When TMZ.com posted a clip of a supposed Verne “Mini Me” Troyer sex tape last Wednesday, his attorneys quickly lashed out and got a federal judge to issue an injunction against Harvey Levin’s gossip site two days later, forcing TMZ to remove the tape, which Troyer says was “stolen” from his house. Except, um, TMZ has the item back online. How come?
We hear another judge just lifted the injunction, and TMZ quickly re-posted the original item. So maybe all the gossip blogs can do the same thing! (We’re not lawyers, though.)
On its own site on Friday, TMZ relayed news of the legal action, which included Troyer filing a $20 million lawsuit against TMZ for violating his privacy, misappropriating his name and likeness, and infringing copyright (you know, in case he wants to profit from its sale). Reported, um, TMZ: “Calls to TMZ were not returned.”
Update: Here’s why: “Troyer’s ex-girlfriend, Ranae Shrider, signed a declaration filed in federal court in Los Angeles stating the tape was created with her video camera. Her statement prompted a judge to allow TMZ to reinstate a post featuring snippets of the tape.”
The great (and by “great” we mean “annoying”) thing about Heidi Montag is that she’s a mystery: Does she really believe the stuff that comes out of her mouth or is it all a big joke? And if it’s a joke, why does she insist on being the punch line?
Lately, Horse Face has gone off on a Christianity tangent, claiming she reads the Bible every day and is a “kind of non-denominational Baptist.” Whatever that means. Also? She plans to insult God through the power of her terrible music by recording a Christian album.
Verne Troyer is now a mini litigant in a a $20 million lawsuit filed yesterday afternoon against TMZ, the often stupid but rarely wrong gossip site he claims violated his rights by publishing and airing portions of his sex tape.
To be sure, it’s quite fair that Lynsi Smigo — the fiance of Opie & Anthony radio host Gregg “Opie” Hughes — would be so disgusted that somebody would insinuate she made a sex tape with Jackass‘ Bam Margera that she would sue over the matter. It’s just sort of silly to think that the matter will see a courtroom.
Back in April, Page Six ran an item with the sex tape claim, provided by Steppin’ Out editor Chaunce Hayden. Which explains why, in addition to the Post, Hayden and P6 editor Richard Johnson are named as defendants. Nevermind that Johnson & Co. have since thrown Hayden under the bus, blaming him for the erroneous report and severing a lengthy relationship with the column regular. But it’s not like Hayden has the cash Rupert Murdoch’s Post does.
Smigo is looking for $10 million. As a consolation prize, she’ll take 10 minutes with Hayden’s tongue. [TSG]
The only way to make a sex tape circulating among high schoolers sound interesting/relevant is to set the scandal in 1988. And even that didn’t work. [NYT]
Jimi Hendrix joins the lengthy list of celebrities with sex tapes on the market. And the good folks at Vivid Entertainment have even posted a trailer of the tape (perhaps NSFW), which includes testimonials from women who have slept with him verifying that the penis you see in the video belongs to the rock legend. In this era of questionable authenticity, we appreciate the extra effort.
So maybe that isn’t Lindsay Lohan in that sex tape that’s going around? Ex-boyfriend Calum Best swears it isn’t him, and now at least one gossip blog says that’s not Lindsay. The evidence? This crappy cell phone-recorded video on XTube. Need we even mention it’s NSFW?
Like every other gossip outlet, Page Six today leads with a double sex scandal whammy: Naked photos of both Kristin Davis and The Hills star Audrina Partridge should be a warning to “young women […] about not letting nude photographs of themselves leave their hands. Notes P6 (emphasis ours): “There’s absolutely no doubt that the photos of Partridge - the faithful perky sidekick of Lauren Conrad on “The Hills” - are 100 percent real. Partridge posed for the pin-ups in 1994, after graduating from high school in the hope she could score some space in Playboy.”
Except, given Partridge was born in 1985, that would make those pin-up shots of her child porn. And even Joe Francis, who has no problem with Ashley Dupre being under 18, might have a problem with that. (In fact, the photos were taken around 2004, when she was 18, just out of high school, and hoping to land in Playboy.)
