By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | March 28, 2019 |
By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | March 28, 2019 |
I’m not sure if Hollywood celebrities in legal trouble know this, but there is more than one attorney in Hollywood. Yet, if you have been watching the news this week, you may have seen the name Mark Geragos on a number of occasions. Geragos rose to prominence after defending a business partner of Bill Clinton’s in the Whitewater case, securing her a Presidential pardon. He also successfully defended Bill Clinton’s brother on DUI charges (those links aren’t shady AT ALL, Bill). He’s also defended Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Winona Ryder, and the personal trainer for Barry Bonds, among many other shady-ass people (excluding Winona, because Winona is and will always be the GOAT crush).
His name has also come up a lot this week. He was fired from CNN a couple of days ago, after he was implicated in an extortion scheme with Michael Avenatti in an apparent effort to bilk the company for $20 million because Nike apparently gave $10,000 to the mother of a promising high-school athlete (Oh no! The travesty!). The very next day, he somehow managed to get prosecutors in Chicago to drop charges against his client Jussee Smollett (I am not going to speculate on what happened in that case).
And now he’s back again, and this time again with Michael Avanatti. He is also representing Clare Bronfman, the Seagram liquor heiress who was charged along with Keith Rainere and Smallville actress Allison Mack for their involvement with the NXIVM pyramid scheme/sex cult. Now, here is where it gets interesting:
BREAKING: Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman faints in court after judge seems to suggest that Michael Avenatti was secretly representing her, trying to negotiate deal with US attorney’s office in NXIVM case. An ambulance has been called.
— Emily Saul (@Emily_Saul_) March 27, 2019
WHAT?
It’s true. The judge asked Bronfman if Avanatti — who had not filed a notice of appearance — was secretly representing her. “Yes or no?” Apparently, Avenatti and Geragos had met with prosecutors last week. It is unclear if Bronfman answered in the affirmative during a sidebar, but it is clear that she passed out soon after the question was asked.
Bronfman, whose “color didn’t come back” after she passed out, was seen minutes later being assisted out of the courtroom by her attorney Mark Geragos, who was asked whether he was cooperating with prosecutors against Avanatti in the extortion case (he mumbled “no.”)
Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman leaves court with Mark Geragos after dramatic court proceeding, where it was revealed Michael Avenatti had negotiated w prosecutors for her. She almost fainted in court. pic.twitter.com/nnVRMyUzOm
— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) March 27, 2019
Just to put the icing on the 2019 cake: Geragos also represents Colin Kaepernick, who recently settled with the NFL and withdrew his collusion case, which is to say: Geragos has had some shady clients, but he’s apparently very good at his job, which would explain why he’s being retained by so many high-profile celebrities.