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Well, that's one less legal headache Howard K. Stern has to worry about.

With a criminal trial looming on the question of whether he conspired to drug Anna Nicole Smith, the lawyer has settled a $60 million defamation suit he filed against former MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby over a tawdry tome she wrote.

A petition for dismissal was filed on Friday, Stern attorney Steve Sadow confirms to E! News, but he would not comment further "pursuant to the terms of the settlement."

That sound you're hearing is the husky-voiced journo clearing her throat in relief.

Stern was seeking big bucks for several blockbuster allegations in Cosby's Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death that he insisted were outright lies.

Cosby falsely claimed Stern engaged in sexual romps with Smith's baby daddy Larry Birkhead and also suggested the former paternity foes hatched a secret deal in which Stern agreed to support Birkhead's eventually successful bid to gain custody over Dannielynn in exchange for the celebrity photographer backing Stern to remain as executor of the late Playmate's estate.

Earlier this year, Stern dropped similar defamation claims against former Smith bodyguard Mark Speer, whom Stern claimed was Cosby's main source. Stern is still seeking punitive damages against defendant Elizabeth "Jackie" Hatten, a sister of one of Smith's ex-beaus.

After all, he's got his own legal bills to pay.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller

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See little Dannielynn in her own gallery, Growing Up in Anna Nicole's Shadow.

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Jon Gosselin came bearing gifts. He left one giant step closer to losing a wife.

The artists otherwise known as Jon & Kate met face to face at a Pennsylvania law office on Saturday for a daylong arbitration meeting to essentially put a stake in their marriage.

Sources close to TLC's former fun couple say that the Gosselins closed in on finalizing custody arrangements for the eight and the division of assets. Jon even showed up with a bouquet of roses at the start of the meeting as a symbol of his newfound commitment to make things right.

But while Kate seemed amenable to the terms of their divorce, she left sans flowers.

The final episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (at least as we know it) airs Monday. Their marriage could be over before the new year.

(Originally published Nov. 21, 2009, at 8:33 p.m. PT)

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Revisit the demise of a reality-TV marriage in our Gory Gosselin Gossip gallery.

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Whoever said "everything leaves a paper trail" was damn right.

Dr. Conrad Murray has admitted to giving Michael Jackson the surgical anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, and police say they know where he got it.

According to additional search warrant documents released Friday, investigators found receipts in Murray's Nevada office showing that the cardiologist purchased five bottles the drug from a Las Vegas pharmacy on May 12 and had it mailed to the L.A. mansion Jackson was living in when he died a month later.

All of which should come as no shock to anyone, according to Murray's attorney.

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When Miley Cyrus' infamous slant-eyed photo leaked online, we knew there was going to be trouble. When a Los Angeles woman filed a class-action suit against the Disney star on behalf of her Asian brothers and sisters, we knew it was going to be a lengthy battle. But when it turned out she was seeking roughly $4 billion—yes, billion—in damages from the teen, we knew what outcome was inevitable.

In a win for common sense everywhere, an L.A. judge today threw out Lucie Kim's lawsuit, saying that while the photo may have been offensive, it didn't break any state laws.

Especially not the one Kim claimed it did.

In her complaint, Kim accused Cyrus of violating a statute that prohibits businesses from discriminating against minorities, specifically in terms of offering equal access to public accommodations.

And while Miley's clearly a budding empire, she's not, strictly speaking, a business. Or, so far as we know, offering shelter.

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Not paying your taxes for five years? Understandable. Going to prison for three years as a result? Totally unreasonable. At least according to Wesley Snipes' crack (but not that crack) defense team.

Attorneys for the Uncle Sam-dodging Blade star have filed an appeal against the actor's would-be imprisonment, calling the sentence "unreasonable" and claiming that his tax-evasion trial—which came to a close last February after Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a return—should have taken place in New York and not Florida.

Nevermind that the 47-year-old actor's housing records showed that he lived in both states or that his legal team had ample time prior to the years-in-the-making trial to seek the location swap.

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A blast from Britney Spears' past is going away for a while.

Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo who dated Spears at the height of her public meltdown two years ago, has been sentenced to 45 days in the slammer today stemming from a hit-and-run incident.

The 37-year-old shutterbug agreed to a plea deal to avoid deportation for running over a process server trying to deliver a restraining order on behalf of Spears' conservatorship. He ultimately wound up being permanently barred from further contact with the "Toxic" songbird.

Ghalib was immediately taken from the courtroom today to begin his jail time. After he gets out, he must complete 45 days of roadside trash pickup and 52 weeks of anger-management classes, as well as pay various fines and fees. And then he still has to deal with a civil suit from the run-in.

To paraphrase his former squeeze: Oops!

