Signs and Signals and Trashcans, Oh My! Astros Cheating Scheme Exposed

Sports scandals are not a foreign concept to fans, players, coaches, owners, and the like. For example, on March 2, 2012, the NFL announced it had evidence of the New Orleans Saints’ “bounty system that gave cash rewards for knocking [opposing players] out of games” during the 2009-2011 NFL seasons. Somewhat similar, MLB is experiencing something that, while less dangerous, is just as detrimental to the integrity of the sport.

Baseball catchers use signs and signals to determine what type of pitch will be thrown …

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Texas Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Former Cowboys’ Linebacker Robert Jones’ TMZ Libel Suit

The Texas Supreme Court agreed on Friday to review whether a lower court was correct in allowing former Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Robert Jones to sue TMZ and Warner Brothers for a story claiming he allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to kill his agent, Jordan Woy.

The initial story, released on the sports section of TMZ.com on June 18, 2014, stated that a 47-year-old man named Theodore Watson told police that Jones approached him and tried to hire him to kill his agent. Watson then …

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Update: MLB Player’s Libel Suit Against Al Jazeera

On May 31, 2018, Al Jazeera filed an opposition motion in the Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard libel lawsuit. As we have previously reported, MLB player’s, Zimmerman and Howard, sued Al Jazeera after a 2015 documentary called “The Dark Side: The Secrets of Sports Dopers” aired. The documentary accused the Zimmerman and Howard, and other professional athletes, of using performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s). While the two sides continue to battle over discovery, Zimmerman and Howard previously filed a motion to compel. In their motion, Zimmerman …

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Al Jazeera America Argues MLB Players Must Subpoena Reporter in Libel Suit

On November 6, 2017, Al Jazeera America LLC moved that it does not need to provide documents in response to the MLB players’ motion to compel the company to give information an undercover reporter gathered in 2015. The move is the latest in the libel case filed by MLB players Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard in January 2016 that alleged Al Jazeera America recklessly published the 2015 documentary “The Dark Side” and an accompanying article, and damaged their reputations.

The documentary revealed the use of …

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Joe No-Show: Libel Suit Against Wynn Las Vegas Dismissed

Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis’ libel suit against Steve Wynn of Wynn Las Vegas was dismissed by a California federal judge on Wednesday after an extended period of inactivity on the plaintiff’s end. The libel suit alleged that Wynn had made false accusations about Francis regarding an unpaid gambling debt. Wynn commented on the case, stating:

“Francis’ own statements and actions have made clear that he has no intention of taking this case to trial … Because Francis cannot travel to the United States,

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Manhattan Federal Jury Says Wall Street Wey Must Pay

After deliberating for just four hours, a federal jury in the Southern District of New York awarded former New York Global Group intern Hanna Bouveng $2,000,001 in compensatory damages. This comes after a 10-day trial in which Bouveng accused New York Global Group CEO Benjamin Wey of assault, battery, defamation, sexual harassment, and wrongfully retaliating against her by firing her after she cut off their sexual relationship. Wey denied Bouveng’s claims, instead alleging that she was fired for poor performance.

The jury was shown, …

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‘What Masie Knew’ Screenwriter Facing Libel-in-Fiction Suit by Ex

The movie “What Maisie Knew” has been commonly understood as being an adaptation of Henry James’ 1897 novel that shares the same name.  That work chronicled the bitter tale of a daughter caught between two parents in a custody battle between her biological parents.   On April 18, 2014, actress/musician Ronee Sue Blakley sued Carroll Cartwright, the film’s co-writer, alleging that the recent film adaptation of the piece was actually a defamatory portrayal of the former couple’s contentious custody battle that lasted over ten years.

In …

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Hoffman Friend Sues ‘National Enquirer” for Libel

There has been plenty of controversy and media hype over the apparent heroin overdose that caused the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Now David Bar Katz, a playwright friend of Hoffman’s, is suing the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, American Media, Inc., for libel over a recent story in the magazine which stated that Hoffman and Bar Katz were gay lovers, and that Bar Katz had witnessed Hoffman doing drugs on several occasions, including the night before Hoffman’s untimely death.

Bar Katz’s lawsuit …

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Tiger’s 2013 Grade: “C” for Cheater?

Chances are that Tiger Woods has never gotten an “F” on any test or examination in his life. After all, he’s won 79 PGA Tour events, is a 14-time major champion and, prior to turning professional, spent two years as an undergraduate at Stanford University, one of our nation’s most prestigious institutions. This is at least part of the reason that Brandel Chamblee’s 2013 season-in-review “report card”, published last week on Golf.com, in which he gave Woods a grade of “F” for the season, …

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