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Selena Gomez’s Lawyer Calls Fraud Lawsuit ‘Completely Meritless’

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Selena Gomez’s legal representation says a new lawsuit alleging the star defrauded investors in her mental health star-up Wondermind is “completely meritless, both factually and legally.”

Lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart issued a statement to People on Saturday: “The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally. We will vigorously defend these false allegations and indeed are filing a motion to dismiss the baseless claims against her.”

In a lawsuit filed Thursday by two companies, Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind LLC, Gomez, her mother Mandy Teefey and Wondermind co-founder Daniella Pierson were accused of defrauding investors in the mental health startup, alleging the trio made false representations of the business to stakeholders, including a plan that Gomez would be “intimately involved” in the business’s operations. The suit claims damages of around $1.2 million.

“Gomez purported to sign a contract obligating her to perform and then ignored it,” the lawsuit read. “The partnerships did not exist. The initiatives never materialized. The app was never built. And for three years, while the Company quietly collapsed around them, not one of its founders, officers or directors said a word to the investors whose money was funding the collapse.”

Gomez, Teefey and Pierson first launched Wondermind in 2021 as “a space to work it all out every day with candid conversations, physical tools, daily content, and a supportive community.” In the lawsuit, investors claim that they did not learn about alleged management issues or struggles at the company – like employees not being paid on time – until The Cut reported on the startup’s working conditions last year.

Along with the statement from Gomez’s lawyer, Teefey too denied the allegations contained in the lawsuit, giving a statement Friday to the New York Times.

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Dave Marsh Dead: Rock Critic, Bruce Springsteen Biographer Was 76

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Dave Marsh, the influential and widely read rock critic for Creem, The Village Voice and Rolling Stone and the author of the foundational Bruce Springsteen 1979 biography Born to Run, died Friday, August 14, at his home in Connecticut. He was 76.

His death, reported by Deadline sister publication Billboard and confirmed on Facebook by Marsh’s friend Jim Rotolo, followed an extended period of declining health, although a cause has not been disclosed.

“Dave wrote several books about Bruce as part of a remarkable body of work spanning some 25 titles,” Rotolo, host of the radio show The Wild & The Innocent with Jim Rotolo. “A longtime rock critic for Creem and Rolling Stone, he was also one of the creators of E Street Radio and hosted Kick Out the Jams on SiriusXM for 19 years. Rest easy, Dave. Thank you for everything, my friend. You will be missed.

Marsh, alongside a coterie that included his friend and mentor Lester Bangs, launched his career as a critic and founding editor and writer of the highly influential Creem rock magazine in the late 1960s. An early champion of such ’50s and ’60s musical styles as soul, girl groups and what was starting to become known as garage rock, Marsh would later lend his considerable support to punk rock. Indeed, he is widely credited with coining the phrase, having first used it in a 1971 article about ? and the Mysterians, the band behind the 1966 hit “96 Tears.”

A native of Pontiac, Michigan, and a devotee of Detroit’s Motown as well as Motor City scenesters Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Marsh was instrumental in launching the Detroit-based Creem, and wrote for the magazine through the early 1970s. By the middle of the decade he began a multi-year tenure as an editor and critic at Rolling Stone, and shepherded the first edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide in 1979.

A prolific author, Marsh wrote two books about Springsteen: In addition to Born to Run, which chronicled the singer-songwriter’s early career and initial fame, Marsh authored the 1987’s Glory Days, continuing the Springsteen life story through the peak MTV era. In 2003, Marsh combined the two biographies into the single-volume Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts, adding an addition chapter to update the story.

Marsh also wrote 1983’s Before I Get Old, the biography of rock band The Who, and 1989’s The Heart of Rock & Soul in which he named the 1,001 greatest singles ever. (His #1 choice was Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”)

In addition to the biographies, Marsh collected his reviews and essays in a number of volumes, including Fortunate Son and Kick Out the Jams. His 1993 book Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World’s Most Famous Rock ‘n’ Roll Song chronicled the cultural impact of that 1963 hit song.

Along with his old Rolling Stone boss and colleague Jann Wenner, Marsh helped found and maintain the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Marsh joined SiriusXM in 2004, and for 19 years hosted the weekly Kick Out the Jams show. He also launched the Springsteen-centric programs Live from E Street Nation and Live From the Land of Hopes and Dreams.

According to Billboard, Marsh is survived by his wife Barbara Carr, a longtime Springsteen co-manager as a partner in Jon Landau Management. He was predeceased by daughters Kristen Ann Carr and Sasha Carr. A complete list of his survivors was not immediately available.

