Kanye refused to speak… Mariska Hargitay helped a real-life prosecutor… Katy Perry’s music video is under investigation… Taylor Swift update… and Justin Baldoni hires crisis PR veteran
A Los Angeles judge agreed to allow Kanye West’s lawyer to drop him as a client. His now former attorney Brian Brumfield was representing Kanye in several lawsuits, including his $2M lawsuit against his former business partners at The Gap and a lawsuit filed by a former employee who claimed Kanye fired him for not cutting his dreads. Brumfeld is still waiting for a ruling on one last alleged assault lawsuit, but if a judge allows him to be released from that final case, he will have officially severed all ties to Kanye. It’s not surprising that Brumfeld found Kanye to be a difficult client. Among his complaints to the judge, Kanye refused to speak to him and refused to pay him. On top of that, after failing to file returns for 3 years, Kanye’s Sunday Service just lost its federal tax-exempt status.
Back in 2020, Kanye told Nick Cannon that in its first year, he’d personally invested $50M on Sunday Services. The following year, he was granted tax-exempt status. Kanye basically stopped doing the services. He hasn’t been pictured at a Sunday Service since June of last year, and the 300-acre ranch in Calabasas where the services were held has been left to rot. Even though Kanye seems to be done with it, the choir still performs. In fact, their last big performance was with Will Smith at the BET Awards earlier this year, and they released a single, I Know You Can Make It.
Did you know that Law & Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay — who plays Taylor Swift’s favorite Olivia Benson — is being credited with solving several sexual assault cases in Detroit? Prosecutor Kym Worthy discovered over 11K untested rape kits just sitting on the shelf in a police evidence room. They just didn’t have the funds to pay for all the testing. Mariska heard about this travesty, helped raise the money to pay for testing, and as a result, they found 22 serial rapists! You can hear all about it on the Dateline True Crime Weekly podcast, which drops tomorrow.
How Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay Helped a Real-Life Prosecutor Solve Thousands of Sex Crimes https://t.co/B0jl7zpcv5
— People (@people) August 14, 2024
Katy Perry says she named her upcoming album 143 because it’s her angel number, but maybe she misunderstood what the angels have been trying to tell her. Her first single Woman’s World was mocked by listeners and ultimately tanked on the charts. She’s getting better feedback on her second single Lifetimes, but now she’s in hot water over the music video she made for it. You know how they say it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission? Maybe that was Katy’s thinking, but now she’s in trouble for filming her video in Spain’s Balearic Islands, without asking first. In the video, Katy is dancing around in sand dunes that are protected by ropes, which is a huge indication that it’s a prohibited area. Yesterday, the Environment Department of the Balearic Islands announced they’ve launched an investigation into whether filming this video caused environmental damage to the beach. They want to clarify that filming in the area isn’t a “crime against the environment,” it’s more of an “infringement.” While filming can be authorized, you have to go through the proper channels, which Katy and her team failed to do.
Katy Perry’s ‘Lifetimes’ Music Video Under Investigation for Possible Environmental Damage https://t.co/DztzpsptsX
— billboard (@billboard) August 13, 2024
After a potential terrorist attack that canceled her shows in Vienna, Austria, Taylor Swift wanted to show some love to her 200+ touring team ahead of their five-show stint at Wembley this weekend. So after flying in to London on Monday, Taylor rented out the entire private member’s club Annabel’s plus six 52-seat coaches to transfer everyone safely to and from the club so they could let off some steam with an open bar that stayed open till after 3am! Hopefully, the hangovers weren’t too severe because they had to get back to work the next day.
| Dearest gentle reader, cheers! Taylor Swift returns to London's Wembley Stadium, for the final stop of the European leg of 'The Eras Tour', TOMORROW! #LondonTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/JLIevs1odr
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) August 14, 2024
It Ends With Us star and director Justin Baldoni is being destroyed on social media for rumored rifts between him and Blake Lively, who stars in and produces the movie. Adding fuel to the fire, Blake and the rest of the cast have iced Justin out, refusing to do press with him to promote the film or be photographed with him on the red carpet. They don’t even follow him on social media. Now The Hollywood Reporter claims Justin has hired veteran crisis manager Melissa Nathan to rescue him from this PR nightmare. She worked with Johnny Depp during his trial against Amber Heard, so he’s in great hands.
Justin Baldoni has hired veteran PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan amid the release of It Ends With Us, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 hit book, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. https://t.co/YFZMbn7sL5
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 14, 2024
