Celebrities Who Sued Other Stars

This feature discusses accusations of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, child abuse, alcohol and drug misuse, addiction, and racism. 

In Hollywood, lawsuits are basically just a fact of life. Companies sue celebrities, celebrities sue companies, companies sue companies — and repeat. Rarer is it that we see celebrities file suit against other celebrities, though the prevalence of such instances is certainly on the rise. Here we have gathered some of the most notable instances of stars taking other stars to court, for a variety of reasons including sexual assault, defamation, copyright infringement, and more. While all of the lawsuits on this list refer to civil cases, a number of the defendants have also been tried in criminal court (and the court of public opinion). But unless a ruling has been made, you won't find any judgments on the guilt or innocence of any party or the veracity of any allegation.

Before we get to the list, we must also explain some of the parameters. Although the number of stars who have been taken to court by their employees, exes, and even family members is staggering, we avoided any lawsuit between one celebrity and one non-celebrity. That also means that celebrities suing their managers, lawyers, or other people who work for them were off the table. We also did not pay attention to lawsuits between a celebrity and a non-media company, even if a famous executive was on the paperwork, since the focus was solely on notable individuals in entertainment. With that in mind, here are 16 cases of a celebrity (or their estate, in one instance) suing another star.

It's your classic Lifetime movie — girl meets older, successful man who seems like her dream dude, but she accuses him of having been a monster in disguise. Only, in this true-life case, the guy was arguably dressed like a monster the whole time. We are talking, of course, about Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood. The couple reportedly first met in 2006 before taking their relationship public in early 2007, when she was 19 and he was 36. The couple got engaged three years later and broke up within eight months. From the outside, things seemed relatively fine. In 2015, Wood told Net-a-Porter's The Edit (via Us Weekly), "I appreciate everything he taught me. I just don't think we were right for each other."

However, in 2021, she named the shock rocker as the abuser she had anonymously referenced on social media two years earlier. In the since-deleted Instagram post, she accused Manson of grooming, manipulation, abuse, and rape — four other women then emerged with their own claims, per The Guardian. In response to the allegations, his lawyer told Rolling Stone, "[Manson] vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone." Wood made more claims in January and March 2022, with the second incidence occurring a month after Manson filed a defamation suit, per The Guardian. Manson's defamation claims were dismissed by a judge in May 2023, but his hacking and wrongful impersonation claims against Wood are still being pursued as of this writing, per The Hollywood Reporter.  

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Celebrity divorces and their aftermath do not get any worse than that of actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The pair met on set in 2009 and were married six years later. Publicly, the couple didn't become official until Depp's 2012 split from his partner, Vanessa Paradis.  Just a year after their 2016 wedding, Heard filed for divorce. A handful of days later, she then won a request for a restraining order against Depp after accusing him of domestic violence, per The Guardian. 

By August, the couple reached a divorce settlement, and four months later,  Heard penned a poignant op-ed for Porter magazine about how women are often met with shame and hostility after raising allegations of violence and abuse, per Independent. In December 2018, she wrote another letter about the backlash she faced for coming forward as a victim, for The Washington Post. Three months later, Depp filed a defamation suit against her, per People. 

Things got even uglier as Depp also accused Heard of assault and she filed a countersuit. Per CNN, a jury ultimately found that both parties were liable for defamation against the other. However, Depp was awarded significantly greater damages than Heard who also lost the court of public opinion. She even moved to Spain in an apparent bid for some privacy and a fresh start. Previously, Depp had lost a libel case against The Sun in the U.K., after they had labeled him a "wife beater."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Robin Antin formed the Pussycat Dolls in 1995. Initially, the Dolls started out as a dance troupe, performing burlesque at the Viper Room in Los Angeles and courting guest stars like Christina Applegate, Gwen Stefani, and Brittany Murphy. By the middle of the next decade, they had become pop sensations thanks to Antin's management skills and the powerhouse vocals of lead singer Nicole Scherzinger. Their hit songs — like "Don't Cha," "Buttons," and "Hush Hush"— were by no means deep, but they sure were bangers. When the group split in 2008, everyone assumed it was because their frontwoman had plans to go solo (and she did, though she has never achieved the same level of success on her own).

