Celebrity Justice

Looks like Taylor Swift may be in trouble. Two songwriters sued Swift, claiming that she stole their tune and lyrics and used them in her Grammy-nominated mega-hit, "Shake It Off." On Sept. 12, Taylor got the bad news that the judge would not kick out the case before trial. Did Taylor really steal from the two songwriters? A jury of people just like you will decide.

Jen Shah, star of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," appeared before a U.S. District Court judge and pleaded guilty in her federal fraud case. Shah was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in 2021. She originally pleaded not guilty to all charges and has adamantly denied any wrongdoing on her part until her court appearance this week.

Bill Cosby's reputation is once again in shambles. A California jury found him liable for the 1975 sexual assault of a minor at the Playboy Mansion and awarded the victim $500,000 in compensatory damages. This undermines Cosby's claims of full exoneration after his aggravated indecent assault conviction was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If you haven't been following the proceedings, you might wonder how it's possible for him to win one case and lose the other. Easy.

We've all seen a movie where someone storms into a church during a wedding at the last minute in hopes of stopping the one they love from marrying the "wrong" person. The phrase "speak now or forever hold your peace" has long been a part of traditional wedding ceremonies and actually began as a legality to give interested parties the chance to object to the validity of a marriage during the Medieval Age.

On April 11, the highly publicized defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard, kicked off in Fairfax County, Virginia. Depp has already taken the stand for hours of soft-spoken testimony. Heard is scheduled to testify sometime later during the six-week proceedings. Also on the star-studded potential witness list are James Franco, Paul Bettany, Ellen Barkin, and Elon Musk.

The judges who host courtroom reality TV shows have usually been real judges. Last November, however, ABC stepped sideways when it announced that its new entry into the courtroom reality-TV field would be hosted by a funny and popular TV personality, Steve Harvey, who has no legal experience whatsoever.