George Carlin dead at 71
Wow. I just got in from a very, very late flight from Denver, and the early-morning newscasts hit me with this wallop: my favorite comedian, George Carlin, passed away last night. On Sunday, he admitted himself into a local Santa Monica hospital, complaining of chest pains, and ended up dying that evening of heart failure. He was 71.
Carlin, of course, is most famous for the 1970s comedy routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV.” It was a bit which not only got radio stations that played it in trouble with the FCC, leading to landmark First Amendment and decency rulings by the Supreme Court, but he was also arrested in Milwaukee on indecency charges after doing the routine on stage there.
During a long and varied career, Carlin went from doing goofy, straight-arrow comedy bits like “The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman” on The Ed Sullivan Show to being the ultimate counterculture spokesman, giving his observations — big and small — about the world on stage and TV. He was one of the first comedians to do hour-long specials on HBO, and his last one, It’s Bad for Ya, was well-received when it aired earlier this year. He also had a self-titled FOX series for a couple of years in the Nineties. So his tie to TV is quite strong.
Sigh. I’m sure Carlin’s fans will have more to say later today and this week. He’ll be sorely missed.
Paris Hilton Hallmark Lawsuit Update
Paris Hilton Hallmark Lawsuit Update
Paris Hilton continued on with her fun in Seoul, getting frisky for the cameraman at JJ Mahoney’s Nightclub in the Hyatt hotel on Saturday (November 10).
The hotel heiress has been in South Korea to announce a contract extension with Fila sportswear, but is also making headlines in the States for her lawsuit against Hallmark card company.
In September, Hilton sued the brand for “damages of no less than $100,000 for each of her claims in the suit and Hallmark’s profits on the card (which retailed for $2.49).”
Her lawsuit claimed that “a photograph of Ms. Hilton’s face is superimposed over a cartoon of a waitress serving food to a patron, along with the dialogue: ‘Don’t touch that, it’s hot. What’s hot? That’s Hot.’ The suit says Hilton owns the trademark “That’s hot,” which was registered in February 2007.”
Hallmark, meanwhile, has defended the card, saying, “there is no likelihood that Hallmark’s use of the words ‘that’s hot’ in a parody greeting card would confuse consumers into believing that the greeting card is sponsored by or affiliated with Hilton.”
Most recently, Hallmark filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, as they claim, “Hilton has become a household name, based in large part on her efforts to draw attention to herself. Having done so, she has subjected herself to public scrutiny and the parodist’s pen. The First Amendment does not allow her to respond by welcoming the fawning and flattering, but silencing the critical and comical.”
No word yet on a decision, so be sure to check back with for further updates.
In the meantime,
R. Kelly Judge Blasts No-Show Reporter
It’s not often the music critic is the one getting the bad reviews.
But that was the case today as the judge in R. Kelly’s child pornography trial lashed out at Jim DeRogatis, the Chicago Sun-Times reporter who anonymously received the sexually explicit videotape allegedly showing the R&B singer having sex with a minor, touching off this legal imbroglio.
Kelly’s camp subpoenaed DeRogatis to testify about how he came to obtain the tape in 2002. The singer’s attorneys want to know whether DeRogatis altered the video before turning it over to police.
When DeRogatis failed to turned turn up this morning, a fuming Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan initially threatened to issue an arrest warrant for the critic.
Sources told the Chicago Tribune, however, that the journalist called the court and said he wouldn’t be coming because the subpoena had not properly been served.
That didn’t sit well with the judge, who ordered DeRogatis to court regardless and dismissed arguments by Chicago Sun-Times lawyer Damon Dunn that DeRogatis didn’t have to appear because he’s protected by the First Amendment.
Gaughan ruled yesterday that he has no intention of allowing Kelly’s legal team to quiz the journalist on his sources or allow any of his news-gathering notes to be subpoenaed. But the judge would let them ask DeRogatis how he handled the video before giving it to authorities.
The Sun-Times argues that state law prevents DeRogatis from testifying while the newspaper appeals Gaughan’s decision compelling the critic to the stand.
But the judge sniffed at that reasoning, stating that the newspaper attorneys filed their notice of appeal in the wrong court.
“You’re protecting something that nobody is after,” Gaughan said, reiterating that the line of questioning won’t be about journalistic practices.
By the end of the session, the judge decided against issuing an arrest warrant.
“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Gaughan said.
Instead, he ordered DeRogatis to show up on Wednesday as a “material witness.” With the trial entering its fourth week, the judge said he would force DeRogatis to testify barring a last-minute overruling by an appeals court.
No Passes for Press in R. Kelly Trial
R. Kelly’s child-pornography trial just took a detour into a First Amendment case.
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan today ruled that Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis, the first person known to have been in possession of the infamous sex tape featuring the R&B star and an alleged minor, must turn over his notes and take the stand.
DeRogatis has long chronicled Kelly’s personal travails in the newspaper and has been pegged by the singer’s legal team as harboring an extreme bias against the artist.
The music writer will be called as a witness for the defense, who plan to ask him how he came to possess the VHS tape and what he did with it between the time he received it and handed it over to police in 2002.
According to previous testimony in the case, DeRogatis came into possession of the tape after an anonymous tipster left the video in his mailbox.
The defense contends DeRogatis illegally copied the tape and screened it for Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards, a relative of the alleged minor, to verify the girl’s identity. Should that prove true, the reporter would have violated state laws against reproduction and dissemination of child pornography.
If it’s not true, it would challenge testimony already given by Edwards, who claimed she viewed the tape with DeRogatis after the date he turned it over to police. With the potential to undermine her credibility, Kelly’s attorneys argued that the writer’s testimony was “crucial” to their case.
While Gaughan rejected arguments by the Chicago Sun-Times’ legal team that forcing the writer to testify would violate the First Amendment, the judge did set up certain parameters to be followed during questioning.
The defense will not be allowed to ask the writer about any of his sources or subpoena notes taken prior to his handing over the tape to police; anything taken after, however, is fair game.
DeRogatis plans on appealing the ruling.