All posts tagged: claim

Judge dismisses Justin Baldoni’s defamation claim against former co-star Blake Lively | Ents & Arts News

Judge dismisses Justin Baldoni’s defamation claim against former co-star Blake Lively | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

A judge in the US has dismissed actor Justin Baldoni’s $400m (£295m) defamation lawsuit against his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively. Baldoni filed the countersuit against the 37-year-old in response to her launching legal action in December, accusing him of sexual harassment against her while filming the 2024 movie. The 41-year-old and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January for $400m, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, their publicist, the New York Times, and others of orchestrating a smear campaign to extort him. He accused Lively of trying to “hijack” the movie and then blaming him when her “disastrous” promotional approach prompted an online backlash against her. “It Ends With Us” garnered mixed reviews, but grossed more than $351m (£259m) worldwide, according to reports. In a statement, lawyers representing Lively said: “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times. “As …

Shaboozey goes viral for reaction to Megan Moroney claim about who ‘invented’ country music

Shaboozey goes viral for reaction to Megan Moroney claim about who ‘invented’ country music

Published by skeptic

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free Shaboozey has gone viral for his seemingly bemused reaction to a remark by fellow singer Megan Moroney, who claimed that the Carter Family “basically invented” country music. The two artists were presenting the award for Favourite Country Duo or Group at the 2025 American Music Awards on Monday night (26 May) when the awkward moment transpired. “Country music has been an important part of AMA history. The very first year of this show, the award for Favourite Male Country Artist went to the great Charlie Pride,” Shaboozey began, reading from the teleprompter. Moroney followed with: “That same year, Favourite Female Artist went to Lynn Anderson, and this award [Favourite Country Duo or Group] went to the Carter Family, who basically invented country music.” The last comment about the Carter Family appeared to take Shaboozey – who shot to fame upon …

Here’s How to Claim Up to 0 in Apple’s Siri Settlement

Here’s How to Claim Up to $100 in Apple’s Siri Settlement

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In January, Apple agreed to pay out $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit over claims its voice assistant Siri listened in on private conversations. Now, affected users have less than eight weeks to stake their claim to a slice of the cash. The Lopez v Apple Inc. lawsuit was filed back in December, accusing Apple of recording private conversations as a result of unintended Siri activations, and then sharing that data with third parties. Two plaintiffs claim they had related advertisements served to them after having personal conversations about particular brands, with another alleging they received an ad for a medical treatment following a private discussion with a doctor. This is not the first time Siri has been accused of eavesdropping. A whistleblower spoke to The Guardian about it in 2019, claiming external contractors assessing Siri’s effectiveness were able to listen in on everything from criminal dealings to sexual encounters. Apple stopped using these third parties shortly after, and in settling this case, Apple also denies all wrongdoing here. An Apple spokesperson told …

India’s leader Modi touted all was well in Kashmir. A massacre of tourists shattered that claim

India’s leader Modi touted all was well in Kashmir. A massacre of tourists shattered that claim

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SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Hundreds of Indian tourists, families and honeymooners, drawn by the breathtaking Himalayan beauty, were enjoying a picture-perfect meadow in Kashmir. They didn’t know gunmen in army fatigues were lurking in the woods. When the attackers got their chance, they shot mostly Indian Hindu men, many of them at close-range, leaving behind bodies strewn across the Baisaran meadow and survivors screaming for help. The gunmen quickly vanished into thick forests. By the time Indian authorities arrived, 26 people were dead and 17 others were wounded. India has described the April 22 massacre as a terror attack and blamed Pakistan for backing it, an accusation denied by Islamabad. India swiftly announced diplomatic actions against its archrival Pakistan, which responded with its own tit-for-tat measures. The assailants are still on the run, as calls in India for military action against Pakistan are growing. World leaders have been scrambling to de-escalate the tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have historically relied on third countries for conflict management. But the massacre has also touched a raw …

Oops! It Appears There’s a Striking Flaw in That Claim About Detecting Alien Life

Oops! It Appears There’s a Striking Flaw in That Claim About Detecting Alien Life