First Kristin Davis, now Lindsay Lohan? How many rumored sex tapes can you handle? While Kristin’s ex-boyfriend Eric Stapelman confirms those photos going around are of the Sex and the City star (he sold them to a friend, who conveniently had them “stolen” from him), no word yet on whether this is actually Lindsay. But if you believe it’s her, what’s the difference? And it’s not like you haven’t seen every square inch of her anyhow. So the story goes, her co-star is former boyfriend Calum Best, who filmed the video with his cell phone and then sent it to friends. The maybe-NSFW version follows.
CONTINUED »
“This is not a photo of Kristin Davis. There is no sex tape.” That’s the Sex and the City star’s rep countering claims those photos going around (link NSFW) depict Davis, some 13 years ago, fooling around with her then-boyfriend. Turns out, her rep might be half right: The latest rumor is that there is no video of Davis in the act, but the dozen or so photos (link NSFW) of her are authentic.
So: How long until a jealous Kim Cattrall suddenly has a tape of her own leak?
The 12 photos porn blogger Scott Faynor has from an alleged sex tape of Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis are, he insists, legit. [Scott Faynor]
• Britney gets her California driver’s license. After losing her kids.
• Apparently, Kate Moss and Pete Doherty had something keeping them together other than an overwhelming dependence on dangerous and illegal drugs.
• This picture of Jessica Simpson leaving Tenjune with her (imaginary?) best friend has one blogger asking “Why does her face look so bucked up?” We’d tell you, except we were actually way too preoccupied staring at her rack.
In 1998, Pamela Anderson was “humiliated” after a sex tape of her and her well-endowed rock hubby gets stolen by video bandits who wanted zero money, jewels or valuables and ONLY videos of Pamela Anderson getting it on. So what’s she been up to lately? ”
‘She parties almost every night,’ our source said. ‘She drinks, she does stuff . . . and she’s got hepatitis C.’” Worse still, she’s dating Rick Salomon, best known for making a sex tape with Paris Hilton and accidentally leaking it.
Come on, Pam! Live and learn! It’s like George W. Bush once said:
There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.
Or, put another way: You’re 40 years-old. It’s officially time to stop tape-recording your sex.
Whatever is causing Meg White’s anxiety, it’s not sex, or sex tape related. The White Stripes drummer denies that she was in this morning’s NSFW romp. [TMZ]
Meg White may be a mediocre drummer, but she’s a hardcore lover. And even BrooklynVegan, the vegetarian music blogger, can’t deny the strange of appeal of seeing someone famous have sex:
I’d rather not report on this. I feel even worse knowing that the sex tape is what might be causing Meg White’s ‘acute anxiety.’ But the Internet is what it is, and if I don’t post about it, it will be in the comments anyway - and it will be what everyone is talking about today one way or another, so consider this the BrooklynVegan forum for talking about it, but please be nice…
At least BrooklynVegan can console himself by knowing that no animals were harmed in the production of the video.
Supposedly, Kim Kardashian didn’t have a sex tape. And then this over-produced “trailer,” featuring co-star Ray-J, surfaced. Quite the production values involved here. Makes us think, oh, we don’t know, that Kim might be in on it. Which would make a one Paris Hilton the most prolific of all teachers.
• Liev Schrieber confesses to having scary eyebrows, and an affinity for wild sexcapades on the Staten Island Ferry.
• Paris holds hands with QB Matt Leinert. Liev Schrieber calls it the “Worst PDA Ever.”
&bull: Newsweek says Whitney Houston called Rosie a “fat bitch” while under a drug haze; The Donald prounounces it a moment of lucidity.
• Dustin “Screech” Diamond may have enlisted a well-endowed body double in the sex tape you couldn’t pay us to watch.
• Lindsay Lohan nurses her “appendectomy” by immediately hitting the clubs.
• Christina Aguilera shows how to step out of a vehicle without exposing any naughty bits.
