The family of a 5-year-old who fatally collapsed at recess last year has sued a Connecticut town and its school board over the alleged wrongful death, claiming that teachers waited to provide aid after believing the boy was playing dead.
Filed Wednesday, court documents reportedlystate that nearby teachers didn’t tend to Romeo Pierre Louis for nearly 10 minutes after he fell to the ground at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford on April 5, 2022.
It further claims that other students even notified teachers when Romeo collapsed, but that they didn’t respond because they thought he was participating in a recess game called “play dead.” A police report obtained by the Hartford Courant said that this was a frequent pastime for children at the school.
Two days after the incident, Romeo died of Brugada syndrome, a genetic disorder that can cause arrhythmia, or an irregular heart rhythm. The state medical examiner said that the death was “natural,” according to the police report, which added that there would “be no further investigation.”
The lawsuit’s filing this week coincided with the one-year anniversary of Romeo’s collapse and saw his family hold a vigil outside Charter Oak International Academy.
Teachers allegedly didn’t act for nearly 10 minutes after Romeo Pierre Louis fatally collapsed in 2022.
“Nothing will bring our son back,” said his mother, Chantel Pierre Louis. “All we can do is keep his memory in our hearts and do what we can so this doesn’t happen to another child. Listen to our children.”
Representatives for both West Hartford and its board of education stated they could not comment in detail due to pending litigation, but offered their condolences to Romeo’s family.
“This tragedy has deeply affected the Charter Oak International Academy community, and the school district continues to make grief support and emotional assistance available to any student or educator who needs it,” said Andy Morrow, the town’s acting superintendent of schools.
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but for fast-food chain Chipotle it may also be grounds for a lawsuit.
Fast-casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen backtracked on plans to add a “Chicken Chipotle Burrito Bowl” to its menu after Chipotle sued, claiming the menu item infringed on the Tex-Mex chain’s trademark rights.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleges that Sweetgreen’s burrito bowl advertisements feature the word “Chipotle”in all capital letters — as Chipotle does in its trademarked logo — and uses a background color “nearly identical” to the company’s trademark-protected “Adobo Red.” The “very similar and directly competitive” bowl is likely to confuse customers, the company said in the suit.
On Thursday, Sweetgreen said it would rename the offending item and settle the lawsuit.
“In order to focus on the business and continue serving our guests without distraction, we have decided to rename our bowl to the Chicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl as part of a tentative agreement to resolve the lawsuit,” the company told CBS MoneyWatch in an email. “We are looking forward to putting this lawsuit behind us as we continue to connect more people to real food.”
In response to the change, Chipotle agreed to drop its suit, saying in a statement that it is “pleased that Sweetgreen has chosen to amend their materials in a manner that protects our trademarks and intellectual property.”
Chain’s first non-salad dish
The dish formerly known as the “Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl,” first unveiled last week, is Sweetgreen’s first non-salad menu item. The company called it an important step in “the latest iteration of Sweetgreen’s menu innovation strategy” as the chain “evolves beyond salads.” The bowl contains blackened chicken with rice, black beans, tomatoes, cabbage and salsa, the company said.
The bowl’s ingredients were another sticking point in Chipotle’s lawsuit. Chipotle’s complaint alleged Sweetgreen’s burrito bowl contains similar ingredients to its own burrito bowls, which are also available with chicken, rice, black beans and salsa. It was not immediately clear if the ingredients would change as part of the settlement.
Cease-and-desist notice
According to the suit, Chipotle’s legal department sent a cease-and-desist letter and made a phone call to Sweetgreen to discuss the company’s infringement concerns. In its letter, Chipotle suggested that its competitor rename the new burrito bowl “chicken bowl with chipotle” with the word “chipotle” in lowercase letters, according to the suit.
Sweetgreen failed to respond, according to the complaint, “necessitating the instant action.”
Sweetgreen’s stock fell roughly 13% to $6.39 per share immediately after the Chipotle suit was filed, but has since recovered to $7.41 as of Thursday afternoon.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern over last month’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which forced thousands of evacuations and seeped dangerous chemicals into the surrounding area.
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Meghan Markle has beaten a defamation lawsuit filed against her by half-sister Samantha Markle after a judge on Friday dismissed the case.
The lawsuit, filed in Tampa, Florida, in March 2022, alleged the Duchess of Sussex made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” about her sister in a 2021 CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey. It also claimed Meghan spread defamatory statements about Samantha to the authors of a New York Times best-selling book about Meghan, “Finding Freedom,” which contained a chapter titled “A Problem Like Samantha.”
U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell, however, ruled in favor of the former “Suits” actress. Regarding the Oprah interview, the judge wrote that the duchess’ statements could not be proved false.
“As a reasonable listener would understand it, [Meghan Markle] merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings,” Honeywell wrote in the order. “Thus, the Court finds that Defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. Plaintiff cannot plausibly disprove Defendant’s opinion of her own childhood.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were in New York City to accept the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award on Dec. 6, 2022.
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
The judge also dismissed claims made over the best-seller, finding that the duchess could not be held liable for a book she did not publish.
Samantha, who has the same biological father as Meghan, had claimed in her lawsuit that the former actress lied about being “an only child” and minimized the extent of her relationship with her half-sister.
“The defamatory implication is that [Samantha] had no relationship whatsoever with her sister Meghan,” the lawsuit reads.
