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He’s one of Hollywood’s most promising rising stars, and this past Friday Shia LaBeouf was spotted on his way to tape a segment for Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” stud sported a blue Dodgers hoodie along with a ballcap and a pair of belted trousers with sneakers as he strolled down the street.
For the first time since his rollover accident, Shia LaBeouf was spotted back behind the wheel in Glendale on Saturday afternoon (August 23).
Enjoying time away from the set of the “Transformers” sequel, Shia proudly took his mother and father for a drive in his classic 1975 Checker Marathon car.
By all reports Morgan Freeman is doing significantly better than hoped after his serious car accident late Sunday evening. The final assessment of his injuries is that he has a broken elbow, broken arm, and some sort of “shoulder damage,” according to his rep. Considering he was in a rollover accident, it sounds like he got pretty lucky.
Morgan Freeman is on the mend after a Sunday night car crash that resulted in his being airlifted to a hospital in Memphis.
“Morgan is doing well after his surgery last night to reconnect nerves and repair damage in his left arm and hand,” his spokesperson, Donna Lee, said in a statement Tuesday.
“The surgery last night lasted four and a half hours. He’s visiting with family this morning. As of this morning he’s up and walking around and looking forward to his release in a few days.”
Freeman, 71, was driving in Mississippi’s Tallahatchie County when the accident occurred. Extracted from the wreck by emergency crews using the jaws of life, the Dark Knight actor was said to be “in good spirits” Monday after he reached the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where his surgery took place.
[From People]
Despite initial reports that Freeman might have fallen asleep at the wheel, it’s now being speculated that heavy rain caused the accident. According to someone who lives near the accident scene, the car skidded on the slick road and flipped multiple times, before landing upright in a ditch that had at least eight inches of water.
There were also gardening tools, recipes, herbs, and spices scattered around the accident scene. The neighbor also said that Freeman was initially unconscious but came to very quickly and was talking to emergency personnel. It sounds like he should be okay and out of the hospital relatively quickly.
Here’s Morgan Freeman with Jack Nicholson at the premiere of “The Bucket List” in Paris on July 17th. Images thanks to Fame.
Shia LaBeouf’s hand injury was pretty significant. Though it was obviously more than a simple broken bone – he was in surgery right after his car crash last Sunday – his lawyer Michael Norris released a statement today saying that his hand was completely crushed when his truck flipped over.
Several stories this week talked about how his injury was being written into the Transformers storyline, but I assumed that was because he’d be in a cast for a really long time. Now I’m wondering if his going to be slightly disfigured or something.
“As you know, Shia was involved in a traffic collision last Sunday. He and his passenger were struck by another vehicle, as Shia was completing a left turn. The force of that impact immediately flipped Shia’s vehicle over, and, as a result, Shia’s left hand was crushed.
Shia underwent four hours of surgery on Sunday and has been recovering since then. His doctors remain hopeful that he will fully recover, but due to extensive surgery and the nature of the injuries, there remains a substantial risk of both infection and other complications.
Shia’s left arm remains fully immobilized from the elbow down, and he will need regular medical supervision until his doctors clear him to return to work. We are hopeful that this return will be sooner rather than later, and the ‘Transformers 2′ production company has rearranged their shooting schedule to accommodate this injury. We remain very grateful for their understanding.
[From OK! Magazine]
E! noted that before the extent of Shia’s injuries were known (pre-crush, as they put it), Paramount Pictures was saying it’d be about a month before he’d return to work. Presumably it’ll be longer since it’s a much more serious injury.
LaBeouf’s rep wouldn’t confirm reports that he left the hospital yesterday, but it seems that he likely did. Five full days in the hospital is pretty significant for a limb injury. Most of us have had a couple of broken bones over the years, but this sounds a hell of a lot worse.
Transformers director Michael Bay told Access Hollywood he warned Shia to be careful when he got a new motorcycle days before the crash, telling him, “‘If you crash, you put 1,500 people out of work.’” Unfortunately it seems like that happened anyway.
Here’s Shia at the Hot Rod premiere in Hollywood in July 2007. Header of Shia at the “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” premiere in New York City on May 20th. Images thanks to PR Photos.
The National Enquirer reports that in 1975 Lynne Spears ran over a 12-year-old boy and killed him. Lynne, then 20, was rushing to the hospital with her brother, who had some kind of unspecified injury. According to the Enquirer, the guilt still haunts Lynne and she generally refuses to talk about it.
