Shelton’s lawsuit can go forward
A judge said Monday she is inclined to allow Blake Shelton’s defamation lawsuit against the publisher of In Touch Weekly to proceed based on a headline that proclaimed the country star was headed to rehab.
U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder delivered her tentative ruling Monday in Los Angeles, saying it appeared In Touch “cherry-picked” facts to support its “Rehab for Blake” headline that appeared on a September 2015 magazine cover.
Shelton sued Bauer Publishing Co. in October over the headline and an accompanying story that included several anecdotes of the country star’s supposed drunken antics. Shelton, a judge on NBC’s “The Voice,” denies several key events in the story occurred and states he does not have a drinking problem.
Bauer’s attorney, Elizabeth McNamara, said if Snyder’s ruling becomes official, it will be appealed. She urged the judge to reconsider basing her ruling on In Touch’s headline, and instead said the judge should focus on the allegations of Shelton’s excessive drinking. McNamara said the Grammy-nominated singer had created his “entire reputation around excessive drinking.”
The “Boys ‘Round Here” singer has denied the magazine’s claims, writing in a sworn declaration submitted to Snyder, “Not only was I not in rehab or headed to rehab when it was published, but I also do not have a drinking problem.”
Steinem gets her own show
Gloria Steinem will host and produce a new television series on the Viceland network about the political impact of violence against women throughout the world.
Viceland said Monday that the series, which will be called “Woman,” will premiere on May 10.
As executive producer, Steinem is leading a team of all-female journalists working on the series. Planned episodes will report on sexual violence in the Congo, sexual assault within the U.S. military and extremism in Pakistan.
The network has been struggling to find an audience since launching two months ago.
Capital case on NCIS
Hey, isn’t that... actor Mark Harmon, aka Special Agent Gibbs of the hit show “NCIS,” poking around the White House’s northwest gate on Sunday? Our tipster, photojournalist Mark
Mathieson, recognized the 64-yearold actor — black jacket, and a scarf to match his silvery hair — and stopped for a picture and a chat. Harmon told Mathieson that “NCIS” would be filming Monday outside the White House and later inside the building.
The biggest news Harmon broke? First lady Michelle Obama will be part of a scene.