You can’t wig out on Tyra . Tyra Banks Sues Wig Companies According to TMZ You can’t go slapping Tyra Banks’ name willy nilly on wigs — not without her slapping back with a massive lawsuit for 10 million dollars … TMZ has learned. Tyra just filed a lawsuit against 10 companies that make wigs … and in the suit she claims they’re all biting her “name, photograph, image, and identity” — as well as her trademarks. We don’t know squat about wigs … but did some quick research and discovered several of the companies do have Tyra’s photos and Tyra inspired wigs on their websites. A few examples: The Yaky straight[Tyra-Banks style] wig, the Tyra Banks custom lace wig #046, and our fave — the Tyra Banks inspired human hair wig. We’re guessing it’s not actually TB’s hair you’re buying … although it does cost $300! Tyra’s lawsuit spells out just how valuable her trademark and how big a star she is — and to prove it her IMDB profile … all 11 pages of it … are attached to the suit as Exhibit A. To be fair, the suit does acknowledge Tyra is a “former supermodel.” TB is suing for an injunction to stop the sale of the infringing products — and at least $10 million in damages. There is always someone out there trying to make a quick dime.
Do unto others as they would do unto you… Pharrell Is Counter Suing Will.I.Am For Copyright Infringement Claims According to TMZ reports : Will.i.am … Will.iam … Pharrell doesn’t like that Will.i.am … and now he’s suing the Black Eyed Peas rapper in what’s becoming a pretty nasty trademark war … which now involves Dr. Seuss, TMZ has learned. Pharrell — who’s featured on TWO mega-hits right now (“Get Lucky” & “Blurred Lines”) — recently launched a YouTube channel called I Am Other … and he’s pissed that Will.i.am is trying to block him from using the name. Why? According to Pharrell, Will has already sent him a cease and desist letter informing P that he owns the rights to all things with an “I Am” element … and warned Pharrell to back down or else. Pharrell didn’t run scared … he ran to court … and SUED Will — in an effort to stop Will from stopping him. In the suit, filed in federal court in NY and obtained by TMZ, Pharrell argues that they are each using “I Am” in completely different ways. Pharrell says Will is using the “I Am” is a Seussian way — as a playfull riff on his own name — and to hammer home his point, he quotes from Green Eggs and Ham: “Sam I am I am Sam I am Sam Sam I am” Pharrell continues in his suit, “In contrast, the I Am Other mark means ‘I am something else,’ leaving what that ‘else’ is to the imagination of the consumer. It certainly does not mean ‘I am Will.’” Sounds like ol’ Willie Will is in for a fight that he probably won’t win. Couldn’t these two just have easily talked this out? Images via WENN Continue reading →
“One day the dead will walk the Earth when there is no more room in hell.” The end of days is here people. Man Awakes From The Dead At Funeral According to Mail Online Mourners at a funeral in Zimbabwe were stunned when the dead man woke up as they filed by his coffin, state media reported today. Brighton Dama Zanthe, 34, was being laid to rest inside a coffin last Monday after he apparently died at his home following a long illness. But the next day Mr Zanthe’s friends and relatives scattered in disbelief when he started moving as they filed past to say their emotional goodbyes. The dead man’s boss Lot Gaka told the Herald of the moment he realized his employee was still alive. He said: ‘I was the first to notice Zanthe’s moving legs as I was in the queue to view his body. This shocked me. ‘At first I could not believe my eyes but later realized that there was indeed some movements on the body as other mourners retreated in disbelief.’ Mr Gaka, who runs a bus company in the midlands city of Gweru, told the newspaper Mr Zanthe had been persistently unwell before his ‘death’ last week. He told how he visited the family’s home to offer support when his employee’s wife called to say he had passed away. He said: ‘Zanthe had been on sick leave for some time and everyone at work was aware that he was critical. ‘We would visit him at his home. ‘I was not surprised when I received a call from Zanthe’s wife on Monday night last week saying that her husband had died.’ He added: ‘I visited two local funeral parlors for quotations before I drove to Zanthe’s house so that we could take the body to the mortuary. ‘It was during the body viewing procession that he “resurrected”.’ Another witness told the state-controlled newspaper how the family desperately pulled blankets off Mr Zanthe’s body to try to revive him after realizing he was still alive. He said: ‘Gaka later removed some blankets from Zanthe’s body after we noticed some movements and this was when we all realized that there was still life. ‘We then called an ambulance which came within seven minutes. ‘It’s really a miracle and most people are still in disbelief.’ Zimbabwe has been known for their zombies. What would you do if a loved one came back from the dead at their funeral?
