Eriq Gardner

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

If you’re searching for an entertainment lawsuit that checks all the boxes—a legitimate business problem, a thorny law school exam hypo, and a ready-made TMZ headline—look no further than Leah McSweeney v. NBCUniversal. As I’ve previously reported, the former Real Housewives of New York City star is suing Bravo’s parent company over alleged mistreatment when she was a castmember during seasons 12 and 13. The show “weaponized” her alcoholism, she wrote, and exploited her relapse for a storyline.

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

Donald Trump wants more than $25 million to settle his lawsuit against CBS and 60 Minutes. Paramount Global, for its part, is reportedly offering around $15 million—about what Disney paid to resolve its George Stephanopoulos headache. On paper, that doesn’t seem like a huge gulf, especially given that Paramount’s $8 billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media ostensibly hangs in the balance. So what’s actually holding up a deal? Is it fear that the payoff will look like a bribe?

1 month ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

You may recall the headlines about Sewell Setzer III, the Orlando ninth-grader who tragically took his own life after becoming infatuated with an A.I. chatbot. Sewell’s family filed a lawsuit in October, blaming Character.AI for his death. The devastating story raised all sorts of troubling questions about technology and mental health—and led to an even thornier First Amendment challenge in court.

1 month ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

Perhaps it was inevitable that Taylor Swift would be pulled into the legal slugfest between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Both sides understand the power of public perception—which, of course, includes the millions of Swifties who would walk barefoot across broken glass for the world’s most bankable pop star. The moment Swift became even tangentially connected to the mess over It Ends With Us, her ticket to deposition-ville was all but punched.

1 month ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

When I first read Jon Voight’s plan to rescue Hollywood, I’ll admit that I felt some shock. Not because he’s stumping for pie-in-the-sky tax incentives for domestic production—everyone in town wants that. Nor because he’s calling for tariffs, which might be ludicrous, but nevertheless rest comfortably beside Diet Coke and gauche interior design on Donald Trump’s shortlist of enduring passions. No, what stopped me was Voight’s call to revive the long-buried “fin-syn” rules.