Because Scherzinger's career has become that of a reality TV judge more so than a singer, it wasn't particularly shocking when she signed on for a reunion tour in 2019. But what was surprising was the resulting drama –  if only because of how far it went. According to Page Six, in 2021, the vocalist attempted to renegotiate the tour's original terms in 2021, by asking for a majority share of profits and total creative control. However, Antin was unwilling to budge. She filed a breach of contract suit against Scherzinger and the tour was canceled. A year later, Scherzinger retaliated by filing a countersuit against the group founder, accusing her of misusing band funds, per Perez Hilton. As of this writing, the case is pending with a trial scheduled for March 2024.

If you can't place the faces but recognize the names, let us remind you of who these two people are. Jayde Nicole is a Canadian model, best known for appearing in Playboy and for dating Brody Jenner. Because of Jenner, Nicole guested on "The Hills" nearly a dozen times, and she also had recurring appearances on "Kendra on Top" and "Holly's World," centered on Playmates Kendra Wilkinson and Holly Madison. Joe Francis is the problematic founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" series, which would make him controversial enough even if he were not a convicted criminal. He first landed in jail in 2003, after a judge held him in contempt for not engaging in settlement talks regarding a lawsuit filed by two women who claimed to be underage while filmed for sexually provocative videos, per Fox News.

But Francis' legal troubles didn't end there, as he was subsequently convicted of everything from tax evasion and false imprisonment to assault causing great bodily injury, per NBC News. His case concerning Nicole was not a criminal one but a civil suit that she brought after an altercation at a nightclub where Francis was accused of physically assaulting her. Although he denied the allegations to E! News (via The Hollywood Gossip), Radar claimed to have obtained security footage that proved his guilt. Nicole sued for $1 million over the 2009 incident, and they settled on an undisclosed sum the following year, according to Perez Hilton. 

Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest musical artists out there today, and he has been pumping out great songs ever since his 2011 debut single "The A Team." As great of a singer as he is, it's his songwriting that makes him stand out. His lyrics are poetic and his melodies are catchy — so much so that dozens of other artists have sung songs penned by Sheeran. His biggest hits, like the Grammy-winning "Shape of You" and "Thinking Out Loud" became instant classics, while songs like "Perfect," "Photograph," and "Sing" became radio playlist regulars. Clearly, Sheeran's songwriting ability is an important facet of his success.

But when serious allegations that Sheeran had ripped off other musicians resulted in multiple lawsuits, his credibility as a songwriter was called into question. Per the Daily Beast, since 2016, the British artist has faced various accusations of plagiarizing the songs of others via tracks that he'd written for himself and others including "Shape of You," "Photograph," and "The Rest of Our Lives" (Sheeran won the copyright case for the first song, and settled in court for the latter two). 

Then, in 2018, the estate of songwriter Ed Townsend filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sheeran, claiming that "Thinking Out Loud" stole from "Let's Get It On," which Townsend co-wrote and produced for Marvin Gaye. The estate wanted $100 million in damages but received nothing when Sheeran was found not liable in 2023, per Page Six. 

"Real Housewives" are not necessarily known for keeping their cool, but most of the drama that occurs between the franchise's cast members plays out on social media or TV, not in the courtroom. But one especially nasty incident resulted in a years-long defamation lawsuit that left neither party looking too great. The suit was initiated by former "Real Housewives of Miami" star and model Joanna Krupa, after "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum Brandi Glanville went on "Watch What Happens Live" and made a derogatory comment about Krupa's sex life and personal hygiene. Glanville has always been a loose cannon, but the November 2013 incident was a low, even for her.

In the interview in question, Glanville claimed that Krupa had an affair with Mohammed Hadid, back when he was still married to Yolanda Hadid, and that Mohammed claimed Krupa's nether regions were "smelly" (he vehemently denied all of the accusations on Twitter). The comments were so outrageous that fellow "Watch What Happens Live" guest Mark Consuelos literally fell out of his chair, while host Andy Cohen erupted in one part laughter, one part shock. 

