EXCLUSIVE: Read The Explosive New Farrah Fawcett Lawsuit
Posted on May 18, 2010 @ 12:55PM - 2 comments
RadarOnline.com has obtained the latest Farrah Fawcett lawsuit in which the actress' former business partner, television producer Craig Nevius, accuses one of Los Angeles' oldest and most prestigious law firms of a major conflict of interest.
EXCLUSIVE: Read The Explosive New Farrah Fawcett Lawsuit
Nevius is suing Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (MSK), alleging legal malpractice and negligence. He is seeking undisclosed general and punitive damages.
PHOTOS: Friends Lay Farrah To Rest
In the filing, Nevius details a complex triangle of legal representation that, he claims, is the "direct and proximate" cause of the bitter and ongoing legal feud that has engulfed Fawcett in death.
MSK once represented Nevius and Fawcett's production company Sweetened By Risk (SBR), the document says.
PHOTOS: Farrah Fawcett Through The Years
But according to the filmmaker, the Charlie's Angels star became "frustrated" and fired the firm, citing "lackadaisical and inattentive representation" as the reason.
PHOTOS: Behind The Scenes With Farrah
Yet when Nevius decided to sue Fawcett's on-and-off again lover Ryan O'Neal, friend Alanah Stewart and business manager Bernie Francis -- claiming he was improperly cut him out of the documentary -- MSK agreed to represent the three defendants.
As a result, Nevius is also suing two of the firm's lawyers, Pagnanelli Karis and Kim H. Swartz.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT: Read Farrah Fawcett's Will
"It was clear that MSK... possessed an actual conflict of interest in deciding to represent the interests of Francis and O'Neal with respect to the dispute involving Nevius and the future management of SBR (Sweetened By Risk)," the filing says.
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"For almost one year, MSK represented and had confidential attorney-client communications with Nevius... regarding SBK, the Program and NBC (who aired Farrah's Story)."
PHOTOS: Celebs Who Died Young
Alleges Nevius: "Defendants failed to exercise reasonable care and skill and acted in negligent manner with respect to their duty of loyalty owed to Plaintiffs, by among other things, taking an adverse position... With respect to issues concerning ownership and control of SBR, acting as counsel of record for Francis and O'Neal in the Action, refusing to voluntarily withdraw as counsel of record in the Action and forcing Plaintiffs to pursue a motion to disqualify in order remove Defendants as counsel of record in the Action."
EXCLUSIVE: Explosive Claim, Charlie's Angel Kate Jackson Says Ryan O'Neal Denied Her Access To Dying Farrah
The claim was filed last week in the Superior Court of California.
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp has not returned RadarOnline.com's request for comment.
EXCLUSIVE: Explosive New Farrah Fawcett Lawsuit
Posted on May 18, 2010 @ 10:54AM - 17 comments
The bitter legal fight over the documentary Farrah's Story has sparked a new legal battle, RadarOnline.com is reporting exclusively.
PHOTOS: Farrah Fawcett Through The Years
The producer suing — and being sued — by Farrah Fawcett’s estate has fired back in a new lawsuit, in which he is now suing high-profile Los Angeles law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, alleging legal malpractice and negligence.
EXCLUSIVE: Ryan O'Neal Threatened To Kill Me, Producer Charges
Posted on Mar 29, 2010 @ 07:44AM - 6 comments
Ryan O’Neal threatened to kill a producer who wouldn’t give up control of Farrah Fawcett’s documentary, the producer charges in new court papers, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.
DOCUMENTS: See The Explosive New Papers
Craig Nevius, who is being sued by O’Neal and Richard Francis on behalf of Farrah’s estate, filed new court papers stating:
PHOTOS: Farrah Fawcett Through The Years
“In September 2008, Ryan O’Neal contacted Mr. Nevius and wrongfully demanded that Mr. Nevius relinquish control of SBR and the Film to a producer of his choosing. When Mr. Nevius refused, Mr. O’Neal threatened to kill him.”
The filing also says that Francis told Nevius that Ryan would get violent. The papers state:
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“In April 2009, Mr. Francis threatened Mr. Nevius to stay away from Ms. Fawcett under threat of physical violence, stating: ‘... you better not appear at Farrah’s. Because you’re gonna get your ass kicked in by Ryan! And I mean it!’”
Fawcett’s estate has accused Nevius of embezzling and charged that he was removed from the project of Farrah’s documentary for poor work.
PHOTOS: Behind The Scenes With Farrah
But Nevius has battled back viciously in court. He sued O’Neal, Alana Hamilton Stewart and Francis last year.
He also says that Stewart used Farrah for profit, to sell a book about her friend’s situation. Claiming that in the book, “Ms Stewart divulged details of Ms Fawcett’s private medical records for her own profit.”
Nevius outlines his close personal friendship with Fawcett, claiming that when Farrah was diagnosed with the anal cancer that eventually took her life, he was among the first people that Farrah contacted, ahead of her “best friend” Stewart, who Nevius says learned about the diagnosis via reports on the internet.
