Chris Brown, Cardi B and Lil Nas X were among the famous faces in court this year.
U.S. singer Chris Brown was arrested in Britain and charged in connection with an alleged assault in February 2023.
Brown, 36, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm by allegedly attacking a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub two years ago. He also denied a more serious charge of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm in what prosecutors said was an “unprovoked attack” on Abraham Diaw in a London nightclub in 2023.
Brown’s co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing actual bodily harm, having previously denied attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
The pair’s trial is due to begin on October 26, 2026.
The R&B star, a two-time Grammy Award winner known for hits such as “Loyal”, “Run It” and “Under the Influence”, was granted bail in May after paying a 5 million-pound security fee in order to begin his “Breezy Bowl XX” tour.
Brown was arrested at a hotel in Manchester, northern England in May after returning to Britain for the first time since the incident two years ago.
Grammy-winning rapper Lil Nas X appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom in November for proceedings related to his August arrest and charges of assaulting police officers.
The “Old Town Road” singer had missed a previous court date because he was undergoing inpatient treatment in another state, his lawyers said at the time.
Lil Nas X pleaded not guilty to four felony charges after authorities said he assaulted police officers who found him walking down a street naked.
A judge ordered the musician, whose real name is Montero Hill, to return to court on March 12 when a preliminary hearing date will be set.
“As you can see, Montero is doing amazing, doing great, and we’re super happy for him,” attorney Drew Findling told reporters outside the Van Nuys West Courthouse. The singer stood by Findling’s side, clad in a brown jacket, khaki pants and brown cowboy boots.
“We’re just looking forward to a positive resolution in the case,” Findling added.
Lil Nas X was charged with three counts of battery of a police officer and one count of resisting an officer. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.
The singer was the first openly gay man to receive a Country Music Association Award, winning for his 2018 hit “Old Town Road.” He also earned two Grammys for the song.
His father, Robert Stafford, told reporters in August that Lil Nas X was “very remorseful for what happened.”
“He’s going to get the help that he needs,” Stafford said at the time.
Prince Harry claimed a “monumental” victory over Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group in January after the publisher settled his lawsuit admitting unlawful actions at its Sun tabloid for the first time and paying substantial damages.
Harry, 41, the younger son of King Charles, had been suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, at the High Court in London, alleging the papers had illegally obtained private information about him from 1996 till 2011.
NGN also admitted it had intruded into the private life of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana. Sources familiar with the deal said the settlement totalled more than 10 million pounds, mostly in legal fees.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices,” Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson said in a statement.
“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived,” said the statement, read by their lawyer David Sherborne outside the High Court.
The trial to consider Harry’s case, and a similar lawsuit from former senior British lawmaker Watson, had been due to start but following last-gasp talks, the two sides reached a settlement, with NGN saying there had been wrongdoing at The Sun, something it had denied for years.
Sherborne told the court NGN had offered “a full and unequivocal apology” for serious intrusion into Harry’s private life by The Sun between 1996 and 2011.
“NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years,”he said.
In a statement, an NGN spokesperson said its apology was for the unlawful actions of private investigators working for The Sun, not of its journalists.
“There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now. There was no voicemail interception on The Sun,” the spokesperson said, adding that the settlement marked the likely end of any lawsuits, and that future cases were liable to be thrown out.
NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events.
NGN previously always rejected any claims that there was wrongdoing at The Sun newspaper, or that any senior figures knew about it or tried to cover it up, as Harry’s lawsuit alleges.
In another case, Harry and six others including singer Elton John are suing Associated Newspapers (ANL) over alleged unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years.
ANL, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline, has always denied any wrongdoing and previously described the claimants’ allegations as “preposterous smears”.
A full trial is expected in early 2026 and could see Harry return to the witness box in his last remaining lawsuit against the British press.
Separately, Harry lost his appeal over his security in Britain after stepping down from royal duties.
Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children, had sought to overturn a decision by the Home Office, the ministry responsible for policing.
A specialist body decided in February 2020 that Harry would not automatically receive personal police protection while in Britain, which London’s High Court last year ruled was lawful.
That decision was upheld in May by three Court of Appeal judges who said that, while Harry understandably felt aggrieved, that did not amount to an error of law.
Buckingham Palace said in relation to Harry’s legal case: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
The Home Office welcomed the decision. “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate”, it said.