First LeSean McCoy and now Nick Young . These athletes need someone like Olivia Pope to handle their scandals. Nick Young Sued For Sexual Assault According to TMZ A woman is suing Philadelphia 76ers star Nick Young for sexual assault — claiming he roofied her back in 2011 … then raped her vaginally and anally. The woman filed the lawsuit anonymously under the name Jane Doe, claiming she ran into Young at Crown Bar in West Hollywood … and he bought her and her friend champagne. According to the suit, the woman’s recollection of the evening ceased shortly after she downed the drink … and she believes it’s because Young had slipped the date rape drug gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) into it. The woman claims she woke up the next morning in Young’s bed, bleeding from her vagina and rectum. She says Young admitted to having sex with her the night before, but claimed he stopped because she passed out. According to the suit, the woman demanded to be taken home by Young — he obliged — and she beelined for the UCLA Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center, where she took a rape kit and was tested for STDs. She claims a test at the center confirmed she had been drugged, and determined the injuries to her vagina and rectum were consistent with rape. Following the hospital treatment, the woman says she’s continued to undergo psychiatric evaluations. She’s suing Young for sexual battery, sexual assault, false imprisonment, and more — demanding unspecified damages. She’s also suing Crown Bar for negligence. Looks like these athletes are taking Rick Ross’ advice about slippin’ ish in a female’s drink to heart. Its gonna be tough for him to get out of this. Unlike other cases this woman went through the trouble of getting a rape kit. No woman goes through that unless they truly believe they have been violated. Getty
If you’ve read about the Iron Man 3 footage that Marvel Studios has shown to bloggers, then you know that, during the Mandarin’s helicopter attack on Casa Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ), Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) ends up flying to safety in one of the armored suits. It sounds like a cool scene, and I won’t be surprised if it’s a set-up for another later in the movie. But I’m not so thrilled about Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s recent comments that Potts could suit up for her own adventures in future Iron Man installments. Kevin Feige Talks About Pepper Potts’ Possible Future In Armor Here’s what Feige says in an interview with About.com : I will tell you this. In this movie [ Iron Man 3 ] we play with the convention of the damsel in distress. We are bored by the damsel in distress. But, sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with “Is Pepper in danger or is Pepper the savior?” over the course of this movie. In terms of where we go with future movies, we’ll see. In the comic books she does get a taste for the suit and becomes her own hero named Rescue, who doesn’t necessarily battle other people, but is on missions to help people and to save people. Will we do that down the line with Gwyneth Paltrow? Who knows. But her being in the suit is something we have been playing with since Iron Man 2 , where we did some designs and it didn’t end up fitting in that movie. But the little taste you saw here [in an Iron Man 3 clip] is something that we’re certainly interested in. Why Pepper Potts As Rescue Is A Jump-The-Shark Idea I hope it’s a passing interest because the idea of Paltrow’s character donning her own metal suit (insert Spanx joke here) to rescue families threatened by a hurricane or some other catastrophe sounds like a jump-the-shark premise that is devoid of the tension and smart-assery that distinguishes the Iron Man movies. I’m not familiar with the comics storyline to which Feige refers, but “Rescue” sounds like a very Saturday-morning-cartoon name. And that’s where this G-rated idea belongs. If the Marvel Studios is serious about putting Goop-curating Gwynnie in full-metal jacket mode, then they’ve got to surprise the audience by having her play against type. Contrary to what Feige says in this interview, Paltrow should be kicking super-villain ass Michelle Rodriguez -style to the point where Tony feels threatened by her superhero potential. Now that’s an Iron Man subplot. Feel free to contact my agent. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
