Florida man sentenced to 10 years in "hackerazzi" case

A Florida man who pleaded guilty to hacking into the email accounts of celebrities to gain access to nude photos and private information was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday. Former office clerk Christopher Chaney, 36, said before the trial that he hacked into the accounts of film star Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities because he was addicted to spying on their personal lives. Prosecutors said Chaney illegally gained access to email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry, including Johansson, actress Mila Kunis, and singers Christina Aguilera and Renee Olstead from November 2010 to October 2011. Chaney, who was initially charged with 28 counts related to hacking, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in March to nine felony counts, including wiretapping and unauthorized access to protected computers. "I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry," Chaney said during his sentencing. "This will never happen again." Chaney was ordered to pay $66,179 in restitution to victims. Prosecutors recommended a 71-month prison for Chaney, who faced a maximum sentence of 60 years. TEARFUL JOHANSSON Prosecutors said Chaney leaked some of the private photos to two celebrity gossip websites and a hacker. Johansson said the photos, which show her topless, were taken for her then-husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. In a video statement shown in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, a tearful Johansson said she was "truly humiliated and embarrassed" when the photos appeared online, asking Judge S. James Otero to come down hard on Chaney. Prosecutors said Chaney also stalked two unnamed Florida women online, one since 1999 when she was 13 years old. Chaney, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested in October 2011 after an 11-month FBI investigation dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi" and he continued hacking after investigators initially seized his personal computers. Shortly after his arrest, Chaney told a Florida television station that his hacking of celebrity email accounts started as curiosity and later he became "addicted." "I was almost relieved months ago when they came in and took my computer ... because I didn't know how to stop," he said.

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Actor Depardieu hits back at French PM over tax exile

Actor Gerard Depardieu, accused by French government leaders of trying to dodge taxes by buying a house over the border in Belgium, retorted that he was leaving because "success" was now being punished in his homeland. A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old Depardieu is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by Socialist President Francois Hollande. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Depardieu's behavior as "pathetic" and unpatriotic at a time when the French are being asked to pay higher taxes to reduce a bloated national debt. "Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?" Depardieu said in a letter distributed to the media. "I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned," he said. An angry member of parliament has proposed that France adopt a U.S.-inspired law that would force Depardieu or anyone trying to escape full tax dues to forego their nationality. The "Cyrano de Bergerac" star recently bought a house in Nechin, a Belgian village a short walk from the border with France, where 27 percent of residents are French nationals, and put up his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale. Depardieu, who has also inquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency, said he was handing in his passport and social security card. Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said she was outraged by Depardieu's letter, adding that he had for years been supported financially by public money for the film industry. "When we abandon the ship and desert in the middle of an economic war, you don't then come back and give morality lessons," she told BFM-TV. "One can only regret that Gerard Depardieu doesn't make a comeback in silent movies." He said he had paid 145 million euros ($190.08 million) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14. "People more illustrious than me have gone into (tax) exile. Of all those that have left none have been insulted as I have." The actor's move comes three months after Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH and France's richest man, caused an uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium - a move he said was not for tax reasons. Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million). Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales. "We no longer have the same homeland," Depardieu said. "I sadly no longer have a reason to stay here. I'll continue to love the French and this public that I have shared so much emotion with." Hollande is pressing ahead too with plans to impose a 75-percent supertax on income over 1 million euros. "Who are you to judge me, I ask you Mr. Ayrault, prime minister of Mr. Hollande? Despite my excesses, my appetite and my love of life, I remain a free man."

