between 2004 and 2013 at a time when he was working at London's Old Vic theatre.
A tearful Spacey, who was also celebrating his 64th birthday on that day, said he was "humbled".
In the United States, "That '70s Show" actor Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women who said that the Church of Scientology sought to protect the actor and intimidate them into silence.
The 47-year-old prominent Scientologist, who starred in the retro TV comedy for eight seasons until 2006, was convicted in a second trial. A jury deadlocked on a charge that he raped a third woman.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court imposed the maximum sentence allowed by law. Masterson, who has been in jail since his conviction, will be eligible for parole in 25-1/2 years.
The case drew attention in part because Masterson met the women through the Church of Scientology, and his accusers said the organization discouraged them from contacting law enforcement. The Church of Scientology denied that claim and said Masterson's religion should not have been an issue in the case, calling it "an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment."
In Utah, a jury ruled that actor Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for injuries sustained by a man during a ski slope collision at an upscale Park City resort in 2016.
Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, suffered a concussion and four broken ribs in the incident. He said the injuries led to a traumatic brain injury and had sought more than $300,000 in damages from Paltrow at a civil trial.
Sanderson said a woman he later learned was Paltrow was skiing out of control when she ran into his back and sent him flying on a hill at Deer Valley Resort. A friend of Sanderson's testified that he saw Paltrow crash into the former doctor.
Paltrow said she did not cause the accident and that it was Sanderson who struck her from behind.
The jury sided with Paltrow, ruling that Sanderson was 100% at fault, and awarded Paltrow the $1 in symbolic damages that she had asked for in a countersuit.
Robert De Niro testified against his former assistant in a gender discrimination lawsuit.
Graham Chase Robinson sued the actor's company Canal Productions due to sexist comments and more according to Robinson.
The production company was found liable in the suit and ordered to pay $1.3 million to Robinson. De Niro was not found personally liable.
Also in Manhattan, in a closely watched copyright lawsuit, a jury decided Ed Sheeran's 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud" did not unlawfully copy from Marvin Gaye's classic 1973 song "Let's Get It On".
The British pop star, who won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit "Shape of You, said the verdict would help protect the creative process for song writers in the U.S. and globally.
Oscar winner Jamie Foxx was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in New York City that alleges he groped a woman at a rooftop bar and restaurant in Manhattan in August 2015. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
The plaintiff, identified in the complaint only as Jane Doe, said the assault occurred in a secluded corner of the Catch NYC rooftop lounge after she and a friend had approached the film star and had their pictures taken with him.
A representative for Foxx was quoted as saying that "the alleged incident never happened".
The "Ray" actor is one of the latest high-profile celebrities accused of sexual wrongdoing in a recent series of lawsuits filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York state law allowing such lawsuits to be filed in court even if the statutes of limitations have run out.
The deadline for the special one-year window for such complaints under the law expired at the end of November.
Axl Rose, the former lead singer of Guns N' Roses, was sued under the law by Sheila Kennedy, an actress and former Penthouse Pet of the Year, over an alleged 1989 assault.
Rose’s attorney Alan Gutman has been quoted as denying the allegations.
Music industry veteran Jimmy Iovine was sued by a woman who claimed she was sexually abused.
In a complaint filed in New York state court in Manhattan, a woman identified only as "Jane Doe" said she was sexually abused, forcibly touched and subject to sexual harassment and retaliation in August 2007. A spokesperson for Iovine said they were "quite shocked and baffled" by the alleged claim.
R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura sued Sean "Diddy" Combs in federal court, accusing the rapper and hip-hop mogul she once dated and whose music label she signed with of subjecting her to serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape.
One of the central allegations by Ventura, who performs under the stage name Cassie, was that Combs forced her to engage in sex acts with a succession of male prostitutes he hired while he watched and filmed the encounters for his own pleasure.
The lawsuit also accused Combs of regularly beating Ventura over the course of a 10-year professional and romantic relationship in which he controlled her through intimidation and by plying her with drugs and alcohol.
Ventura, 37, alleged Combs raped her near the end of their relationship in 2018 when she broached the idea of leaving him.
Combs' lawyer issued a statement saying his client "vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations."
Combs and Ventura settled the suit swiftly. Terms were not disclosed.
Actor Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City on assault and harassment charges, following a domestic dispute.
A 30-year-old woman suffered minor injuries to her head and neck and was taken to a hospital in a stable condition, the New York Police Department said. Following his arrest, the "Creed III" actor appeared in court and was released without bail. Majors' defense lawyer said in a statement at the time that Majors was innocent and that he was "probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows."
The trial began in late November.
Cuba Gooding Jr was sued by two women whose sexual assault cases against the Oscar-winning actor underlay a criminal prosecution that ended with him pleading guilty but serving no jail time.
In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Jasmine Abbay said the "Jerry Maguire" star forcibly kissed her without her consent in September 2018, while she was working as a cocktail waitress at the LAVO nightclub in midtown Manhattan.
The other plaintiff, Kelsey Harbert, accused Gooding of groping her breast in June 2019 at the Magic Hour rooftop bar, also in midtown.
Lawyers who have represented Gooding in civil and criminal litigation over his alleged sexual misconduct did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
He pleaded guilty in April 2022 to a misdemeanor charge of forcibly touching Abbay, who was not identified by name at the time but revealed her identity in her lawsuit.
The charge was downgraded six months later to harassment, to which Gooding pleaded guilty after complying with a plea agreement that required alcohol and behavior modification treatment and no further arrests.
Accusations by Abbay, Harbert and a third woman were the basis for a six-count indictment against Gooding, which his guilty plea resolved.
Harbert at the time expressed outrage she could not hold him accountable in court for the "irreparable damage" he caused.
Separately this year, Gooding settled a civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, moments before trial, by a woman who accused him of a 2013 rape. Terms were not disclosed. The woman had sought $6 million.
Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault by a Toronto jury.
Nygard, 82, was on trial in the Ontario Superior Court for five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement charges linked to incidents between the 1980s and mid-2000s. He was acquitted of a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
British actor-comedian Russell Brand was accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a film extra on the New York City set of the 2011 romantic comedy "Arthur," in which he starred as a boozing, philandering heir to a fortune.
The suit followed a recent flurry of allegations reported in the British news media against the 48-year-old performer by several women accusing him of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior, some dating back 20 years. British police have said they were investigating a number of the allegations, but the New York lawsuit marked the first such accusation leveled in court.
Brand in September denied on his social media channels having ever engaged in non-consensual sex.
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