The 82-year-old entertainment mogul filed his response Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Michaels – aka David Armstrong – sued last month. The two married in 2023 and Geffen filed for divorce earlier this year.

The 32-year-old Michaels alleged that his much-older ex ensnared him in a years-long web of exploitation after shopping for a “vulnerable” partner online, then “masquerading as a white knight while hiding behind wealth, philanthropy and fame.” The couple reportedly did not have a prenuptial agreement.

Also filed in Superior Court, Michaels’ lawsuit says he was a “young vulnerable black man, orphaned as a toddler” who wound up in foster care at 18 months old. It says the couple met via the website Seekingarrangements.com, where Geffen “learned of Michaels’ troubled past — his history of neglect, poverty, instability and legal entanglements,” and leveraged that to make him “an object of exploitation … whose trauma could be weaponized for Geffen’s personal gratification and public image.”

In their response, Geffen’s attorneys at Glaser Weil described Armstrong’s complaint as “ludicrous and contrived,” accusing him of attempting to wage a public relations campaign while seeking a large settlement.

“Plaintiff cannot embarrass Geffen and extort a settlement with petty gossip and salacious lies,” according to the filing obtained Saturday by TheWrap.

Armstrong, a former model and adult film actor, alleges Geffen promised him lifelong financial support and shared ownership of assets during their time together. Geffen denies making any such promises, noting that his estate plan and financial records contain no evidence of agreements to provide Armstrong with property or ongoing support.

The defense paints Armstrong as a reckless spender who abused Geffen’s generosity during their two-year marriage. According to the filing, Armstrong used assistants to charge hundreds of thousands of dollars to Geffen’s accounts for luxury clothing, elective cosmetic procedures and extravagant gifts for friends. In the final months of the marriage, Geffen claims Armstrong also spent heavily on OnlyFans subscriptions and male escorts.

Geffen’s lawyers argue Armstrong misrepresented his behavior throughout their relationship, hiding extensive drug use and multiple extramarital affairs. The filing contends that while Geffen helped pay for Armstrong’s rehab and counseling, Armstrong’s drug use — including cocaine and ketamine — persisted.

“Geffen loved Plaintiff and treated him with nothing but kindness, respect, and generosity throughout their relationship,” the filing reads. Staff and friends, it adds, described Geffen as treating Armstrong “like a king.”

The defense also highlights that Armstrong continues to live rent-free in one of Geffen’s New York apartments and receives voluntary monthly payments, contradicting allegations that Geffen abandoned him and left him homeless and destitute.

The filing requests that Armstrong’s complaint be dismissed with prejudice and that Geffen be awarded legal fees. It also includes a demand for a jury trial, no date for which has been set.

The post David Geffen Responds to Ex-Husband’s ‘Ludicrous and Contrived’ Lawsuit: ‘Petty Gossip and Salacious Lies’ appeared first on TheWrap.

In early February, grad student Dylan Kupsh and around 50 other UCLA students demonstrated outside of Sures’ house in Brentwood where, among other things, one of the protesters left a bloody handprint on his garage door and others held up a sign that said “Jonathan Sures you will pay, until you see your final day.”

Sures, who is Jewish, told TheWrap in February the bloody handprint in particular was “an anti-Semitic act. If I wasn’t Jewish, they wouldn’t do this.”

The students were protesting what they said was Sures’ role in protecting “UC investments in genocide and weapons manufacturing.” The protest was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA. Both student groups were suspended 2 weeks after the demonstration.

Meanwhile, Sures identified Kupsh as one of the main organizers of the protest and filed a restraining order against him. Kupsh’s attorneys countered with an Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) against Sures, arguing that Sures provided no evidence Kupsh led the protests and that Sures was attempting to qush his first amendment rights. A judge ruled in favor of Kupsh in May, which made Sures liable for the student’s legal fees.

Sures’ attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. In a statement to The Daily Bruin, Kupsh said in part, “I think this hearing really represents the first occasion where real accountability is happening. Hopefully these legal fees represent something more than just one case alone.”

