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Celebrity Scandal: Newspaper hacks star celebs phones to get dirt?

Celebrity Scandal!

Newspaper hacks star celebs phones to get dirt?

[Apr. 21]

We are not talking about Beyonce Knowles and Lada Gaga telephone video celebrity scandal. A scandal that has been brewing for years with Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid is coming to a head. A judge has ruled that four test cases, among them pet friendly actress Sienna Miller, star of Factory Girl (2006) and The Edge of Love (2008), may move ahead with a lawsuit against News of the World for a phone-hacking scheme that violated the rights of a number of celebrities, sports stars, and royal family.

The word broke out in 2005 and 2006 that the tabloid had been involved in various means of intercepting voicemail communication and other private communications through phone-hacking. The News of the World had previously claimed no knowledge of the phone-hacking scheme, saying it was the work of just a couple of rogue employees, but investigation lately has demonstrated that the practice was far more widespread than initially thought.

The attorney for News Group, which owns News of the World, has argued that the case should not be allowed to continue because the paper has offered to settle for more than what complainants are likely to get awarded in court should they win. Regarding Sienna Miller, the attorney, Michael Silverleaf told the judge, “She cannot realistically recover more than we are offering.”

Sienna Miller has 21 days to decide if she will take the settlement, but it could mean allowing the newspaper to escape investigation into what could be many more cases. The paper has identified only eight complainants with whom it is offering to settle.

KIVI-TV reports:

Miller’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, said money was not the primary motivation for many of the claimants.

“Damages are an aspect, but when private information is involved, the kind of relief people are looking for goes beyond simply monetary compensation,” he said.

Already Andy Coulson has had to step down as head of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron as a result of the scandal. Coulson was editor for News of the World while the phone-hacking scheme was ongoing, according to Yahoo! News. And two senior men with News of the World have been held on charges, according to Reuters.

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Celebrity Death: Final tweet of Tim Hetherington about Libya haunting?

Celebrity Death!

Qaddafi craze killed Oscar nominee Tim Hetherington in Libya?

[Apr. 20]

Tim Hetherington, who along with Sebastian Junger helped direct the Academy Award nominated documentary Restrepo (2009), a film covering one Platoon in one of the most dangerous areas in Afghanistan, was killed April 20 in Libya, according to TMZ. Hetherington is a trained photojournalist from Liverpool and also is known for his camera work on Liberia: an Uncivil War (2004) and The Devil Came on Horseback (2007).

The green celebrity director and photojournalist was covering the conflict in Libya for the Panos photo agency when he came under attack from rocket propelled grenades, according to The last communication over Twitter from Tim Hetherington was on April 19. It read: “In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.”

Tim Hetherington had worked for Vanity Fair magazine, doing much of his work in Afghanistan for the magazine. Vanity Fair reports that Hetherington seemed interested in working with friend and co-director Sebastian Junger on another project highlighting the fighting in Misrata, Libya.

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Michael Jackson doctor outed for death day affairs with strippers?

Celebrity Scandal!

Michael Jackson doctor outed for death day affairs with strippers?

[Apr. 15 — Update on Dr. Conrad Murray Trial for the celebrity death of Michael Jackson]

Appalling is the word that comes to mind to describe this sad celebrity scandal. Dr. Conrad Murray, once the personal physician of green celebrity superstar Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, may have been involved with at least three different women the day the superstar and green celebrity rocker died. Police say records show that Dr. Murray was on the phone with a cocktail waitress from Houston, where Dr. Murray keeps his offices, just minutes before Michael Jackson died, according to TMZ . Murray had met Sade Anding in Houston where she was working in a cocktail lounge at the time, and prosecutors believe she was a girlfriend of Murray’s, among several strippers.

From TMZ:

Prosecutors say the call proves Murray was paying attention to his girlfriend, and not MJ, during the critical period before Michael’s death. And, prosecutors want to admit a $500 check that Murray wrote to Anding “after the two came back from a social outing.”

What the payment may have entailed is left to speculation. But prosecutors say Dr. Conrad Murray had conversations with two other women earlier on the day Michael Jackson died, June 25, 2009. Prosecutors also want to admit a text message from a stripper at Spearmint Rhino Gentleman’s Club in Las Vegas. They say text messages between the stripper, Michelle Bella, and Dr. Conrad Murray took place about 8:30 a.m. on the day Michael Jackson was reported dead. Another woman, Bridgette Morgan, says she called Dr. Murray the same day to ask about a plane ticket Dr. Murray reportedly was purchasing for her to fly her out to Jackson’s home.

Another stripper claimed she was working at Sam’s Hof Brau the night before the green celebrity died, and she said Dr. Conrad Murray was there late that evening, according to another report by TMZ. She reported she had seen Michael Jackson himself at the establishment one night after it had closed — “in a deep sleep,” says TMZ — in the weeks before Jackson died, and she also said that Dr. Murray had invited her to Jackson’s home in Holmby Hills.