The ENQUIRER exclusively reveals Britney Spears’ mom Lynne is hiding a shocking secret tragedy. The mother of the pop star ran over a bike-riding young boy with her car and killed him! The accident occurred in 1975, and Lynne Spears is still haunted by the death of the 12-year-old boy.
“To this day, Lynne hasn’t gotten over what she did. She gets that terrified look in her eye when she is thinking about it,” said a source close to the Spears family.
“She has told only a few people about the accident and always says, ‘Please don’t think I’m a bad person.’” Lynne was 20 when the tragedy occurred in her hometown of Kentwood, La., during the same year she married Jamie Spears. When the accident happened, Britney’s mom was driving her brother to the hospital after he’d suffered an injury.
“It bothers Lynne still to this day,” said a representative for Lynne Spears. “She really doesn’t like to talk about it. She just wanted to forget that it ever happened - but she can’t.”
[From the National Enquirer]
What an incredibly sad story, and how incredibly tragic for the boy’s family. When I was five my best friend’s dad accidentally ran him over when he was playing in the driveway. He managed to live but was in a full body cast for over a year. Even as a little kid, I remember being overwhelmed by how obviously grief-stricken and inconsolable his father was. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to know you caused the death of a child.
Unfortunately Lynn Spears has a good deal of company when it comes to famous people involved in severe car crashes. Actress Rebecca Gayheart (wife of Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. McSteamy, Eric Dane) killed nine-year-old Jorge Cruz Jr. in 2001 when she was driving. Wikipedia notes that, “several cars stopped to let him go, [but] Gayheart swerved around them and into a two-way left-turn lane, striking the boy.” Apparently Gayheart was busy talking on her cell phone and couldn’t wait.
In 2000 Halle Berry was involved in a hit-and-run which resulted in back injuries to her victim. She was sued and performed community service. Singer/actress Brandy caused a major pileup on an L.A. freeway in December of 2006 which killed a woman – charges were never filed.
Prison Break actor Lane Garrison got into a drunken car crash in 2007 that resulted in the death of one of his 17-year-old passengers. He was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving and sentenced to 40 months in prison. And Matthew Broderick got into a car accident in 1987 while in Ireland with then-girlfriend Jennifer Grey, which resulted in the death of two women. He wasn’t charged with a crime but did have to pay the victims’ families $175.
Conservative political journalist Robert Novak was involved in a hit and run in Washington D.C. today. Novak has worked most frequently with CNN but has also appears on other networks and writes the longest running syndicated political column in the US. He was driving his black Corvette (you read that right) to work this morning when he ran into a man who was crossing the street. Novak kept driving right along, claiming that he didn’t feel, hear, or notice a thing. Pedestrians and bicyclists chased his car and caught up to him at the next intersection.
Journalist Robert Novak hit a pedestrian with his car in the nation’s capital Wednesday morning, Washington police Lt. Michael Lockerman said. Novak continued driving, unaware he had hit the man, he told told reporters for WJLA-TV and the Web site Politico as he got out of a police car.
“I didn’t know I hit anybody,” he said near the scene of the incident at 17th and K streets in northwest Washington. “A bicycle rider stopped me and said I had hit someone.” Novak said he was cited for failure to yield right of way.
[From CNN]
Novak is known as the “Prince of Darkness” – not just because that’s the title of his memoirs, but also because he has a very angry way about him. Something about the eyebrows. Oh, and the way he yells and carries on. And his countenance. So pretty much his whole personality.
You’ll remember that Novak was the jerk who outed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in his column back in 2003. He’s also said he “relished” attending a cockfight in Puerto Rico and that America has “too damn many” anti-cruelty statutes protecting animals.
TMZ has a much better write-up than CNN (not a sentence I ever thought I’d say), including an interview with Novak.
Novak tells us he was listening to NPR in his Corvette when suddenly, “Some guy came up and hit my car with his fist. I figured I had done something that had created road rage, but I didn’t know what it was. Then a bicyclist blocked the road in front of me. I asked what the problem was. He said, ‘You can’t just hit people and run away!’”
Novak says the cops came, put him “briefly” in the back of the police car and asked about what he heard at the time of impact. Novak told them and us that he didn’t hear or feel anything. They asked if he had been drinking or on a cellphone. He answered “no” to both.
