Tom Cruise has drawn a line in the sand and sent his legal pitbull after Life & Style Magazine.

The 50 year-old’s lawyer Bert Fields filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit on behalf of the Mission Impossible actor over the publication’s July 30th cover story “Suri in Tears, Abandoned by her Dad.

“Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She’s a vital part of his life and always will be,” Fields said in his statement. “To say he has abandoned her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible.”

Fields says that Cruise & his team tried to correct the report and in the legal documents filed noted that they received a copy of the story on July 18th. The lawyer says the magazine was told Cruise was filming on location but spoke to Suri regularly and that the story did not actually provide any details of “abandonment.”

Fields also wrote a letter to the editor demanding a retraction but were rebuffed.

“These serial defamers are foreign-owned companies with their global headquarters in Hamburg,” Fields said. “They take money from unsuspecting Americans by selling their malicious garbage. Having to pay a libel judgment may slow them down.”

If he wins the lawsuit, Cruise is planning on donating the money to charity.

Cruise and his relationship with his 6 year-old daughter made headlines when Katie Holmes filed for divorce this summer and moved herself and Suri to New York City.

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Five stars of Modern Family aren’t happy with their current contracts and have brought a lawsuit attempting to have the courts void them.

Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell claim they are all locked in agreements that bind them to the hit ABC show from February 2009 until June 2016. California law only allows for personal contracts to last 7 years.

“Since its debut on ABC in the fall of 2009, Modern Family has been one of the most successful shows on television,” said court papers filed by the five actors.

They continued: “Modern Family has been a breakout critical and financial success. That success, however, has been built upon a collection of illegal contracts.”

The current deal is said to contain a pay raise for each year, however the group appears to want a more substantial increase as the show brings in so much revenue.

Ed O’Neill is contracted differently than the others and was not a part of the original lawsuit however he has since joined his fellow actors in a show of solidarity.

The cast did not attend today’s first table reading of the show’s fourth season but Deadline reports all will show tomorrow in a good faith gesture. Negotiations are ongoing.

[image: ABC]

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Amanda Bynes pleaded not guilty today after she was formally charged with DUI stemming from an incident on April 6th.

Bynes was trying to go around a stopped police car when she misjudged the distance and hit the back of the vehicle. She was pulled over and refused a breathalyzer at the time.

The Easy A actress did not appear in court, but was represented by her lawyers who entered her plea. A pre-trial date has been set for July 18th.

If convicted, Bynes could face a possible 6 months in jail (which is unlikely due to overcrowding) and a suspended license.

Bynes has reportedly been involved in other traffic accidents but will not be charged because of insufficient, independent evidence. The former Nickelodeon star was allegedly behind the wheel when she hit a BMW on April 10th and fled the scene.

The 26 year-old insists she doesn’t drink, was not drunk at the time and the officer shouldn’t continue to be employeed. Bynes is so convinced of her innocence, she has asked for some major intervention:

“Hey @BarackObama… I don’t drink. Please fire the cop who arrested me,” she tweeted.

I guess President Obama has set a bad precedent for himself by writing a 5th grader an excuse when the youngster skipped school to meet the prez. Now entitled, former child stars will feel like they have an open door for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

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Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of singer Michael Jackson.

Murray was accused by the prosecution of administering a fatal dose of the surgical drug propofol and that contributed significantly to his death.

Dr. Murray was handcuffed and will be sentenced on November 29th and could face up to 4 years in prison and the loss of his medical license.

“This is a crime where the end result was the death of a human being,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor. “That factor demonstrates rather dramatically that the public should be protected.”

Michael Jackson’s sister, La Toya Jackson and his friend, Kathy Hilton were in the courtroom as the verdict was read and cried.

TMZ reports that Michael’s children; Paris, Prince Michael and Blanket were not in court and will be told by their grandmother, Katherine Jackson.

[image: Kevork Djansezian/Pool/WENN]

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One superstar who hasn’t had a nude photo scandal or leak is Taylor Swift – and she’s planning on keeping it that way.

Swift and her legal team have sent a website a letter threatening a lawsuit for a post they published containing a topless photo they imply is the Speak Now singer.

Website Celeb Jihad posted the pic (with a gal who does resemble the singer) and the caption “Taylor Swift Topless Private Pic Leaked?”

The superstar’s lawyers cited copyright infringement as the basis and say the site published “false pornographic images” and “false news” about Swift.

Monday, the site issued a “compromise” to Swift – they would take down the offending photo if she converted to Islam and sacrificed a goat.

Hmmm, guessing she won’t find that to be an offer she’s likely to find acceptable…

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Lindsay Lohan has just had her probation revoked by Judge Stephanie Sautner.

Lohan, who appeared in court today for a progress report on the community service requirements of her probation stemming from multiple arrests over the years, has a number of conflicting issues that the Judge wants to sort out on a hearing she scheduled for November 2nd.

The main issue is that the Mean Girls actress was kicked out of the Downtown Women’s Center – the place she was specifically ordered to perform her community service by Judge Sautner – because she missed 9 scheduled appointments.