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Leah Remini sued by former managers over "Family Tools" commissions

Leah Remini's new TV gig is already giving her a headache, months before it even starts. Former "King of Queens" star Remini is being sued by her former managers, the Collective Management Group, which claims that it's owed $67,000 in commissions relating to her upcoming ABC comedy "Family Tools," which debuts May 1. In a complaint filed with Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, the Collective says that it entered into an agreement with the actress in November 2011 that guaranteed the company 10 percent of the earnings that emerged from projects that Remini "discussed, negotiated, contemplated, or procured/booked during Plaintiff's representation of Remini," regardless of whether the income was earned after she and the Collective parted ways. According to the lawsuit, that would include the $1 million that it says Remini will earn for the first season of "Family Tools." (The suit allows that it isn't owed commission on a $330,000 talent holding fee that Remini received from ABC prior to officially being booked on the show.) Remini, pictured above wearing the self-satisfied smirk of someone who just might stiff her former managers out of their commission, terminated her agreement with the Collective "without warning or justification" in October, the suit says. Alleging breach of oral contract among other charges, the suit is asking for an order stipulating that it's owed the $67,000, plus unspecified damages, interest and court costs. Remini's agent has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.

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Thousands mourn U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera

Thousands of mourners on Wednesday packed a Los Angeles theater to pay their final respects to Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera more than a week after her death in a plane crash. Rivera, 43, best known for her work in the Mexican folk Nortena and Banda genres, died after the small jet she was traveling in crashed in northern Mexico on December 9. Rivera's family, dressed in white, led the memorial service eulogizing the singer. A bank of white roses was displayed in front of Rivera's bright red coffin and a brass band performed musical interludes. More than 6,000 people crowded into the theater about 30 miles north of her childhood home in Long Beach, California. Tickets for the service at the Gibson Amphitheatre sold out within minutes, organizers said. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rivera was called the "Diva de la Banda." She sold about 15 million albums and earned a slew of Latin Grammy nominations during her 17-year career. "Jenni made it OK for women to be who they are," her manager Pete Salgado said at the service. "Jenni also made it OK to be from nothing, with the hopes of being something." Rivera had five children, the first at age 15, and was married three times. Her third husband was baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza. Rivera's private life influenced her songs, which often referenced living through hardship. "She's a fighter and she knows it's in all of us," Rivera's son Michael said between video tributes. In recent years, Rivera branched out into television, appearing on a reality television show and serving as a judge on the Mexican version of the singing competition "The Voice." Television broadcaster ABC was reported to be developing a comedy pilot for the singer. Rivera's plane crashed in mountains south of Monterrey killing all seven on board. The singer was to perform in the city of Toluca, 40 miles southwest of Mexico City, in central Mexico after a concert in Monterrey. It is not clear what caused the crash.

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Putin offers French tax row actor Depardieu a Russian passport

President Vladimir Putin offered French actor Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport on Thursday, saying he would welcome the 63-year-old celebrity who is embroiled in a bitter tax row with France's socialist government. Weighing into a dispute over a hike in taxes, Putin heaped praise on Depardieu, making the offer of citizenship in response to a question during his annual televised press conference. "If Gerard really wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively," Putin said. French daily Le Monde reported on Tuesday that Depardieu had told his close friends he was considering three options to escape France's new tax regime: moving to Belgium, where he owns a home, relocating to Montenegro, where he has a business, or fleeing to Russia. "Putin has already sent me a passport," Le Monde quoted the actor as jokingly saying. Depardieu is well-known in Russia where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, and in 2012 he was one of several Western celebrities invited to celebrate the birthday of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader. He also worked in Russia last year on a film about the life and times of the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin. He has already inquired about how to obtain Belgian residency rights and said he plans to hand in his French passport and social security card. In what has become an ugly public dispute, France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault criticized Depardieu's announcement as "pathetic" and unpatriotic. The actor hit back, accusing France of punishing success and talent. But Putin said he thought the feud was the result of a "misunderstanding". The 60-year-old former KGB spy said he was very friendly with Depardieu, saying he thought the actor considered himself a Frenchman who loved the culture and history of his homeland. Belgian residents do not pay a wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million). Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales. Hollande is also pressing ahead with plans to impose a 75-percent super tax on income over 1 million euros. Russia has a flat income tax rate of 13 percent.

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