However, Meghan’s attorney defended her client’s comments as subjective accounts of her upbringing.
Samantha’s lawyers have two weeks from the date of the court’s decision to submit an amended complaint, court documents show.
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The trial over a 2016 ski accident involving actor and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow wrapped up Thursday, with the jury ruling that she was not responsible for the collision at a Utah ski resort.
After a short deliberation, the jury concluded that plaintiff Terry Sanderson was entirely at fault for the collision, with the decision ultimately hinging on which party jurors believed was higher on the slopes when the crash occurred.
Sanderson, 76, sued Paltrow for $3.1 million after alleging that she crashed into him at the tony Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. After a judge dismissed his initial suit, he later refiled his complaint seeking more than $300,000. Paltrow, 50, countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees.
In each taking the stand last week, Paltrow and Sanderson presented starkly different accounts of the collision and called a succession of medical experts and witnesses to buttress their claims. Paltrow’s ski instructor at the time of the incident, Deer Valley veteran Eric Christiansen, blamed Sanderson for the crash, which occurred on a beginner ski run.
“Gwyneth was making her turns very rhythmically,” he said under oath, while alleging that Sanderson “was making wide radius turns and taking up a large swath of the ski slope.”
For his part, Sanderson has accused Paltrow of barreling into him, breaking four of his ribs and causing a severe concussion whose symptoms lingered for years. Despite these dueling accounts, legal experts said the case will likely turn on something more tangible: Paltrow’s and Sanderson’s respective location on the mountain just before the crash occurred.
Uphill, downhill
Sanderson sued Paltrow in 2019, claiming she was skiing recklessly and crashed into him from above. Paltrow’s countersuit claimed Sanderson hit her from behind. The case hinges on which of the two parties acted in an unreasonable manner while on skis, attorneys told CBS MoneyWatch.
“When one skier hits another, the issue is negligence. Did they do something wrong?” said personal injury attorney Roger Kohn, of Kohn Rath Law.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom after a lunch break in her trial, Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Park City, Utah, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation.
Jeff Swinger / AP
As far as conduct on the ski slopes go, it’s almost always the duty of the uphill skier to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier — the person who is further down the slope — has the right of way.
“The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier. If you’re overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault,” Kohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association’s responsibility code, which governs ski resorts in North America, “people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always stay in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
An animated recreation of the pair’s crash, which was introduced in court Monday, shows the skiers’ positions relative to one another from Christiansen’s perspective. It also depicted Paltrow lying on top of Sanderson following the collision.
Christiansen explained that Paltrow could only have ended up on top of Sanderson if she had been hit from behind.
A simulation of the ski collision between that took place on Deer Valley’s Bandana ski run in 2016, shows the aftermath of the collision between Ms. Paltrow and Ms. Sanderson.
Collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries result, lawyers sometimes get involved.
“Some lawyers based their whole career on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran Colorado ski instructor, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier who came “blasting out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
Terry Sanderson (left) arrives at court Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The retired optometrist is suing actor Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision that took place at Deer Valley Resort.
Rick Bowmer / AP
But unlike that incident, most ski accidents aren’t caused by skier-skier or skier-snowboarder collisions; they happen when skiers hit a tree or other type of obstacle.
There were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, according to NSAA, most of which resulted from skiers hitting trees. Males represented 95% of all fatalities. There were an additional 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance policies also include general liability coverage that essentially follows a homeowner around even when they’re outside of their residence, including when they are on skis.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your home or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and run a kid over with a shopping cart, and it covers ski collision claims,” said David Cutt, of Cutt, Kendell & Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what is going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners coverage, then that steps in and pays a settlement or a judgement unto the limits of the policy,” he said.
Typically, a lawyer would only get involved if the defendant is wealthy or has homeowners insurance, according to Kohn.
“If you sue someone who doesn’t have homeowners coverage, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim as well as pay it.
It’s not always the case that one party is negligent in a two-person collision.
“But there is a clear case of liability if you can show the other skier was skiing too fast, acting improperly or should’ve seen the other skier,” he said.
He said, she said
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of these cases in Utah and the judgment always hinges on who the jury believes were the uphill and downhill skiers.
“In this trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she ran into him from behind, and she says exactly the opposite — that she was skiing along and he plowed into her from uphill,” Cutt said.
“So what it’s going to come down to is, the jury is going to listen to everybody about the collision itself and the aftermath and decide who they think is credible and who isn’t,” Cutt said before the jury reached its decision. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
The trial over a 2016 ski accident involving Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to wrap up Thursday, with attorneys presenting their closing arguments ahead of sending the case to the jury for deliberations. Beyond the spectacle of watching the Oscar-winning actress and businesswoman recount the incident, the decision could set a legal precedent affecting millions of skiers and snowboarders: Who is liable when collisions occur on the slopes?
Terry Sanderson, 76, sued Paltrow for $3.1 million after alleging that she crashed into him at the tony Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. After a judge dismissed his initial suit, he later refiled his complaint seeking more than $300,000. Paltrow, 50, countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees.
In each taking the stand last week, Paltrow and Sanderson presented starkly different accounts of the collision and called a succession of medical experts and witnesses to buttress their claims. Paltrow’s ski instructor at the time of the incident, Deer Valley veteran Eric Christiansen, blamed Sanderson for the crash, which occurred on a beginner ski run.
