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Reggie Bush sues USC, Pac-12 and NCAA to seek NIL compensation – NBC Los Angeles

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Reggie Bush sues USC, Pac-12 and NCAA to seek NIL compensation – NBC Los Angeles


Former USC football star Reggie Bush has filed a lawsuit against his school, the NCAA and the Pac-12 in a bid to recoup money made on his name, image and likeness during his career with the Trojans two decades ago.

In a brief news release from Bush’s attorneys announcing the filing Monday, the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback’s representatives claim he should be paid “to address and rectify ongoing injustices stemming from the exploitation of Reggie Bush’s name, image, and likeness during his tenure as a USC football player.”

“This case is not just about seeking justice for Reggie Bush,” attorney Evan Selik said in a statement. “It’s about setting a precedent for the fair treatment of all college athletes. Our goal is to rectify this injustice and pave the way for a system where athletes are rightfully recognized, compensated and treated fairly for their contributions.”

NBCLA has reached out to Bush’s attorney, the NCAA, USC, and Pac-12 Conference for comment. A Pac-12 spokesperson declined to comment.

Bush was one of the most exciting players in recent college football history during his three years at USC from 2003-05 while winning two national titles and the Heisman. He went on to an 11-year NFL career.

Bush forfeited his Heisman in 2010 after USC was hit with massive sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers. The Heisman Trust restored the honor earlier this year and returned the trophy to Bush, citing fundamental changes in the structure of college athletics over the past 14 years.

Bush is still pursuing the separate defamation lawsuit he filed against the NCAA last year over the governing body’s 2021 characterization of the circumstances that led to Bush’s troubles.

Former USC football star Reggie Bush spoke out Thursday after his 2005 Heisman Memorial Trophy was reinstated.

It’s unclear how the new lawsuit will affect Bush’s relationship with USC, which had been particularly warm this year.

The school was ordered to disassociate from Bush for 10 years after the 2010 NCAA ruling, but USC had welcomed back Bush and hailed the return of his Heisman Trophy while returning his No. 5 to its place of honor among USC’s eight banners for its Heisman winners on the Peristyle at the Coliseum. Bush was scheduled to lead the current Trojans out of the Coliseum tunnel at an undetermined game later this season.

“We appreciate that the new administration at USC is trying to pick up the pieces of the former administrations’ unjust and improper handling of Reggie Bush,” Levi McCathern, the attorney also handling Bush’s separate lawsuit against the NCAA. “However, the delay in fixing this speaks volumes.”

Bush is only the latest former athlete to seek compensation through the courts this year for their prior athletic careers under the new rules in college athletics.

Denard Robinson and Braylon Edwards were among several former Michigan stars who sued the NCAA and the Big Ten Network earlier this month. In June, a group of 10 players on NC State’s 1983 NCAA championship-winning basketball team sued the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company to seek compensation for use of their names, images and likenesses.

The NCAA and major college conferences are currently attempting to settle three antitrust lawsuits related to NIL compensation for athletes. There is a settlement agreement in place to pay $2.78 billion to hundreds of thousands of college athletes.

The NCAA changed its rules in 2021 to allow athletes to make money through sponsorship and endorsement deals after fiercely fighting against it for decades.



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Woman alleges Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video – NBC Los Angeles

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Woman alleges Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her on video – NBC Los Angeles


Another woman sued Sean “Diddy” Combs on Tuesday, alleging that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar suits against Combs, comes a week after he was was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was unsealed.

Thalia Graves alleges that when she was 25 and dating an executive who worked for Combs in the summer of 2001, Combs and Joseph Sherman lured her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink “likely laced with a drug.”

According to the lawsuit, Graves lost consciousness and awoke to find herself bound inside Combs’ office and lounge at the studio. The two men raped her, slapped her, slammed her head against a pool table and ignored her screams and cries for help, the lawsuit alleges.

At a news conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from “flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts” in the years since.

“It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,” Graves said, crying as she read from a statement.

She said it is “a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.”

Hip hop superstar Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested late Monday after a federal grand jury indicted him on a series of charges including racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Combs remains jailed without bail in New York on federal charges alleging that he ran a vast network that facilitated sexual crimes and committed shocking acts of violence, using blackmail and other tactics to protect Combs and those close to him. Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills and Miami were raided by federal agents earlier this year.

He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.

NBCLA has reached out to Comb’s attorney for comment on the lawsuit announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Graves’ lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs’ former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit that began the surge of allegations against him, Graves learned through her former boyfriend that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others and sold it as pornography.

Graves’ lawsuit says both Combs and Sherman contacted her multiple times in the years after the assault, threatening repercussions if she told anyone what had happened to her. She was in a divorce and custody fight at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the suit says.

Graves said at the news conference that the guilt and shame attached “often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.”

The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial and for all copies of the video to be accounted for and destroyed.

“Defendants should be ordered to account for and destroy all copies of the video,” Allred said.

It also names as defendants several companies owned by Combs, the three-time Grammy winner and founder of Bad Boy Records who was among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.



