Chris Weeks/WireImage.comIt seems like forever ago—at least in Hollywoodland—that DJ AM was engaged to Nicole Richie. But for the famed record spinner and club owner, it seems to be the relationship that keeps on giving...major headaches.
The disgruntled scenester, whose actual name is Adam Goldstein, has sued the New York Daily News for libel and false-light invasion of privacy, alleging that a June 22 article published online and in print about his lack of earning prowess since he and Richie split is a darned falsehood. (View the lawsuit.)
"DJ AM's career has continued to thrive," states the lawsuit filed June 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The Daily News suggested that the music man was no longer commanding his usual six-figure sum for party gigs and that the major clubs in Miami and the Hamptons haven't been seeking him out now that he's no longer attached to a famous feminine name.
He and Richie broke up in 2006 after about three years together. A short period of stepping out with Mandy Moore followed.
The complaint continues: "Even though a minimal amount of research would have, at the very least, caused Daily News to have entertained serious doubts about the credibility of its supposed source(s), Defendants appear to have elected time to publish the sloppy and false Article."
The paper also never asked Goldstein or his reps for comment, and no retraction or follow-up was ever published after their camp informed the paper, "in no uncertain terms," that it was unhappy with the article.
The suit goes on to detail just how busy he's been—he will be performing at Mansion in Miami this month and has five separate gigs in the Hamptons between June and August, according to 14 copied pages from his MySpace site that were also included in the filing. Then it's off to Europe in September for more trading on his good name.
Plus, there's all that fame he acquired on his own, regardless of his previous entanglement with Richie: He owns the Hollywood hot spot LAX and, per the suit, he's done scratch work for Madonna, Will Smith and Papa Roach albums and performed at private parties for Kate Hudson, Jim Carrey, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Stiller, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.
Goldstein is seeking at least $10 million in damages, plus a permanent injunction against further dissemination of infauxmation included in the Daily News article.