Lohan was also ordered to complete the 360 hours in 4 hour shifts. The report the judge had said Lohan had only done one shift for less than 2 hours before she left.

Shawn Holley, Lohan’s lawyer, mentioned that Lohan has completed most of the probation requirements the court has set out for her, but the judge was not sympathetic saying Lohan made her own mess and only completed things in the days just before a hearing implying Lohan was barely making the commitments.

Judge Sautner noted that Lohan has completed her court-ordered shoplifter’s diversion course, but also remarked that she’s had 6 months to complete it and didn’t finish it until the night before this hearing.

The judge also told Lohan that the probation department did not have the authority to reassign her to the Red Cross, which it did last week after the Downtown Women’s Shelter said she couldn’t come back right away. Lohan will not get credit for those hours.

Instead the judge reassigned her to the other part of her probation – 120 hours in the morgue. Judge Sautner was very clear that Lindsay must complete at least 2, 8 hour shifts per week leading up to the probation hearing on November 2nd.

The judge decided Lindsay could have bail at $50,000 on each of the two counts she is serving probation for.

Lohan was taken out of the court in handcuffs to post bail and Holley said she had a bondsman on hand to handle her bail.

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Scarlett Johansson is another celebrity who became a target of hackers and had nude photos she had taken of herself leaked to the media but this actress did a couple of things differently.

Johansson, 26, owned up to the authenticity of the pics and she went to the FBI for help – both things most actresses have been unwilling to do.

The Avengers star is just standing up for her right to privacy, she tells CNN.

“Just because you’re in the spotlight, or just because you’re an actor or make films or whatever doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to your own personal privacy. If that is sieged in some way, it feels unjust. It feels wrong.”

Johansson goes on to say there has to be some give and take with what you allow as a celebrity to be public and what you don’t.

“It’s an adjustment, but there are certain instances where you give a lot of yourself and then finally you just have to kind of put your foot down and say, ‘No, wait, I’m taking it back,’” she said.

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Matthew Fox can breathe a little easier as the actor just found out criminal charges will not be filed over an alleged party bus brawl that happened in Cleveland at the end of August.

At the time, the 45 year-old actor who was said by witnesses to be inebriated, was attempting to board a private party bus and was denied access by the van’s driver, Heather Bormann.

Bormann and witnesses told officers that Fox punched her in the stomach, groin and chest.

The spokesman for the city, Andrea Taylor said the district attorney decided not to pursue the matter against the LOST actor “after a thorough review of the facts.”

Bormann, a single mother of three, filed a civil suit against the actor on Tuesday and her attorney, J. Norman Stark said he thought Fox got away without being charged because he was famous.

This was an unprovoked attack on a woman, with no provocation, by a man,” Stark said. “According to Ohio law, that is assault.”

Stark says he has pictures of injuries Bormann sustained from the incident and believes that Fox is receiving “preferential treatment because he is who he is – an actor.”

In the civil suit, Bormann is asking for a reported $25,000 – $75,000 in damages.

[image: Dan Wooller/wooller.com/WENN]

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Lindsay Lohan‘s getting out of her house today, but probably not the way she had hoped.

The 24 year-old is currently under house arrest in conjunction with her plea deal for shoplifting a necklace from Kamofie & Co. jewelers earlier this year and part of her agreement was to undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

The Los Angeles county prosecutors say Lohan will appear in court today for a judge to determine if the actress has violated her parole.

TMZ is reporting Lohan failed an alcohol test administered shortly after the actress was seen celebrating with friends on the rooftop of her building. The website also has information that Judge Stephanie Saunter will be asked to place the actress in the L.A. County jail and take her off house arrest.

Lindsay had an interview scheduled to tape yesterday with Matt Lauer however Lauer left after Lohan did not want to do a lengthy interview for both The Today Show and Dateline.

Lauer told the audience that “Lindsay and her people had a problem with the timing of the interview and it was canceled” and he flew back from her Venice Beach apartment last night.

Lohan has had at least three probation violations in the past year, including one last August where she failed a drug test. Because she is a non-violent offender, she has been eligible for house arrest at 20% of her sentencing, however a judge will likely review all her parole problems and could change her house arrest into jail time.

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British singer Joss Stone was the intended target of two men who were plotting to rob and murder her, police said.

The Devon and Cornwall authorities took two men, ages 30 and 33, into custody after residents reported a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood.

When stopped by police, the men “had in their possession information relating to an individual in the Cullompton area and items which lead us to suspect that they may have intended to commit a criminal offense,” Detective Inspector Steve Parker said.

“Police enquiries continue and the men remain in custody. We’re unable to say any more at this time but I would like to thank the local residents for reporting the suspicious car.”

The Sun is reporting that the men had in their possession an arsenal of items ready for the terrible task, including swords, rope, a body bag and maps and aerial photos to Stone’s secluded property in Cullompton.

The 24 year-old singer, who has become good friends with Prince William the Duke of Cambridge, and attended his April 29th wedding, has been made aware of the arrests and was, thankfully, not at home at the time.

[image: Daniel Deme/WENN]

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