Novak, who was citied for failing to yield, says he won’t fight the ticket, adding, “I assume witnesses are telling the truth.” And we asked him about his comments back in 2001 — that he hates jaywalkers and thought about running them over. He responded, “I’ve said a lot of things I shouldn’t have said.”
[From TMZ]
True that, Bob. What I find second most confusing about this whole thing is the idea that one of the most conservative talking heads in the nation was listening to NPR. Which makes me wonder what else he’s lying about.
See, England? This is what happens when you let your stupid royal family continue to exist into the 21st Century. "Britain's Prince Harry has been accused of taking part in a 100 mph car chase in the British county of Berkshire, police say. In an official police complaint, 33-year-old Tim Williams alleged that royal protection officers forced him to drive at unsafe speeds by tailgating his car as the prince was traveling to an area nightclub, The Mail on Sunday reported.
"'It was very close. I thought they were going to nudge me. It was frightening. The middle lane was busy so I couldn't pull back in,' Williams said.
"Williams said the driver of a Range Rover who forced him to speeds of nearly 100 mph appeared to be attempting to catch up to a speeding Audi which had passed him. Williams alleged that when he caught up with both vehicles in traffic, he saw Harry in the Audi's passenger seat.
"Williams said he knows the prince needs protection, but he criticized the royal convoy for frightening his family. 'It was really dangerous and I'm furious that they think they can drive like this just because of who they are,' he told the Mail." [UPI]
Adding another black mark to her already sub-par driving record, Britney Spears was involved in a minor car accident Tuesday afternoon in Beverly Hills.
According to press reports, the Gimme More singer rear-ended a red Ford Explorer, with a witness telling People magazine: “I think she was just distracted. She just tapped the other car in front of her.”
When Jack Kliger took over Elle and Hachette's other US titles in 1999, he established himself as one of the magazine industry's few multimedia visionaries. The former Conde Nast publisher pushed Hachette's content onto EchoStar's interactive TV platform; Hachette's Car and Driver teamed up with the USA Network to produce a reality show spin-off of Cannonball Run, the cross-country car-race movie. And, when Hachette closed Elle Girl and Premiere magazines but kept their websites going, Kliger the charmer spun the cost-cutting exercise as an embrace of online media. So how's that going? Try utter disaster. We've been getting reports all day that the group has laid off almost its entire online staff. And here's one good reason: even Hachette's most successful online properties have the reach of a mid-sized blog, according to previously undisclosed web stats. (Oh, yes, and Hachette's Elle is about to lose its cherished role on Project Runway, the fashion-industry reality show.) If the future of magazines is some multimedia magic, as Kliger has been saying for a decade, Hachette has not much of a future; nor the Hachette boss himself.
First of all, the layoffs. There is no official word yet, but we're hearing from inside that up to 20 people have gone, including executive Matthew Rosenberg; Joyann King, fashion editor at ElleGirl.com; Holly Seigal, senior editor of Ellegirl.com; and Dei Lewison, producer of the Elle websites. (There's no word on the former store salesman boyfriend whom insiders said Elle's self-promoting creative director, Joe Zee, installed at the fashion magazine's website.) The casualties were called to a meeting at 10.30 and then left to stew for quarter of an hour before digital boss Todd Anderman breezed in to fire them.
Another casualty is Glenn Kenny, whom Kliger talked up so much when he shut down the US edition of Premiere, the entertainment magazine. When the title was shuttered, Kliger said Kenny—the magazine's "most recognizable name"—would remain as an online movie critic and blogger. Kliger told the Wall Street Journal: "We saw trend lines for both ELLEgirl.com and Premiere.com moving in very positive, healthy directions, and we didn't necessarily feel that the print versions, which were not trending in a reasonable timeline toward profitability, enhanced what the digital versions were providing." So, why the cutbacks at a division which Kliger said would provide Hachette with over 20% of its revenues and most of its advertising growth?
First of all, Hachette has always been an abortion of a magazine company. It was a rag-tag collection of also-ran titles put together by David Pecker, now busy losing money at American Media. The company is owned by a dysfunctional French conglomerate, which never gave Kliger the resources or authority he needed to make the group a significant player. Much of Kliger's talk—about grand web plans—was just designed to bamboozle credulous journalists who might otherwise see a marginal magazine group in decline. Earlier in his tenure, Kliger was said to be much loved by his French bosses. More recently, we heard the relationship had broken down. "I'd heard the French were rats," he's known to complain. "But now I know."