“Gwyneth was making her turns very rhythmically,” he said under oath, while alleging that Sanderson “was making wide radius turns and taking up a large swath of the ski slope.”
For his part, Sanderson has accused Paltrow of barreling into him, breaking four of his ribs and causing a severe concussion whose symptoms lingered for years. Despite these dueling accounts, legal experts said the case will likely turn on something more tangible: Paltrow’s and Sanderson’s respective location on the mountain just before the crash occurred.
Uphill or downhill?
Sanderson sued Paltrow in 2019, claiming she was skiing recklessly and crashed into him from above. Paltrow’s countersuit claimed Sanderson hit her from behind. The case hinges on which of the two parties acted in an unreasonable manner while on skis, attorneys told CBS MoneyWatch.
“When one skier hits another, the issue is negligence. Did they do something wrong?” said personal injury attorney Roger Kohn, of Kohn Rath Law.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom after a lunch break in her trial, Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Park City, Utah, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation.
Jeff Swinger / AP
As far as conduct on the ski slopes go, it’s almost always the duty of the uphill skier to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier — the person who is further down the slope — has the right of way.
“The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier. If you’re overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault,” Kohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association’s responsibility code, which governs ski resorts in North America, “people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always stay in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
An animated recreation of the pair’s crash, which was introduced in court Monday, shows the skiers’ positions relative to one another from Christiansen’s perspective. It also depicted Paltrow lying on top of Sanderson following the collision.
Christiansen explained that Paltrow could only have ended up on top of Sanderson if she had been hit from behind.
A simulation of the ski collision between that took place on Deer Valley’s Bandana ski run in 2016, shows the aftermath of the collision between Ms. Paltrow and Ms. Sanderson.
Collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries result, lawyers sometimes get involved.
“Some lawyers based their whole career on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran Colorado ski instructor, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier who came “blasting out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
Terry Sanderson (left) arrives at court Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The retired optometrist is suing actor Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision that took place at Deer Valley Resort.
Rick Bowmer / AP
But unlike that incident, most ski accidents aren’t caused by skier-skier or skier-snowboarder collisions; they happen when skiers hit a tree or other type of obstacle.
There were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, according to NSAA, most of which resulted from skiers hitting trees. Males represented 95% of all fatalities. There were an additional 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance policies also include general liability coverage that essentially follows a homeowner around even when they’re outside of their residence, including when they are on skis.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your home or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and run a kid over with a shopping cart, and it covers ski collision claims,” said David Cutt, of Cutt, Kendell & Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what is going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners coverage, then that steps in and pays a settlement or a judgement unto the limits of the policy,” he said.
Typically, a lawyer would only get involved if the defendant is wealthy or has homeowners insurance, according to Kohn.
“If you sue someone who doesn’t have homeowners coverage, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim as well as pay it.
It’s not always the case that one party is negligent in a two-person collision.
“But there is a clear case of liability if you can show the other skier was skiing too fast, acting improperly or should’ve seen the other skier,” he said.
He said, she said
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of these cases in Utah and the judgment always hinges on who the jury believes were the uphill and downhill skiers.
“In this trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she ran into him from behind, and she says exactly the opposite — that she was skiing along and he plowed into her from uphill,” Cutt said.
“So what it’s going to come down to is, the jury is going to listen to everybody about the collision itself and the aftermath and decide who they think is credible and who isn’t,” Cutt said. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
London — Britain’s Prince Harry was back in the U.K. Monday for an unannounced appearance at the country’s High Court as legal proceedings began in a privacy case in which the prince and six others are suing the Associated Newspapers group, which publishes the Daily Mail tabloid. Harry, the California-based youngest son of King Charles III, is among the high-profile figures, including singer Elton John, who brought the action against the newspaper group claiming “gross breaches of privacy.”
The well-known litigants claim to have “highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers,” according to an October 2022 statement from Hamlins, the law firm representing the group.
Britain’s Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, March 27, 2023.
Alberto Pezzali/AP
The alleged breaches of privacy include the hacking of cell phone messages, deceitfully obtaining medical records, bribing police officials, and illegally accessing bank records, the statement said.
Associated Newspapers (not to be confused with the U.S.-based Associated Press news agency) has denied the allegations, calling them “preposterous smears” and “unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims,” according to the BBC.
Harry is already locked in a separate legal battle with Associated Newspapers, having filed a libel suit over an article published by the Mail on Sunday tabloid under the headline, “Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret.” Two years ago he also accepted an apology and damages from the publisher over other articles in a separate libel lawsuit.
Harry’s return to London is believed to be the first by the Duke of Sussex since the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, and it comes amid questions over whether Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will attend King Charles’ coronation ceremony in early May.
U.K. media outlets said Harry was not expected to see his father or his older brother William, the Prince of Wales, during his visit to the U.K. this week. Kensington Palace, the official residence of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, said the prince and his family were away from the London area this week as many schools were out for the Easter holiday.
Speculation about whether Harry and or Meghan will attend the king’s coronation ramped up after news broke that the couple had been asked to vacate their U.K. residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle earlier this month.
The pair gave up their status as senior, “working” royals amid tension with other members of Harry’s family that played out in spectacularly public fashion, through interviews and a tell-all book by Harry claiming racism and mistreatment.
