LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Arthur Bernier, formerly of AMG, has filed a lawsuit against a number of defendants, including mogul Michael Ovitz, alleging invasion of privacy.
According to a report in industry news source Variety, the lawsuit, filed on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles alleges that infamous private investigator Anthony Pellicano was retained by Ovitz to gather information that was embarrassing information to be used as leverage against Bernier.
In addition to Ovitz, the suit names Mark Arneson, a police officer Pellicano allegedly used to illicitly obtain police records, Gorry, Meyer& Rudd, AMG's law firm at that time and the city of Los Angeles in addition to other unspecified defendants.
A lawyer for Ovitz described the suit as "beyond frivolous."
Pellicano was at one time a prominent figure in Los Angeles, providing investigative services for a number of high-profile Hollywood Powerbrokers before he was indicted Feb. 6 2006 on 110 counts alleging crimes of racketeering and conspiracy, wiretapping, witness tampering, identity theft and destruction of evidence. Before that, he had been arrested in 2002 in connection with threats made against actor Steven Seagal, during which police raiding his office found significant quantities of C-4 plastic explosives along with modified hand grenades. At that time he pled guilty to possession of dangerous materials and served 30 months. Scheduled to be released on Feb. 4, he was remanded to the Los Angeles County jails on pending indictment on new charges on February 3.
As previously reported in CelebrityAccess Ovitz had been named as defendant in a lawsuit brought by Anita Busch for his involvement with Pellicano as well. It just goes to show you — in Hollywood, it's all about who you know. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
