Justin Bieber’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun, has been subpoenaed to a deposition in an ongoing lawsuit filed against the superstar by a paparazzo in a civil assault case.
Paparazzo Jeffrey Binion, who is also suing Bieber’s bodyguard – Hugo Hesny – alleges he was assaulted by the singer’s bodyguards outside the Miami Hit Factory recording studio last June.
Justin testified in a horrific deposition in Miami on March 6, during which he very probably significantly advanced Binion’s case.
Attorney Mark DiCowden, a skilled, sinuous advocate, grilled Bieber for four-and-half-hours, with an easy MO of get-Bieber-to-bite-on-camera by pressing his buttons.
Suffice it say, Justin’s buttons were well and truly pressed.
The 20-year-old has subsequently been hit with a 10-page questionnaire from the Miami court asking him answer questions he failed to answer in the first deposition, including full details of everyone he has traveled with over the last two years. Radar Online reports the form is to be sent back to the court within one week.
Now, DiCowden – who has already put Bieber’s on-off girlfriend, actress and singer Selena Gomez on notice that she is to be subpoenaed to a deposition – is tightening the coils.
Braun, who conceivably knows a great deal about the boy he met when he was just 13 in Stratford, Canada, and catapulted to worldwide fame and unimaginable wealth, is set to take a ride in the DiCowden hot seat and testify under oath.
Radar Online reports court documents reveal Braun was served the subpoena on March 29 at 1:58 pm at Miami’s W South Beach Hotel.
The Connecticut native will be deposed in a videotaped court hearing on May 15 at 10 am in law offices located in Los Angeles.
Bieber’s infamous deposition serves as a perfect example to both Gomez and Braun about what not to do, and the manager can expect to be asked what about Justin may have told him at the time and subsequent to the alleged Binion assault.
Braun will likely also be asked about 11 other cases of alleged incidents involving Bieber and his bodyguards around the world DiCowden says he has documented, amid questions about Justin’s attitude to paparazzi, his emotional and mental state, and any instances of alleged drug use and more.
Bieber did not in fact admit to Xanax use during his deposition but admitted he did not have a prescription.
DiCowden filed motions last month asking for punitive damages in the lawsuit and asked a judge to order Bieber to a second deposition due to his refusal to answer questions about Gomez in his first hearing.
The attorney contends a punitive damage award for Binion could stop future assaults against paparazzi.
“It’s not a financial fishing expedition,” DiCowden said in court pm April 1, according to the Associated Press .
The opposing attorney continued, “It is well known around the world that Justin Bieber does not like to be photographed in public.”
In court, Bieber’s attorney Jared Lopez said there is no evidence that Binion was physically harmed in the alleged June incident — meaning compensatory damages could be minimal.
Lopez also said there is no evidence that Bieber told Hesny to attack Binion and quoted the singer saying in his deposition: “I don’t tell security how to do their job.”
The judge did not immediately rule on DiCowden’s punitive damages bid. The motion on the second deposition request is scheduled to be decided June 30.
As yet, there is no date for Gomez’s deposition in the case, but her date with DiCowden is also coming.
The 21-year-old was out on a date with Bieber back in May 2012, when an alleged incident with a paparazzo erupted in the parking lot of The Commons shopping center in Calabasas, California, and DiCowden wants to grill Selena about it.
Paparazzo Jose Osmin Hernandez Duran alleges Bieber drop-kicked him in the parking lot and claims Gomez saw the whole thing.
In addition to Selena ‘s upcoming subpoena to the Binion deposition , the Disney alum has already been subpoenaed to testify on April 23 in a Los Angeles deposition in a civil lawsuit filed against Bieber by Duran.
Start practising that poker face Braun.