LOS ANGELES — A former network TV executive filed a malicious-prosecution lawsuit against a former aspiring actor who recently withdrew a lawsuit that accused the executive of sexually abusing him in the late 1990s.
Garth Ancier, who was a high-ranking executive at the NBC, Fox and WB networks, filed his lawsuit in a federal court in Honolulu two days after Michael Egan III voluntarily dismissed his case. The lawsuit also names two of Egan’s attorneys, Jeff Herman, of Florida, and Mark Gallagher, of Hawaii.
Ancier’s lawsuit states his reputation was damaged by Egan’s claims that he was sexually molested by the executive and other entertainment industry figures, including “X-Men” director Bryan Singer, on a trip to Hawaii in 1999 when he was 17 years old. Ancier and Singer have denied being in Hawaii at the time Egan says he was abused.
Egan’s attorneys did not respond to requests by Ancier’s attorneys to produce evidence that supported the sex abuse lawsuit, the new case states. Ancier was in Los Angeles and New York developing lineups of shows for NBC at the time Egan claims he was abused. His lawyer, Louise Ann Fernandez, has said Ancier never visited the estate in Hawaii where Egan claimed he was abused.
“This fabrication of facts in Hawaii that never took place, to create jurisdiction in a forum where there was none and to drum up more business for Mr. Egan’s counsel, requires that defendants be held to account for malicious prosecution and abuse of process,” the lawsuit states.
Egan withdrew the lawsuit against Ancier on Wednesday, three weeks after he withdrew a similar suit against David Neuman, another former TV executive. Singer has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him.
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NEW YORK — Pippa Middleton told NBC News she had no idea how big her sister Kate’s 2011 marriage to Prince William would be, since she saw it as just another family wedding.
“That stopped me in my tracks, that she looked at this as, ‘Oh, my sister is getting married,’ not that, ‘Oh, I’m the maid of honor in the royal wedding,’” said NBC’s Matt Lauer, who conducted the interview.
The “Today” show host traveled to London this week to interview the princess’ sister, her first television interview. “Today” is airing Lauer’s report in two parts Monday and Tuesday.
Lauer said Friday he had talked to Middleton’s representatives about speaking to her during a just-completed charity bike ride in the United States.
They said no, but that maybe she would talk later. A day after she got back, they called and told Lauer to fly to London.
Lauer said many people are interested in how Middleton seems, and what she sounds like, since they’ve never seen her interviewed. He said Middleton is shy but very down-to-earth.
“I think they are going to like her very much. I think she is going to pleasantly surprise people,” he said.
“Today” released a few excerpts from the interview, where Middleton talks about how her relationship with her sister has changed since the royal wedding and her impressions of the United States.
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LONDON — Courteney Cox says she is engaged to marry Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid.
The actress and the musician revealed their engagement Friday with a dual announcement on Twitter.
The pair, who have been dating for less than a year, posted a selfie with matching tweets saying, “I’m engaged to her” and “I’m engaged to him.”
This will be the second marriage for Cox, 50, who divorced actor David Arquette in May 2013 after nearly 14 years of marriage. They have a daughter, Coco, 10.
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