Krupa filed the lawsuit in 2015, and it got really ugly — she was even made to submit gynecological records — before the pair settled it in 2017. "I apologize as I never wanted my statements to affect Joanna Krupa's reputation and I wish her nothing but continued success in life," Glanville said in a public apology, per People.

It has been a rough road for the Carter family. In November 2022, Aaron Carter's long battle with addiction and mental health issues ended with his death, exactly a decade after his sister Leslie died of her own drug overdose. At the time, Aaron was estranged from his twin sister Angel, as well as brother Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, both of whom had filed a restraining order against him in September 2019, per Twitter. As tragic as Aaron's untimely death was, that was just one of Nick's issues considering the very serious charges multiple women have made against him.

In November 2017, the older Carter brother was accused of rape by Melissa Schuman, a singer who was formerly a member of the girl group "Dream." She claimed that Carter raped her at his home in 2003, when she was 18  and he was 22, per People. Due to the statute of limitations expiring, the case was dismissed, according to People. 

In December 2022, another woman, Shannon Ruth, sued Carter for sexual battery regarding an incident she alleged took place in 2001 when she was 17, per TMZ. Months later, he countersued both Ruth and Schuman and accused them of being involved in a plot to extort him with false sexual assault claims. In the court documents, Carter's team referred to the women as "opportunists" whose accusations caused him over $2.3 million in income loss, according to People. As of this writing, the case was ongoing. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

There was a time when Shia LaBeouf was being positioned as Hollywood's next big thing, thanks to films like "Holes," "Disturbia," and "Transformers." But then he started making some truly bizarre choices with projects, steering away from the mainstream content, and became a bit too odd for many people's taste — to the point where even Time magazine weighed in with a 2018 article entitled "A Comprehensive Timeline of Shia LaBeouf's Weirdest Behavior." On top of his peculiar performance art, the controversial Sia video for "Electric Heart," and accusations of plagiarism, he's also faced numerous arrests since 2007.

Per the Los Angeles Times, those legal issues have included his being arrested on suspicion of a DUI in 2008 (the charges were dropped), his pleading guilty to disorderly conduct after disrupting a Broadway production of "Cabaret," and LaBoeuf facing further charges for disorderly conduct, obstruction, and public intoxication in 2017, which resulted in his infamous racist rant being captured on video (the actor apologized for his actions and shared his desire to get sober, per People).

Sadly, the trouble didn't end there. In 2020, a couple of months after he was charged with battery and theft, LaBeouf's ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit against the actor, claiming he physically, sexually, and emotionally abused her, per The Guardian. On an episode of Jon Bernthal's "Real Ones" podcast, LaBoeuf addressed the allegations. On top of appearing to take accountability for the way he'd treated FKA Twigs, he also detailed his sobriety journey, stating, "I was a pleasure-seeking, selfish, self-centered, dishonest, inconsiderate, fearful human being."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

This next case is a weird one since it not only has to do with a musical artist illegally lifting from a song, but also with allegations he stole the singer's literal voice. If you are confused, we get it, because it makes rapper Yung Gravy sound like Ursula from "The Little Mermaid." But as reported by Page Six, it is actually quite simple, in that Gravy allegedly hired an impersonator to sound like singer Rick Astley and used his voice on the 2002 song "Betty (Get Money)." The impersonator sang along to the melody for Astley's hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up," because Gravy could only get approval to use the instrumentals and not the 80's crooner's iconic vocals.

Though it seems like a clever workaround for sampling a song without the full rights to do so, Astley was rightfully rattled that the impersonator sounded like him. Per the lawsuit, Astley's voice was so closely mimicked that it allowed people to assume it was him, causing confusion and ruining future potential collaborations. "Mr. Astley owns his voice," said his lawyer, Richard Busch, per Reuters. "California law is clear ... that nobody has the right to imitate or use it in a new sound recording without his permission, or pass it off as if he did approve the use." Astley asked for millions of dollars in damages in the lawsuit, which he filed in January 2023. As of this writing, the suit is still ongoing.

