Celebrity

Conan O’Brien settles joke-theft lawsuit weeks before trial

Published

5 years ago

May 9, 2019

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Conan O’Brien has made peace with a man who heckled him not from the crowd but the courts.

O’Brien and several co-defendants, including his writing staff, agreed Thursday to settle a 2015 lawsuit with California writer Robert Kaseberg, who alleged the talk-show host stole five jokes from his Twitter feed and blog for O’Brien’s monologues on his TBS show, “Conan.”

Attorneys for both sides filed documents in San Diego federal court announcing a deal had been reached about three weeks before a trial that would have seen O’Brien, his sidekick Andy Richter and other famous names called to the stand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The joke-theft case was rare from the start, and O’Brien also gave it an unusual ending, explaining why he settled at length in a column in Variety rather than opting for the confidentiality common in Hollywood lawsuits.

O’Brien insists that he and his staff had never heard of Kaseberg, his blog or his Twitter account before the lawsuit, and did not steal any jokes. But he did not want “a farcical and expensive jury trial in federal court over five jokes that don’t even make sense anymore.”

“Short of murder, stealing material is the worst thing any comic can be accused of,” O’Brien writes. “Had I, for one second, thought that any of my writers took material from someone else I would have fired that writer immediately, personally apologized, and made financial reparations.”

Kaseberg released a statement saying he was happy with the friendly resolution.

“As a professional comedy writer, all I want to do is make people laugh and stand up for the things I believe in,” Kaseberg said. “I am proud my case helped shed light on an issue facing all comedy writers and am happy to have been part of contributing legal precedent on the issue of protection afforded to jokes.”

One of Kaseberg’s jokes that closely resembled O’Brien’s was about 2015 Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady giving the truck that goes with the title to Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll, whose coaching decisions many believe are the biggest reason Brady’s New England Patriots won.

“Trust me, Pete Carroll gags were hilarious back in 2015,” O’Brien writes.

O’Brien said the similarity of this and the other lines in the lawsuit is simply the result of the same comedians landing on the same newsy joke, a phenomenon that has exploded with social media.

“At the same time,” O’Brien writes, “that joke was being written by literally 34 other people on Twitter, and one of those people decided he had been robbed.”

O’Brien writes that he most wants to stand up for the integrity of his “remarkably hard-working and decent” team of writers.

“As I wrote several years ago,” O’Brien concludes, ” ‘No legacy is so rich as honesty.’ Of course, William Shakespeare is now claiming he tweeted that in 1603.”

But, O’Brien writes, Shakespeare “can talk to my lawyers.”

Celebrity

[PHOTOS] 2022 Cannes Film Festival: Supermodel Adriana Lima Boasts Baby Bump on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Red Carpet

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2022

Mellissa Thomas

Adriana Lima walks the "Top Gun: Maverick" Cannes Film Festival red carpet with boyfriend Andre Lemmers a baby bump. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

CANNES, France (FNN) – Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima brought a guest with her to the red carpet premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. No, we don’t mean her boyfriend Andre Lemmers, but her adorable–and well-styled–bun in the oven.

Lima, 40, graced the red carpet dressed in Chopard jewelry and a black long-sleeved Balmain gown with a baby bump cutout.

Lima announced in February that she was expecting her third child, this one being the first with Lemmers, and her first son. She has two daughters, Valentina, 12, and Sienna, 9, with ex-husband Marco Jarić.

Boyfriend Andrew Lemmers holds Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima’s baby bump on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet for the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.” Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

Boyfriend Andrew Lemmers and Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima enjoy a quick smooch on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet for the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.” Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

Supermodel Adriana Lima’s hair almost perfectly the texture of the her baby bump-baring Balmain gown on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet for the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.” Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

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Florida National News editor Mellissa Thomas and FNN News international correspondent Patience Eding contributed to this report. | info@floridanationalnews.com

Celebrity

[PHOTOS] 2022 Cannes Film Festival: Tom Cruise and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Cast Grace the Red Carpet

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2022

Mellissa Thomas

The "Top Gun: Maverick" cast pose for photos on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

CANNES, France (FNN) – Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, and the cast and crew of Top Gun: Maverick landed for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet in style. (No, literally–the aircraft actually landed.)

Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his wife also joined the excitement on the red carpet for one of the most anticipated sequels in all of Hollywood.

“Top Gun: Maverick” star and producer Tom Cruise poses for photos on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet for the film’s premiere. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

The “Top Gun: Maverick” cast pose for red carpet photos at the top of the Palais for the film’s premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Their arrival also included a flyover of red, white and blue smoke, in honor of the film, which everyone watched in amazement. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

Tom Cruise talks with “Top Gun: Maverick” co-star Jennifer Connelly during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival red carpet premiere of their film. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

Top Gun: Maverick star and producer Tom Cruise poses for photos during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival photocall earlier in the day prior to the film’s premiere. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept via Florida National News.

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Florida National News editor Mellissa Thomas and FNN News international correspondent Patience Eding contributed to this report. | info@floridanationalnews.com

Business

Interfaith Group Asks Starbucks to Drop Vegan Milk Surcharge

Published

2 years ago

May 13, 2022

FNN NEWS

FILE - Actor James Cromwell arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Cromwell glued his hand to a midtown Manhattan Starbucks counter to protest the coffee chain’s extra charge for plant-based milk, Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

BOSTON (AP) — A group of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish leaders is asking Starbucks to stop charging extra for vegan milk alternatives, saying the practice amounts to a tax on people who have embraced plant-based lifestyles.

In a statement issued Friday, an interfaith coalition led by Nevada-based Hindu activist Rajan Zed pressed the coffee chain to end the surcharges it called “unethical and unfair.”

“A coffee company should not be in the business of taxing individuals who had chosen the plant-based lifestyle,” said Zed’s statement, which was also signed by Thomas W. Blake, an Episcopal priest; Greek Orthodox clergyman Stephen R. Karcher; Buddhist priest Matthew Fisher; and Jewish rabbi ElizaBeth Webb Beyer.

The religious leaders cited numerous reasons why some Starbucks customers prefer alternatives to dairy, including dietary restrictions, ethical issues, environmental concerns, lactose intolerance, milk allergies and animal welfare.

Those who want plant-based milk should not have to pay more, they said, calling on the Seattle-based company’s CEO, Howard Schultz, and board chair Mellody Hobson to immediately drop the surcharge.

Starbucks outlets in the United States typically charge 50 cents to a dollar more for drinks made with plant-based milks.

Starbucks doesn’t charge for a splash of nondairy milk, including soy milk, coconut milk, almond milk and oat milk, though it does levy a surcharge for customized beverages made largely with those substitutes, spokesperson Megan Adams told The Associated Press.

It is not the first time Starbucks’ surcharge has riled the public. On Tuesday, activist and actor James Cromwell glued his hand to the counter of a Starbucks franchise in New York City to protest the practice.

Cromwell, 81, later used a knife to scrape it off. Police said there were no arrests.