andPOP » extortion

Oksana Grigorieva: Extortionist or Not?

Jacob Morris — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 21:47:37 +0000

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According to TMZ, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is getting some extra help from law professors and lawyers in order to essentially make an official call on if Oksana Grigorieva tried to extort Mel Gibson with the recordings or not.

Oksana’s story is that she only used the recordings as part of the negotiation, with no intent to blackmail Gibson in order to get some cash. The other side of the story is that Oksana tried to use the tapes to, well, clean out Gibson’s bank account.

In order to determine once and for all if Oksana should be charged with extortion, the Sheriff’s Department investigation is calling in help to make sure they have it right. They are currently processing the evidence involved, like Oksana’s iPhone, and are about two weeks away from officially turning the case over to the L.A. County District Attorney.

What do you think? Is Oksana an extortionist, or is she telling the truth?

Tila Tequila’s Sex Tape Drama

Megan MacKay — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:49:31 +0000

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Are people EVER going to learn that taking off their skivvies is going to result in mucho extortion in their future?

The latest victim of the sex tape fame machine is everyone’s favourite dirty Myspace ho, Tila Tequila. Apparently one of Tequila’s ex-boyfriends has dug up some old family vacation footage and, to put it delicately, there’s some P-inside-of-V action.

“He said he’ll put out the tape unless I pay him $75,000,” Tila told Radar Online, apparently flabbergasted at her ex-lover’s “audacity to not only betray me…but to use [the tape] to exploit me and hurt me.”

75K, Tila? Surely the royalties from your radio-ready hit “Stripper Friends” can cover that! …no? Well, how about your Shot at Love cash? …wow, you don’t have that either? Yikes!

Tequila has hired a small army of lawyers to tackle the extortion case adding that she will “make sure he goes to jail for this.”

It’s not that Tila is against starring in the skin flicks – quite the opposite! She’s actually just settled a deal with mega porn empire Vivid Entertainment to star in one of their upcoming masterpieces.

Hmm, could the homemade footage have captured Tila doing something extra nasty? What do you think?

John Travolta Drops Charges in Extortion Case

Megan MacKay — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:34:10 +0000

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John Travolta has dropped the charges in an extortion case against two men who were allegedly attempting to milk millions from the actor.

TMZ reports that the accused, Tarino Lightbourne and Pleasant Bridgewater, tried to get a payout in exchange for an “ambulance waiver secret” from the day of Jett Travolta’s death.

Jett, Travolta’s teenage son, passed away on vacation in the Bahamas last year after sustaining head injuries during a seizure.

Travolta’s legal woes with the two men have been long and complicated. Last year the case declared a mistrial due to jury misconduct after an MP openly announced details of the trial at a political convention. It has been rumored that there were negotiations for a plea bargain as early as a few weeks ago, but now it seems as though John is eager to move on from the case.

We certainly hope he does. Losing a son is difficult enough without becoming a victim of extortion over details surrounding his death. Stay strong, J-Travz!

UPDATE: TMZ has released a statement from the actor. Travolta explains “the long pending status of [the case] continued to take a heavy emotional toll on my family causing us to conclude that is was finally time to put this matter behind us.” He also mentions that his family is “thankful to the people of the Bahamas for the friendship, love, and support they provided to us during this matter.” Sounds like John and his family are finally taking the next step in the healing process.

Jon Gosselin Threatened To Report Kate Gosselin to Child Protective Services

andPOP Staff — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:09:37 +0000

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Yet more evidence of Jon Gosselin’s douchiness and how all the former women in his life hate his guts.

RadarOnline.com reports that Jon Gosselin threatened wife Kate Gosselin that he would report her to Child Protective Services unless she paid him some cash. Hailey Glassman, Jon’s former girlfriend, has leaked the story to RadarOnline with all the juicy details.

Glassman says: “We were in bed and Jon called Kate on speaker phone. He wrote down what he wanted to say to her and then he read from his notes. He told her, ‘You either give me money, or I’m going to call CPS [Child Protective Services].’” Part of the plan came from Jon and Kate’s daughter Maddy hurting her arm; Jon threatened to tells authorities Kate harmed the 9-year-old.

On some of Jon’s hand written notes, he refers to himself in the third person. Some excerpts of the notes include “Jon giving Kate ultimatums. He privately extorts Kate. If you don’t do what I want, I’ll do this.” Another says, “Need 50k or 100k now. 24/48 hours or I’ll go to DA [district attorney].”

You gotta love and hate this guy!

John Stamos’ Extortionists Found Guilty

Jacob Morris — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:08:12 +0000

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Allison Coss and Scott Sippola were found guilty of their alleged extortion of the John Stamos on Thursday, reports People.com. The couple told Stamos that they had photos of him with cocaine, among other things, that they were going to sell to the tabloids. They wanted $860,000 for pictures that didn’t even exist according to federal prosecutors.

Following the courts guilty verdict yesterday, the actor took to his Twitter account to release a statement condemning them.