Sures was appointed to the UCLA Board of Regents by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2019. He previously served as an assistant visiting professor at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television in 2005 and 2006.

The post UTA Vice Chairman Jay Sures Ordered to Pay $150K in Legal Fees to Pro-Palestine UCLA Grad Student appeared first on TheWrap.

In the countersuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and obtained by TheWrap, Paramount accuses Gray of deliberately hiding his involvement on writing the screenplay for “Top Gun: Maverick” with the intention of later suing the studio for co-writer credit. The lawsuit charges Gray with fraud and copyright infringement.

“Gray did not come out of the woodwork until 2023, long after ‘Maverick”s release, when he suddenly told [Paramount] that he had allegedly authored portions of Singer’s draft and clouded [Paramount]’s title to ‘Maverick’ as its sole author and copyright owner,” the countersuit claims.

Last month, a federal judge denied Gray’s request for a court order declaring him co-author of the screenplay, which would have entitled him to a cut of the film’s profits. However, the judge allowed his copyright infringement claim to advance.

Gray claims he was key in writing aerial combat scenes for “Top Gun: Maverick,” most notably the opening scene in which Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, pushes a prototype hypersonic jet past its limits, landing him in hot water with a rear admiral played by Ed Harris.

In the countersuit, Paramount claims that Gray, when reaching out to the studio in January 2023, said he did not seek co-writer credit when Paramount negotiated with Singer to write a draft of the screenplay because he feared it would risk “blowing up” a deal between Paramount and his cousin. It also notes that Gray did not file an authorship claim in 2019 when the Writers Guild of America did its standard process to determine writing credits.

“Gray did not try to negotiate a screenwriting contract with [Paramount], either individually or jointly with Singer, even though he knew that [Paramount] (like any mainstream studio) would not knowingly allow a writer to work on a screenplay for a major film without a work-made-for-hire agreement in place,” the countersuit reads.

TheWrap has reached out to attorneys for Gray and will update with any response.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

The post Paramount Countersues ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Writer’s Cousin, Who Claims He Wrote Key Scenes appeared first on TheWrap.

According to Puck News, Loomer’s own legal team publicized the deposition in defiance of the presiding judge’s order that it was to remain confidential; it has since been re-sealed. However, the Internet is as they say forever, so the documents are still available online.

“I have been smeared as a whore and as a groupie and as a bimbo, and I am not working in the White House right now because of Bill Maher’s false accusations against me, in which he stated that I had an affair with President Trump,” she said in support of her October 2024 lawsuit.

The journalist/social media personality initially wanted more than $150 million in damages after Maher said Loomer “might be” sleeping with Trump during two episodes that September. His exact word was “f–king,” rather.

“I think maybe Laura Loomer’s in an arranged relationship to affect the election because she’s very close to Trump. She’s 31, looks like his type,” the comedian said on Sept. 13. “We did an editorial here a few years ago … it was basically, who’s Trump f–king? Because I said, you know, it’s not nobody. He’s been a dog for too long, and it’s not Melania. I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer.”

In the aftermath of that quip, Loomer says she has been harassed by Trump haters while also losing out on a job in The White House despite still reportedly working with administration officials in unofficial capacities (however, she also admitted a role was rescinded prior to the episodes’ tapings due to a New York Times piece about her).

“I have a right to defend myself, and I have a right to fight back against Bill Maher’s sexist, misogynistic and malicious comments about me that are obviously defamatory,” she said in her deposition, which was made public last month. “He falsely accused me of having sex with the president, and as a result, I’ve been subjected to a lot of harassment. It threatens my safety. And so, yes, I publicized the fact that I am suing Bill Maher and his enabler, HBO. And I have a right to do that.”

“I would have been paid much more than I was making previously. And who knows what I could have parlayed having that on my résumé into in the future,” Loomer said. “There are people that go on who work for administrations who get to go work at boards. There’s people that get to have foundations. They get to go work in future administrations. They get paid for speaking engagements once they leave their official role with the federal government. You don’t know. There’s people that write books. There’s people that get to go become Fox News contributors. They become contributors on mainstream media.”