Second, it's experiencing the same pressure to cut costs that is affecting other print publishing groups—except more so. Lagardere, the French company which owns Hachette, recently disclosed its US revenues were flat—and that was not even counting the revenues sacrificed when Premiere folded. The firm is moving out of the 40th floor of its Manhattan headquarters to save on rent; business trips have been curtailed; and editors are forced to print stories from inventory because editorial budgets do not allow new commissions.
Third, the grand multimedia experiment has been an utter failure. The early experiments with interactive TV were dismal, predictably. But nor have Kliger's more recent investments in branded web titles such as Premiere.com fulfilled the promise he saw for them. Hachette recently allowed Quantcast, a web measurement firm, to monitor traffic. Those numbers are not protected by a password. All the Hachette website put together garner no more than 200-250,ooo unique visitors per day; one of the biggest, Elle's website, only attracts of the order of 60,000. Embarrassing.
Hachette hasn't said whether it will be replacing any of the staff let go today. "There is no stability here, no one knows what's going on or what is happening," says a tipster. Elle, Car and Driver and various other titles certainly have some sort of following, even if exaggerated by pay-for-praise public relations interns. Their economic value may be better realized in some other media group, if anyone is still buying. As for Kliger himself, the tittle-tattle is that his contract is coming up for renewal—and it won't be.
[Photo shows Kliger with his former mistress, speaking coach Amy Griggs, and daughter.]
She made the mistake of going for a spin while under the influence of alcohol on Friday night. And now, Lucille Gatchell is on her way to facing the consequences.
As previously reported by Gossip Girls, the 64-year-old alleged drunk driver from Gloucester, Massachusetts rammed into actress Sandra Bullock and Jesse James to kick off the weekend.
A stunt driver delivering a rare Aston Marton to the set of the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, is in good condition after the $240,000 car slipped off the bend of a steep road. The driver was treated at the hospital and released with a heavily bruised ego and minor superficial bruises. Fireman came to his aid after the car slipped and plunged 55m to the bottom of Garda in Italy. The car was the only one of its kind available for the film, and it’s unknown how producers will replace it.
The last James Bond film was plagued by stories questioning the new blond Bond Daniel Craig’s fitness for the part. He had two of his teeth knocked out while filming his first fight scene for Casino Royale, he suffered prickly heat on set, he said he hated speedboats and guns, and he was so clueless at playing cards that he couldn’t even fake his way through the poker scenes at first. (A rumor that he couldn’t even drive stick shift turned out to be false.) Craig proved no matter how much people might make fun of him he was more than capable of turning in a solid, kick ass performance. The same could not be said for his first Bond girl, Eva Green, who I found annoying and unable to act. At least her character won’t exist for the next installment.
Quantum of Solace is due out later this year. Olga Kurylenko plays Bond girl Camille, a Russian-Bolivian agent, and Gemma Arterton stars as MI6 Agent Fields.
Here are stills from the film, thanks to AllMoviePhoto. Craig and his co-stars Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterto are also shown at a press conference.
[Crash details from Telegraph.co.uk and News.com.au]
Sandra Bullock and her husband, Monster Garage host Jesse James, were in a head-on collision in Gloucester, Massachusetts on Friday. A member of Bullock’s security team was driving a rented SUV near the East Gloucester Square Laundry when 64-year-old Lucille Gatchell – who was drunk of her ass - crossed lanes in her a Subaru wagon and veered into oncoming traffic. She slammed her car head first into Bullock and James’ SUV. Luckily they were only doing about 15-20 mph at the time, and walked away unhurt.
Gloucester - The alleged drunken driver involved in a head-on collision with an SUV carrying actress Sandra Bullock failed four field sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit, police said. The accident brought gawkers with flash cameras into the streets of Gloucester and prompted global headlines. Many expressed relief that the sweetheart actress avoided injury in the ugly episode.
“Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Her speech was extremely slurred as she spoke.” Hussey [Bullock’s driver] “was trying to avoid her car, but it was in his lane,” Mackey said yesterday. During sobriety tests, Gatchell nearly fell over three times while trying to walk nine steps and turn, the report states. A Breathalyzer test recorded Gatchell’s blood-alcohol level as .20, more than twice the legal limit of .08, the report states.
