Good fences make good neighbors, but bad relations between neighbors can make for some pretty juicy lawsuits.
Comedian Kathy Griffin has been hit with a lawsuit by her neighbors, KB Home CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger and his wife Sandra, alleging that Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, made “repeated and demonstrably unfounded” complaints against the Mezgers, and spied on them.
In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 20, the Mezgers say that Griffin and Bick moved in next to them in July 2016 and almost immediately “began to lodge a series of noise complaints with the Bel Air Crest guard gate staff, later escalating their complaints to the HOA board and the Los Angeles Police Department.”
The Mezgers say that complaints were lodged “virtually every time” the Mezgers or their family or guests used the backyard pool area of their home. According to the suit, Griffin and Bick “undertook a campaign of secret electronic surveillance and recording almost immediately after taking up residence.” first with their iPhones, then with an audio-video surveillance system that was pointed directly into the Mezgers’ backyard “in order to spy on and record them.”
The suit says that Griffin and Bick “illegally captured hundreds of hours of audio and video from the Mezgers’ back yard” and that the Mezgers only learned about it in September 2017, months after the secret recordings began, when Griffin and Bick leaked one of the recordings to the media.
At that time, the Huffington Post published audio that it says was provided by Bick, in which Mezger is purportedly heard calling Griffin a “f–king bald dyke” and a “c-t.”
A KB Home spokesperson told Huffington Post in a statement that Mezger “regrets losing his temper.”
“Mr. Mezger regrets losing his temper over a supposed noise complaint involving his three young grandchildren in his swimming pool around 8 p.m. on Saturday, while they were being supervised by their mother and grandmother,” the statement read. “He apologizes for the language he used, as it does not reflect who he is or what he believes.”
Even so, the suit says that the Mezgers “were left to constantly monitor their sound levels, and tiptoe around the yard” for fear that “even ordinary use of the property” would trigger a complaint. The complaint also alleges that the release of excerpts of the recordings have damaged the Mezgers “in their reputation, remuneration, employment” and community standing, among other ways. The suit adds that KB Home cut Mezger’s bonus payment by 25 percent in 2017 because of his “personal dealings with a neighbor,” and that he was told he would be fired if another similar incident occurred.
TheWrap has reached out to Griffin’s legal representative for comment on the suit, which alleges invasion of privacy and other counts, and seeks unspecified damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
Kathy Griffin Isn't Alone: 8 Other Celebrities Who've Been Eyed by the Feds (Photos)
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who caught heat last week after posing with a facsimile of President Donald Trump's severed head, said during a press conference Friday that Trump and his family have targeted her for retaliation, and that she is now the subject of a Secret Service investigation over the photo.
While Griffin's attorney, Lisa Bloom, called the situation "outrageous and unprecedented," that's not entirely true -- at least not the "unprecedented part." Read on for other entertainers who came under government scrutiny.
In the '80s, Milt Ahlerich. FBI assistant director of the FBI's office of public affairs, wrote a letter to rap group N.W.A's label Priority Records, saying that 78 police officers were "feloniously slain in the line of duty during 1988 . . . and recordings such as the one from N.W.A are both discouraging and degrading to these brave, dedicated officers," a reference to the N.W.A song "F--k Tha Police."
"I wanted you to be aware of the FBI's position relative to this song and its message. I believe my views reflect the opinion of the entire law enforcement community," the letter continued.
"Rocky Mountain High" singer John Denver was the subject of an FBI file that labeled the folk singer a narcotics user and noted his scheduled appearance a a 1971 anti-war rally in Minnesota.
Ill-fated Playboy Playmate/actress Anna Nicole Smith was investigated by the FBI in 2000 and 2001 over an alleged murder-for-hire plot against E. Pierce Marshall, the son of Smith's oil-tycoon husband J. Howard Marshall, who fought to prevent Smith from inheriting his father's fortune.
Silent-film legend Charlie Chaplin was the subject of a decades-long probe by the FBI, which sought to determine if he was a Communist. The final entry in Chaplin's FBI file was made in 1978, a year after the actor's death.
In the 1960s, the FBI requested to interview actor Rock Hudson, stemming from the belief that the actor had "homosexual tendencies." The interview, the bureau noted, was to be conducted by "two mature experienced Special Agents."
"I Love Lucy" star Lucille Ball earned a place on the FBI's radar because her possible Communist ties. The actress had admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that she had registered to vote as a Communist in 1936, saying that she only did so to satisfy her socialist grandfather. The HUAC let her off the hook, but the FBI continued to amass information on her nonetheless.
Thanks to his alignment with the anti-war movement, former Beatle John Lennon was placed under FBI surveillance in 1971, with the INS launching a campaign to deport the musician the following year. The FBI noted that "Lennon should be arrested, if at all possible, on possession of narcotics charges ... which would make him more immediately deportable."
In Mach, after Snoop Dogg released the video "Lavender," which featured the rapper shooting a clown-faced Donald Trump stand-in with a toy gun, a spokesman for the Secret Service told TheWrap that the Service was "aware of" the video, declining further public comment.
1 of 9
From Lucille Ball to Snoop Dogg, comedian is in good company
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who caught heat last week after posing with a facsimile of President Donald Trump's severed head, said during a press conference Friday that Trump and his family have targeted her for retaliation, and that she is now the subject of a Secret Service investigation over the photo.
While Griffin's attorney, Lisa Bloom, called the situation "outrageous and unprecedented," that's not entirely true -- at least not the "unprecedented part." Read on for other entertainers who came under government scrutiny.
