Big Picture
Good Morning, Nicki! Plus, Daniel Radcliffe works his magic and Bruce Jenner blasts to the past. Get 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 (699)
- Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Photos Galore! New Pics From Their Post-Twilight Flicks! (606)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (504)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (398)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (397)
- Twitter Name Change: Introducing @Ted_Casablanca (289)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
- Morning Mail! Céline Dion Talks Whitney Houston's Tragic Death (223)
Top 10 Stories
- Teen Mom's Amber Portwood Headed to Halfway House Drug Program
- Did Stephen Colbert Shut Down Report Due to Mother's "Serious Illness"?
- One Tree Hill's Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols Break Up
- Awkward Alert: Jon Stewart's Underwear Joke Hits Close to Home With David Letterman
- Jennifer Lopez Tweets, Then Deletes, Steamy Casper Smart Shot—Check It Out!
- Bobby Brown Rejoins New Edition Tour—Which Touches Down Near Whitney Houston's Funeral
- Gary Busey's Stuff Detailed for Bankruptcy Filing: VHS Tapes, Tepees and Tambourines
- Whitney Houston Remembered by Sparkle Producer: "Almost a Magic About Her"
- Miley Cyrus "Better Watch" Hunger Games, Says Liam Hemsworth
- Colbert Report Mystery Shutdown: Production Suspended Due to "Unforeseen Circumstances"
Fashion Police
Our Partners
Extreme Makeover Suit Bulldozed
This Extreme Makeover: Home Edition family's case is still in the fixer-upper stage.
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed the majority of the lawsuit brought by five siblings who no longer live in the home that was featured on the oft-heartwarming ABC reality series, but who allege that the network and the show's producers owe them a permanent residence.
In a lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior Court in August 2005, Charles II, Michael, Charis, Joshua and Jeremiah Higgins claimed that the Extreme Makeover brain trust, the construction company that built the house and the couple who now own it exploited their tragic circumstances for their own benefits.
The African-American brothers and sister, ages 14 to 21 at the time, were living on their own in a Downey, California, apartment when Firipele and Lokilani Leomiti, longtime friends of their deceased parents, invited them to move into their three-bedroom Santa Fe Springs home. The Samoan-American Leomiti household consisted beforehand of Firipele and Lokilani, their four children and a grandmother.
After Extreme Makeover got wind of the situation, made all the more compelling by the Leomitis' seeming generosity and compassion for the newly orphaned siblings, whose mom and dad died within two months of each other in 2004, the growing clan was treated to an extensive remodel that transformed their modest abode into a 4,276-foot dream home with nine bedrooms and six bathrooms.
All of which was chronicled in a tearjerker of a prime-time Easter special in 2005.
After the joyous unveiling, however, something went terribly wrong and the Higginses' relationship with the Leomitis unraveled around the time the episode aired. The siblings moved out and later claimed in their lawsuit that they were pretty much forced out—physically and mentally—of the house that their situation helped build.
The Higgins sued ABC and parent company Walt Disney Co., Firipele and Lokilani Leomiti, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's producers and the builder who did the work and paid off the mortgage, stating that they had been promised a "permanent" home and that the Leomitis engaged in an "orchestrated campaign to degrade and insult" them in order to get them to leave.
ABC countered by saying that it had inked a deal with the Leomitis and that they were not legally bound to any agreement with the Higginses.
Last week, L.A. Superior Court Judge Paul Gutman granted a motion for summary judgment, ruling that the Higginses had not proven their claims of breach of contract, fraud and infliction of emotional distress, in so doing dismissing the case against ABC, the producers and the builder.
The Leomitis remain defendants, however, per the Los Angeles Times, because the summary judgment only related to the business and contract-related portions of the suit.
The Leomitis' attorney, Robert English, told the Times that he remains confident that this development will only serve to help his clients.
Gutman's decision is "something we can bring to the court of appeal, and we will," English said.
Meanwhile, the children's lawyer, Patrick Mesisca Jr., said that he's planning to appeal.
0 Comments
Now loading...