Moore’s defamation suit against Baron Cohen rejected
An appeals court on Thursday rejected a $95 million defamation lawsuit against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen filed by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who said he was tricked into a television appearance that lampooned sexual misconduct accusations against him.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, New York, upholding a lower court’s ruling in favor of Baron Cohen, said Moore signed a disclosure agreement that prohibited any legal claims over the appearance.
The three judges also found it was “clearly comedy” when Baron Cohen demonstrated a so-called pedophile detector that beeped when it got near Moore and no viewer would think the comedian was making factual allegations against Moore.
The lawsuit centered on Moore’s unwitting appearance on the comic’s “Who is America?” show. The segment ran after Moore faced misconduct accusations during Alabama’s 2017 U.S. Senate race that he had pursued sexual and romantic relationships with teens when he was a man in his 30s. He denied the allegations.
Rapper Gunna again denied bond in gang, racketeering case
A judge in Atlanta on Thursday denied bond for rapper Gunna, who’s charged with racketeering along with fellow rapper Young Thug and more than two dozen other people.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville had previously denied bond for Gunna, whose given name is Sergio Kitchens, and on Thursday held a hearing on the rapper’s request to reconsider that decision. Glanville said he worried Kitchens might threaten or intimidate witnesses if he were released ahead of trial. Prosecutors have said that Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is a founder of a violent street gang in Atlanta called Young Slime Life and that Kitchens has a management role within the gang. The 88-page indictment filed in May alleges the gang committed multiple murders, shootings and carjackings over roughly a decade and promoted its activities in songs and on social media.
In a statement released on his birthday last month, Kitchens proclaimed his innocence.