Sightings: Conrad, Crowe and Hirsch
CHACE SCENE: Chace Crawford, Chris Evans, Nicky Hilton and Lauren Conrad, partying separately last night at Coco de Ville in Los Angeles.
EATING FOR TWO: Ashlee Simpson, enjoying filet mignon at Il Sole in West Hollywood.
SPEED RACERS: Rob Lowe, Luke Wilson, Michelle Trachtenberg, Snoop Dogg and Carmen Electra, taking test drives of the newly relaunched Dodge Challenger on the racetrack at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, Calif.
VISION QUEST: Seal, buying two pairs of Fabien Baron aviator sunglasses at luxury boutique Ilori in Beverly Hills.
GREEN DAY: Pink, dancing with friends at Jason Scoppa and Alexi Yulish’s Lo Hi Fi party with Le Tourment Vert Absinthe at Hollywood’s Green Door.
NEED MYSPACE: Mischa Barton, Emile Hirsch and Audrina Patridge, hitting the Nylon magazine and MySpace party at a warehouse in L.A.
LOVE MATCH: Serena Williams, drinking Dom Pérignon champagne at Prime nightclub in New York.
CROWE’S FEET: Russell Crowe, shopping at Geox shoe store in Los Angeles.
MIU MUSIC: Gwen Stefani, looking through ready-to-wear in Miu Miu on Rodeo Drive.
FRISKY BUSINESS: Rebecca De Mornay, locking lips with her boyfriend after seeing Sex and the City at the Pacific Grove theaters in L.A.
Rob Lowe and Wife Deny All
Whatever the actor’s opinion may be, Rob Lowe’s attorney sure doesn’t think much of Laura Boyce’s lawsuit.
In a response to the former nanny’s sexual-harassment complaint against Lowe and his wife, Sheryl, the couple’s legal camp denies all of Boyce’s allegations and denies the woman suffered any damages whatsoever during her time spent working for the Lowe family.
“Cross-complainant’s cross-complaint [a fancy way of saying she sued the Lowes after they sued her], and each cause of action alleged therein, fails to state facts sufficient to state a claim on which relief can be granted,” state court documents filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. (View court docs.)
The docs detail no less than 24 reasons why Boyce’s countersuit is bogus.
“Sickening and disgusting” is how Sheryl Lowe has referred to Boyce’s allegations that Rob’s missus walked around the house naked, repeatedly engaged her in inappropriate conversation and asked personal questions about her sex life.
The Lowes are asking to be awarded attorney’s fees and other legal costs for their troubles.
Meanwhile, Boyce’s attorney, Gloria Allred, who is also representing Ticked-Off Nanny No. 2 Jessica Gibson, calls the couple’s latest movethey have also moved to have the majority of Gibson’s case dismissedjust another attempt to avoid answering for their sins.
“Ms. Gibson and her attorney received responses recently to the numerous questions posed in the interrogatories as part of the discovery process in the lawsuit between Gibson and the Lowes,” she said in a statement to TMZ. “We also asked them to produce documents and other supporting material.
“Their blanket objections to virtually all our requests suggest that they do not want to answer questions or produce documents.
“Mr. Lowe and his wife are going to learn that the rules that apply to everyone else also apply to them. Celebrities are not entitled to special treatment, and we regard their responses as complete and utter stonewalling. We intend to take them to court to get these questions answered.”
Rob Lowe Takes Heat Off the Chef
Rob Lowe’s animosity toward his former chef has been placed on the back burner.
The actor has dropped his complaint-ridden breach-of-contract lawsuit against Peter Clements, reportedly because he and his wife Sheryl learned that Clements isn’t on the side of the former nannies who are currently suing the Lowes for sexual harassment.
Per documents filed Friday in Santa Barbara Superior Court, the Lowes would like to dismiss, “with prejudice,” their case against Clements, whom they had accused of, among other things, swiping prescription drugs from their home, having sex in the master bedroom, stealing their mail and overcharging them for food.
It’s unclear what sort of info Clements offered to help the Lowe cause as they wage legal war against erstwhile babysitters Jessica Gibson and Laura Boyce and the ladies’ high-profile attorney, Gloria Allred, but it was apparently enough to forgive his laundry list of alleged sins.
“Once Peter Clements provided Rob and Sheryl Lowe with accurate information, the Lowes willingly dismissed their claims against him without cost to either side,” court documents state.
Meanwhile, Allred doesn’t think much of this latest curveball.
“We believe that Mr. Lowe’s latest legal maneuver will blow up in his face and will not get him out of the hot soup that he has landed in because of the two lawsuits that we have filed against him,” the L.A.-based legal eagle said in a statement Tuesday.
“Whatever Mr. Lowe has attempted to cook up smells badand will leave a lasting bad taste in his attempts to go after two innocent nannies who loved and cared for his children.”
Gibson and Boyce filed individual sexual harassment suits against the couple in response to the Lowes’ allegations of defamation, breach-of-contract, misrepresentation and infliction of emotional distress.
Rob Lowe Gets Out the Eraser
Not surprisingly, Rob Lowe wants to cut the competition down to size.
The actor and his wife, Sheryl, have filed a motion to dismiss the majority of the 12-count lawsuit brought against them by their former nanny Jessica Gibson, who worked for them on and off over the past six and a half years. (View the motion.)
(Not to be confused with the sexual-harassment suit filed by Laura Boyce, another ex-babysitter.)
The Lowes are looking to have a judge toss out causes of action 4 through 12 of Gibson's suit, including a charge of retaliation and claims that she's owed back wages, as well as payment for overtime, "off-the-clock work" and meal periods.
"The pleading is defective because Gibson fails to state facts sufficient to constitute" all of the above, states the Lowes' notice of demurrer (aka, motion to dismiss).
The couplewho are also suing Gibson, Boyce and their former private chef for breach-of-contractclaim Gibson shot her own case in the foot by admitting last month that her onetime employers cut her a check for regular wages earned and overtime.
Gibson has also alleged sexual assault, battery and harassment, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.