Guilty pleasures
By Associated Press
London judge rejects Prince Harry’s bid to add allegations against Murdoch
LONDON | Prince Harry can’t expand his privacy lawsuit against The Sun tabloid’s publisher to add allegations that Rupert Murdoch and some other executives were part of an effort to conceal and destroy evidence of unlawful information gathering, a London judge ruled Tuesday.
The decision by Judge Timothy Fancourt in the High Court was a mixed ruling for the Duke of Sussex in one of his three invasion of privacy lawsuits he has brought in his ongoing battles against British tabloids.
Fancourt allowed the prince to include allegations that his phone was tapped and add claims against other journalists and private investigators that he and other claimants say used unlawful means to snoop on them for scoops.
But he rejected Harry’s efforts to expand the case beyond the period from 1996 to 2015 to include claims of eavesdropping on his mother, the late Princess Diana, in 1994-95, and digging up private information on his now-wife, actor Meghan Markle, in 2016.
Fancourt said allegations that Murdoch “turned a blind eye” to wrongdoing added nothing material to claims made against News Group Newspapers, or NGN. The judge said those claims already include “trusted lieutenants,” naming Murdoch’s younger son, James Murdoch, and Rebekah Brooks, who was editor at the defunct News of the World and The Sun.
The judge said some of Harry’s efforts to blame additional executives were to further a political agenda.
“There is a desire on the part of those running the litigation on the claimants’ side to shoot at ‘trophy’ targets, whether those are political issues or high-profile individuals,” Fancourt wrote. “Tempting though it no doubt is for the claimants’ team to attempt to inculpate the man at the very top, doing so will add nothing to a finding that Ms. Brooks and Mr. James Murdoch or other senior executives knew and were involved, if that is proved to be the case.”
Brooks is chief executive officer of News UK, a division of News Corp. media holdings that controls The Sun and The Times among other publications. James Murdoch resigned from News Corp. in 2020.
Rupert Murdoch, 93, was executive chairman of News Corp. and director of its subsidiary, News International, now News UK, which was NGN’s parent when News of the World folded. Murdoch stepped down last fall as leader of both Fox News’ parent company and his News Corp.
Both sides claimed victory in the ruling that precedes a trial scheduled early next year.
Fancourt said that it was a split victory with the defense gaining an edge on the issues argued. He ordered Harry and other claimants to pay a third of NGN’s costs spent litigating the proposed amendments.
News Group said it welcomed the decision, saying it vindicated its position that new “wide-ranging” and irrelevant allegations be excluded from the case.
The claimants said in a statement that they were pleased the judge allowed many of the amendments that had been “vigorously opposed by NGN.”
The company issued an unreserved apology in 2011 to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World, which closed its doors after a phone hacking scandal. NGN said it has settled 1,300 claims for its newspapers, though The Sun has never accepted liability.
The three-day hearing in March included claims against NGN by others, including actor Hugh Grant, who accused The Sun of tapping his phone, bugging his car and breaking into his home to snoop on him.
Since then, Grant said he had reluctantly agreed to accept “an enormous sum of money” to settle his lawsuit.
Grant said he had to settle because of a court policy that could have stuck him with a huge legal bill even if he prevailed at trial. A civil court rule intended to avoid jamming up the courts would have required Grant to pay legal fees to both sides if he won at trial but was awarded anything lower than the settlement offer.
Attorney David Sherborne has suggested that Harry may have to settle for the same reason.
Harry has a similar case pending against the owner of the Daily Mail.
Last year, he won his first case to go to trial when Fancourt found phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers. In addition to a court judgment, he settled remaining allegations that included his legal fees.
Graceland is not for sale, Elvis Presley’s granddaughter says
MEMPHIS, Tenn. | Elvis Presley’s estate is fighting what it says is a fraudulent scheme to auction off Graceland to the highest bidder.
An auction had been scheduled for Thursday this week, but a Memphis judge blocked it after Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough sought a temporary restraining order and filed a lawsuit, court documents show.
A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate in Memphis posted earlier in May said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Keough, an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough, on behalf of the Promenade Trust, sued last week, claiming that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023.
“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s lawyer wrote in a lawsuit.
Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on the documents, indicated that she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, the court filing said. The Associated Press texted Philbrick at numbers believed to be hers, but she didn’t immediately respond.
W. Bradley Russell, a lawyer for Keough, declined comment Tuesday.
Kurt Naussany, who was identified in court documents as a defendant, directed questions in an email to Gregory Naussany. Gregory Naussany told the AP in an email: “The attorneys can make comment!” Court records do not show a lawyer for the company.
The court documents included addresses for the businesses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Hollister, Missouri. Both were for post offices. A Kimberling City, Missouri, reference was for a post office box.
An injunction hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Shelby County Chancery Court.
“Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent. There is no foreclosure sale. Simply put, the counter lawsuit has been filed is to stop the fraud,” Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. said in a statement Tuesday.
Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 as a tribute to Elvis Presley, the singer and actor who died in August 1977 at age 42. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Tim Marshall, of Queensland, Australia, went to the gates of Graceland on Tuesday as part of a weekslong U.S. tour with his partner. Marshall, 54, said he heard the news about the Graceland sale attempt.
“I was surprised,” Marshall said. “We don’t know enough about it. I think it would be not very good if they lose it.”
Matthew Perry’s death under investigation over ketamine level
LOS ANGELES | An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
Los Angeles Police Capt. Scot Williams said in an email Tuesday that the police department was working with the Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into why the 54-year-old star had so much ketamine in his system when he died in October. The investigation was first reported by TMZ.
Perry was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. His autopsy, released in December, found that the amount of ketamine in Perry’s blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery. The drug is sometimes used to treat depression.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in the autopsy report that Perry also drowned in “the heated end of his pool,” but that it was a secondary factor in his death, deemed an accident.
According to Perry’s autopsy, people close to the actor told investigators that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy, an experimental treatment used to treat depression and anxiety. But the medical examiner said that his last treatment 1 1/2 weeks earlier wouldn’t explain the levels of ketamine in Perry’s blood. The drug is typically metabolized in a matter of hours.
Perry was among the biggest television stars of his generation when he played Chandler Bing alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit sitcom “Friends.”
ESPN reaches four-year extension to carry England’s FA Cup in the U.S.
BRISTOL, Conn. | ESPN will carry England’s FA Cup in the U.S. through 2028 after reaching a four-year extension with England’s Football Association.
The announcement was made Tuesday morning.
ESPN has carried the tournament since 2018. The deal includes 79 matches per season streamed exclusively on ESPN+ as well as the season-opening FA Community Shield.
The 143-year old competition is the longest-running national knockout soccer competition in the world. Around 700 teams, from the very top with the Premier League to non-professional squads, compete in the tournament.
This season’s final will take place on Saturday at London’s Wembley Stadium with Premier League champion Manchester City facing rival Manchester United for the second straight year. City won last year’s final 2-1 after it took the Premier League for the third straight year and before capturing its first Champions League title.
Last Sunday, Manchester City became the first team to win the Premier League four straight seasons.
ESPN also carries Germany and Spain’s domestic knockout tournaments on ESPN+.
—From AP reports
