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    Attorneys Apologize For Lawsuits Alleging Abuse By Hollywood Execs

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2119 Views
    In this Monday, April 21, 2014 file photo, plaintiff Michael Egan III, center, 31, his mother Bonnie Mound, left, and attorney Jeff Herman take questions from the media during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file )

    By Dan Jollin, AP Reporter

    --

    Attorneys who sued on behalf of a former aspiring actor, claiming he was abused by two Hollywood executives, have apologized for the lawsuits and say they believe the allegations were untrue.

    In letters issued last week, attorney Jeffrey Herman of Boca Raton, Florida, apologized to television executives Garth Ancier and David Neuman for lawsuits claiming that they had abused Michael Egan in 1999.

    The lawsuits were filed in Hawaii in April 2014. They claimed Egan had been abused there and in California.

    "Based on what I know now, I believe that I participated in making what I now know to be untrue and proveably false allegations against you," Herman said in separate letters Friday to Ancier and Neuman.

    "I deeply regret the pain, suffering and damage the lawsuits and publicity have caused you, and your family, friends and colleagues," Herman wrote.

    Attorney Mark Gallagher of Kailua, Hawaii, apologized to Ancier for his role in the lawsuit. "Unfortunately, I now do not believe that the allegations in the lawsuit were true and accurate," he wrote.

    The apologies were accompanied by unspecified monetary compensation. The payment was "in the seven figures," according to a spokesman for Ancier.

    Ancier was a high-ranking executive at the NBC, Fox and WB networks. Neuman is a former TV executive with Current TV and Disney.

    Egan claimed the men abused him in Hawaii in 1999 when he was 17. Egan also sued "X-Men" director Bryan Singer and Gary Wayne Goddard, a theater producer.

    All four denied the allegations as soon as the lawsuits were filed. Singer and Ancier said they weren't even in Hawaii when Egan said he was abused.

    Ancier and Neuman eventually countersued Egan for malicious prosecution.

    The lawsuits against Neuman and Ancier were dismissed in June 2014. The lawsuits against Singer and Goddard were dropped by Egan around the same time.

    In a prepared statement, Ancier said the attorneys who brought the false claim were making a significant financial payment for bringing a case that didn't have any merit, finally proving that "a convicted scam artist's claims" were entirely made up.

    "I said on day one this was all absolutely false and I'm certainly pleased that's now been admitted by the lawyers responsible for transforming absurd fabrications into a real-life nightmare for me," Ancier said.

    Category:News
    Tags:DavidNeumanGarth AncierMichael Egan



    Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance

    Saturday, November 23, 2024

    Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.

    The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.

    "This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."

    The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."

    And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.

    Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.

    Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.

    Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."

    It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More

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