Slamming Stewart, Nevius also states that she “remained largely absent from Ms Fawcett’s life during Ms Fawcett’s first round of cancer treatments when there were no video cameras present”.
Explosive Claim, Charlie's Angel Kate Jackson Says Ryan O'Neal Denied Her Access To Dying Farrah
Nevius goes on to allege, “Ms Stewart became interested in being part of the documentary and the notoriety it would give her, and began to spend time with Ms Fawcett more frequently”.
Nevius also alleges that throughout April and May 2009 he made numerous requests “to see or talk with Farrah, to check on her health and see if her needs were being met” but that he was denied access by the estate.
Hitting back at the allegations of embezzlement made against him by the Estate, Nevius turns the tables, stating, “Mr Francis and Ms Stewart are using the Foundation to divert Ms Fawcett’s assets away from other rightful beneficiaries.”
Farrah died June 25, 2009.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Kate Jackson Doesn't Believe Farrah Was Coherent When She Signed Over Control Of Documentary
Posted on Feb 15, 2010 @ 06:32AM - 10 comments
Farrah Fawcett's Charlie's Angels co-star and close friend, Kate Jackson, is continuing her assault on Ryan O'Neal and Alana Stewart Hamilton, accusing them of orchestrating a takeover of the documentary project Farrah's Story.
Jackson, 61, exclusively told RadarOnline.com that she is very suspicious about the circumstances surrounding Farrah's signing of a document that gave control of the documentary to Ryan and Alana.
Jackson previously told RadarOnline.com that Ryan and Alana shut her off from Farrah during her former co-star's dying days, and described how the twosome took control of Farrah and refused to allow her to say goodbye.
Explosive Claim, Charlie's Angel Kate Jackson Says Ryan O'Neal Denied Her Access To Dying Farrah
Posted on Feb 14, 2010 @ 11:45AM - 33 comments
Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett's Charlie's Angels co-star and one of her best friends for close to four decades, has sensationally claimed the actresses’ dying days were spent at the mercy of a clique, controlled by Ryan O'Neal and friend Alana Hamilton Stewart.
“I was shut out,” Kate tells RadarOnline.com.
“I was prevented from saying goodbye to one of my best friends.”
PHOTOS: Farrah Fawcett Through The Years
In an emotional interview, the 61-year-old Jackson recounted to RadarOnline.com the moment when she learned she had been denied access to her close pal, who was battling cancer.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT: Read Farrah's Will
"I was walking across the lobby at her apartment, carrying a shopping bag with apples, grapes, green tea and as I got toward the elevator, the security guard yelled out ‘Ms Jackson, no-one upstairs.’
“I turned around, looked at the guard and said, ‘What?’ I was stunned.
“I walked over to him. I was really incredulous because this particular guard and had seen me from the beginning. I asked him why and he said he didn’t know, but it had come from upstairs.
“From that moment on, we weren’t able to see or talk to Farrah, again. It was very upsetting."
Confused and upset, Kate said she confronted Hamilton Stewart and asked why she and others were being frozen out.
“Alana told me that was what Farrah wanted, because she didn’t want anyone to see her like that,” Jackson told RadarOnline.com.
PHOTOS: Friends Lay Farrah to Rest
“That, to me, didn’t make much sense because the whole world was about to see her like that in the documentary, Farrah’s Story. It didn’t sound right.
“On the miniscule possibility that what Alana said was true, I did not wish to do something against Farrah’s wishes and just burst in.
“On the chance it was Farrah’s wishes, we all didn’t want to upset her. I wanted to respect her wishes.
First Photos of Farrah Fawcett's Gravestone
“But to be truthful, I wish I had burst in, I really do,” said Jackson, who admitted she has not spoken to O'Neal or Stewart since Fawcett's funeral, last year."
EXCLUSIVE: Producer Sued By Farrah Estate Slams Ryan O'Neal & Alana Stewart
Posted on Jan 23, 2010 @ 03:01PM - 19 comments
Craig Nevius, the producer sued by Farrah's estate, is fighting back, slamming Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart and others in a statement obtained by RadarOnline.com.
It's the latest development in the ugly situation surrounding Farrah's death, where O'Neal, Nevius and Hamilton all profited as they professed their love and admiration in interviews about the star.
Farrah's estate filed suit against Nevius on Friday. O'Neal and Hamilton forced Nevius out of the "documentary" of Farrah's final days and he subsequently filed his own lawsuit against them.
PHOTOS: Farrah Through The Years
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT: Read Farrah Fawcett's Will; Ryan O'Neal Not Mentioned
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 @ 02:30PM - 13 comments
Farrah Fawcett left $4.5 million to her son Redmond, $100,000 to an ex-lover and nothing to long-time love Ryan O'Neal and the other cast of characters who fought over her cancer documentary during the star's final days.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENT: Read Farrah's Will
RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained a copy of Farrah's will and it reveals that she did not get her final wish - to die at home.
