Things got worse this week for embattled Pulitzer-Los Angeles Times journalist Chuck Philips when film producer Julius Nasso slapped him and his employer with a $10 million defamation of character lawsuit.
The last few years have not been kind to Philips, professionally speaking. In 2005, his stories about the death of Tupac Shakur were discredited by Rolling Stone. And as we reported earlier, Philips has come under scrutiny for allegedly receiving tips from Anthony Pellicano, the jailed PI to the stars.
Nasso—the producer of Narc and Under Siege—tells Radar he took exception to a June 7 article that identified him as a "reputed Gambino crime family member." Nasso did serve time in prison for trying to extort money from Steven Seagal, but there is no evidence that he has ever been linked to the Gambinos. Nasso tells Radar that while he was initially upset by Philips's statement, "I was willing to just chock it up to sloppy reporting on his part. I mean, he's a moron.... I asked for a retraction and just assumed I'd get it since the story was so far off base."