Steven Seagal, king of the perversely entertaining C-grade chop-socky action flick, has found himself once again under siege once again: Los Angeles-based Kill Master Productions has filed a $14 million lawsuit against the star. The suit claims Seagal delayed production on the upcoming Today You Die when he showed up 45 minutes late, and then left 3 hours early, and made script changes without permission. Furthermore, Seagal is charged with bringing a rowdy entourage onto the set of Mercenary, causing more filming delays and harassing the crew with "outrageous" requests. In response, Seagal’s legal team says the claims are false, and were made only because Seagal himself was out for justice, planning to sue Kill Master Productions for fraud and missing wages.
In response to escalating confrontations between Hollywood’s worst enemies — celebrities and the paparazzi — the Los Angeles Police Department is opening a criminal investigation to deter future potentially dangerous run-ins, like Lindsay Lohan‘s most recent fender bender. In today’s profit-hungry climate, tabloid targets like Lohan, Cameron Diaz, and Reese Witherspoon find themselves victims to photo-op ploys including getting their cars boxed in, chased at high speeds, and even physically assaulted. Sure, fame has a price, but the LAPD says, so does hyper-aggressive photography: the current investigation is looking into charging such actions as felony crimes.
And for the record, cinematic pugilist and real-life brawler Russell Crowe, who made headlines this week for playing catch with a telephone and a concierge’s head, is sorry. Following Monday’s well-publicized arrest, the Oscar winner left the promotional campaign on his current movie, Cinderella Man, for some much-needed positive PR on Hollywood’s favorite publicity machine: late night television. Appearing Wednesday on David Letterman, Crowe expressed shame and regret for his violent action but acknowledged that the man on the receiving end of his recent rage had yet to answer his apology phone call.
