Here's an interesting twist - it turns out Jennifer Lopez doesn't always get what she wants. Well, I'll be damned! Jennifer has been in a long legal battle against her ex-husband, Ojani Noa and film-maker/producer Ed Meyer, in an effort to block a movie the duo wish to make about Noa's time with J.Lo. Needless to say, Jenny from the Block has a lot of skeletons in her closet and she fears this project could be just the thing to unearth them. It turns out, she's right. Details, via The Wrap: Superior Court Judge William F. Fahey said he was inclined to separate Noa's business partner, former TV producer Ed Meyers, from the Lopez/Noa case, rather than allow Lopez to sue them together. This almost certainly would stymie Lopez's efforts to move the case out of the courts and to a private arbitrator.
Fahey is expected to make a formal decision in the next few
days. But he called it "extraordinary" to assume on a legal basis
that a non-signatory to the 2005 settlement -- such as Meyer -- should not be
allowed to defend himself in a jury trial. He then made a point of telling
Meyer that he should "get himself a lawyer soon."
Outside the courtroom Meyer told TheWrap he was going to get
a lawyer as soon as the judge's decision came down -- and that a public trial
with Lopez on the stand is "exactly what I wanted."
The judge began proceedings Thursday with a curt reciting of the case's time line "to help consul understand my thinking when judgment is issued." Throughout, he chided Lopez's various filings, improper requests and legal maneuverings.
Meyers says Noa is not making the film to get money from his ex-wife. "He absolutely does not want a dime from her," Meyers told TheWrap earlier. "What he wants is to get his story out there in book or movie form and be able to make a living."
Meyers, who is representing himself in the case, told
TheWrap that the footage in question is not a sex tape and merely contains "a
bit of Jennifer lap dancing fully clothed and kissing another woman."
He has said since that he and Noa, who is represented by
Terri Masserman, will go ahead with a revised version of their movie, which
among other topics examines Lopez's supposedly close connection to Miami
criminals, using only publicly available material.
This, he claims, is why he and Noa have sought to move
proceeding to a trial. "Lavely doesn't want that to happen," Meyers said
"because then we can ask her any question we want in open court -- and that's
now public information and then we can use it in our film."]
Click on The Wrap link above to read the article in its entirety. The final paragraph is the salient issue - and the one that leaves me quivering with joy. As Ed and Ojani continue to triumph in court, the closer we get to Jennifer possibly taking the stand. And that, dear readers, would be a very hot day in hell for J.Lo. Here's one marriage she didn't see coming - the union of scandal and truth. The cold reality of the courtroom may be the one thing to supercede Jennifer's rarified world of celebrity. It's too early to pop open the champagne, but don't rule out a victory for the underdogs just yet.
[Photo Credit: Ojani Noa, on the set. Don't forget about my interview with Ed Meyer here and my questions for actor Chuck Lamb (cast in the Meyer/Noa project as the head of Sony Records) here.]
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