Paula Abdul Puts Legal Squeeze on ‘Diet Juice Guru’
Here’s the skinny on Paula Abdul: The bouncy former Laker girl who went on to fame as a singer, dancer and choreographer is suing a self-proclaimed “diet juice guru” for more than $1 million.
Her Superior Court lawsuit in Santa Monica alleges that Abdul was libeled, her privacy was invaded and her right to control her own publicity was violated when she was made an unwitting shill for the Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet.
The use of Abdul’s name in magazine ads suggested that she endorsed, needed or used the diet product, which she did not, says the suit, filed by Beverly Hills lawyer Barbara Berkowitz. Named as defendants are a company called Bodylove Inc., the self-styled juice guru James Kabler, and Spectrum Distribution and Marketing.
The ads appeared in the June and July 1998 issues of Vanity Fair, and in the July issue of Cosmopolitan. A sample: “Stars like Paula Abdul . . . have been rushed this amazing juice formula by the diet juice guru himself, James Kabler.”
In her suit, Abdul said she finds the ads “highly offensive and objectionable” because they suggest that she needs to go on a crash diet. Kabler could not be reached.
JONES vs. JONES: A child custody battle is brewing between Paula Corbin Jones and her estranged husband, Stephen. He has asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to grant him temporary custody of his two sons, 6-year-old Stephen III and 2-year-old Preston.
A hearing is scheduled for June 21 in Los Angeles. The Joneses have filed his-and-hers divorce actions here and in Arkansas, where she now lives. In court papers he claims she agreed to let the children stay with him in Long Beach for the summer, then changed her mind.
Stephen Jones, laid off by Northwest Airlines in April, also asked the court to make his wife foot the bill for air fare. The reason: Paula Jones is in better financial shape than he is. She received a $200,000 settlement from her sexual harassment suit against President Clinton, her estranged spouse says, and has been getting paid for “media-related” endeavors, including interviews and personal appearances.
PILOT ERROR?: You might remember actor Daniel Stern as the taller of the two burglars in “Home Alone.” Stern also provided the voice of a grown-up Kevin Arnold on “The Wonder Years,” and, more recently, the voice of the animated version of office drone “Dilbert.”
But you won’t be seeing him Wednesday nights on CBS next fall. Instead, Stern is cast in a role he’d probably rather not play: the defendant in a lawsuit.
Columbia Tri-Star Television, a subsidiary of Sony, is seeking $25 million from Stern for breach of contract. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit accuses Stern of backing out of a cop buddy show called “Partners,” and of sabotaging the series by telling CBS honchos he hated it.
Stern’s attorney, Marty Singer, said Stern did nothing wrong, adding that a countersuit accusing the studio of fraud is in the works.
Stern was paid $1.5 million for the pilot, which cost Columbia Tri-Star $2.3 million to produce. Creative differences cropped up in May, just before the networks met in New York to announce their fall schedules.
Instead of a buddy show, Stern wanted a family-oriented series focusing on his character, Sam Banks, and a bunch of cute kids. This was not what the producers, writers and studio envisioned.
The suit alleges that when he didn’t get his way, Stern called CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves last month, leaving this message: “Do not pick up my show. I hate the show. I will never do the show.”
And, lo, CBS didn’t pick it up.
BUMPER CARS: Loretta Swit, best known as “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the TV series “MASH,” is suing a man named Michael Makri over a car accident. The crash occurred last April at Olympic Boulevard and West Los Angeles Street in Santa Monica. The suit, filed in Santa Monica Superior Court, seeks compensation for property damage, hospital and medical bills, and loss of wages and earning capacity.
EARTH, WIND & FIRE vs. PYRAMID: Although this sounds like erosion along the Nile, what we have here is a royalties dispute between a band that was popular in the 1970s and a record company. Ah, the memories: “Shining Star,” “Reasons,” “Got to Get You Into My Life.” Pass the brie and chablis, please.
Band members Maurice White and Philip Bailey accuse Pyramid Records Corp. of breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. They seek in excess of $6 million and an accounting.
White and Bailey, represented by attorney Ed McPherson, say they signed a contract with Pyramid in September 1996 to license and distribute their records. This allegedly never happened. A spokesman from the record company could not be reached.
