Gutter Trash – Today’s Celebrity News

Britney Spears court gag order request denied

LOS ANGELES–A Superior Court commissioner denied a request Tuesday by Britney Spears’ divorce attorney to issue a gag order in the pop star’s child-custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Attorney Anne Kiley argued that media coverage was “emotionally and physically” dangerous to Spears.

Kiley said the court should prohibit attorneys from discussing the case with the media and not publish dates and times of hearings and dispositions.

Spears and Federline weren’t present for the hearing before Commissioner Scott Gordon, who is overseeing their dispute.

The 26-year-old pop star hasn’t been allowed to see sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, since an incident at her home that led to the first of her two hospitalizations in a psychiatric facility this year and a decision by another court to put her father, James Spears, in charge of her affairs.

The gag order request was discussed in open court before other issues were taken behind closed doors.

Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, argued that Spears’ children aren’t in jeopardy without the gag order and that Spears is more concerned about the paparazzi frenzy that follows her, which he said existed before she filed for divorce from Federline in November 2006.

Kiley said she wanted a narrowly tailored order that would only restrict attorneys from speaking to the media.

Kaplan, who frequently speaks to reporters outside the courthouse after hearings, told the court he never discusses the children’s whereabouts or schedules.

“The multiple media vehicles and cameras and video cameras [outside the courthouse are] distressing because of other people trying to use the courthouse,” Kiley said.

“And you think this order would fix that?” Gordon asked.

“I think the First Amendment is important, but this is about the practical aspects of the case,” Kiley said.

The commissioner said the public has a right to know court orders. He agreed that public safety and access to the courthouse was a concern, but “that’s a law enforcement issue.”

Pauly Shore sues Wes Craven over nightmare property spat

LOS ANGELES–Pauly Shore is suing neighbor Wes Craven for creating a nightmare on his property in a dispute between the two that began last year.

Shore claimed that a landslide on his Hollywood Hills property in December 2006 was caused by Craven’s failure to properly maintain vegetation and landscaping on a hillside on his property, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court.

The comedian also alleged that Craven, the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series, did not eradicate rodents burrowing in the hill and made improvements on his property that “changed the geology, topography and drainage,” according to the lawsuit.

A call to Craven’s attorney Wednesday was not returned.

Shore’s allegations are part of a countersuit in response to a suit filed on behalf of Craven last June.

Craven alleged that Shore upgraded his home with a pool, spa, landscaping and other improvements that caused water to seep down a slope and damage his property.

Both suits seek unspecified damages and a judgment determining who should be held responsible.