“Look at somebody like Jen Psaki or Karine Jean-Pierre, for example. They both have shows. Karine Jean-Pierre just announced a book deal today,” she continued. “So when you work for an administration, once the person is out of office or once you’re done with your job, that could parlay into a lot of speculative opportunities.”

Ultimately, while the parties disagreed on the definitions of speculative vs. punitive damages, Loomer insisted Maher has negatively impacted her future earning potential and damaged her reputation as an investigative journalist.

“It is the damages that are compounded by what Bill Maher has done to me,” she added. “There’s nothing worse than stolen opportunity, and Bill Maher has robbed me of opportunity by falsely smearing me as a philander, an adulterer and a groupie.”

“The fact of the matter here is that Bill Maher falsely accused me of having sex with President Trump. And, so you know, there’s no evidence that I had sex with President Trump. I have never even been in the same room with President Trump alone,” Loomer further noted. “Bill Maher has no understanding of my personal life. He was reckless with the regard to the fact that I have a boyfriend. And he has no evidence that I had sex with President Trump. It’s just outrageous. And so as it relates to my situation, yes, it’s defamatory.”

Although, Loomer also explains in the deposition why she once said fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “literally put Arby’s in her pants” … so, grain of salt.

You can read more of Laura Loomer’s 200-plus-page deposition, here. TheWrap has reached out to reps for Maher and WBD for comment.

The post Laura Loomer Says Bill Maher’s Joke That She Slept With Trump Cost Her White House Job in Leaked Deposition appeared first on TheWrap.

Hall filed Tuesday to formally drop the matter against Oates and his trust, according to documents reviewed by TheWrap. The Davidson County Chancery Court filing was without prejudice, meaning Hall could re-file in the future if he chose to do so.

The dispute began in November 2023, when Hall sought a restraining order to block Oates from selling his share of Whole Oats Enterprises to Primary Wave Music, which has held a significant interest in the duo’s song catalog for 15 years.

Hall said that Oates blindsided him by secretly moving to sell the joint venture, alleged the sale violated a confidential 2021 business agreement and would cause “imminent irreparable harm.” A judge at the time granted a temporary restraining order so the “Out of Touch” duo could sort it out.

The feud included Hall insinuating that Oates wasn’t exactly an equal partner in their creative output through the years. Oates disputed Hall’s “inflammatory, outlandish and inaccurate statements,” and maintained he had been working for some time to enhance their business partnership.

The lawsuit described the proposed transaction as “unauthorized and void” and a breach of contract. Details remained sealed – and still are for private eyes only – with Hall’s attorney noting it concerned interpretation of the agreement’s terms and was “not a matter of legitimate public interest.”

Hall & Oates, who first released an album in 1972, are best known for hits including “You Make My Dreams,” “Maneater” and “Rich Girl,” and have been nominated for five Grammy Awards.

The post The ‘Hall & Oates’ Feud’s Gone: Daryl Hall Files for Voluntary Dismissal of Legal Claim appeared first on TheWrap.

Combs initially filed the lawsuit in January over accusations made by Courtney Burgess and later his attorney, Ariel Mitchell, during separate appearance on NewsNation, that Combs recorded recorded sexual encounters with minors.

“In this pitiful spectacle, all pretense of objectivity has been abandoned, as a global audience feasts at the all-you-can-eat buffet of wild lies and conspiracy theories,” the new lawsuit read. “Mitchell and Burgess are among the worst perpetrators in this offensive scenario.”

It continued: “They eagerly court every opportunity to broadcast blatant falsehoods, pretending they have proof that Mr. Combs engaged in heinous acts, knowing that no such proof exists.”

In the original interview with NewsNation, Burgess said he was working in the Atlanta music industry when Combs’ ex-girlfriend Kim Porter, who shares four children with the rapper, gave him 11 flash drives that contained sex tapes involving at least eight celebrities. 