“Nothing was okay,” Harry said of his relationship with his family in a “60 Minutes” interview with Anderson Cooper when his memoir, titled “Spare,” came out.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow testified Friday in a civil trial in which she is accused of knocking down another skier on the slopes of the Deer Valley Resort in Utah back in 2016 and then skiing away, leaving him injured on the ground. Carter Evans has the details.
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Oscar-winning actress and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow is in court this week for a civil trial over a 2016 collision with another skier, with the case raising questions about who is legally liable when collisions occur on the slopes.
In court arguments, lawyers for Paltrow and plaintiff Terry Sanderson have painted their clients as prudent skiers, while trading mutual accusations about who was at fault for a crash at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah.
Sanderson, 76, is expected to testify on Friday, while Paltrow also may take the stand. Sanderson’s lawyer has sought to portray the actor as out of touch, while Paltrow’s attorney cast doubt on Sanderson’s memory, noting his age and prior brain injuries. Paltrow, who also founded wellness and lifestyle brand GOOP, also alleges Sanderson sued her to exploit her fame and wealth.
Yet the case could turn on something more tangible, attorneys say: their location on the mountain when the crash occurred.
Uphill or downhill?
Sanderson sued Paltrow, 50, in 2019, claiming she was skiing recklessly and crashed into him from above, causing serious injuries and emotional distress. Paltrow later countersued, claiming it was Sanderson who hit her from behind.
The case hinges on which of the two parties acted in an unreasonable manner while on skis, experts told CBS MoneyWatch.
“When one skier hits another, the issue is negligence. Did they do something wrong?” said personal injury attorney Roger Kohn, of Kohn Roth Law.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom after a lunch break in her trial, Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Park City, Utah, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation.
Jeff Swinger / AP
As far as conduct on the ski slopes go, it’s almost always the duty of the uphill skier to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier — the person who is further down the slope — has the right of way.
“The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier. If you’re overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault,” Kohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association’s responsibility code, which governs ski resorts in North America, “people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always stay in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
Collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries result, lawyers sometimes get involved.
“Some lawyers based their whole career on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran Colorado ski instructor, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier who came “blasting out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
Terry Sanderson arrives at court Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The retired optometrist is suing actor Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision that took place at Deer Valley Resort.
Rick Bowmer / AP
But unlike that incident, most ski accidents aren’t caused by skier-skier or skier-snowboarder collisions; they happen when skiers hit a tree or other type of obstacle.
There were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, according to NSAA, most of which resulted from skiers hitting trees. Males represented 95% of all fatalities. There were an additional 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance policies also include general liability coverage that essentially follows a homeowner around even when they’re outside of their residence, including when they are on skis.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your home or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and run a kid over with a shopping cart, and it covers ski collision claims,” said David Cutt, of Cutt, Kendell and Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what is going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners coverage, then that steps in and pays a settlement or a judgement unto the limits of the policy,” he said.
Typically, a lawyer would only get involved if the defendant is wealthy or has homeowners insurance, according to Kohn.
“If you sue someone who doesn’t have homeowners coverage, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim as well as pay it.
It’s not always the case that one party is negligent in a two-person collision.
“But there is a clear case of liability if you can show the other skier was skiing too fast, acting improperly or should’ve seen the other skier,” he said.
He said, she said
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of these cases in Utah and the judgment always hinges on who the jury believes were the uphill and downhill skiers.
“In this trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she ran into him from behind, and she says exactly the opposite — that she was skiing along and he plowed into her from uphill,” Cutt said.
“So what it’s going to come down to is, the jury is going to listen to everybody about the collision itself and the aftermath and decide who they think is credible and who isn’t,” Cutt said. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
Ohio-based rap artist Joseph Edgar Foreman, known by the name Afroman, is being sued by seven officers with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for using footage of their 2022 search on his home to make and promote new music. The officers accused Foreman’s use of their images and likeness as a “malicious” act that tarnished their reputation and humiliated them, according to a complaint.
The lawsuit stems from a search of Foreman’s home on Aug. 21, 2022, which was conducted with a “lawfully issued search warrant,” according to a March 13 complaint. A photo of the warrant shared by the local Fox affiliate but has not been independently verified by CBS News shows that the search was for evidence of marijuana and drug paraphernalia related to drug possession and trafficking, as well as kidnapping.
Foreman, known for his song “Because I Got High,” was not at his home during the search, but his wife was present and recorded parts of the search on her phone. His house also had several security cameras that recorded the search.
Following the raid, the seven members of law enforcement involved – deputies Shawn Cooley, Justin Cooley, Shawn Grooms and Lisa Phillips, as well as sergeants Michael Estep and Randolph Walters Jr. and detective sergeant Brian Newland – say that Foreman used those video recordings to make music and music videos about the search. There were “dozens” of videos and images across numerous social media platforms, they said, that “clearly portray” their images and likeness.
They are suing him for the unauthorized use of individual’s persona, invasion of privacy by misappropriation and invasion of privacy by false light publicity, among other things. The officers have demanded a trial by jury.
Videos posted by Foreman show police breaking down his door as they entered the home wielding weapons. He since has posted several videos showing the officers’ movement through his home.
One of those clips seemingly became the source of inspiration for his new song “Lemon Pound Cake” and was heavily used in the official music video. In the clip, officers are seen walking through his kitchen and one of the officers is seen looking several times at a pound cake being kept on a cake stand on the counter. That officer quickly became referenced as “Officer Poundcake” by Foreman on social media, a nickname that Foreman also started using on merchandise.
