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Judge dismisses $100M suit against pop diva
submitted by: Lisa D.
source: Newark Star-Ledger, Associated Press, E! Online
Date: April 14, 2004
Man who pressed litigation said he was partners with singer's father
WILLIAM KLEINKNECHT
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
A $100 million lawsuit that a company founded by Whitney Houston's father had filed against the pop diva has been dismissed by an Essex County judge who found the man claiming to be the company's current owner had defied court orders.
Superior Court Judge Francine Schott dismissed the lawsuit April 5 after finding that Kevin Skinner, who claims to be the owner of John Houston Entertainment, had refused to provide information to Whitney Houston's attorney.
The singer's father, John Houston, who died in February 2003, had filed a lawsuit accusing his daughter of failing to pay his company for representing her interests beginning in the fall of 2000. Skinner, claiming to be his business partner, continued the lawsuit after Houston's death.
Bryan Blaney, Whitney Houston's attorney, said Skinner refused to sit for a deposition or turn over documents to prove he was John Houston's business partner and had standing to continue the suit.
At one point, Skinner supplied incorporation papers that can be purchased at any stationary store, but most of the pages were blank, Blaney said. He said Skinner made oral statements that he was a 50 percent owner of the company while John Houston was alive, but he later furnished a stock certificate showing that he owned 80 percent of the shares and his partner only owned 10 percent. Blaney said in a legal brief that the certificate was of "dubious authenticity."
"It looked like it was something he typed up the night before," Blaney said.
Blaney said that when he met with John Houston while he was still alive, Skinner was the elderly man's driver and pushed his wheelchair. He said Skinner, a convicted Newark drug dealer who claims he once supplied Whitney Houston with drugs, sat in a waiting room while they talked and took no part in the discussion.
"He was the driver at most, and it gave him some prior access to her (Whitney Houston), which I think made him feel that he was more than he was," Blaney said.
Houston was a truck driver who later managed both his daughter's and wife's careers. His wife, Cissy Houston, an acclaimed gospel/soul singer sang backup for a number of people, including Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley.
Whitney Houston was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange. She has an estate in Mendham Township.
Blaney said John Houston Entertainment is no longer a viable business. He said Skinner pressed the lawsuit even though John Houston's estate, with his son, also named John Houston, as the executor, had no interest in pursuing the litigation.
Skinner claimed in a recent interview that he is writing a tell-all book about Whitney Houston called "The Rise and Fall of Daddy's Little Girl." He is doing so while apparently evading an Essex County Sheriff's Department arrest warrant that accuses him of failing to pay $16,000 in child support.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, Skinner denied that Schott had dismissed the suit. He said he withdrew the suit to avoid afflicting Whitney Houston during her well-publicized bout with drug addiction and that it can be reinstated anytime.
"I know that her father wouldn't have wanted to kick her while she was down," he said.
Told that court records make it clear the suit was dismissed and not withdrawn, and that the court stated explicitly that it cannot be reinstated, Skinner referred further questions to his lawyer, Lucio Petrocelli.
Petrocelli said he did not represent Skinner at the time Blaney made his motion for dismissal and has not seen the judge's decision.
William Kleinknecht covers crim inal justice issues and the Essex County courts. He can be reached at wkleinknecht@starledger.com or (973) 642-4065.
Judge dismisses $100 million lawsuit against Whitney Houston
NEWARK, N.J. - A judge has dismissed a $100 million breach of contract lawsuit filed against Whitney Houston by an entertainment company that her late father had founded.
Superior Court Judge Francine Schott found that Kevin Skinner, who claims to be the current owner of John Houston Entertainment, had refused to provide information to the pop diva's attorney. Schott dismissed the suit April 5, but her ruling was not made public until Tuesday.
John Houston, who died in February 2003, filed the lawsuit in September 2002 in Essex County, claiming his daughter failed to pay his company for representing her interests beginning in the fall of 2000. The suit said the singer was in financial straits and facing marijuana possession charges in Hawaii until her father's company stepped in.
Skinner continued the suit after John Houston's death, but Bryan Blaney, Whitney Houston's attorney, said Skinner refused to sit for a deposition. Blaney also questioned whether Skinner was John Houston's business partner, and said he would not turn over documents that proved his claims or showed that he had legal standing to continue the suit.
Blaney also said John Houston Entertainment is no longer a viable business and that Houston's estate had no interest in pursuing the suit.
Skinner told The Star-Ledger of Newark that he withdrew the suit to avoid harming Whitney Houston, who recently entered a drug rehabilitation facility. He declined further comment after being told that court records made it clear the suit had been dismissed.
Whitney Houston, a Grammy Award winner, has been married to R&B singer Bobby Brown since 1992. The couple, who have a 10-year-old daughter, own a home in Mendham Township.
Whitney's Daddy Suit Dismissed
by Josh Grossberg
It's the greatest vindication of all for Whitney Houston.
A judge in New Jersey has officially dismissed a $100 million lawsuit that claimed the singer owed her dad's company for bailing her out of some touchy financial situations over the years.
Newark Superior Court Judge Franchine Schott declared that the suit, filed in August 2002 by Kevin Skinner on behalf of John Houston, Whitney's papa, was groundless after Skinner failed to provide documents in the discovery phase proving he was co-owner of John Houston Entertainment.
Schott made the ruling on April 5, but news of the dismissal didn't surface until Tuesday, courtesy of Newark's Star Ledger.
After the elder Houston died in February 2003, Skinner took over as sole claimant in the lawsuit, which accused the 40-year-old R&B diva of failing to pay her father's company for various services rendered, including making payments on her Garden State mansion and introducing her to famed entertainment attorney Allen Grubman, who got her off the hook following her Hawaiian pot bust.
Houston's legal eagle, Bryan Blaney told E! Online that the lawsuit was without merit and Skinner was a flake.
"[Skinner] never showed up when he was called upon to answer questions about his case," said Blaney, who claimed that Skinner was a convicted drug dealer who took advantage of the elder Houston.
"I think he developed a relationship with John Houston that was helpful to Mr. Houston in the latter part of his life [when he was disabled], but the best I could discern was that he was his driver," said Blaney. "Other than perhaps being a friend or companion to John I don't think he added anything in terms of business sense, experience and education to Mr. Houston's work."
Blaney said that during the pretrial wrangling Skinner failed to sit for a deposition and did not hand over valid paperwork showing he was Houston's partner. "He was of dubious authenticity. The documents looked like something he typed up...that enabled him to be a shareholder in this corporation," said Blaney.
Neither Skinner nor his attorney was reachable for comment Wednesday, but in a brief phone interview with the Star-Ledger Skinner denied that the judge tossed his suit, claiming he withdrew it himself to give Houston a break after her stint in rehab.
However, Blaney disputed that assertion and the judge's order clearly states that the suit was dismissed.
While his suit may have been deep-sixed, Skinner isn't done with Whitney. He is reportedly working on a tell-all titled The Rise and Fall of Daddy's Little Girl, though he has yet to cinch a deal with a publisher.
Of course, Houston has other stuff to deal with. Aside from her drug woes and hubby Bobby Brown's myriad legal snafus, the fun couple are shopping a reality series that would focus on their (mis)adventures.
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