The initial New York lawsuit claimed Burgess, Mitchell and Nextstar engaged in a “willful scheme to fabricate and broadcast outrageous lies.” The suit went on, saying these falsehoods were leveraged “to gain social media fame, enrich themselves, and strip Mr. Combs of his reputation, livelihood, and a right to a fair trial.”

The new filing claimed the interviews caused “severe reputational harm” and the comments Burgess made led to the “media frenzy” that followed Diddy throughout from his initial September arrest through his trial.

In July, the rap mogul was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by a New York jury. He was, however, found guilty on two prostitution charges. Each of the prostitution charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The post Diddy Demands $100 Million in Refiled Defamation Lawsuit Over Claims of Sex With Minors appeared first on TheWrap.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young dismissed CAA’s claims of tortious interference, stealing trade secrets and illegally accessing confidential information on Thursday, but acknowledged that Range may indeed be violating the Talent Agencies Act.

Per the demurrer, CAA will be allowed to refile their Trade Secrets Act claims if they wish to prove that their former employees who helped found Range in 2020 really did spy on confidential meetings in order to steal industry secrets. This is because the judge did not necessarily find issue with the merit of the allegations, but rather the timeline (TSA violations have a three-year statute of limitations, while the alleged thievery took place between January and October 2020).

Essentially, RMP co-founder Peter Micelli and his “accomplices” Jack Whigham, David Bugliari, Michael Cooper and Mick Sullivan have been accused of using a legal loophole to effectively work as agents despite being managers. While Range attempted to argue that a labor commissioner should be the one determining that outcome since it deals with the TAA, Judge Young noted that would only apply to controversies “between Artists and Agents, not Agents versus other Agents.”

“While the TAA mandates that the Commissioner determine jurisdiction over issues colorably arising from the TAA, those disputes must be between and Agent and an Artist, which is not the case here,” the judge issued. “The TAA does not purport to regulate the relationship between Agents and other businesses (i.e., non-parties) and there is no case law supporting such a broad reading of the TAA.”

“The ruling confirms what this case is really about: CAA’s attempt to block competition and control the choices of talent,” Range lawyers Orin Snyder and Ilissa Samplin said in a Thursday statement. “CAA’s remaining claim under the Talent Agencies Act exposes CAA’s true goal: forcing artists into a system CAA controls … CAA wants to dictate who talent can work with, even if it means attacking managers, advisors and those who support talent outside their agency.”

TheWrap has reached out to CAA for further comment.

The post Range Temporarily Off the Hook for Stealing CAA’s Trade Secrets but Still Might Be Operating as an Agency, Judge Says appeared first on TheWrap.

The threat to sue came in response to an image the Times published last month that featured a mother and her son; the son was very thin and emaciated, his spine protruding down the length of his back. It was learned after publication that the boy had a pre-existing medical condition that informed his gaunt appearance. The paper ran a correction July 29. But on Thursday, Netanyahu said the image was “such clear defamation” and he intended to sue.

“The New York Times should be sued. I’m actually looking at whether a country can sue the New York Times, and I’m looking into it right now. Because I think it’s such clear defamation,” Netanyahu said, interviewing exclusively with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. “I mean, you put a picture of a child that’s supposed to then represent all these supposedly starving children, yet they put in this picture of a child who has cerebral palsy, and they took another picture somewhere else, other media, a child who had cystic fibrosis, got nothing to do with starvation.”

The Times’ communications desk responded in a statement later that day, explaining the context around the image in question and disparaging the prime minister’s threats to independent media as “unfortunately an increasingly common playbook.”

https://t.co/Mh03DRlnjC pic.twitter.com/8APvCQqoNS

— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) August 7, 2025

“Children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, as New York Times reporters and others have documented,” the statement read. “Mr. Netanyahu is referring to an update we made to a story about how the food crisis is affecting the civilian population. After publication, we learned that a child shown in that story — in addition to being severely malnourished — also had pre-existing health problems. That additional information gave readers a greater understanding of his situation.”