If you’ve read about the Iron Man 3 footage that Marvel Studios has shown to bloggers, then you know that, during the Mandarin’s helicopter attack on Casa Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ), Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) ends up flying to safety in one of the armored suits. It sounds like a cool scene, and I won’t be surprised if it’s a set-up for another later in the movie. But I’m not so thrilled about Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s recent comments that Potts could suit up for her own adventures in future Iron Man installments. Kevin Feige Talks About Pepper Potts’ Possible Future In Armor Here’s what Feige says in an interview with About.com : I will tell you this. In this movie [ Iron Man 3 ] we play with the convention of the damsel in distress. We are bored by the damsel in distress. But, sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with “Is Pepper in danger or is Pepper the savior?” over the course of this movie. In terms of where we go with future movies, we’ll see. In the comic books she does get a taste for the suit and becomes her own hero named Rescue, who doesn’t necessarily battle other people, but is on missions to help people and to save people. Will we do that down the line with Gwyneth Paltrow? Who knows. But her being in the suit is something we have been playing with since Iron Man 2 , where we did some designs and it didn’t end up fitting in that movie. But the little taste you saw here [in an Iron Man 3 clip] is something that we’re certainly interested in. Why Pepper Potts As Rescue Is A Jump-The-Shark Idea I hope it’s a passing interest because the idea of Paltrow’s character donning her own metal suit (insert Spanx joke here) to rescue families threatened by a hurricane or some other catastrophe sounds like a jump-the-shark premise that is devoid of the tension and smart-assery that distinguishes the Iron Man movies. I’m not familiar with the comics storyline to which Feige refers, but “Rescue” sounds like a very Saturday-morning-cartoon name. And that’s where this G-rated idea belongs. If the Marvel Studios is serious about putting Goop-curating Gwynnie in full-metal jacket mode, then they’ve got to surprise the audience by having her play against type. Contrary to what Feige says in this interview, Paltrow should be kicking super-villain ass Michelle Rodriguez -style to the point where Tony feels threatened by her superhero potential. Now that’s an Iron Man subplot. Feel free to contact my agent. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Sadly enough, this sounds like a typical night out in NYC when you don’t have connects at the door. A group of young African-American professionals are suing the NYC nightclub 230 Fifth for being racist against them. Via NYDailyNews : A trendy Manhattan nightclub charged black customers a whopping $320 more to get in than white patrons — and barred others from getting in at all, according to a stunning lawsuit. “It was humiliating,” one of the black customers, Julia Cook, told the Daily News of her treatment at 230 Fifth in the Flatiron District. She said a bouncer told her that she and her friends were “classless black b——” whom he wouldn’t let inside. “People were laughing at us,” the dance instructor said Thursday. Now Cook, 29, and three of her fellow partygoers are suing the rooftop club for discrimination because of the alleged incident on Feb. 13, 2010. “It’s unfathomable in this era to believe this kind of thing is going on,” said their lawyer, Fred Lichtmacher. “This is 1930s-style Alabama treatment.” The four plaintiffs had planned on hooking up at the hotspot to celebrate the 27th birthday of Jermaine Sanders, who said he had called earlier in the day to reserve a table, and was told it wouldn’t be a problem — if he used the club’s bottle service, where patrons pay hundreds of dollars for a single bottle of booze. Sanders said he was told one bottle would cover 10 patrons — but when he, his brother and two pals arrived at 11 p.m. to meet a group of four women who were already there, a bouncer told him, “You guys cannot get in.” Sanders explained his girlfriend was inside and had already bought a $320 bottle of Grey Goose, but the bouncer said, “You didn’t buy it from me,” and shook down Sanders into buying another $320 bottle, the suit says. When Cook, her sister Niyah and their friend Nyisha Haynes showed up about 30 minutes later to join the party, the bouncer told them, “There was no more room” as he continued letting white patrons stroll inside, the suit alleges. Sanders came down and tried to explain to the bouncer that they were part of his party, but the bouncer ignored him, the suit says. When the women complained that the bouncer was only letting white patrons in, he went ballistic, called them names and ordered them to leave. “I let enough of you up here tonight,” the suit quotes him as saying. Sanders, who works in guest services at the Barclays Center, left the club a short time later “extremely upset” and out of a lot of money. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages for discrimination. SMH. Damn shame. We hope they get racks on racks for this isht! Photo Credit: Anthony Delmundo/NYDailyNews