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A team of astronomers announced this week that they’ve detected a possible sign of life on an exoplanet 124 light years away using the James Webb Space Telescope. Even more enticingly, the exoplanet, dubbed K2-12b, was already suspected to be an ocean world. The biosignature is a molecule called dimethyl sulfide. On Earth, it’s exclusively produced by phytoplanktons and other microbes. Thus, the authors of the new study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, maintain that the best explanation for the detection is that K2-12b is brimming with life. But the situation may not be so clear cut. While dimethyl sulfide is an organic material on our planet, there’s a body of evidence suggesting that nonbiological processes elsewhere in the cosmos could produce the compound, notes science writer Corey S. Powell in a Bluesky thread.  A study published this February reported a possible detection of dimethyl sulfide in the interstellar medium, the clouds of gas and dust found in the space between stars. Another paper published last year showed that the molecule could be produced from …

K2-18b: Astronomers claim strongest evidence of alien life yet

K2-18b: Astronomers claim strongest evidence of alien life yet

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Artist’s impression of the planet K2-18b and its host star ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser Astronomers claim to have seen the strongest evidence so far for life on another planet. But other astronomers have urged caution until the findings can be verified by other groups and alternative, non-biological explanations can be ruled out. “These are the first hints we are seeing of an alien world that is possibly inhabited,” Nikku Madhusudhan at the University of Cambridge told a press conference on 15 March. Astronomers first discovered the exoplanet K2-18b in 2015, and soon established that it was a promising place to look for life. About eight times as massive as Earth and orbiting a star 124 light years away from us, the planet sits in the habitable zone of its star, where liquid water can exist. Further observations, in 2019, found evidence of water vapour, which led to suggestions that the planet may be covered in oceans sitting under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, though not all astronomers agreed. In 2023, Madhusudhan and his colleagues used the instruments on …

Scientists Claim to Have Brought Back the Dire Wolf

Scientists Claim to Have Brought Back the Dire Wolf

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Studying the dire wolf’s genome also allowed the Colossal team to figure out which features distinguished the ancient wolf from its modern relatives. They settled on traits involving size, musculature, hair color, hair texture, hair length, and coat patterning. They then used gene editing to alter the genome of cells from the dire wolf’s closest living relative, the gray wolf. In total the company made 20 unique edits to 14 genes in the gray wolf genome. Of those, 15 were meant to reproduce extinct dire wolf gene variants. Colossal claims it’s a record number of unique genetic edits done to any animal. But the dire wolf’s genome is still almost identical to that of the gray wolf. This raises a tricky question: Are these wolves really dire wolves or just gene-edited gray wolves? Lamm, of course, says the animals are dire wolves. “We call them dire wolves,” he says. “What’s interesting is that speciation is an area where scientists can’t seem to agree.” A species is often defined by a combination of genetic and physically …

Jay-Z sues woman who accused him of rape before dropping claim | Ents & Arts News

Jay-Z sues woman who accused him of rape before dropping claim | Ents & Arts News

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Jay-Z has sued the woman who accused him of raping her, in a now-withdrawn complaint. Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported the 55-year-old music mogul had launched a defamation lawsuit against the woman. The American rapper reportedly said the woman and the lawyers representing her “were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth” and alleged that they caused harm to his personal and professional reputation. Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is reported to have filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Alabama, where the woman, referred to in the lawsuit only as “Jane Doe”, lives. The initial allegation made by the woman centred on Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. It was withdrawn with prejudice last month – meaning it cannot be brought back to court. At the time the lawsuit was withdrawn, Jay-Z said: “Today is a victory. These frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. “The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience …

Adele’s ‘haunted house’ claim scares off buyers of her old £6m mansion, says owner

Adele’s ‘haunted house’ claim scares off buyers of her old £6m mansion, says owner

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Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Typically, when a starry celebrity has lived in a home that comes up for sale, their very association with the property can add to its appeal for a potential buyer. However, this is far from the case concerning the £6 million country mansion Lock House in West Sussex, which Adele once lived in for six months, and according to the owner, scared off future buyers by saying it was haunted. The owner, Nicholas Sutton, has claimed in a planning statement that he has struggled to sell the Grade II listed house and is currently seeking permission to turn the ten-bedroom property into apartments instead because Adele made the home “unsellable”. The award-winning “Rolling in the Deep” musician appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2012 …