The days of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a couple in love are long gone — in fact, they did a full 180 from love and seemingly replaced it with anger and resentment. Pitt and Jolie married in 2014, nearly a decade after Pitt split from his first wife Jennifer Aniston, on whom he was rumored to have cheated with Jolie. However, the two have been facing off against each other since their September 2016 separation. Although a judge declared them legally single in 2019, the pair is not yet legally divorced, as of this writing. Among the holdups have been issues related to their shared winery, allegations of child abuse, and an intense fight over custody arrangements.

Per People, days after Jolie filed for divorce, it was reported that Pitt was being investigated for child abuse, after she accused him of choking their son, Maddox, on a private plane. The Los Angeles County of Children and Family Services eventually cleared Pitt — and the FBI investigation ended without criminal charges, per NBC News — but the abuse became a topic in the couple's custody battle and in the lawsuits over their winery, Château Miraval. In February 2022, Pitt sued Jolie for selling her shares of the winery without permission, while Jolie countersued later that year for $250 million. She alleged that Pitt tried to underhandedly cut her out of the winery as payback for the divorce and custody proceedings, per Page Six. As of this writing, the former couple's legal proceedings remain ongoing.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

Let's take a break from families falling apart and allegations of abuse and manipulation to get back to a lighter topic: copyright infringement (we said lighter, not light!). There have been many notable copyright cases in music in the last decade, like the dropped lawsuit against Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," per Deadline, and Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams losing a $5 million lawsuit regarding similarities between their hit, "Blurred Lines," and Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up," per Billboard. Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman's lawsuit got comparatively little attention, most likely because she and defendant Nicki Minaj reached an agreement before the case headed to trial. It was also a pretty open-and-shut case, given the facts.

Chapman sued Minaj in October 2018, alleging that the rapper's song "Sorry" used both the melody and lyrics from her 1988 hit "Baby Can I Hold You." Minaj had initially asked for permission to sample these musical elements. However, Chapman accused her of having recorded the song before the request was submitted. Frankly, it is a moot point given that Chapman said no to the request anyway. That was why she was able to file the suit when Minaj –  or one of her alter egos, maybe Roman! — released the song less than a month after her request was denied. In a since-deleted tweet, Minaj claimed she did not know the song was used to make "Sorry" (insert eye roll here). In 2021, Chapman settled the case for $450,000 rather than taking things to trial, per NPR.

After three years in prison facing up to his sexual crimes, Bill Cosby was released when his conviction was overturned on a technicality. This happened in 2021, but new allegations about Cosby have emerged since. In June 2023, due to a change in California law regarding the statute of limitations on civil sexual-assault cases, former Playboy model Victoria Valentino was able to file a civil lawsuit against him, per The Washington Post. As of this writing, up to 60 women have accused Cosby of sex crimes including rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. One of these women is Janice Dickinson, famous for her modeling, her time spent as a panelist on "America's Next Top Model," and her lack of a filter.

Dickinson first claimed that Cosby raped her in 2014, and she later testified at the trial which landed him in jail for the rape of Andrea Constand. The former supermodel alleged that Cosby drugged and raped her after a dinner date in Lake Tahoe in 1982 when Dickinson was in her late 20s and he was roughly 45, per CNN. Cosby denied the allegations and called Dickinson a liar, prompting her to sue him for defamation. In 2019 — four years after Dickinson filed the civil suit — the court ruled in her favor, and she received an undisclosed (but supposedly very large) monetary sum from Cosby's insurance company, AIG. In June 2023, Dickinson was one of nine women who filed a sexual assault lawsuit Cosby in Nevada, per NBC News. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Nene Leakes is one of the greatest "Real Housewives" of all time, across any franchise. But we do not know if it is realistic to expect her back on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" any time in the near future. That is because Leakes has had mostly negative things to say about the show since leaving, including alleging racial discrimination. And not only did she make these claims, but she also sued her former employer — including "Housewives" executive producer Andy Cohen, Bravo, NBC Universal, two production companies responsible for "RHOA," and other executives, per People. So, basically, she sued everyone she could, which means there were plenty of bridges burned.