A Connecticut attorney blames the state for the brutal massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and is looking to sue for $100 million on behalf of one of the survivors. According to the Hartford Courant, Irving Pinsky filed legal documents with the Claims Commissioner, asking permission to sue the state on behalf of a 6-year-old student. The Newtown, Conn., resident (only ID’d as “Jill Doe”) was in another classroom at the time Adam Lanza open fire and suffered emotional and psychological trauma. Pinsky believes that the December 14 shooting was foreseeable, claiming a “fellow like Adam Lanza would have been known as a potential problem to the police.” As a result, he wants permission to sue Connecticut for nine figures. The state is immune from most lawsuits, which is why Pinsky must ask for permission to even file the suit; he could be allowed to and later lose the case itself. Or he could be rejected outright. No decision has been made regarding whether or not the suit will go through, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Carrie Underwood may be a talented, Grammy-winning (heck, everything-winning) country music superstar and the perky, blonde success story that justifies American Idol ‘s iron grip on pop culture — but can she make the hills come alive as Maria von Trapp in NBC’s Sound of Music ? That’s what Chicago & Hairspray producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron must believe, because the pair (who are also producing the upcoming Oscars telecast ) aren’t just tapping the reigning Queen of Country to fill Julie Andrews’ iconic clogs, they’re also taking the ballsy step of doing it in a live broadcast. A live broadcast: That rare beast so prevalent in the early days of television when performers didn’t need auto-tune and could pull off the highwire act of beaming their performance into millions of homes as it happened, flubs and all. “Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn’t be happier to have the gifted Carrie Underwood take up the mantle of the great Maria von Trapp,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt (via THR ). “She was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist.” Maybe it’s the shock of hearing that anyone would dare remake one of the greatest musicals of all time — or that Underwood, who’s certainly built an empire for herself cobbled together from platinum-selling albums and songs about keying her boyfriend’s car and guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother , has the hubris to say, Yes, I can be the Julie freaking Andrews of a new generation — but Underwood as the wide-eyed nun fleeing Nazis in the Swiss Alps doesn’t quite compute. Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp sounds about as right as Nick Jonas as Marius in Les Miserables . (Then again, Zadan and Meron cast Jonas as a Broadway superstar on NBC’s Smash , so… yeah.) [Watch Underwood perform “The Sound of Music” on CBS, h/t @gerradhall.] What do you think of Underwood as Maria, and NBC’s holiday live-broadcast remake of The Sound of Music ? Sound off below, my little lonely goatherds? [ THR ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Iron Patriot, Tony Stark and more are on full view courtesy of Marvel . Marvel’s Iron Man 3 which is set for a May 2013 release and starring Robert Downey Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce , Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall and Jon Favreau, may seem a long way off, but fans are getting a peek at the action/adventure/sci-fi with four new pics. Directed by Shane Black, the story centers on Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) who goes up against a powerful enemy: The Mandarin. New images depict the Iron Patriot armor (main photo), Rebecca Hall looking a bit scruffed up, Downey, Jr. as Stark in an immaculate goatee and a iron mask in-hand. Log line: Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce and Shane Black. Three additional photos follow: Tony Stark Rebecca Hall Iron Man 3 scene [Courtesy: Marvel ]