The other officers involved were also singled out in posts by Foreman.
“Defendants’ actions were willful, wanton, malicious, and done with conscious or reckless disregard for the rights of Plaintiffs,” the complaint says, adding that he was not authorized to use their personas for commercial purposes.
The officers also claim that the posts led to them being “subjected to ridicule,” and that it’s “made it more difficult and even more dangerous” for them to do their jobs, saying that they have since received death threats.
“Plaintiffs have suffered damages, including all profits derived from and attributable to Defendants’ unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ personas, and have suffered humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment, and loss of reputation,” the complaint says.
Foreman has posted about the lawsuit on Instagram, saying that the search itself was based on a “false warrant” that “put the Adams county sheriff in a position to attempt to kill me.” He also accused the officers involved of stealing his money, saying that doing so took away their “right of privacy.”
“My video footage is my property. … I am a law-abiding taxpaying citizens who was violated by criminals camouflaged by law-enforcement,” he said, adding in a statement from his lawyer that reads, “We are waiting for public records requests from Adam’s county we still have not received. We are planning to counter sue for the unlawful raid, money being stolen, and for the undeniable damage this had on my clients family, career and property.”
Oscar-winning actress turned businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow is appearing in court this week in a civil trial over a 2016 collision with another skier at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. The lawsuit raises questions about who is liable when one skier hits another on the slopes.
In court arguments, lawyers for Paltrow and plaintiff Terry Sanderson each painted their clients as conservative skiers who were stunned when the other party crashed into them from above. Sanderson’s lawyer described Paltrow as wealthy and out of touch, while Paltrow’s attorney cast doubt on Sanderson’s memory, noting his age of 76 and prior brain injuries.
But it’s Paltrow’s location on the mountain in relation to Sanderson that will likely determine whether or not she’ll be ordered to pay him as much as millions in damages, attorneys say.
The Deer Valley guest sued Paltrow in 2019, claiming she was skiing recklessly and crashed into him from above, causing serious, permanent injuries and emotional distress. Paltrow later countersued, claiming it was Sanderson who hit her from behind.
Paltrow, who founded wellness and lifestyle brand GOOP, has alleged — and some legal experts speculate — that Sanderson sued her in an attempt to exploit her fame and wealth.
“He demanded Ms. Paltrow pay him millions. If she did not pay, she would face negative publicity resulting from his allegations,” her attorneys wrote in a 2019 court filing.
Actress/entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom in Park City, Utah, on March 21, 2023, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs.
RICK BOWMER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Uphill or downhill?
In any event, the case hinges on which of the two parties acted in an unreasonable manner while on skis.
“When one skier hits another, the issue is negligence. Did they do something wrong?” personal injury attorney Roger Kohn, of Kohn Roth Law, told CBS MoneyWatch.
As far as conduct on the ski slopes go, it’s almost always the duty of the uphill skier to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier — the person who is further down the slope — has the right of way.
“The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier. If you’re overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault,” Kohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association’s responsibility code, which governs ski resorts in North America, “people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always stay in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
Collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries result, lawyers sometimes get involved.
“Some lawyers based their whole career on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran Colorado ski instructor, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier who came “blasting out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
But unlike that incident, most ski accidents aren’t caused by skier-skier or skier-snowboarder collisions; they happen when skiers hit a tree or other type of obstacle.
There were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, according to NSAA, most of which resulted from skiers hitting trees. Males represented 95% of all fatalities. There were an additional 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Plaintiff Terry Anderson, 76, at a press conference in 2019 in which he says Gwyneth Paltrow, 50, crashed into him while skiing in 2016, “causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.”
@TVDanRascon/Twitter
Homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance policies also include general liability coverage that essentially follows a homeowner around even when they’re outside of their residence, including when they are on skis.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your home or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and run a kid over with a shopping cart, and it covers ski collision claims,” said David Cutt, of Cutt, Kendell and Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what is going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners coverage, then that steps in and pays a settlement or a judgement unto the limits of the policy,” he said.
Typically, a lawyer would only get involved if the defendant is wealthy or has homeowners insurance, according to Kohn.
“If you sue someone who doesn’t have homeowners coverage, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim as well as pay it.
It’s not always the case that one party is negligent in a two-person collision.
“But there is a clear case of liability if you can show the other skier was skiing too fast, acting improperly or should’ve seen the other skier,” he said.
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of these kinds of cases in Utah and the judgement always hinges on who the jury believes were the uphill and downhill skiers.
“In this trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she ran into him from behind, and she says exactly the opposite — that she was skiing along and he plowed into her from uphill,” Cutt said.
“So what it’s going to come down to is, the jury is going to listen to everybody about the collision itself and the aftermath and decide who they think is credible and who isn’t,” Cutt said. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
Oscar-winning actress turned businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in court this week in a civil trial over a 2016 collision with another skier at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. The lawsuit raises questions about who is liable when one skier hits another on the slopes.
Her location on the mountain in relation to plaintiff Terry Sanderson could determine whether or not she’ll be ordered to pay him as much as millions in damages.
In 2019, the Deer Valley guest sued Paltrow, claiming she was skiing recklessly and crashed into him from above, causing serious, permanent injuries and emotional distress. Paltrow later countersued, claiming it was Sanderson who hit her from behind.
