Conan’s stalker Rev. Ajemian defies Boston Archdiocese, leaves treatment By Matthew B. Zeidman
BOSTON (Hollywood Today) 9/14/08 – Earlier this year, it seemed the priest accused of stalking late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien was finally getting the help he needed by attending a medical facility for treatment mandated by his church superiors. However, the Boston Archdiocese released a statement Thursday, confirming Rev. David Ajemian had discontinued his voluntary treatment, losing his title of priest in the process.
“Today, the Archdiocese of Boston was informed that Fr. David Ajemian, against the wishes of his bishop, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, and medical professionals, Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Internet satellite photos from defense trade paper shows ballistic and space launch site
By Jeffrey Jolson
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/11/08 – The Internet Age is changing the world again as big news on potential enemy capabilities was usually kept secret unless some politician wanted to make a point. Not anymore, as analysis of high-resolution commercially available satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe has allowed Jane’s Defence Weekly to verify the existence of North Korea ’s new ballistic missile facility
UK-based Jane’s is the trade paper of military information, like the Hollywood trades are to the film or TV businesses.
In spite of North Korea’s recent moves to show it is stopping it’s nuclear threat, and declining health of its leader, the new base is of grave concern and has been hidden for years.
The base has been under construction for the past eight years and will be capable of launching both the Taepodong 2 ballistic missile and the Taepodong 2 space launch vehicle. The facility also has a rocket engine test stand, which is capable of supporting test firings of all known North Korean rocket motors.
Located on the west coast of North Korea, several kilometers southwest of the village of Tongch’ang-dong, the new facility presents a challenge to US and foreign reconnaissance assets since it is obscured from direct airborne and seaborne observation by nearby hills. Difficulties with airborne reconnaissance are exacerbated by Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Interview’s release coincides with ex-boyfriend’s guilty plea in courtBy Matthew B. Zeidman
NEW YORK (Hollywood Today) 9/11/08 - After months of scandal and intense media coverage surrounding the arrest of Anne Hathaway’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, the “Brokeback Mountain” actress spoke to W magazine to set the record straight on how the abrupt breakup affected her life.
“It’s a situation where the rug was pulled out from under me all of a sudden,” Hathaway, 25, candidly explained in the publication’s October issue, “but just as suddenly, my friends threw another rug back under me.”
Hathaway, who revealed she had been staying with a friend since Follieri’s incarceration (she had been living with him at the time), also praised her “Get Smart” co-star, Steve Carell, for his understanding and support during their promotional tour earlier this year.
“At some point, you’re going to have to talk about this in your life,” Hathaway quoted Carell as saying. “You don’t have to do it this week. I’ll take care of anything that comes your way.”
Meanwhile, Follieri pled guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges of conspiracy, fraud and money-laundering related to his alleged plot to bilk real estate investors by claiming he could arrange the sale of land owned by the Catholic Church at a significant discount.
Several potential jurors are dismissed after admitting that they cannot move past the 1995 murder acquittal of the disgraced football hero and celebrity spokesman
By Stacey Silberman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/10/08 – The trial of O.J. Simpson is getting off to a rocky start as the judge briefly halted proceedings Wednesday morning to announce that potential jurors 177 and 194 had been contacted Tuesday night by a man identified as a reporter. Both jurors claim to be unfazed or influenced by the call and the proceedings moved on, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Another prospective juror told the court how she really felt about Simpson’s 1994-5 acquittal for murder during Tuesday’s session in the Clark County Court while the judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys, defendants and other potential jurors listened. “I felt he got away with murder,” said the Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
‘O’ star alleges the Daily Mirror fabricated tale about hotel rendezvous
By Matthew B. Zeidman
LONDON (Hollywood Today) 9/10/08 – British tabloid the Daily Mirror recently claimed Hollywood heartthrob Josh Hartnett had been caught on a hotel camera making love to an unidentified woman, and the “Wicker Park” star isn’t happy about it—not because he was caught having sex in public, but because he claims the entire tale is fiction.
Lawyers for Hartnett, 30, issued a statement Tuesday, saying the story was completely false, defamatory and unsubstantiated and that the actor would be suing for damages. The Daily Mirror originally reported that a security camera in the Soho Hotel’s library recorded the “sexual dalliance.”
Legal action alleges plagiarism by Spielberg, DreamWorks and Paramount over Hitchcock classic with Stewart
By Matthew B. Zeidman
NEW YORK (Hollywood Today) 9/9/08 – “Disturbia” may have been a turning point in Hollywood A-lister Shia LaBeouf’s career, but the year-old film is causing major headaches for executive producer Steven Spielberg, distributor Paramount Pictures and originating studio DreamWorks Pictures. A lawsuit was filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, claiming the entire piece was a plagiarization of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” and the short story on which it was based.
While the similarities seemed obvious at the time of release, and appeared to some as a remake, or at least an homage, it is unclear why a lawsuit is being filed now. The hit movie and DVD “Disturbia” has already made it’s way to cable TV.
According to the estate of Sheldon Abend, the late owner of the rights to “It Had to Be Murder,” “Disturbia” borrowed too heavily from the 1942 short story by Cornell Woolrich and Spielberg and the two studios should have acquired the rights to the tale before filming.
Jury selection begins for the trial of the infamous O.J. and his alleged partner in crime C.J.
By Stacey Silberman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/8/08 – O.J. Simpson, 61, is back in a Las Vegas, Nevada court room Monday to face the judge, prosecutors and now-forming jury in a trial that has the potential to send both the “Juice” and his co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, 54, to prison for life, if found guilty on some of the multiple felony charges.
Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, along with prosecutors David Roger and Chris Owens, are set to move through the projected five-week trial, despite cries by some lawyers who question whether the defendants can truly receive a fair trial, due to Simpson’s highly publicized and sordid past.
Namely the “trial of the century” for the 1994 bloody murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson won an acquittal at that trial, largely due to the make-up of the jury and the jurisdiction of the trial, according to many who observed. After other bouts with the courts, O.J. has emerged a free man after having had good luck with his jurors.
However, this time may be different, as Stewart’s lawyer Robert Lucherini is well aware. He’s been denied several times by both Judge Glass and the state high court in his requests to either sever or postpone his client’s trial on the basis of the unfair trial assertion. But now the trial must go on with both defendants facing the music.
Four other co-defendants pleaded guilty to one felony count each and took plea deals prior to the pre-trial hearings. Those four men, Michael McClinton, 50, Walter Alexander, 47, Charles Ehrlich, 54, and Charles Cashmore, 41, are now key witnesses for the prosecution.
All of these men have somewhat checkered pasts that may backfire on the prosecution. But obviously, there’s some credence to their combined testimony or the defendants wouldn’t be facing the numerous felonies that they face today. There are 10 felony counts and 2 misdemeanor counts against each defendant. Robbery, armed robbery, kidnapping, armed kidnapping and coercion are some of the charges they face.
And the case will depend on the credibility of the victims as well. Sports memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley are no angels either. Beardsley sits in prison for Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
