Britney Spears' ex Jason Alexander charged with stalking her at wedding
A man once married to singer Britney Spears - for 55 hours - has been charged with felony stalking after showing up unannounced during her wedding to Sam Asghari, BBC reported.
Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded not guilty to the charge, as well as to trespassing, battery and vandalism.
He was arrested last week after allegedly gate-crashing and streaming a video from inside Spears' home.
Mr Alexander was briefly married to the pop star, a childhood friend, in 2004.
But the union was annulled after less than three days.
Spears, 40, and her longtime partner Asghari, 28, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in California last week.
But preparations were disrupted when Mr Alexander was arrested after allegedly gatecrashing. He streamed a video apparently from inside the singer's home, before being tackled by security.
Shortly beforehand he had posted an Instagram Live story in which he said he was there to "crash" the wedding, according to BBC.
His video showed him walking through Spears' home looking for her, and then going into a marquee where the finishing touches were being put to a large display of roses. He claimed Spears had invited him, saying: "She's my first wife, my only wife."
Mr Alexander was arrested by officers from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and taken to a local jail.
"He was able to find his way onto the property and was confronted by security," a police spokesman said.
"An altercation occurred with the security officers and that's where the battery occurred... and during the altercation an item was broken, so that's where the vandalism comes into play. And by being on private property, the trespass comes into play."
On Monday, a judge set bail at $100,000 (£82,290) and issued a restraining order requiring Mr Alexander to stay at least 100 yards (91 metres) from Spears for three years.
He attended the hearing virtually.
Spears' wedding ceremony, which went ahead despite the disturbance, was attended by stars including Madonna, Paris Hilton, Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Ansel Elgort and will.i.am.
In November, the singer was released from a controversial 13-year legal guardianship, under which her father Jamie controlled many aspects of her life, BBC reported.
Her father, mother and sister were reportedly not at the wedding after relations broke down over the arrangement, and Spears' legal battle to end it.
Spears met her new husband, a personal trainer, in 2016 on the set of her music video for the song Slumber Party. She was previously married to dancer Kevin Federline from 2004 to 2007, according to BBC.
Britney Spears marries fiancé Sam Asghari
Britney Spears has married fiancé Sam Asghari, seven months after being freed from a conservatorship that she said had prevented her from getting wed, BBC reported.
The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Last year, the pop star, 40, told a court the controversial 13-year legal guardianship had meant she was "not able to get married and have a baby".
The arrangement ended in November and she later got pregnant, but announced in May she had suffered a miscarriage.
Shortly before the wedding, a former husband of the star was restrained outside her home after trying to gatecrash the event. Jason Alexander, who was married to Spears for just under 55 hours in 2004, managed to enter the property briefly, live-streaming himself as he passed a security guard and other people. There was no sign of the couple themselves.
Mr Alexander was arrested by Ventura County police on a warrant from a different county for an undisclosed offence, and officers had still to decide whether trespassing charges would be pressed, according to BBC.
Spears met 28-year-old personal trainer Asghari in 2016 on the set of her music video for the song Slumber Party.
In an interview with BBC Persian, conducted the month before her pregnancy announcement, Asghari said that marriage and plans to have children "should have happened three years ago".
The couple got engaged last September, two months before the end of the conservatorship, which had seen her father Jamie control many aspects of her life.
Her dad, mother and sister were reportedly not expected to be at the wedding ceremony. Among the guests seen arriving were socialite Paris Hilton and actress Drew Barrymore.
Jamie Spears previously said the arrangement had been "necessary" for his daughter's mental health, but agreed it was time for her "to re-take control of her life".
Mr Asghari is the star's third husband. After Mr Alexander, she was married to Kevin Federline from 2004 to 2007, BBC reported.
Actor Paul Shah not to move SC, decides to wait for verdict
Actor Paul Shah, who was arrested on the rape charge, now has to wait for the verdict after the Pokhara High Court upheld the district court’s decision to remand him to judicial custody.
Though he can move the Supreme Court against the decision of the district and high court, Shah’s lawyer said that they have decided to wait for the verdict as it would take time to move the apex court.
The 32-year-old actor, who has been accused of raping a minor girl, turned himself in to police on February 27.
A week later, the Tanahun District Court sent actor Shah to judicial custody on the rape charge for further investigation.
A single bench of Tanahun District Court Judge Harish Chandra Dhungana had issued an order to send Shah to judicial custody.
Based on the complaint filed by a 17-year-old singer, the District Attorney’s Office had filed a case against Shah at Tanahun District Court seeking 14 years of imprisonment.
Later, the issue took a twist after the minor singer, who had filed a complaint accusing Shah of raping her, changed her statement at the Tanahun District Court.
The girl said that she had not been raped as claimed by her earlier. She said that the information she stated while filing the complaint was false.
Mariah Carey sued for copyright over 'All I want for Christmas is You'
Singer Mariah Carey is being sued for copyright infringement over her 1994 Christmas mega-hit, All I Want for Christmas is You, BBC reported.
Songwriter Andy Stone says he co-wrote a song with the same name five years earlier, arguing that Ms Carey exploited his "popularity" and "style".
Despite sharing a title, the two songs appear musically different, but Mr Stone claims Ms Carey caused confusion and did not ask for permission.
Ms Carey has not yet responded.
A must-have on any Christmas playlist, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You is one of the best known Christmas records of all time.
Since appearing on the album Merry Christmas in 1994, it has topped the charts in several countries and by 2017 had reportedly earned Ms Carey more than $60m (£48m) in royalties, according to BBC.
The song has been streamed one billion times on Spotify.
In a recent memoir, Ms Carey admitted to composing "most of the song on a cheap little Casio keyboard".
Mr Stone, who performs under the name Vince Vance with the band Vince Vance and the Valiants, is claiming at least $20m (£16m) in damages.
The complaint says that Ms Carey, as well as her co-writer Walter Afanasieff and record label Sony Music Entertainment, have earned "undeserved profits" from the song, arguing that the defendants "knowingly, wilfully, and intentionally engaged in a campaign" to infringe copyright.
Mr Stone argues that he never gave permission for his song to be used for any purpose, including "the creation of a derivative work".
It is not clear why the legal challenge has only been made now, 28 years after Ms Carey's song was released.
The complaint says Mr Stone's lawyers first contacted Ms Carey and her co-defendants last year, but were "unable to come to any agreement".
It is not unusual for different songs to have the same name, and the United States Copyright Office lists 177 entries on its website under the title All I Want for Christmas is You, BBC reported.