Leakes filed her lawsuit in April 2022, alleging that she worked in a workplace environment that was both racist and hostile and that those in charge allowed such an environment to persist and even thrive. One of her bombshell claims was that she was punished after complaining to executives about racist comments from fellow OG "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star, Kim Zolciak-Biermann after years of problematic statements. Speaking to TMZ, Leakes also claimed that she'd been blacklisted by Bravo during earlier attempts to file her discrimination lawsuit. In the suit, she also cited the company's lack of diversity in leadership as a contributing factor to the toxic environment for people of color, per Us Weekly. But in August 2022, Leakes dropped the lawsuit entirely, including all claims made against the face of Bravo, Andy Cohen, per Deadline. 

Though many regard him as a musical genius, record producer Dr. Luke is quite polarizing in terms of just about everything aside from his talent. He has had beef with plenty of celebrities including Pink, Demi Lovato, and Kelly Clarkson, but his biggest feud is the ongoing one with his one-time protégé Kesha. As of this writing, the legal part of their battle has continued for roughly nine years, complicated by the intricacies of Kesha's recording contract binding her to her alleged abuser. 

As reported by TMZ, the battle began in late 2014 when Kesha — fresh off in-patient eating disorder treatment where she reportedly divulged her abuse — filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke, claiming he drugged, raped, physically assaulted, and psychologically tormented her (he has consistently denied these allegations, per Mirror). Kesha's suit argued these alleged acts breached the contract she held with Dr. Luke, and she subsequently sought to be released from it. 

That same day, Dr. Luke countersued Kesha, her mom, and her manager, for defamation. The years since have been filled with many moving pieces — in a since-deleted 2016 Instagram post, Kesha even alleged that Dr. Luke offered her freedom if she recanted her allegations (she refused and his team told Rolling Stone she was already free). In April 2016, she had her New York suit rejected based on a lack of evidence and jurisdiction, and she dropped her California suit four months later. As of this writing, Dr. Luke's defamation case against her is still active.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

We could write a tome on convicted sex offender and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, so we won't get into the entirety of the scandal, or every allegation made against him. That said, the guy has been sued by so many celebrities that it would be a crime in itself to leave him off of this list. The scandal that rocked the world began in October 2017, when The New York Times published a story with multiple sexual assault allegations against Weinstein. Amongst the accusers were known names such as Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, both of whom eventually filed lawsuits against Weinstein. Within days, more than a dozen more women came out with new allegations, including three accusations of rape — made in a New Yorker article identifying 13 new victims. 

A plethora of other women continued to share stories in the weeks and months afterward. By 2020, The Cut estimated that no less than 100 women had come forward against Weinstein — who has since paid tens of millions of dollars to his accusers. In time, various companies and organizations distanced themselves from Weinstein. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, booted him within a week and a half of that first article from the Times. Per BBC News, Weinstein was convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2023, despite maintaining his innocence in court. At the time, he was already serving a 23-year sentence for a separate rape conviction made in New York.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

While the outpouring of accusations against Harvey Weinstein was the initial catalyst for the takeoff of the #MeToo social movement, Tarana Burke actually started the hashtag years before, in 2015. Still, it was Weinstein's takedown and actor Alyssa Milano's subsequent usage of the hashtag that made the movement explode, leading to sexual assault accusations against many high-profile men in Hollywood (and beyond). This included Kevin Spacey, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and sexual assault by dozens of men, including some who claimed to be underage at the time of the alleged incidents (he has vehemently denied the accusations against him), per The Cut 

Spacey has subsequently faced a number of civil and criminal lawsuits. While a criminal case in Massachusetts was dropped, and another one ended when the accuser died, Spacey is awaiting trial on 12 charges related to sex offenses in the United Kingdom. 

The first person to speak out about Spacey was "Rent" actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed in a Buzzfeed News article that Spacey made sexual advances toward him at a party when he was 14. In September 2020, he filed a civil suit against Spacey for sexual assault and battery, seeking $40 million in damages. Per NPR, when the case went to trial, the defense focused on inconsistencies in Rapp's testimony and asserted that the actor was jealous of the Oscar-winner's career — the jury unanimously ruled in favor of Spacey.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).