“After I arrested her, I had her in the cruiser,” said Mackey. “I said, ‘Do you realize who you hit? She asked, ‘Who?’ I said, ‘Sandra Bullock.’ She was almost giggling and laughing. She said, ‘My first drunk driving and I hit Sandra Bullock.’
[From the Boston Herald]
What a jackass thing to say. And do. Unfortunately Ms. Gatchell was released on her own recognizance from jail. The police officer interviewed by the Herald noted that Sandra seemed very concerned for the drunken woman who could have killed her – even though Ms. Gatchell seemed to find the whole situation pretty damn funny.
“She was very concerned about the lady in the other car. She said, ‘Is she OK? Is she OK?’ ” said Mackey. “After I arrested (Gatchell), I walked past Miss Bullock. She felt bad. You could tell by the look on her face.”
[From the Boston Herald]
I’m so disgusted by that woman’s response I can’t even come up with anything decent to say. It’s probably due to the state of massive inebriation, but since Lucille Gatchell chose to drink she’s responsible for everything she does and says thereafter. Obviously the accident could have been much worse, and it’s very lucky that everyone in Sandra Bullock’s vehicle came out unscathed. Hopefully Ms. Gatchell will choose to make better decisions in the future.
Here’s Lucile Gatchell, who was charged with operating under the influence and marked lane violations. Header of Sandra between scenes while filming ‘The Proposal’ in Rockport, MA on April 10th. Images thanks to Splash.
Actress Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James were involved in a non-injury accident with a drunk driver on Friday night (April 18) while out in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
According to People magazine, “(Sandra and Jesse) were being driven home for the evening around 9:50 p.m. when a gray Subaru station wagon jumped lanes on East Main Street and smashed into their front end.”
If you focus hard enough, you can almost see the car
Do they gives Oscars for commercials? WENN says:
Models on location at a car wash (Los Angeles, California), being filmed for a new tanning advertisement to be shown on American television channel E! (4.7.08)
Too “pro” for me. I’m a bit partial to my local bikini car wash. The soap, the suds, the bikini-clad 16-year-old asking me why I’m getting my car washed for the third time today. The pictures from my hidden dash-cam came out blurry from the first two trips silly!
[WENN]
We’ve heard of them badgering celebrities to the point that they almost cause a car accident, but never anything like this! Last night, Lily Allen’s car window was shattered by a shutterbug.
Reportedly, the “Smile” singer was partying at the Groucho Club in London, England when she was notified that her brand-spanking-new BMW had been attacked by a disgruntled paparazzo.
Comfortably dressed in her pajamas, Rachel Bilson was spotted out in Los Feliz while taking care of a little grocery shopping at Albertson’s.
Hopefully the former OC actress didn’t forget to get ready, as she recently spoke to Playboy magazine about a car accident which she blames for her memory loss.
How excited is Robert Thomson to come to America to be the publisher of the Wall Street Journal? Possibly he has some mixed feelings! In a January, 2001 Business Week profile, Rupert Murdoch's boy actually savaged his new home. Thomson was at the FT then, and said that the Journal is best on cute little stories like ''midsize companies doing middling deals in the Midwest." Comparing the FT to the WSJ? "It's a Lexus-Taurus thing." We figure either he really does think the WSJ is a pile of crap—or he just likes to trash-talk because he's Australian, and therefore doesn't mean anything he says.
The Financial Times Takes On the World [BW]
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Lindsay Lohan
TMZ.com: The busboy who is suing Lindsay Lohan -- alleging she was drunk when she crashed her Mercedes into his van back in 2005 -- may have found the proof he needs. TMZ got a hold of Lindsay's bill from the Ivy restaurant, where the now-rehabbed had been... Read more
"A dentist at Syracuse Community Health Center, dancing to the song 'Car Wash' while he was extracting a patient's tooth, lost the inch-long drill bit, which punctured her sinus cavity and came to rest by her eye socket, according to her lawsuit." [Syracuse.com]
Never let it be said that smarties can’t do dumb things too. Brooke Shields, generally considered one of the smarter, more level-headed actresses in Hollywood, managed to crash into her own house. Apparently wearing sex kitten shoes can be bad for your safety when they get wedged under your pedal while driving. That makes me feel better, the worst thing I’ve ever run over a tricycle. No children were harmed… maybe emotionally. But physically they were all fine.