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LA County moves forward with year-round emergency homeless shelters – NBC Los Angeles

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LA County moves forward with year-round emergency homeless shelters – NBC Los Angeles


A proposal to develop year-round emergency homeless shelters operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week moved forward Tuesday with approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Under a motion by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath, the board directed the county CEO to report back with a strategy to establish eight round-the-clock shelters, one in each of the county’s Service Planning Areas. Barger and Horvath stressed in the motion the importance of providing shelter and emergency care to unhoused individuals during an ongoing climate crisis.

“The vision is straightforward: keep those who are most vulnerable safe from the extreme weather that is battering Los Angeles County year-round,” Barger in a statement following the vote. “This is another step to enhance our emergency sheltering capabilities to help those in need find a safe place that offers relief.”

The motion cited the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s 2024 Point in Time Count, noting there are more than 75,000 people experiencing homelessness in the county, with 52,365 unsheltered, and 22,947 sheltered individuals.

The emergency shelters are expected to provide “core support” for homeless people, including three meals a day, showers, bathrooms, clothes and other basic needs, according to Barger’s office.

The CEO’s report, which is expected to be presented in a month, will examine the provision of services such as medical care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing navigation, legal document retrieval and record clearing. The report is also expected to identify potential funding and locations for the emergency shelters.

“Los Angeles County is expanding its emergency resources to ensure our most vulnerable community members can access safe shelter and services during inclement weather events,” Horvath said. “With lives on the line, the new normal of extreme weather calls on us to more readily open shelters and share resources widely.”



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Second abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion covered in graffiti – NBC Los Angeles

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Second abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion covered in graffiti – NBC Los Angeles


Taggers turned their attention to a second abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the son of a Major League Baseball team owner that was spray-painted with graffiti over the weekend.

The mansion, which has been vacant for years and attracted squatters, is an eyesore for neighbors in the 1700 block of North Sunset Plaza Drive. The multi-story residence is about 5 miles south of another abandoned mansion owned by John Powers Middleton, whose father owns the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, that has been targeted by taggers and damaged by vandals in recent weeks.

Marina Mizruh has a clear view of the defaced multi-terrace home from her residence. She said neighbors have complained about the abandoned property for years.

“We had squatters, and more squatters, and then graffiti, and more graffiti,” Mizruh said. “What needs to happen? I think the city should eventually re-possess the house and take it down.”

Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman’s office said the owner of both properties is in “egregious violation of the law.” The office has been in contact with police and the building and safety department about both hillside locations.

“Our office has elevated the issue with the abandoned buildings unit at the Department of Building and Safety to ensure that the fullest extent of enforcement is being implemented urgently and swiftly,” Raman’s office said. “DBS has been on site at both locations to investigate, assess, and erect security measures.

“This is a public safety issue with serious consequences for both neighbors and the surrounding community. Irresponsible property owners must take accountability for their property or face action from the city.”

Built in 2008, the Italian villa-style mansion on scenic North Sunset Plaza Drive has terraces overlooking the Sunset Strip and Los Angeles to the south. The listing mentions a screening room, one indoor pool and another inside, six bedrooms, wine room and other amenities.

After authorities declared the tagged mansion a nuisance in October 2022, they told the owner to build a fence to secure the property, but he didn’t. Alex Rozier reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 20, 2024.

Notices from the city were posted on chain-link fencing on the street side of the mansion. On Tuesday afternoon, members of the fire department were inspecting the mansion and painters were covering the graffiti.

Department of Building and Safety records show a notice was issued for overgrown or excessive vegetation in 2014. At least eight notices of an abandoned or vacant building left open to the public have been issued since August 2022.

A Phillies spokesperson confirmed the properties are owned by John Powers Middleton with no other family involvement.

“The California properties are owned by John Powers Middleton,” the spokesperson said in a statement to NBCLA. “No other members of the Middleton family have ownership, investment, control or involvement in these properties.”

Residents told NBCLA both properties have attracted squatters for years, but the graffiti has recently escalated.

“I’m not sure it’s the job of the city to clear up his mess,” said neighbor Richard Franklin. “It’s his job to be prosecuted.

“It’s a reflection of the decline of America, and it’s a reflection of the fact that we’ve accepted the unacceptable. And, that’s what can happen. You can get used to anything. We’re getting used to things we shouldn’t get used to.”

Records show John Powers Middleton bought the Mulholland Drive mansion in 2012. Then in October 2022, after it was declared a nuisance, the LA Department of Building and Safety said Middleton must build a fence and secure the property. When he didn’t, the city had to build the fence.

The four-story, six-bedroom mansion with a large pool is perched on a hillside overlooking Los Angeles with views to the east and south. All levels of the exterior and the roof of the home, built in 2003, appear covered in graffiti. Many of the windows are shattered.

City workers were placing fencing in front of the home Tuesday. Los Angeles Police Department officers were at the site. Some of the exterior graffiti had been removed.

NBCLA is attempting to contact the property owner.



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