Legal Battles in the Spotlight: Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, and More
Taylor Swift has been inadvertently involved in a messy lawsuit between Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni. Despite having no direct connection to the case, Baldoni has tried to bring Swift into the legal battle by subpoenaing her and making claims about Lively's attorneys pressuring Swift for public support. A judge dismissed these attempts as a misuse of the courts for publicity. Recently, text messages between Swift and Lively were revealed, showing Swift calling Baldoni a derogatory term.
In other legal news, four siblings accusing Michael Jackson of abuse may not be able to sue his estate due to a previous settlement. Ticketing company AXS is suing a firm aiding scalpers in selling fake concert passes. Calvin Harris won a $13.5 million judgment against his ex-business manager. A court ruling allowing artists to regain global copyrights was praised by advocates. Justin and Hailey Bieber's lawyers threatened defamation lawsuits over marriage abuse claims. YNW Melly's witness-tampering charges were dropped. Martin Shkreli was denied the ability to involve RZA in a legal battle over a unique Wu-Tang Clan album. Tommy Lee faces new sexual assault allegations. Xzibit is sued by his ex-wife over a cannabis brand stake. Drew Barrymore faces a copyright lawsuit over a song in an Instagram post. Julio Iglesias denied sexual assault and human trafficking allegations in a Spanish court.