Harry said the decision left him “devastated”. He said in a BBC interview that while he wanted reconciliation with his family, his father would not speak to him because of the security issue.
Since moving to the United States, Harry and Meghan have criticised the royals in television documentaries, in an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey and in Harry’s biography “Spare”, accusing senior aides of colluding with tabloids to smear him.
On a visit to Britain in September, Harry had tea with King Charles at their first meeting in 20 months. Harry had last seen his father in February 2024, shortly after it was announced that the king was undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that Charles had a private tea at Clarence House in London with his son.
A French court in May convicted the jewel thieves who in 2016 tied up U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian at gun point before making off with her $4 million engagement ring and other booty.
Ten people were in the dock, accused of involvement in the Paris heist. Robbers wearing ski masks and disguised as police tied up the billionaire celebrity before making off with the ring, given to her by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West (now known as Ye), and other jewels.
Kardashian travelled to Paris to testify, telling the court she had thought she was going to die.
The mixed panel of judges and jury convicted eight of the 10 for crimes directly linked to the theft, while another defendant was found guilty of illegal weapons charges. One person was acquitted.
The heaviest sentences were handed down to five defendants who participated directly in the heist, with the mastermind of the robbery, 69-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, getting a three-year jail sentence.
Kardashian’s lawyers said that she accepted the court’s ruling.
“I am deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case. The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family,” she said in a statement. “While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all.”
During her court appearance, she said she forgave Khedache, who had asked for forgiveness in a letter.
The thieves were dubbed the “grandpa robbers” by the press as many were of or near retirement age. At the time, the robbery was considered the biggest in France for more than 20 years.
Pop star Cardi B won a decisive court victory in September against a security guard who filed a $24 million lawsuit accusing the then-pregnant rap performer of physically assaulting her outside a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s office in 2018.
The 12-member Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching a unanimous verdict siding with the Grammy-winning recording artist, whose biggest hits include “Taki Taki” and “I Like It.”
The jurors found that the former security officer, Emani Ellis, failed to convincingly prove allegations that Cardi B physically attacked her, scratched Ellis’ face with her fingernails, spat on her and shouted racial slurs. Both women are Black.
Ellis testified during the trial that she had demanded Cardi B leave the grounds of the medical building because she was “causing a disturbance.”
Taking the witness stand in her own defense, Cardi B testified Ellis was the aggressor in what the singer called a “verbal altercation” that began when Ellis, then working as a uniformed security officer, began “invading my privacy.”
According to Cardi B, Ellis started following her and trying to take a cellphone video of the singer on her way to an obstetrician visit when she was pregnant but had yet to publicly announce the pregnancy.
At the time, Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, was expecting the first of her three children fathered by rapper Offset.
The singer, known for a provocative public image, acknowledged cursing at Ellis as the two women yelled at one another “chest to chest,” but she testified that no physical contact was made, and she denied spitting or using racial epithets.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra after the verdict, Cardi B vowed to be more proactive against any unwarranted legal claims she faces in the future.
“The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going countersue, and you’re going to pay,” she said.
Addressing the media separately after the trial, Ellis said she was “not at all” sorry for pursuing the case and was gratified to have her day in court.
“I don’t want it to be overlooked. I don’t want it to be something that’s brushed under the rug,” Ellis said. “What she did to me was real.”
A federal appeals court in February upheld R. Kelly’s sex trafficking and racketeering conviction, saying extensive evidence supported keeping the former R&B superstar behind bars for decades.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Kelly’s claims that federal prosecutors failed to prove he led a racketeering scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex and then violated several victims.
Circuit Judge Denny Chin said prosecutors offered “extensive evidence showing how Kelly ensnared young girls and women into his orbit, endeavored to control their lives, and secured their compliance with his personal and sexual demands through verbal and physical abuse, threats of blackmail, and humiliation.”
Writing for a three-judge panel, Chin also said jurors could conclude that Kelly, 58, intended to convince victims they would be harmed if they failed to honor his sexual demands.
Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence after a Brooklyn, New York jury convicted him in September 2021 of one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which forbids transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Kelly’s trial followed two decades of misconduct accusations, which he had repeatedly denied. The case is separate from Kelly’s September 2022 conviction by a Chicago jury of child sex crimes. He was sentenced there to 20 years in prison, but the judge added just one year to Kelly’s imprisonment, with the other 19 years overlapping the 30-year sentence.
His case became among the most prominent #MeToo-era prosecutions.