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Adnan's not the only one facing legal problems. Check out E! Online's Court Appearances photo gallery.

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Eddie Cibrian is a one-woman guy, and he's got the lawyers to prove it.

The soon-to-be divorced actor has followed through with his promise to sue Life & Style, filing a defamation suit against the magazine today for reporting that he's been two-timing girlfriend LeAnn Rimes.

"Since the separation from his wife, Eddie Cibrian has not had a romantic or sexual relationship with any woman other than Ms. Rimes," the lawsuit states.

Citing an online article from Nov. 4 ("Eddie's Cheating on LeAnn Already!") and a story in the Nov. 16 issue (a more detailed version of the same), Cibrian's camp accuses L&S of doing nothing to verify its story, which turned out to be "rife with demonstrably false accusations."

And that article, in turn, led to "hundreds of articles" alleging rampant infidelity on Cibrian's part, the suit alleges.

Sure, it was that article...

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Chris Brown is on the up and up.

At the singer's first checkup hearing since he was sentenced for attacking Rihanna in February, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg said she had received "an extremely favorable progress report" on him from the probation department.

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Let's just say this doesn't look good for the defense.

The surrogate mom who gave birth in July to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's twin girls took center stage today in her own courtroom drama. Michelle Ross testified in the criminal trial of an Ohio lawman accused of orchestrating a break-in at her home to dig up dirt he could then sell to the tabloids.

Ross said she learned of the alleged scheme by Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter from a paparazzo, who had come to town hoping to snag a picture of her while she was pregnant with the Sex and the City star's children.

She said she noticed someone had rifled through her belongings and, per the local WTOV-TV, some items were misplaced, including a plaster cast of her tummy when she was preggers with her own son, not Parker and Broderick's.

Ross, who refused to be videotaped or voice recorded while on the stand, also told the jury that ultrasound pictures and documents with tax information had disappeared.

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UPDATE: Andrews' accused stalker was in court Friday, where bail was raised to $100,000. Barrett was released on a bond after agreeing to return to house arrest.

The judge was reportedly planning to set bail at $20,000, but Andrews' attorney, Marshall Grossman, pointed out that Barrett had spent far more than that following his client around the country. She has suffered "severe anxiety" and other "psychological effects" due to Barrett's behavior, he said.

Andrews was on assignment in Nebraska and regrettably could not be in court, Grossman said.
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Big Brother may have been watching Erin Andrews more than she knew.

Michael David Barrett, the Illinois man accused of stalking the pretty ESPN reporter across state lines, didn't just allegedly invade her privacy and humiliate her in Tennessee, according to the FBI.

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UPDATE: Francis filed court documents Friday in a bid to have his accounts unfrozen, stating that the IRS "failed to follow statutory procedures, thus the levy is invalid."

The IRS should have given him notice and requested payment before seizing his money, the filing states.

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Think how much Joe Francis had to make to owe nearly $34 million in taxes for three years.

We thought the Girls Gone Wild founder's trouble with the IRS was over—but everyone's favorite government agency is after Francis again, saying he didn't pay federal income taxes in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

According to a tax lien filed today and obtained by TMZ...we're all in the wrong business.

Francis supposedly failed to fork over $17.7 million in 2001, $11.2 million in 2002 and $4.9 million in 2003. He tells TMZ that the feds have frozen his various accounts amounting to more than $100 million and that he's planning to file for personal bankruptcy tomorrow.

Barely two weeks ago, a judge approved a plea deal that allowed Francis to plead guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns over for engaging in some shady activity with his business revenue in 2002 and 2003, as well as one count of bribing Nevada jail workers.

He was sentenced to time served and a year of probation.

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It's cold outside, but it's not too late to appreciate our Hot Bods gallery. Joe Francis would.

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All was quiet on the Gosselin front—for a few days, anyway—but not anymore. And you have Kate Major to thank.

The tabloid reporter turned comically contracted personal assistant/romantic interest of Jon Gosselin is ready to launch a battle royale against the reality douche dad.

"One day this nightmare will hopefully end," she tweeted today. "If he would have told the TRUTH we wouldnt be in this position…."

You don't have to strain too hard to figure out the "he" to whom she's referring.

Major has already lawyered up in advance of a potential lawsuit, which, per RadarOnline, will include claims of breach-of-contract, fraud and loss of wages.

She claims that Gosselin apparently failed to make good on the hand-scrawled, half-baked terms of their contract, which promised Major a salary commensurate to her Star paycheck and "a percentage of accounts for payment based upon involvement."

Hey, Jon, ever feel like your best just isn't good enough?

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Ever wonder why Jon just can't keep his mouth shut? You're in luck, 'cause so did Answer B!tch—and she somehow got to the bottom of his bottomless trap.