THE BIG STORY: Two years after Jimmy Buffett’s death, his widow and his longtime former business manager are locked in a legal war over the singer-songwriter’s $275 million estate.
Jane Buffett, his wife of 46 years, and Rick Mozenter, an accountant and financial advisor to Buffett for decades, launched dueling court actions last week accusing the other of hostility and mismanagement. At issue is control of the singer’s trust, which holds, among other assets, a lucrative 20% stake in his Margaritaville chain of resorts and restaurants.
Jane’s lawyers say Mozenter has been “openly hostile and adversarial” and has “failed to perform even the most basic tasks required of him” in his role as co-trustee. Mozenter’s attorneys say Buffett clearly intended to limit his wife’s control over the trust – but that this has “made Jane very angry” and caused her to be “completely uncooperative.”
For more, go read Rachel Scharf’s full story on the battle over Buffett.
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Other top stories this week…
CUSTODY BATTLE – Halle Bailey and ex-boyfriend DDG exchanged scathing court filings amid their increasingly acrimonious custody battle over their one-year-old son. In his petition, the rapper (Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) claimed that Bailey had been abusive and repeatedly threatened self-harm; in her response, Bailey said those claims were exaggerated and that DDG’s filing was “cold retribution to embarrass, humiliate and caused me additional emotional distress.” The back-and-forth came a month after Bailey sought and won a restraining order by claiming the rapper had physically abused her, including in the presence of their son.
DIDDY TRIAL RECAP – The sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs continued into a fifth week, starting with the judge denying a motion for a mistrial based on testimony about an infamous alleged incident in which the rap mogul dangled a woman from a 17th-floor balcony. Don’t miss our full recap of Week 4, which included testimony about the balcony incident; testimony about Diddy buying a surveillance video with $100,000 in cash in a paper bag; and the start of testimony from an alleged victim named “Jane” over being forced to participate in marathon “freak-offs.” The trial is expected to run until early July.
YSL CASE CLOSED – More than three years after Young Thug, Gunna and dozens of others were indicted in Atlanta on gang charges, the last co-defendant pleaded guilty – a moment that marks the formal end of a sprawling, controversial criminal case that had captivated the music industry for years. The final closure came seven months after Thug pleaded guilty and received only probation, a stunning defeat for prosecutors that had labeled him a dangerous gang boss.
BIG PIMPIN QUOTES – Jay-Z’s legal nemesis Tony Buzbee asked a federal judge to dismiss the rapper’s defamation case with an unusual flourish: quoting the lyrics from the star’s “Big Pimpin.” Buzbee, a Texas lawyer who briefly filed a rape lawsuit against the rapper before dropping it without a settlement, claimed in the court filing that the 2000 song’s references to prostitution describe Jay’s views on “how men should treat women.”
LYRICS LITIGATION – Lyrics provider Musixmatch filed a response to a recent antitrust lawsuit from rival LyricFind, calling the case “meritless” and arguing that the rival was “hoping it can obtain through litigation what it was unable to win in the marketplace.” The response came two months after LyricFind accused Musixmatch of seeking to monopolize the market for providing lyrics to streamers like Spotify by signing an “unprecedented” deal with Warner Music.
ANOTHER TAYLOR STALKER – Taylor Swift won a temporary restraining order against an alleged stalker named Brian Jason Wagner, a 45-year-old Colorado man who the pop superstar claims showed up at her Los Angeles home numerous times over the past year to falsely claim she’s the mother of his child. In seeking the court order, Swift argued Wagner’s conduct “makes me fear for my safety and the safety of my family.” Swift has had trouble with stalkers before, including a man arrested last year after being spotted dozens of times outside her Manhattan apartment.
LIL DURK BAIL DENIED – The drill rapper was once again denied release on bond in his murder-for-hire case, leaving him to sit in jail until his trial (currently scheduled for October). The federal judge overseeing the case – which claims he hired gunman to carry out a failed hit on rival Quando Rondo – noted that rapper was apprehended trying to board a flight to Dubai (United Arab Emirates is a non-extradition country) and might try to escape again if let free.
DEFAMATORY DOC? – Russell Simmons filed a defamation lawsuit against HBO over a 2020 documentary called On The Record that focused on the sexual assault allegations against him. Simmons said the movie disregarded or “suppressed” key evidence in his favor — including “CIA-grade polygraph results” and Oprah Winfrey’s withdrawal from the project – that would have refuted and rebutted” the allegations that were “falsely made against plaintiff in the film.”
ROYALTIES ROW – Sony filed a lawsuit against the streaming platform LiveOne and its subsidiary Slacker Radio, claiming they owe $2.6 million in unpaid licensing fees but have refused to stop playing the label’s music, including tracks by Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and Tate McRae.
NEWJEANS COURT ORDER – A dispute between K-pop band NewJeans and its agency ADOR, a HYBE subsidiary, escalated when a South Korean court approved a stricter legal measure restricting the group’s independent activities. The court ordered each member (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein) to pay 1 billion KRW ($734,000) for any unauthorized entertainment activity – meaning fines could total $3.6 million for a single uncleared group appearance.