A Paris court in May found actor Gerard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed him an 18-month suspended sentence, with the judge saying he appeared not to have grasped the “traumatic” impact of his behaviour.
In the highest-profile #MeToo case to come before judges in France, Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he would appeal the court’s decision.
Depardieu, 76, was a towering figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including “Green Card”, “The Last Metro” and “Cyrano de Bergerac”.
His trial marked a moment of reckoning for the #MeToo protest movement over sexual violence, which has failed to gain the same traction in France as in the United States, although there are signs that social attitudes are changing.
One of the two plaintiffs, Amelie K, a set decorator, told the court the actor had groped her all over her body as he trapped her between his legs and made explicit sexual comments on set in 2021.
“I was terrified, he was laughing,” she recounted.
Depardieu, who denied sexual assault, had argued before the court that he did not consider placing a hand on a person’s buttocks sexual assault and that some women were too easily shocked.
Handing down his sentence, the presiding judge, Thierry Donard, said of Depardieu: “He does not seem to have grasped either the concept of consent or the deleterious and traumatic consequences of his behaviour towards the women he assaulted.”
He ordered Depardieu, who was not in court for the verdict, to be put on a list of sex offenders.
Separately, Depardieu will face trial on charges of raping actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018.
Arnould first accused Depardieu of rape in 2018, saying the assaults occurred in his Paris home on two separate occasions when she was in her early 20s. Depardieu, 76, has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed in September that an investigating judge had ruled that the case should be sent before a court after Arnould posted about the news on her Instagram account. No court date was given.
“I think I’m having trouble realising how huge this is. I’m relieved,” Arnould wrote.
Though Arnould’s case was initially dropped, it was reopened in 2020 and prosecutors requested a trial for Depardieu in 2022.
Depardieu’s lawyer said he would appeal the ruling to stand trial.
Asked if an appeal was planned, lawyer Jeremie Assous told Franceinfo radio: “Of course.”
A California doctor was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison in early December for illegally supplying “Friends” sitcom star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s drug overdose death in 2023.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who ran an urgent-care clinic outside Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in federal court in July to four felony counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anesthetic. He could have faced up to 40 years in prison for the crime.
Perry was found by his live-in assistant floating face down and lifeless in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. He was 54. An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing the actor to lose consciousness and drown.
Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
Plasencia, who surrendered his medical license in September, admitted as part of his plea agreement that in the weeks before Perry’s death he had injected the actor with ketamine on multiple occasions at the actor’s home and once in the back seat of a parked car.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said.
Plasencia, who practiced medicine in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas, said he was introduced to Perry through a patient acquainted with the doctor and obtained the ketamine from another doctor, co-defendant Mark Chavez of San Diego. According to court filings, Plasencia once texted Chavez about Perry, writing, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
Within weeks, Perry was dead from an overdose of ketamine supplied by yet another co-defendant – a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” – and injected by the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
“You and others helped Mr. Perry stay on the road to such an ending while continuing to feed his addiction,” U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett said before sentencing Plasencia to 30 months in prison and a $5,600 fine.
Addressing the court before the judge imposed sentence, amid audible sobs from his mother and Perry’s relatives, Plasencia expressed remorse and said he took full responsibility for his actions.
“I failed Mr. Perry, I failed his family, and I failed the community,” he said, before turning to directly face members of Perry’s family seated in the courtroom and adding, “I’m just so sorry.”
Delivering a victim impact statement earlier in the proceeding, Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said, “There is an oath that doctors take, and I think it really got forgotten.” Looking directly at Plasencia, she said, “I want you to see this is the mother” and added “this was a bad thing to do.”
Four other defendants – Chavez, 55, Iwamasa, 60, Jasveen Sangha, 42, aka “Ketamine Queen,” and go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56 – have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death and are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks.
An actor on the U.S. BET television show “The Oval” filed a civil lawsuit that accuses media mogul Tyler Perry of repeated sexual assault and harassment.
Derek Dixon is seeking $260 million in punitive damages from Perry in a lawsuit filed in June in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In the suit, Dixon accuses Perry of “a sustained pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault and retaliation.”
An attorney for Perry called the lawsuit “a scam.”
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than a scam,” attorney Matthew Boyd said in a statement. “But Tyler Perry will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
The lawsuit claims Perry met Dixon when he was working on the event staff at a party Perry was hosting, and that Perry offered him a role on the series “Ruthless” in 2019 and a bigger part later on “The Oval.”
