10 Biggest Celebrity Lawsuits

Everyone loves a train wreck, and celebrities are more than happy to provide us with them. Sometimes things go beyond simple embarrassing behavior into new heights of nastiness, however, and the legal system gets involved. Here are ten of the biggest lawsuits involving celebrities.

10. The People Vs. Michael Jackson

Not to speak ill of the dead, but one of the biggest celebrity lawsuits of recent years concerned the self-proclaimed King of Pop's predilection for spending the night with young boys. Jackson was accused of abduction, conspiracy, intoxicating a minor and child molestation. Eventually found not guilty of all charges, it was a public-relations nightmare for Jackson and he was never viewed the same again by many.

9. Carol Burnett Vs. the National Enquirer

Until the early '80s, the National Enquirer, and many other gossip magazines and newspapers, operated pretty much with impunity. Libel is hard to prove, and the bother seemed worse to most celebrities than just letting unfounded rumors die away. In 1981, however, Carol Burnett struck back, hitting the Enquirer with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit concerning an allegation of public drunkenness which appeared in the tabloid. She won $1.6 million, thought this amount came down on appeal.

8. Lee Marvin Vs. Michelle Triola Marvin

When actor Lee Marvin split with Michelle, she didn't take it easily. She sued for support, and won. The case became historic because the Marvins had lived together for years but had never been legally married. The case coined the term "palimony" and is now cited as the law of the land.

7. Woody Allen Vs. Mia Farrow

Celebrity divorces are nothing new, but the Allen-Farrow one was not your average divorce. The ground were that Allen had begun a relationship with Farrow's own adopted daughter, begun when the girl was well below the age of consent. The resulting publicity sidelined Allen's career for years (he still has not completely recovered) and made him the both the butt of public jokes and utter contempt.

6. Anna Nicole Smith Vs. the Marshall Family

When Anna Nicole Smith married billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, few thought it was for the stimulating conversation. Marshall was in his eighties by that time, and when he died at the age of ninety, the family moved in to make sure Smith did not get the loot. The ensuing lawsuit was decided in her favor, however, netting Smith $450 million dollars.

5. Kim Basinger Vs. "Boxing Helena"

Kim Basinger may have thought her verbal contract to star in a weird little film called "Boxing Helena" was no big deal, but the producers thought otherwise, hitting Basinger up for $9 million dollars for breach of contract. After a protracted battle, Basinger lost, and had to file for bankruptcy.

4. Paul McCartney Vs. Heather Mills

When the likeable music legend McCartney slit from second wife Mills, the nasty allegations began to fly. Mills had done nude modeling and was accused of being a gold digger. McCartney was accused of being abusive. Despite the overwhelming support for McCartney and Mills' lack of credibility, she walked out with almost $50 million.

3. George Harrison Vs. Bright Tunes

Speaking of Beatles, George Harrison was involved in a lawsuit of his own. Bright Tunes, the copyright holders of the song "He's So Fine", sued Harrison for plagiarism over the similarities between it and Harrison's mega-hit "My Sweet Lord". The battle went on for years, but in the end, George lost.

2. O.J. Simpson Vs. Fred Goldman

The O.J. Simpson murder trial was one of the most sensational ever seen, and polarized the US. When Simpsons walked, the victims' families were outraged. Fred Goldman, the father of victim Ronald Goldman, sued Simpson for wrongful death. He won, with the civil court taking the stance that Simpson was indeed responsible for Ron's death, and Simpson was ordered to pay $33,500,000 to Goldman's family, but has thus far managed to weasel out of it.

1. Judas Priest Vs. the Vance and Belknap Families

In terms of cultural influence, this is one of the biggest celebrity lawsuits of all time. 1985, two troubled boys in Nevada attempted suicide after hours of drinking beer, smoking pot, and listening to Judas Priest. Raymond Belknap succeeded, but James Vance only managed to seriously disfigure himself, and lived. The parents of both decided that it was te band's fault that their boys had done the deed, due to "subliminal messages" hidden in the band's records. After years of backwards-masking hysteria and Satanic panic in America, the trial finally broke the spell when the suit was dismissed in 1991.