The statement continued: “Attempts to threaten independent media providing vital information and accountability to the public are unfortunately an increasingly common playbook, but journalists continue to report from Gaza for The Times, bravely, sensitively, and at personal risk, so that readers can see firsthand the consequences of the war.”

In his Fox News interview Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that “there is suffering” in Gaza, but pushed back against the narrative that the suffering is coming at the hands of Israel.

“There is suffering, yes, because Hamas is interdicting aid, and what we’re doing is overcoming it,” he said. “I don’t deny that there’s suffering. I want to end the suffering. And I want to end it by ending Hamas rule.”

The young boy in the featured image is named Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq. The photograph first ran July 24 in a story headlined “Gazans Are Dying of Starvation” before running as the front page of the paper on July 25.

The Times’ correction dded al-Mutawaq suffered from “pre-existing health problems affecting his brain and his muscle development.” His health has “deteriorated rapidly in recent months,” the story added right after, “as it became increasingly difficult to find food and medical care” in Gaza. The paper also shared an update on its communications social accounts:

“We recently ran a story about Gaza’s most vulnerable civilians, including Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who is about 18 months old and suffers from severe malnutrition,” the statement read. “We have since learned new information, including from the hospital that treated him and his medical records, and have updated our story to add context about his pre-existing health problems.”

The post NY Times Rebuffs Netanyahu’s Threat to Sue Over Gaza Photo appeared first on TheWrap.

“I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk,
a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit,” she wrote in an X post on Thursday. “Thank you Mr. Musk and @X for backing my case and asking for nothing in return.”

Carano filed the suit against Lucasfilm and Disney in February 2024, three years after she was fired from “The Mandalorian” after a slew of controversial social media posts.

She was fired from the Star Wars series in February 2021, after she amplified a social media post that compared being Republican in the U.S. to being Jewish during Nazi Germany. This came after months of increasingly combative social media posts from Carano advancing far right political views that included vaccine and election denials.

Musk helped fund the UFC fighter-turned-actress with her legal fees as part of his initiative to cover costs for X users, who faced discrimination for activity on his site.

I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm @disney @Lucasfilm which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved. I hope this brings some healing to the force.

I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk, @elonmusk a man I’ve never met,… https://t.co/qiAX7W1vgf

— Gina Carano (@ginacarano) August 7, 2025

The details of the settlement were not disclosed, but Carano said in her X post that the agreement was “the best outcome for all parties involved.”

“I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter,” she added. “My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me.”

Lucasfilm said in a statement that they “look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future” with the lawsuit behind them.

Carano appeared in the first two seasons of “The Mandalorian,” in which she played Rebel ranger Cara Dune.

The post Gina Carano Thanks Elon Musk for Funding Her Lawsuit After Disney Settlement: ‘Good Samaritan Deed’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The UFC fighter-turned actress sued the companies for a wrongful termination and sex discrimination in February 2024 over her firing from the Disney+ series after a slew of controversial social media posts surfaced. They have since been dismissed after a year and a half.

“We have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said. “Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.”

Carano was terminated from the Star Wars series in February 2021, after she amplified a social media post that compared being Republican in the U.S. to being Jewish during Nazi Germany. This came after months of increasingly combative social media posts from Carano advancing far right political views that included vaccine and election denials.

In a statement, a Lucasfilm spokesperson said, “With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

After her role in the first two seasons on “The Mandalorian” as Rebel ranger Cara Dune, Carano was fired “as swiftly as her character’s peaceful home planet of Alderaan had been destroyed by the Death Star in an earlier Star Wars film,” the lawsuit read. Elon Musk helped fund her legal fees as part of his initiative to cover costs for X users, who faced discrimination for activity on his site.

Disney moved to dismiss the lawsuit on Wednesday, explaining that she “grotesquely trivialized the Holocaust as comparable to sharp political disagreements” and concluded that her termination resulted after former CEO Bob Chapek decided “Carano’s views ‘didn’t align with Company values.’”

The social media post which prompted backlash read, “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.”

The post Disney, Gina Carano Settle Lawsuit Over ‘Mandalorian’ Firing appeared first on TheWrap.