Paltrow, who founded wellness and lifestyle brand GOOP, has alleged — and some legal experts speculate — that Sanderson sued her in an attempt to exploit her fame and wealth.
“He demanded Ms. Paltrow pay him millions. If she did not pay, she would face negative publicity resulting from his allegations,” her attorneys wrote in a 2019 court filing.
Actress/entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom in Park City, Utah, on March 21, 2023, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs.
RICK BOWMER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Uphill or downhill?
In any event, the case hinges on which of the two parties acted in an unreasonable manner while on skis.
“When one skier hits another, the issue is negligence. Did they do something wrong?” personal injury attorney Roger Cohn, of Kohn Roth Law, told CBS MoneyWatch.
As far as conduct on the ski slopes go, it’s almost always the duty of the uphill skier to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier — the person who is further down the slope — has the right of way.
“The uphill skier has to watch out for the downhill skier. If you’re overtaking someone and hit them, chances are you are liable and at fault,” Cohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association’s responsibility code, which governs ski resorts in North America, “people ahead or downhill of you have the right of way. You must avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always stay in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
Collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries result, lawyers sometimes get involved.
“Some lawyers based their whole career on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran Colorado ski instructor, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier who came “blasting out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
But unlike that incident, most ski accidents aren’t caused by skier-skier or skier-snowboarder collisions; they happen when skiers hit a tree or other type of obstacle.
There were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, according to NSAA, most of which resulted from skiers hitting trees. Males represented 95% of all fatalities. There were an additional 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Plaintiff Terry Anderson, 76, at a press conference back in 2019 in which he says Gwyneth Paltrow, 50, crashed into him while skiing in 2016, “causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.”
@TVDanRascon/Twitter
Homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance policies also include general liability coverage that essentially follows a homeowner around even when they’re outside of their residence, including when they are on skis.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your home or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and run a kid over with a shopping cart, and it covers ski collision claims,” said David Cutt, of Cutt, Kendell and Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what is going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners coverage, then that steps in and pays a settlement or a judgement unto the limits of the policy,” he said.
Typically, a lawyer would only get involved if the defendant is wealthy or has homeowners insurance, according to Cohn.
“If you sue someone who doesn’t have homeowner’s coverage, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim as well as pay it.
It’s not always the case that one party is negligent in a two-person collision.
“But there is a clear case of liability if you can show the other skier was skiing too fast, acting improperly or should’ve seen the other skier,” he added.
He said, she said
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of these kinds of cases in Utah and the judgement always hinges on who the jury believes were the uphill and downhill skiers.
“In this trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she ran into him from behind, and she says exactly the opposite — that she was skiing along and he plowed into her from uphill,” Cutt said.
“So what it’s going to come down to is, the jury is going to listen to everybody about the collision itself and the aftermath and decide who they think is credible and who isn’t,” Cutt said. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
Gwyneth Paltrow’s lawyer called the story of a retired optometrist who is suing her over a 2016 ski collision “utter B.S.” on Tuesday during the trial’s opening day in Utah.
Terry Sanderson claims that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer was cruising down the slopes so recklessly that they violently collided, leaving him on the ground as she and her entourage continued their descent down Deer Valley Resort, a skiers-only mountain known for its groomed runs, après-ski champagne yurts and posh clientele.
“Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control,” Sanderson’s attorneys claim in the lawsuit, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries. Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”
In a case that has lasted years, Sanderson is suing Paltrow for $300,000 — claiming that the accident in Park City was a result of negligence, and left him with physical injuries and emotional distress.
Sanderson and Paltrow both appeared on Tuesday at the Park City courthouse to begin the trial, which is slated to last longer than a week. A somber-looking Paltrow, wearing a beige knit sweater, tweed harem pants and aviator-style reading glasses, shielded her face from reporters and photographers with a blue “GP”-initialed notebook when she entered and exited the courtroom.
Park City is a resort town in the Rocky Mountains that hosts the Sundance Film Festival, which draws a throng of celebrities each year.
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs.
Rick Bowmer / AP
On ski slopes, Utah law gives the skier who is downhill the right of way, so a central question in the case is who was farther down the beginner’s run when the collision transpired. Both Paltrow and Sanderson claim in court filings that they were farther downhill when the other rammed into them, causing their skis to intertwine and the two to tumble.
“All skiers know that when they’re skiing down the mountain, it’s their responsibility to yield the right of way to skiers below them,” Sanderson’s attorney, Lawrence Buhler, told jurors, who — unlike those selected for most trials — walked into the courtroom smiling, likely because of their proximity to a major celebrity.
In opening arguments, both sides presented their clients as conservative skiers who were stunned when a skier above them crashed into them. Both characterized the other’s version of events as implausible.
Buhler described Paltrow as wealthy, while highlighting Sanderson’s military service and how he sought medical care at the V.A. hospital after the collision.
“She hires multiple ski instructors for her children, which allows them to skip the lines. Private instructors cost thousands of dollars per day,” he said.
Paltrow’s attorneys told jurors Tuesday that Sanderson was the one who crashed into her — a collision in which she sustained what they called a “full body blow.” Attorney Steve Owens noted that members of Paltrow’s group checked on Sanderson, who assured them he was fine — an interaction Sanderson doesn’t deny but said in court filings that he can’t remember.