Brooke Shields says she accidentally remodeled her house – by crashing into it.
“I really did drive into my house. I was wearing these fabulous sort of kick-ass platform patent leather [heels],” Shields said of her incident. “I was meeting the team at [her upcoming, midseason TV show] Lipstick Jungle [and] I was all sexed out.”
Letting out a laugh, she added, “I slowed down to what I thought was a proper speed. … I went to go put my foot on the brake, and I couldn’t get my foot off the gas because the wedge was completely wedged under.”
Then came the tricky moment: “I slammed on what I thought was the brake, and it actually was the gas!” A pillar ended up damaged. “I was fine,” says Shields. “The pillar, of course, was removed – at which point I was like, we didn’t really need that, that’s just in the way.”
[From People]
I am completely opposed to high heels for about 10 reasons. The first one being that I can’t walk in them, thus no one should. But I think running into houses is a really good second reason. Wearing heels can kill. Plus they’re bad for your spine. So I think it’s safe to surmise that high heels are deadly.
In other Brooke Shields news, it was announced today that she will continue to be the spokeswoman for Tupperware’s “Chain of Confidence” campaign. It focuses on honoring women around the world, and bringing attention to the positive affect they can have on each other. Sounds awesome, and totally vague. I’m also not sure what Tupperware has to do with it all, except some good publicity.
Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Brooke at the VIVA LA CURE, Benefit on October 17th. Image thanks to PR Photos.
Sure she’s admitted to being a little out of control over the past year. And she has the rap sheet to prove it. But Lindsay Lohan is claiming that a negligence suit being filed against her from her 2005 car crash is totally bogus.
This past Friday, the Mean Girls actress filed a 10-page report that attempts to nullify a lawsuit brought against her by Raymundo Ortega. Her lawyer, Alfred Gerisch asserts that Ortega’s claim that LiLo was drunk during the time of the accident is merely an attempt to cash in on her recent indiscretions, rather than a factual account of the incident.
One of the numerous lawsuits currently going on against Lindsay Lohan is arguing that the actress was drunk when she hit a car almost two years ago, when the actress was 19. Remember how there was a time when it seemed like Lohan was getting into some type of car accident every other week? This was during that time, and didn’t seem to be a big deal in and of itself. I mean she once looked at her car and it made someone slam into it. It happened that often. Most of the accidents were considered the other driver’s fault, but at some point when you’ve gotten into 8 accidents in 4 months (or something like that) you’re doing something wrong, even if the insurance companies technically fault the other person. If nothing else, you’re not a good defensive driver. But more likely, if you’re Lindsay Lohan, you’re 19 and already driving drunk. At least according to the lawsuit filed by Raymundo Ortega, who Lohan slammed into on October 4, 2005 after leaving the Ivy. Ortega filed a negligence suit on June 14, 2007 against Lohan and the Ivy (who he says served her alcohol even though she was underage) for at least $200,000. After she hit Ortega, Lohan didn’t even bother to check on him to see if he was okay. Instead she hid in a retail store until police came. I’m guessing she was actually shopping.
“In a 10-page brief filed Friday in support of the actress’ move to dismiss all or part of a negligence suit leveled against her stemming from a 2005 car crash, attorney Alfred Gerisch called Raymundo Ortega’s claim that Lohan was drunk when she hit his van nothing but ‘a battering ram to force a settlement.’ Ortega sued Lohan and West Hollywood hotspot the Ivy on June 14 for at least $200,000 in damages, alleging in his complaint that the Georgia Rule star got tipsy during lunch at the celebrity watering hole and then, as she was looking over her shoulder and recklessly barreling north on Robertson Blvd., smashed into his vehicle with her Mercedes.
“Once again, Gerisch cites the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s report on the incident, which states that alcohol was not a factor in the crash and that Ortega was at fault for hooking an illegal U-turn right in front of Lohan, who was referred to as an ‘innocent victim’ at the time. Speaking of third-party opinions, Klein has also stated that the judge should take judicial notice of media reports about Lohan’s recent DUI-related troubles, including the fact that she’s checked into rehab twice this year, both times before she had even reached the legal drinking age.
