The Ugly Truth About Ugly Words
Heads in the sand . . . Wrung out . . . Royalty pains . . . The cruelest month.
John Skiba did not take the breakup well. For days he vented, writing five drafts before completing a 91-page, single-spaced manuscript he called “The Ugly Truth About Sweet, Innocent Yolanda.”
Then, in August 1996, he mailed copies of the tome, complete with what a federal judge described as graphic and unflattering details of Yolanda Lucewicz’s sexual habits and history. The recipients were Yolanda’s parents, her brother, her uncle and other relatives in Oklahoma.
Yolanda and her parents, Tom and Myra, sued in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, and in 1998 won a $195,000 judgment against John for infliction of emotional distress.
John’s insurance firm, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., provided his defense but didn’t want to pay the judgment. More litigation ensued.
State Farm argued in court papers that John’s homeowner’s policy didn’t cover intentional acts. And, the insurance company claimed, the emotional distress suffered by Yolanda et al wasn’t covered because it wasn’t the result of physical injury from an accident. The insurance company asked the court to sort out its obligations.
In a recent opinion, U.S. District Judge Nora Manella sided with State Farm, ruling that the insurance company doesn’t have to pay the judgment. While Yolanda and her parents might indeed have suffered emotional distress, John upset them on purpose, the judge found.
Moral of story: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Except when you wield the poison pen.
WEIRD AL OSTRICHES: A Torrance man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of misusing ostrich farm investors’ money on such things as promoting a Weird Al Yankovic concert, casino gambling junkets and buying television spots--including a pitch on a chat show hosted by Tammy Faye Bakker, she of the tarantula school of mascara application.
To hide his misappropriations, the indictment charges, Howard Irving Frieberg bought ostrich meat from wholesalers and sold it to restaurants. Frieberg, 42, reportedly raised about $225,000 this way. He is charged with 12 counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Having bad taste in entertainment choices is obviously not a federal offense. He is free on $100,000 bail.
NO RING, BIG WRINGER: Jack Klugman’s former girlfriend not only lost her palimony case against him, she’s losing her shirt to one of her former lawyers. Barbara Neugass has been ordered to pay attorney Sam Perlmutter $250,000 for representing her in the Klugman case.
Perlmutter had sued his former client, who this time represented herself before Superior Court Judge Irving Feffer. She claimed her lawyer had agreed to take the case for a percentage of any winnings, and never billed her. Of course, in the end, there weren’t any winnings.
Neugass sued Klugman three years ago, charging that the 77-year-old star of the TV series “Quincy” and “The Odd Couple” had promised to support her for life. She charged that Klugman owed her at least $900,000 for their 20-year relationship, which ended badly in 1992.
Klugman denied promising her a thing, and in December a jury found that no contract existed between them.
As she left court after her most recent loss, Neugass told reporters she can’t afford to pay the judgment and is planning to file for bankruptcy.
“I’ve been through the wringer in the courts,” she said.
KISSED OFF: Disputes over royalties from greatest hits compilations are last week’s music industry legal trend.
First we have Stan Pentridge, who charges in his Los Angeles Superior Court suit that the glitter rock band KISS has reaped millions in profits through re-releases, while depriving him of royalties from songs he wrote or co-wrote, most notably the ballad “Beth.” Pentridge’s court papers say he won a judgment in a Texas court that the band, its former manager and Universal Music Group have--no pun intended--”kissed off.”
In federal court, Ozzy Osbourne and his manager-wife Sharon are being sued for $20 million by two former band members who charge that they are not being paid adequately for their contributions to performances used in remakes of songs by his solo band.
Bob Diasley, the original bass player, and Lee Kerslake, the original drummer, say Osbourne, during a recent VH-1 special, took credit for songs they actually wrote. The former bandmates say through attorney Tom Brackey that Ozzy never wrote a word and is taking credit for their work. They also say that Sony’s recent compilation CD “The Ozzman Cometh” includes their work but doesn’t credit or pay them for it.
Neither Osbourne nor representatives of KISS could be reached.
CELEBRITY BUMPER CARS: February is the cruelest month for actress Halle Berry and her motor vehicles. Berry, under investigation for a Feb. 23 accident, was sued two years ago over another collision--this one occurring Feb. 6, 1997.
Investigators say that in the recent crash, Berry was behind the wheel of a rented Chevy Blazer that ran a red light and hit another car broadside on Doheny Drive near Sunset Boulevard. The other driver suffered a broken wrist and Berry needed 22 stitches to close a gash on her forehead.
A battle for the hearts and minds of tabloid TV viewers currently is being waged between the woman’s lawyer and Berry’s reps.
No criminal charges were filed in the accident involving Berry three years ago, but driver Kevin Ackerman sued her in Superior Court in Santa Monica. Ackerman charged that Berry smashed her Range Rover into his 1987 Volkswagen at Sunset and Wetherly Drive. The case was dropped, a Berry spokesman said.