While showing images on a projector of Paltrow on a chairlift with her son, Paltrow’s attorney cautioned jurors not to let sympathy for Sanderson’s medical ailments skew their judgments. He questioned the 76-year-old’s credibility, noting his age and documented, pre-collision brain injuries. He said that the Utah man had confirmed he was fine after the crash. Owens also said that Sanderson posted a “very happy, smiling picture” of himself online, being tobogganed down post-crash.
“His memories of the case get better over the years. That’s all I’m gonna say. That’s not how memory works,” Owens said.
After his initial lawsuit seeking $3.1 million was dropped, Sanderson amended the complaint and he is now seeking $300,000. Paltrow — the Oscar-winning actor known for her roles in “Shakespeare in Love” and Marvel’s “Iron Man” movies — filed a counterclaim, seeking attorney fees and $1 in damages.
Paltrow has alleged that Sanderson was actually the culprit in the collision, is overstating his injuries, and is trying to exploit her celebrity and wealth. In addition to her acting career, she is also the founder and CEO of high-end wellness company goop.
“He demanded Ms. Paltrow pay him millions. If she did not pay, she would face negative publicity resulting from his allegations,” her attorneys wrote in a 2019 court filing.
Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday.
The federal lawsuit also seeks to force the company to pay for groundwater and soil monitoring in the years ahead and economic losses in the village of East Palestine and surrounding areas, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
“The fallout from this highly preventable accident is going to reverberate throughout Ohio for many years to come,” Yost said.
No one was hurt in the Feb. 3 derailment, but half of the roughly 5,000 residents of East Palestine had to evacuate for days when responders intentionally burned toxic chemicals in some of the derailed cars to prevent an uncontrolled explosion, leaving residents with lingering health concerns. Government officials say tests over the past month haven’t found dangerous levels of chemicals in the air or water in the area.
In this photo taken with a drone, portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the previous night in East Palestine, Ohio, remain on fire at mid-day on Feb. 4, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized before Congress last week for the impact the derailment has had on the area, but he didn’t make specific commitments to pay for long-term health and economic harm.
The railroad has promised more than $20 million so far to help the Ohio community recover while also announcing several voluntary safety upgrades. A message seeking comment on the lawsuit was left with Norfolk Southern.
The lawsuit also asks for the railroad to reimburse first responders and state agencies for the costs of dealing with the disaster.
How much money the state is seeking isn’t known yet because the response is ongoing, but Yost made it clear the cost will be enormous. “This was an epic disaster. The cleanup is going to be expense,” he said.
Ohio officials met with Norfolk Southern representatives on Monday and talked about several possible ways to help the people in East Palestine, including creating a fund to compensate long-term losses to real estate values and improving the village’s water treatment operations, Yost said.
The state attorney general said he was pleased that the railroad has indicated it wants to do the right thing and that the lawsuit will make sure it keeps its promise.
Many in East Palestine remain outraged at the railroad and worried about what will become of the village.
Those fears include concerns about their long-term health, their house values and the economic future for local businesses.
Three women in Texas are being sued for wrongful death by a man who claims they helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion. It’s another test of state-enforced bans since the U.S. Supreme court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
In a lawsuit filed late Thursday in Galveston County, Marcus Silva alleges assisting in a self-administered abortion is tantamount to aiding a murder. Silva is seeking $1 million in damages.
The woman who took the medication in July — weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place since 1973 — is not named in the lawsuit. Texas law protects women who get an abortion from being held liable.
Abortion rights groups condemned the lawsuit, calling it an intimidation tactic.
“This is an outrageous attempt to scare people from getting abortion care and intimidate those who support their friends, family, and community in their time of need,” Autumn Katz, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said Friday in a statement. “The extremists behind this lawsuit are twisting the law and judicial system to threaten and harass people seeking essential care and those who help them.”
Silva is being represented by Jonathan Mitchell — a former Texas solicitor general who helped create one of the state’s abortion bans — attorneys from conservative legal group Thomas More Society and state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Houston-area Republican.
“Anyone involved in distributing or manufacturing abortion pills will be sued into oblivion,” Cain said in a statement from the attorneys.
According to the lawsuit, the manufacturer of the pills will also be named as a defendant once it is identified in the discovery process.
The lawsuit claims it has text messages from among the women discussing how to obtain medication that could induce an abortion and how to aid the woman who was pregnant in planning to take the medication.
Lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions have arisen across the U.S. as clinics have shuttered in Republican-dominated states. Earlier this week in Texas — which has one of the strictest bans in the country, outlawing the procedure in nearly every case with the exception of medical emergencies — five women who said they were denied abortions even when pregnancy endangered their lives sued the state.
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Newly-released court documents, as part of a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, allege that the network’s executives were aware that their hosts were pushing false election fraud claims about the 2020 general election. Scott MacFarlane reports.
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The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA superstar, his 13-year-old daughter and others killed in a 2020 helicopter crash, attorneys and court filings said Tuesday.
The figure includes a newly agreed upon payment from the county of $13.5 million along with the $15 million a federal jury awarded Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, at a trial in August.
Vanessa Bryant, center, Kobe Bryant’s widow, leaves a federal courthouse with her daughter, Natalia, left, and soccer player Sydney Leroux in Los Angeles on Aug. 24, 2022.
Jae C. Hong / AP
While the initial $15 million was awarded to only Vanessa Bryant, the rest of the $28.85 million will be distributed to her three surviving daughters, Natalia, Bianka and Capri, CBS Los Angeles explained.