“I am shocked and perplexed how individuals could fabricate so many false stories in an effort to defend a crime. I agreed to be a witness for a federal criminal prosecution and endured countless false accusations about my behavior and appropriateness,” he wrote. “The allegations made regarding an inappropriate relationship are completely untrue. These slanderous allegations to smear my reputation were part of their defense to redirect attention away from the federal crime of extortion.”

Stamos was there to testify in court and is glad that they have received what was coming to them. Stamos’ statement continues, “They lied about everything from a pregnancy to compromising photos. I’m grateful these two criminals have been found guilty and I plan to go home to be with my family and friends and prepare to get back to work.”

Oksana Grigorieva Trying To Extort Millions of Dollars from Mel Gibson Over Tapes

andPOP Staff — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:58:41 +0000

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TMZ reports that sources say Oksana tried to extort millions of dollars from Mel Gibson for keeping the tapes secret.

Sources say Oksana wanted over $10 Million and there is a long trail of evidence to support her intentions of blackmail, including emails and other “physical evidence.”

Mel’s lawyers will be meeting with the L.A. Sheriff’s Department to present the evidence of extortion. They are hoping the police will launch a criminal investigation into Oksana’s plan.

Mel Gibson’s Lawyers to Claim Extortion Against Oksana Grigorieva

Jacob Morris — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:31:44 +0000

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As the story behind Mel Gibson’s alleged crimes (including domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon) against Oksana Grigorieva continues to be discovered, the plot just keeps thickening.

TMZ is reporting that Gibson’s lawyers are going to meet with the Sherriff’s Department to not only present evidence that they hope will clear Mel’s name, but also claim that Oksana attempted to extort the actor.

Sources tell TMZ that the lawyers’ presentation will include evidence indicating that Oksana told Mel that she would sell him the tapes of their arguments (presumably to keep everything quiet), and also that she has made several false statements to authorities.

Though the presentation will focus on claiming Gibson’s innocence, TMZ’s sources also say that the lawyers will be asking for a criminal investigation of Oksana for alleged extortion and making false statements to law enforcement.

David Letterman Extortionist Wants a Deal

andPOP Staff — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:50:27 +0000

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The extortionist in the David Letterman blackmail case wants a deal. Perezhilton.com reports that Robert Halderman has offered to take a sentence of 1 year (opposed to 15 years) for a plea of guilty. In case you don’t remember, Robert Halderman attempted to blackmail Letterman for $2 million dollars as he was threatening to produce a screenplay based on Letterman’s sexual affairs with female staff employees.

Halderman is currently out on $200,000 bail. He claims that he needed the money to see his son who had moved to Colorado with his ex-wife.

Travolta Extortion Case Twists and Turns

Emma Renda — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:21:37 +0000

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As if the Travolta courtcase wasn’t cinematic enough already, his lawyer has adopted some choice moves from the movies to help move the trial along.

According to TMZ, the defense attorney tried to claim Travolta’s lawyer Michael McDermott was the one behind the extortion plot to which – and this is when it gets good – McDermott responded, “You can’t handle the truth! You can’t handle the truth!”

The line is straight out of A Few Good Men starring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, and the defense lawyer didn’t miss the reference.

The lawyer for the alleged extortionists replied, “You’ve watched ‘A Few Good Men,’ huh?”

The twist in the case came when a transcript was released of a conversation between McDermott and Pleasant Bridgewater, alleged extortionist and attorney for paramedic Tarino Lightbourne. The document shows the two haggling over what the Travoltas would pay to prevent the release of a “Refusal of Treatment” document Travolta allegedly signed the night of Jett’s death. In the transcript, McDermott complains that the demands for $25 million would mean Travolta would have to come up with “like a pickup truck full of money,” and proceeds to offer property instead of the cash.

The whole tragic ordeal started when Travolta’s son, Jett, was taken to hospital via ambulance after suffering a massive seizure in the Bahamas, despite Travolta’s urge to have him flown to Florida where he thought he might get better care. In the end, Jett was driven to hospital, and paramedics tried to revive him on the way with no result. Allegedly, Lightbourne and Bridgewater demanded $25 million if they were to keep quiet about the document authorizing Jett’s transport to the hospital via ambulance.

Travolta claims the two threatened to release a “refusal of treatment” document he signed after Jett was found unconcious following a seizure. Then, in a last-ditch excuse, Bridgewater told McDermott her client wanted to keep the document because it was signed by a celebrity.

Travolta gave a heart-wrenching testimony on Sept. 23 and the case is still developing.

John Travolta Plans to Testity

Vanessa Baker — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:10:34 +0000

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John Travolta will testify in next week’s extortion trial involving the death of his son, Jett. TMZ reports the actor will be travelling to the Bahamas, the location of Jett’s death, to testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former politician Pleasant Bridgewater are being tried for allegedly demanding $25 million in exchange for not going public with documents authorizing paramedics to take Jett to the hospital via ambulance following a seizure.

Travola and wife Kelly Preston are reportedly outraged by the alleged extortion plot.

Jett, 16, died of a seizure in January during a family vacation to the Bahamas.