Today's Evil Beet Gossip

And LeAnn Rimes is Suing “Smiley” and Co. Now

photo of skinny stressed out leann rimes pictures
From TMZ:

LeAnn Rimes just filed a lawsuit against two women she claims illegally taped a conversation with her and then spread it across the Internet.

TMZ has obtained a copy of the suit … filed in L.A. County Superior Court. Rimes alleges Kimberly Smiley and Lexi Smiley are supporters of Brandi Glanville — Eddie Cibrian’s ex — and engaged in a campaign to trash her when she hooked up the with Eddie.

This Spring, LeAnn claims she called Kimberly in an attempt to stop the negative Internet activity. During the conversation, LeAnn says she attempted to be kind and said she wanted peace.

LeAnn alleges Kimberly and Lexi illegally and secretly recorded the conversation and then released out-of-context excerpts, painting her in a “false and negative light.” They also allegedly made statements that LeAnn was “crazy and delusional.”

LeAnn is suing for invasion of privacy.

Well first, I don’t mean to sound all negative and stuff (I know, right?), but I think this is precisely the thing that LeAnn might be wanting to avoid focusing on, what with being self-hospitalized for anxiety and stress, you know? I can’t imagine a lawsuit to be very restful and relaxing, even though it’s being handled by her managers and stuff. What a mess.

Also, because she’s suing for “invasion of privacy” and not something like “libel” or “slander,” it leads me to believe that the story we ran yesterday about LeAnn’s erratic, rehab-prompting behavior (both in person and on the phone) is completely and entirely true. Which I thought to be the case from the get-go, but no matter how much you “dislike” a celebrity, I don’t think really anyone ever wants to see someone go through this kind of crap, you know?

Get well, LeAnn—and get the hell away from those who just aren’t healthy for you. HINT HINT.

4 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Sarah, I was just thinking the same thing. As much as I dislike her and I’ve gotten a kick out of making fun of her, at this point I think it’s clear that she is not well, and I’m starting to feel really sorry for her.

  • She couldnt sue for libel or slander because, as she said, the tape WAS of her talking. The problem is they took those words and rearranged them (or so she says) to look bad. Libel btw is usually for written or other types of communication while Slander is verbal/spoken. It also has to be false and malicious. In this case, it is not false that leann said those words. so neither of those lawsuits would be appropriate.. Depending on California state law (which I do not know) invasion of privacy is probablly the best recourse for someone illegally taping your conversations. However, in most instances public figures such as leann have a harder time showing that since their lives are considered newsworthy or “of legitimate public interest”.

    Regardless of whether she is crazy or not. In california, and many other states, it is illegal to tape someone without their knowledge. there needs to have 2 parties consenting to the taping. And if someone made me crazy, sent me to rehab and embarrassed me in front of millions you bet your ass I’d file a lawsuit too and inconvenience their mean ass. They DID break the law.

  • Rimes had her on speaker phone in the middle of a restaurant or something. It wasn’t a private conversation.

  • Sounds like high school. One girl and, like, HER girlfriends are eating lunch at Sonic and they are still so totally, like, pissed that the one cheerleader who KNEW the quarterback liked the other cheerleader, TOTALLY stabbed her in the back and, like, STOLE him!!! Hey, let’s call that bitch and give her some sh*t! One of us can do it for awhile and then, like, Keisha, you can do it next. She will TOTALLY FREAK THE F*CK OUT, you guys, seriously!