<![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, ryan kavanaugh]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, ryan kavanaugh]]> http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/ryankavanaugh http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/ryankavanaugh <![CDATA[Money Man Ryan Kavanaugh's Next Funding Project: A Drunk Driving Defense]]> Here's a Doomsday holdover for anyone who thinks today is going a little too conveniently well: Ryan Kavanaugh, the film financier whose Relativity Media interests intersect heavily with Universal, Sony and pretty much anyone else making films in Hollywood right now, will be arraigned next week on speeding and drunk driving charges dating back to October. His arrest was his second since 2006, when he previously sideswiped a Malibu police cruiser. And that would be a probation violation; do they allow development meetings in jail?

Kavanaugh currently has long-term deals to co-finance productions at Sony and Universal, the latter of which funds 75 percent of its offerings (most recently Frost/Nixon and Changeling) with money from Relativity Media. The NYT notes that Relativity has projects in development with DreamWorks, Paramount Vantage and MGM as well, and that Universal is a few signatures away from selling its genre arm Rogue Pictures to Relativity for $150 million. Plus he's in litigation with his lenders at Citigroup.

Busy guy! Alas, that all might have to wait:

Mr. Kavanaugh was stopped by an officer with the California Highway Patrol at 12:41 a.m. in the Westwood district of Los Angeles on Oct. 23 [...] Mr. Kavanaugh was driving a black Audi at about 60 miles per hour in a zone with a posted speed limit of 35. Along with a speeding charge, he was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08%.

An additional charge said Mr. Kavanaugh was driving while his license was suspended as a result of a previous drunk driving conviction. He was not booked or detained, though he was arrested on the misdemeanor charges by way of a citation, and is scheduled for arraignment and a hearing on probation in Beverly Hills at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 12.

Perfect! Close enough to walk.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5103280&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Producer Enlists Scary Hollywood Lawyer To Terrify 'LAT' Into A Retraction]]> ryancavanaugh.jpgLast Sunday's LAT ran a story about Ryan Kavanaugh, a 33-year-old middleman between Hollywood and the secretive and incredibly confusing world of hedge funds. They reported that Kavanaugh, a former dotcom financier with a long list of EP credits to his name, would sell the private investment groups on "slates" of movies, investing hundreds of millions in a dozen films at a time (to lessen the impact of any single stinker). Of course, this is Hollywood, where stinkers come in biblical proportions, and their investment quickly dwindled to barely the value of a concession stand Combo Pack. Now, armed with Scary Hollywood Lawyer Martin Singer, Kavanaugh is fighting back, claiming the entire piece was planted by his publinemesis Mike Sitrick, who is currently suing Kavanaugh for "allegedly mismanaging a multimillion-dollar investment."

Singer told Page Six that former LAT deputy business editor Jim Bates was once the boss of the two reporters who wrote the piece, and now works for Sitrick at his firm. He also hinted at a defamation suit unless the LAT printed an apology. Approached for comment, a spokeswoman for the paper only said: "We're not aware there's any controversy. We haven't heard from Mr. Kavanaugh since the article was published."

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