Image Credit: Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC

Bradlee Dean, a metal rocker and founder of a Christian foundation called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, Inc., is suing Rachel Maddow and MSNBC for $50 million on the grounds of defamation. In Aug. 2010, Maddow quoted Dean’s radio show on a segment of The Rachel Maddow Show:

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”

Dean says that Maddow deliberately ignored a disclaimer he issued that said that Dean himself was not calling for gay people to be killed, and that the fallout from the segment has caused serious harm to him and his ministry. However, Maddow actually did read the disclaimer after she read Dean’s statements. MSNBC has responded with a brief statement: “This suit is baseless and we stand by our reporting.”

On July 20, Constance Meester, the mother of Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester, filed suit against her daughter. The suit comes just days after Constance was sued by Leighton for allegedly misusing funds the actress was sending for the medical support of her brother, Alexander.

Constance, Leighton’s former manager, claims that she and Leighton entered into a verbal contract during a legal settlement in 2009 in which Leighton agreed to pay her mother a one-time fee of $30,000 and then $10,000 every month for the rest of her life. The mother alleges that Leighton only paid $20,000 in the beginning, followed by sporadic monthly payments of $7,500, and that she breached their settlement when she canceled Constance’s health insurance and ceased sending payment in early July. Now, Constance wants $3 million from the actress.

Constance Meester’s papers go on to reveal that she has Hepatitis C, and that the medicine to treat the illness costs $5,000 per month. Other costs include Alexander’s tuition, set at $30,000 a year. The papers further claim that Leighton assaulted Constance by “throwing her to the ground and repeatedly hitting her with a bottle,” in December 2010, and that she attempted to convince her brother, Alexander, to abandon his mother and move to New York. When he couldn’t make the move, Leighton cut off support for her mother and brother, Constance claims.

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‘Gossip Girl’ star Leighton Meester sues mother