The agreement resolves any future claims by them, related issues pending in state court, and other costs. A proposed settlement order, which a judge must approve, was filed Tuesday in federal court.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Bryant’s attorney Luis Li said in a statement. “She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”
Mira Hashmall, the attorney representing L.A. County, called the statement “fair and reasonable” adding, “We hope Ms. Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss.”
Kobe Bryant, the former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was traveling with Gianna and seven others to a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were aboard crashed into hills in Calabasas west of Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2020.
A fan poses in January 2021 by a mural of late Kobe Bryant, who perished a year before along with his daughter and seven others when their helicopter crashed into a hillside in Los Angeles.
Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS
Deputies and firefighters responding to the crash scene shot phone photos of the bodies and the wreckage, which Hashmall argued at trial were an essential part of assessing the situation.
But the pictures were shared, mostly among employees of the county sheriff’s and fire departments, including some who were playing video games and attending an awards banquet. They were also seen by some of their spouses and in one case by a bartender at a bar where a deputy was drinking.
Li told jurors that the close-up photos had no official or investigative purpose and were mere “visual gossip” shared out of a gruesome curiosity.
Hashmall argued that the sheriff acted swiftly and appropriately when he ordered the photos deleted.
Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her still-raw grief a month after losing her husband and daughter and that she still has panic attacks at the thought that they might still be out there and her daughters might someday see them online.
The verdict in her favor was erroneously read as $16 million in court, but was later amended to $15 million.
Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the crash itself.
Chris Chester, Vanessa Bryant’s co-plaintiff at the trial, was also awarded $15 million at trial, and reached his own settlement with the county in September for nearly $5 million more.
His wife and daughter were among the other crash victims, CBS L.A. says.
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman joins “CBS Mornings” to break down the defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion Voting Systems accuses the network of promoting falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
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Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers moved late Thursday to block testimony from previous accusers in the sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The attorneys are also asking Judge Lewis Kaplan, of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, to ban the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape that was publicly released in 2016 shortly before Trump won the presidential election.
He boasted on the 2005 tape that he liked to “grab” women by the “pussy.” Trump, who hosted the “Apprentice” TV reality show, bragged he could get away with it because he was “a star.”
His attorneys argued in a filing that the tape was “irrelevant and highly prejudicial.” They claimed the previous accusations against Trump also weren’t relevant to Carroll’s allegation that Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan in the 1990s.
Among those who also accused Trump are former business executive Jessica Leeds, who said that he groped her in 1979 when he sat next to her on a plane.
“He was with his hands grabbing me, trying to kiss me, grabbing my breasts, pulling me towards him, pulling himself on to me,” Leeds testified in her deposition for the case last October.
Another accuser, Natasha Stoynoff, said in her deposition that Trump shoved her against a wall and began kissing her at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005 when she was researching a story about him for People magazine.
Carroll’s attorneys argued that both women’s stories are relevant because they demonstrate Trump’s “modus operandi of forcing himself on non-consenting women.”
Trump has denied he assaulted the other women or Carroll.
Carroll also sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after he angrily denied her sexual battery allegation in a White House interview. He claimed that Carroll was not his “type” and that she was just out to get publicity.
Late last year, Carroll filed the suit against Trump under the recently passed Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily lifts the statute of limitations for a year on civil claims over alleged sexual offenses.
Trump’s lawyers have denied Carroll’s rape allegation. As for defamation, they have argued that whatever Trump said as president was protected from any legal action. But Trump repeated some of the same attacks against Carroll on his Truth Social platform early this year. He called Carroll’s accusation a “complete con job” and a “hoax and a lie.”
Whatever protections he may have had as president presumably vanished when he repeated the attacks as a private citizen.
Trump’s publicly released deposition on the latest suit was startlingly vicious. “I know nothing about this nut job,” he said of Carroll, and he threatened to sue her, according to the transcript.
Rappers 21 Savage and Drake have settled a lawsuit with Condé Nast over a fake Vogue Magazine cover which was used to promote the artists’ latest album, “Her Loss.”
The suit, which was filed last November and sought $4 million in damages from the duo, maintained that the cover sparked “unmistakable” public confusion, citing both headlines and user comments on social media that demonstrated “widespread belief that the counterfeit issue and counterfeit cover disseminated by Defendants were real.”
The case was settled on Thursday for an unspecified amount of money “that will bolster our ongoing creative output, including Vogue editorial,” read an internal memo from Condé Nast general counsel Will Bowes.
“As a creative company, we of course understand our brands may from time to time be referenced in other creative works,” continued Bowes.
“In this instance, however, it was clear to us that Drake and 21 Savage leveraged Vogue’s reputation for their own commercial purposes and, in the process, confused audiences who trust Vogue as the authoritative voice on fashion and culture.”
“Her Loss” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Drake’s twelfth No. 1 album, and 21 Savage’s third.
Rapper Drake and Rapper 21 Savage perform onstage during “Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert” at State Farm Arena on Dec. 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prince Williams/ WireImages via Getty Images
Bowes also said that the company reached out to Drake and 21 Savage in an attempt to resolve the matter out-of-court, but claimed it was repeatedly ignored.
“As part of our agreement we have been granted a monetary settlement that will bolster our ongoing creative output, including Vogue editorial, as well as a permanent injunction barring further commercial uses of the Vogue trademarks,” added Bowes.
Neither Drake nor 21 Savage have issued a public comment on the ruling.
