Big Picture
Kate Upton Takes Cover Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (972)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (688)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (423)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (394)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (389)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- Twilight Director Talks Kristen Stewart and Ex Michael Angarano: "They Were Such a Great Couple" (261)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
Top 10 Stories
- Blake Lively Gets Restraining Order Against Man Who Wanted to "Guide" Her
- 19 Kids and Counting Alleged Extortion Plot: Singer Laughs Off "Intimate Photos"
- Rumer Willis' Hollywood Hills Home Burglarized
- Whitney Houston and Other Divas Who Died Too Soon
- Chris Brown Tweets to Haters After Grammy Win
- Whitney Houston Tribute: Watch LeAnn Rimes' Emotional Performance of "I Will Always Love You"
- Oprah Twitter Scandal! Winfrey Apologizes After Soliciting Nielsen Viewers to Watch OWN
- Glee Scoop: There's a New Love Triangle Going Down!
- The Voice vs. American Idol: This Is War
- Chris Brown's Grammy Lovefest Slammed by Miranda Lambert, Jack Osbourne, Eric Stonestreet, More
Fashion Police
Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
Combs Beat-Down Case Headed to Trial
Sean Combs is going to face the music.
A Los Angeles judge has set May 27 as the start date for a civil case filed by a California man, who contends he was assaulted by the rap impresario at a Hollywood nightclub last year.
The news comes after Tuesday hearing and following the depositions of four witnesses, all of whom testified under oath that Combs punched Gerald Rechnitzer around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2007. The alleged slugging took place after the two left a post-Oscar bash at chic night spot Teddy's at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The hip-hop entrepreneur—who recently dropped his Diddy moniker in favor of Sean John, after his clothing label—supposedly roughed up Rechnitzer in a parking lot outside the club and after Rechnitzer confronted Combs for chatting up his fiancée, Sofia Sokolov.
According to court documents filed last week, four witnesses deposed by Rechnitzer's attorney, Michael M. Marzban supported Rechnitzer's version of events.
One, Marianna Ruiz, said that she and her friends were "just standing around and not paying attention" when she saw the "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" emcee strike Rechnitzer's face unprovoked with the back of his right hand, causing him to "go flying" backwards.
"What caught my attention the most was I saw Mr. Combs reach back towards his left hand and socked Gerard in the face," Ruiz stated.
Another bystander, Michael Sherman, said in his deposition that the two men were staring each other down when "all of a sudden...Sean said something stupid like, 'I'm going to smack fire out of your [ass].'
"And then all of a sudden, he hit him. And there was a taxi behind Gerard. Gerard got knocked into the taxi."
Sherman added that Combs, surrounded by his entourage, then turned his attention to Ruiz and spat in her direction when she started screaming at him.
The third witness was Sokolov. The model and aspiring actress recalled that the Bad Boy mogul yelled as she and Rechnitzer walked away.
"He got angry and said, 'What the f--k are you looking at?' " she testified.
The fourth person, Nick Bregman, said he saw Rechnitzer falling backwards after the punch.
"I didn't necessarily see where he went," Bergman said. "It was kind of shocking at the moment that that occurred."
Following the incident, Rechnitzer filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department. But after a brief investigation, no charges were filed.
Attorneys for both sides declined to comment Tuesday, citing pending litigation.
In November, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges after probing a reported dustup that took place a month earlier at a New York nightclub between the Grammy winner and a 31-year-old man named Steven Acevedo. Again, the incident involved a woman.
Combs was also sued for $5 million by a 27-year-old hip-hop promoter who claimed he was beaten up by his bodyguards. That case is pending.
0 Comments
Now loading...