Dixon alleges that Perry sent unwanted, sexually suggestive text messages to him. The suit includes screenshots of what it said were exchanges between the two.
“What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” said one of the messages that Dixon said was from Perry.
After the messages, Perry’s behavior escalated to sexual assault, the lawsuit said.
One night at Perry’s home, the lawsuit said, Perry told Dixon he was too drunk to drive and urged him to stay in a guest room. Dixon said he woke up in the middle of the night to find Perry in bed with him and rubbing his thigh.
In another case, Perry “forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothing, groped his buttocks, and attempted to force himself on Dixon,” the lawsuit said.
Dixon tried to remain friendly with Perry while rebuffing his advances in order to keep his job, the lawsuit said. Perry made it clear to Dixon that his TV character could be killed off if he ignored Perry or did not take part in his “sexual innuendos,” the lawsuit said.
Actor Emma Watson was banned in July from driving for six months for speeding.
The “Harry Potter” star, best known for playing bookish wizard Hermione Granger from age nine in 2001 for a decade in the fantasy film series, was caught speeding in a blue Audi at 38mph in a 30mph zone in Oxford, southeast England on the evening of July 31, 2024.
The Paris-born 35-year-old was ordered to pay a fine of £1,044 by High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court. She was not in attendance during the hearing.
Watson was not the only “Harry Potter” star to be charged with speeding. Her co-star Zoe Wanamaker, 76, who played Madam Hooch in the 2001 film “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, was disqualified from driving for six months by the same court minutes after Watson’s case was heard.
A member of Irish rap group Kneecap won his bid in September to throw out his terrorism prosecution for allegedly displaying a flag of Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, with a London court ruling that the charge had been brought too late.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who was initially charged under the anglicised name Liam O’Hanna and whose stage name is Mo Chara, was accused of having waved the flag of the banned militant group Hezbollah during a Kneecap gig in London in November 2024.
The 28-year-old was charged in May under the Terrorism Act, under which it is a criminal offence to display an article in a way which arouses reasonable suspicion that someone is a supporter of a proscribed organisation.
After a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Judge Paul Goldspring ruled that Ó hAnnaidh had been charged after the six-month limit to bring such a charge, which can only be dealt with by the magistrates’ court.
“The charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge,” the judge said to cheers from the public gallery.
Ó hAnnaidh had appeared at Woolwich Crown Court to hear the ruling, which was celebrated by dozens of his supporters and his bandmates Naoise Ó Cairealláin, stage name Móglaí Bap, and J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, who goes by DJ Próvaí.
Israel strongly denies committing genocide in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023. Israel and Hamas agreed in October to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza – a ceasefire and a hostage-release deal.
“This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public, never about terrorism,” Ó hAnnaidh said outside court.
“It was all about Gaza, about what happens if you dare to speak up,” he added.
Belfast-based Kneecap, who rap in Irish and English and regularly display pro-Palestine messages during their gigs, previously said the flag had been thrown on stage and described the charge as an attempt to silence them.
Separately, British police said they would not take any action against Kneecap following an investigation into comments made by its members during a performance at Glastonbury music festival in June.
The force had launched a criminal investigation into gigs by Kneecap as well as punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, which took place one after another at Glastonbury’s West Holts stage on day four of the June 25-29 festival.
The Belfast-based group led chanting against Prime Minister Keir Starmer while Bob Vylan’s set included chants of “death to the IDF,” a reference to the Israeli military.
Avon and Somerset Police said that they decided to drop the investigation after consulting the Crown Prosecution Service.
“After that advice, we have made the decision to take no further action on the grounds there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence,” their statement said.
British actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court in May to charges of rape and sexual assault relating to four women more than two decades ago.
Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and former husband of U.S. pop singer Katy Perry, appeared at Southwark Crown Court and denied all five criminal charges.
The 50-year-old has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago.
British prosecutors announced in April that Brand had been charged with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault against four women between 1999 and 2005.
Brand, who previously gave his address as being in England but also lives in the U.S., is due to stand trial in June 2026.
He spoke only to confirm his name and enter his five not guilty pleas, before leaving the court with his lawyer and some companions.
After the charges were first announced, Brand said in a video posted on social media that in his younger days, before getting married and having children, he had been a fool and a sex addict but “what I never was, was a rapist”.—Reuters