Managers Want a Taste of Blonsky’s Hairspray Dough
Hairspray has put Nikki Blonsky in a sticky situation.
The actress’ former management team is suing her for a cut of the proceeds from her breakout role in the 2007 musical, claiming the zaftig singer owes them for helping her land the part of Tracy Turnblad.
Blonsky wasn’t cast until six months after her deal with the New York firm Morgit Management expired, according to the complaint filed in state Supreme Court in Nassau County.
But Morgit partners Margaret Karaszek and Michael Ostrowski claim Blonsky’s mother, Karen, verbally agreed to a two-year contract extension.
Karaszek and Ostrowski say they sent a tape of the then-”unknown” teen from Great Neck, N.Y., to the Hairspray casting team and even drove the girl into Manhattan during a blizzard for an audition.
Per the suit, the reps are asking for a 20 percent cut of Blonsky’s Hairspray earningswhat would have been their standard fee, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, James Ostrowski.
Blonsky’s camp has tried to have the lawsuit thrown out on the grounds that Morgit Management isn’t licensed to act as a talent agency, which it appeared to be doing for Blonsky, but a judge dismissed the motion last week.
“The line between management and agent is a somewhat murky one,” Ostrowski told Newsday.
What Blonsky earned for the big-screen musical is under wraps, of course, but the film took in more than $200 million worldwide.
Lohan Divorce a Done Deal
That's one down.
The Lohans were able to cross one of their long pending legal obligations off the family docket Friday as Lindsay's parents, Dina and Michael, finally reached a settlement in their acrimonious divorce.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lohan, you have both demonstrated to me extraordinarily good judgment in resolving the matter as you did," Judge Robert Ross of the Nassau County Matrimonial Center told the ex-couple.
The split is expected to be made official within 90 days, depending on how soon the formal documents are filed and processed by the courthouse. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
"Now, the healing process can begin for myself and my children," Dina told reporters outside the courthouse. She also said that Lindsay, recently photographed walking and biking near the grounds of the Cirque Lodge rehab center in Park City, Utah, was doing "fantastic."
As is the family's troubled patriarch.
"I thank God it's finished," Michael said after the hearing. "I wish Dina the best, and I hope we can both move forward and put our best foot forward for the kids' sake and just be good parents."
The settlement comes a week after the Lohans' last court appearance, at which time they promised the judge that a deal would be hashed out by today. At the time, both sides said some "minor details" were all that remained but did not reveal the nature of the hangups during the closed-door court session.
While all that stands between Dina and Michael's singleton status is a court stamp or two, the potentially tricky issue of custody still needs to be worked out.
Under New York law, divorce and custody issue are handled by different juridictions. While the former couple have concluded their business in the state supreme court, they still have to appear in family court next month to determine visitation and custody of their two minor children, 13-year-old Aliana and 11-year-old Dakota.
In previous hearings, the judge in that case, Stacy Bennett, ordered Michael to get a job and start forking over $500 a week in child support. (Lindsay, 21, and her brother Michael, 19, are no longer minors and are not part of the custody discussions.) The children were not mentioned in the Matrimonial Center hearing Friday.
Last week, Ross reportedly granted Michael visitation privileges for his two youngest children, provided a pastor and no less than two lawyers are on hand to supervise. Michael has been living at the Christian-based drug and rehabilitation center Teen Challenge since getting sprung from prison in March and , his lawyer told People, has not seen any of his children in more than three years. (Michael and Dina were close to a settlement in 2005, before his legal troubles, including repeated DUIs and assault charges, landed him behind bars.)
It's unclear if Bennett will make changes to this arrangement next month, but she should have a report from the family therapist the judge assigned to evaluate the elder Lohan.
Dina and Michael are due back in family court for a hearing on the matter Sept. 6, by which time Michael is expected to have had his first visit with his minor offspring.
Lindsay, meanwhile, is due to appear in courtrooms in both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills for her dual DUI cases Aug. 24.
Lohans Resume Legal Drama
The battling Lohans have going a-courting again.
After complaining that Dina Lohan failed to live up to the custody arrangement they hammered out in their divorce settlement last year, Michael Lohan made good on his promise to resume their testy custody fight by forcing a hearing on the issue.
Lindsay Lohan’s estranged parents appeared in a Nassau County, N.Y., courtroom this morning alongside their attorneys to address the family patriarch’s assertion that he hasn’t been getting regular visits with 14-year-old Ali and 11-year-old Cody, purportedly because they’ve been too busy costarring with his ex-wife in E!’s new reality series Living Lohan. (E! Online is a divison of Entertainment Television.)
After holding a closed-door session with the two sides, Family Court Judge Stacey Bennett expressed optimism that the dispute will be resolved.
“I’m encouraged that the parties and counsel are working at ways to repair the relationship between the children and the father,” she said.
Per the custody agreement, Dina received primary physical custody over the two minors who live with her in the Long Island community of Merrick while Michael was granted visitation and took up residence in nearby Southhampton.
Since 21-year-old Lindsay and her 19-year-old brother Michael are now of age, for once they weren’t involved in the elder Lohans’ legal squabbling.
But in an exclusive interview with News, Michael Sr. made clear he wasn’t happy about the current situation.
“She’s missed 19 out of 31 appointments I had with my kids,” he said. “Now, I’m giving her one last chance to let me see them one day a week, on my own, and to go to therapy with them one day a week. If not, we’ll drag this through court again.”
He also accused his former missus of becoming a “diva” ever since she landed her TV deal.
“All I want is for her to live up to what she agree to and stop missing our meetings. When the time comes, she always has an excuse, and I am tired of it. I won’t put up with it any more. My kids haven’t even seen my family in too long.”
It looks like they got their work cut out for them. But there are signs of progress.
For one, outside the Nassau County Family Court building, Michael told reporters that he and Dina would no longer be making public statements about the matter for their children’s sake.
Bennett subsequently scheduled a follow-up hearing for July 14.
Lindsay Lohan’s Parents Bickering Battle
Lindsay Lohan’s Parents Bickering Battle
It must be hard for Linsay Lohan to concentrate on her sobriety when she has two parents that fight like they’re five-year-olds. And that’s exactly what Judge Robert Ross called them during their divorce conference this week.
Michael and Dina Lohan still aren’t divorced. They’re constantly going back and forth over who did what and who gets what. They even argued over who would get the pink copy and who would get the yellow copy of a document they signed. “I can’t imagine, given what I’ve just heard, that the two of you agree on anything,” lamented the judge.
The next battle, set for July 27th will be an attempt by Michael to prove that Dina didn’t live up to the agreement set forth in their separation arrangement. If he can do that then he can prevent things from going to divorce proceedings.
They also have legal dealings to tend to in Nassau County Family Court. Dina is trying to prevent Michael (who was released from prison earlier this year for aggrivated unlicensed driving and attempted assault) from seeing their younger children. And Michael is fighting it tooth and nail.
No wonder Lindsay has elected to stay in rehab longer than she had planned. She doesn’t have much to look forward to when she gets out.