Ex-Friend Taking Matt LeBlanc to Trial
How you doin’? If you ask Matt LeBlanc, not so good.
A Los Angeles judge has ruled that a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought against the erstwhile Friends star by his ex-business manager can proceed to trial.
Superior Court Judge Harold I. Cherness shot down a motion by LeBlanc’s legal team seeking to dismiss the complaint filed last August by Camille Cerio, who claims she’s owed over $1 million in commissions.
Although Team LeBlanc insists Cerio received more than $200,000 in payments, her attorney, Alan Harris, said that amount was a pittance, since the actor’s royalties on Friends and Joey alone generate royalties over $100 million.
“This was something unheard of in the history of television,” Harris told the judge of LeBlanc’s windfall.
Cerio managed LeBlanc’s career beginning in 1994, when he first hit big on the now classic NBC sitcom. She alleges in her suit that LeBlanc agreed to pay her 15 percent of his earnings from all pilots and series spinoffs “derived” from Friends. But the checks stopped coming in 2000, four years before Friends ended its run.
No immediate comment from either side. A trial date has been set for Sept. 22.
Dunder Mifflin Plans a Playdate in Scranton
People of Scranton, make room for beets. The Office is coming to town.
Pressman Toy and NBC Universal will be hosting a day of Office-themed festivities in the real-life version of the Pennsylvania burg where the Dunder Mifflinites push paper for a living to mark the release of a DVD board game and a trivia game revolving around the hit NBC sitcom, which is shot in Los Angeles but has become an important vein of tourism in Scranton.
Writer and executive producer Mindy Kaling, who also plays reliably obnoxious customer-service rep Kelly Kapoor, will preside over The Office Games July 19 (a Saturday, so people won’t have to call in sick to their actual offices) at the Mall at Steamtown.
“Scranton is honored to have been selected as the first city in America whose retailers will stock The Office Trivia Game and DVD Board Game,” Scranton Mayor Christopher Doherty said Monday. “We’ll be rolling out the beet red carpet for Ms. Kaling.”
The event will kick off at 9 a.m. ET with a 2K Fun Run (that promises to actually be fun this time), to be followed by an Office trivia challenge, a Dwight-inspired beet-eating contest and an autograph session for the first 125 fans who purchase one of the two new games.
Part of The Office Games proceeds will go toward United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which provides community-building opportunities and services throughout northeastern Pennsylvania.
“I have been to Scranton before and am really excited to return for this fun event!” Kaling said.
The proud city also hosted The Office Convention in October 2007 and worked with NBC to secure episodes for free public screenings, sold official merchandise and lined up a series of writers, actors and producers to participate in Q&As and other activities.
In other Office news, NBC also confirmed today that Oscar nominee Amy Ryan will be back for at least five episodes next season as Holly, the Scranton branch’s new HR rep who actually finds Michael endearing. For more on what’s happening round the water cooler, check out Watch With Kristin.
Angela Kinsey on Pregnancy Cravings and Maternity Clothes
As Angela Kinsey settles into her pregnancy, she’s getting much more experimental with the snack food than she is with the baby names.
“I’ve been really craving Snickers, so I have a bag,” the actress, who plays Angela on The Office, tells PEOPLE. “I keep them in my fridge. I like them really cold. So, Snickers has really been making me happy.”
She’s also thinking about baby names, but will go a more traditional route there. “I have a feeling my husband would want us to keep that to ourselves,” she says. “Nothing funky, I can say that. Nothing crazy.”
Kinsey, 36, who is expecting her first child with TV writer Warren Lieberstein, also says prenatal yoga has been “hilarious,” and that she’s exploring maternity clothes and pregnancy books. “As you flip later in the book, it’s all scary, so I just try to stay in the front of the book,” she says.
Best of all, she reports no morning sickness whatsoever.
For the prenatal yoga, Kinsey, who spoke to PEOPLE at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast, will soon have an unlikely companion – castmate Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on the NBC sitcom. Fischer isn’t pregnant, but says yoga is good for her back, which she injured in a fall in May.
“Not to start any rumors on my part,” Fischer, 33, tells PEOPLE, “but my doctor actually thought that the low-key prenatal yoga was a good way for me to maybe step back in to working out.”
Asked whether Kinsey will be a good mom, Fischer doesn’t hesitate. “She’s already being a great mom,” she says. “You know, she’s doing all the stuff you’re supposed to do to stay healthy and take care of yourself. And you know, nesting and all that good stuff – so she’s going to be a great mom!”
Drea de Matteo Has a Baby Girl
Former Sopranos star Drea de Matteo has given birth to a baby girl, Alabama Gypsyrose.
The actress, 35, and musician boyfriend Shooter Jennings, 28, welcomed their daughter on Wednesday night, a rep for the actress tells E! Online’s Marc Malkin.
“Family and baby are happy and healthy,” the actress’s rep, Amanda Slverman, said in a statement.
Alabama is the first child for the couple, who have been dating for six years.
De Matteo, who played Adriana La Cerva on the HBO drama and also starred in the NBC sitcom Joey, announced the pregnancy in May.
In June, even before she knew the gender, De Matteo had a feeling she was having a girl. “I use ’she,’ because I’m getting so fat, I think it’s a girl!” she said at the time.
Jennings is the son of the late country legend Waylon Jennings.