“‘The fact that Ms. Lohan was admitted to rehab for alcohol abuse shortly after this accident raised a presumption that at the time of his accident she was under the influence,’ Klein’s filing reads.”
[From E! News]
There is nothing I’d like better than to make Lindsay Lohan pay a couple hundred thousand dollars to everyone she’s been in a car accident with (though I’m pretty sure that would bankrupt her). But I really doubt that Lohan having drinking problems now, or even six months ago, makes the case that she was drunk two years ago. I guess it’s technically possible, but pretty hard to prove. I mean in the last six months, you could probably bet that at any given moment, Lindsay Lohan was drunk and coked out of her mind. I mean it was 96% assured. But two years ago? Hard to know. Anything would be speculation, especially because the police ruled that alcohol was not a factor in the crash. Lohan got in so many accidents in such a short frame of time that I think it’s safe to bet she’s at fault in some way, if for nothing else than severely negligent driving. What are the odds you’d be that unlucky over and over again? There were also several reports of her hitting cars (in a minor, fender bender way) and leaving the scene, forcing the victims to file police reports. She also once gave a fake name to someone she hit, even though they obviously knew who she was. I really wish she’d get nailed for this, along with all the other stupid and selfish things she’s done. Someone really needs to bring the force of reality and responsibility to bear on Lohan. I just really doubt that this particular case will be the one to do it, but here’s hoping.
Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Lindsay a few weeks before the accident in question. Images thanks to PR Photos.
It’s been a really bad summer for celebrity drivers. First Lindsay Lohan, then Britney Spears, and now… Nick Hogan. The son of Hulk Hogan was involved in a serious car accident Sunday night.
A source told press that Nick was racing a silver Dodge Viper just prior to the crash. Hogan was driving his 1000hp Toyota Supra when the accident occurred.
Remember a few days ago, when we wrote an article about Hulk Hogan’s home being looted of $100,000 worth of jewelry? It was Hogan’s son Nick, who apparently thought it was a good idea to wrap his watch and two necklaces in a t-shirt in his upstairs closet before the family moved. The items “disappeared” – but Nick, 17, has a history of less-than-brilliant decisions. Last November he was driving the family’s Lamborghini when it just somehow burst into flames and was burned “beyond recognition.” Considering the odds of that happening without cause are pretty slim, coupled with how dumb celebrity spawn are these days, makes it not all that surprising that Nick was in a major car crash this past weekend – he was supposedly driving at a “very high speed” though police have yet to release the actual number. They had to use the “Jaws of Life” to pry Nick and his passenger from the shockingly destroyed vehicle. Nick was released from the hospital today, less than twelve hours later, but his passenger remains there, critically injured.
“The son of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan was seriously injured in a car crash Sunday night, police said. A Toyota Supra driven by Nick Bollea [Hogan’s real last name] was traveling at a high rate of speed at approximately 7:30 p.m., Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. Bollea, which is Hogan’s real name, lost control and hit a raised median. The car flipped around, and the back end hit a palm tree.
“‘The car was destroyed,’ Shelor said. Bollea and an unidentified male passenger were extricated from the car by paramedics, Shelor said. Then they were airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. Their official conditions were not immediately available, but Shelor described the injuries of both men as serious.
“The crash occurred on State Route 60, a main drag through downtown Clearwater. The road had to be shut down in both directions for several hours, Shelor said. Alcohol is not believed to have played a part in the crash. The crash seems to have been caused by excessive speed, Shelor said. Bollea appears on the reality TV show ‘Hogan Knows Best’ with his father, mother and sister.”
[From the Washington Post]
I really don’t mean this to sound as insensitive as it will, but this kid is a moron. Both of Hulk Hogan’s kids seem like they don’t have two IQ points to rub together. I know that seventeen year old boys probably aren’t going to make the best decisions in general, but when you have rich parents that always bail you out of your stupid mistakes, you’ll probably have less appreciation for the consequences of your actions. If Nick were the one critically hurt, I’d have a little more compassion, but since he’s critically injured another person (and already left the hospital) it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the person that did that to another human being.
Picture note by JayBird: Here’s a closeup of the front of Nick Hogan’s car. According to Splash, “Hulk showed up at the scene almost immediately and watched his son get flown out by a helicopter to hospital.” Image thanks to Splash Photos. Below is the Hogan Family, proving they’ll show up to the opening of an envelope – they’re at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. Thanks to WENN for the photo.