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When Dudley Moore Intoxicated Audiences in ‘Arthur’

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A toast is in order for Arthur, which became a comedy classic despite a quiet release 45 years ago. After penning Carl Reiner’s 1978 comedy The One and Only starring Henry Winkler, Steve Gordon was hired to direct his own Arthur script for Orion. Gordon initially considered George Segal and John Belushi for the title role before casting Dudley Moore off the success of 10, in which the actor starred opposite Bo Derek.

Arthur centers on alcoholic playboy Arthur Bach, who will be cut off from his family fortune unless he marries a woman he doesn’t love, which becomes complicated when he falls for working-class Linda, played by Liza Minnelli. At the time, Moore praised the script for its barrage of jokes: “Ten laughs a page, instead of one laugh every 10 pages.” Actress Anne DeSalvo, who played sex worker Gloria, tells THR that Moore, a classically trained pianist, would warmly greet her on set. “Dudley would be playing the piano, and he’d say, ‘Good morning, Anne,’ ” she recalls. “He was such a gentleman.”

The lead character was written as American, but Moore convinced Gordon to let him keep his British accent: “Steve kept phoning me up and saying, ‘Are you sure you can’t do an American accent?’ I told him if I tried, it would be the most distorted performance.”

Arthur hit theaters on July 17, 1981, with THR‘s review extolling the “hilarious comedy” and Moore’s “impeccable timing.” The film got off to a slow box office start amid marketing challenges, but word of mouth drew crowds for weeks to come, as Arthur became the year’s fourth-highest-grossing title. The film earned four Oscar nominations, winning for best supporting actor for John Gielgud as butler Hobson, plus Christopher Cross’ main theme song, “Best That You Can Do,” co-written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager.

Gordon died suddenly of a heart attack a year later at age 44, making Arthur his only feature. Moore and Minnelli returned for a 1988 sequel, while a 2011 remake starred Russell Brand, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig and Helen Mirren, but neither matched the success of the original, which was named one of AFI’s top 100 comedies.

Moore, who died in 2002 at age 66 after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, once called Arthur his favorite role: “I love the character.”

This story appeared in the Aug. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Kristen Kish Wants ‘Top Chef’ To Cook Up More Prize Money

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As the cost of groceries continues to rise, cooking in restaurants and at home has become more expensive. Kristen Kish, host of Top Chef, is well aware of this squeeze and wants the winners of the Bravo reality cooking show to be awarded more prize money for triumphing in the kitchen.

“I was just talking with some folks from Bravo, and I was like, ‘We need to increase the prize money.’ On my season, Season 10, it was $125,000. Now it’s $250,000, but with inflation, we should be creeping up near a million,” she said during a conversation at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio. “Eggs are expensive these days. We need to like up the ante a little bit, but I do understand that it’s far more complicated than just saying give us a million bucks.”

Kish landed an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program category for a third year in a row, one for each year she has been hosting the long-running series, having replaced Padma Lakshmi in Season 21.

She is, once again, up against The Traitors’ Alan Cumming in the category, ironic given that she brought her kitchen star power to the Peacock mystery competition series this year too.

Check out the Contenders conversation with Kish below and scroll down for photos from the event.

Kish said that every year she is nominated it feels “surreal” and “exciting.” “I feel really proud for myself, but there is no show if there are no chefs. I am so proud for everyone involved in making the show. It changes so many people’s lives in our industry,” she said.

This season, set in the Carolinas, it changed the life of Rhoda Magbitang, who grew up in the Philippines and worked in kitchens including Michelin-starred Mélisse, Suzanne Goin’s A.O.C., République and Bazaar by José Andrés before winning Season 23.

Much like Kish, when she was a contestant (and winner) on Season 10 of Top Chef, Magbitang had to go through Last Chance Kitchen to win.

“Coming out of Last Chance Kitchen, a lot of the chefs will say if you’ve been through it, you are reignited. You have a little extra. There is some kind of mental load reset. The worst thing has happened, which is [they] got already got kicked off. So, you relieve yourself of that pressure,” Kish said.

Anthony Avellano for Deadline

Anthony Avellano for Deadline

Anthony Avellano for Deadline

Kish has a more comforting style than many reality TV hosts. This season it showed when she comforted a distraught chef, Nana Araba Wilmot, who didn’t have time to plate her dish, and also dealt with an injured contestant.

“I feel like an older sister or a peer that maybe has been in that particular restaurant for a little bit of extra time where… I can make people feel a little bit more calm and hopefully more confident, while also still giving feedback that holds them accountable,” she said.

Top Chef, produced by Magical Elves, has already been renewed for Season 24. Kish wouldn’t give much away as to where it will be set. “I have heard rumblings. I have a general idea of where we’re going, and all I can say is I’m very, very excited for the entire plan,” she said.

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