With the responsibilities Time magazine handed you when naming you Person of the Year, it’s a shame to see you’ve gone and thrown it in the shitter. For someone who holds such esteemed accolades, now your parents have to hear that you’ve been posting celebrity sex tapes on YouTube? Shame, Brazilian citizen journalist, shame. But there you go, uploading videos of Daniela Cicarelli – the ex-wife of soccer hottie Ronaldo – supposedly having a romp with her boyfriend Tato Malzoni on the beach.
So upset have you made Daniela that she filed a lawsuit to have the video sharing site shut down until the video is pulled. And, low and behold, a Brazilian court agreed with her. Not that the U.S.-based Google-owned site will be going offline anytime soon.
The case dragged on for several months before they filed a third suit in December requesting that YouTube be shut down as long as the video is available to users.
The court honored that request on Wednesday, but legal experts say the ruling by the Brazilian court could be difficult to enforce in the United States, where YouTube is based.
Silly YouTubers, don’t you know that there’s XTube (NSFW) for that? Any deserving Person of the Year would know which niche social media site is the proper outlet for your uploads.
$50 million? $100 million? Just how much is Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s sex tape worth? The pop star’s soon-to-be ex-husband is certainly curious about its potential pricetag, but not because Britain’s News of the World is interested. If the sex tape actually does exist – rumor mongering claims it’s 4-hours long and was made during the first few weeks of their marriage – then all the attention it’s receiving is likely the makings of a well-played PR chip for Kevin to play agaist Britney. That is, when it comes to hammering out the details of the divorce settlement, the air-tight prenup might start leaking .. cash.
To keep the tape under wraps, one tabloid insider with knowledge of the divorce proceedings says, “it wouldn’t be surprising to see Britney shell out seven or eight figures, which Kevin would likely accept” — rather than the supposed $50 million cheque the News Corp.-owned British tabloid claims to be waving around. Says our insider, “Am I the only one who doesn’t see this as an obvious ploy for press by News of the World? And with Kevin pushing the story, it’s clear his agenda involves more than simply selling it to a tabloid, which doesn’t have that type of cash on hand, anyhow.”
But what if there’s no tape to even sell? No matter, says another gossip industry tattler. “Just to get him to shut up, Britney will pay him off. Sex tape or not, she’s going to be orchestrating a comeback image — look at what she’s already doing with giving away her baby photos for free if the magazine that gets them is nice to her. She’s not going to want all of her headlines stolen by this sex tape story. If he’ll go away and let the story die for a fee, that’s what she’ll do.”
For a man who’s burned through so many of Britney’s millions, it’s warming to see he’s prepared to do it all over again in the divorce.
So that’s why Colin Farrell was in New York this week. When we ran into him Thursday on 10th Street, he didn’t have much to say except that he hadn’t heard of Jossip. When we mentioned that his attorneys certainly have, his interest grew, at least until we explained why we’re on a first name basis with the folks at Lavely & Singer: We’ve dealt with them exhaustively on all matters of his Nicole Narain sex tape. (At that piont he grew noticeably uncomfortable, given he was on the sidewalk macking it to some random lass.)
And then we hear today, with Rush & Molloy delivering the scoop, that he spent Easter Sunday with Narain’s camp and an arbitrator, reaching an “amicable” settlement in the matter.
The two hadn’t seen each other face to face since word leaked last year that representatives for Narain were peddling an explicit video from the couple’s romp.
Matthews insists that there was “no tension” between the former couple. But we hear that they sat on opposite ends of the negotiating table - and in separate rooms - and that ÂFarrell showed little affection for the woman who, so far, has cost him an estimated $500,000 in legal fees.
And here’s we details get sketchy. You see, also present was our favorite sex tape proprieter David Hans Schmidt, who did not reach a deal with Farrell and is thus still on the receiving end of his litigation. Schmidt’s lawyers, meanwhile, demanded to videotape Farrell’s testimony on the condition they don’t release the tape, but they may argue before a judge to release the tape and then target Narain for breaching her contract with Schmidt’s Internet Commerce Group for settling with Farrell.
So while we’ve got a settlement between Farrell and Narain, there’s no deal between Farrell and Schmidt, which means there might be new lawsuits between Narain and Schmidt. And, what’s more, there will be another video tape (of Farrell talking about his sex life) to look forward too. Whee!
Editorial Director
