• Taylor Swift won $1 and long-awaited vindication after a jury decided that a radio host groped her four years ago. After a weeklong trial involving dueling lawsuits, jurors determined that fired Denver DJ David Mueller assaulted the pop star by grabbing her backside during a backstage meet-and-greet. The six-woman, two-man jury also found that Swift's mother and radio liaison were within their rights to contact Mueller's bosses. Mueller sued the Swifts and their radio handler, Frank Bell, seeking up to $3 million for his ruined career. Just before closing arguments, U.S. District Judge William Martinez dismissed Taylor Swift from Mueller's lawsuit, saying he had failed to prove that she sought to get Mueller fired or had any reason to believe that someone else may have assaulted her. The singer-songwriter said in her countersuit that she wanted a symbolic $1 and the chance to stand up for other women.
• Singer/songwriter Willie Nelson is blaming Utah's high elevation for forcing him to cut a performance near Salt Lake City short. Nelson ended his show early at an amphitheater in West Valley City on Sunday night. He later apologized in a statement posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts. The 84-year-old country music legend explained: "The altitude got to me. I am feeling better now and headed for lower ground." Nelson was forced to cancel several concerts earlier this year because of what his publicist said was a bad cold.
• Shonda Rhimes, the creator of popular television series such as Scandal and Grey's Anatomy, has signed a deal to make new shows for Netflix. The streaming service announced that Rhimes' Shondaland production company is moving to Netflix. In a news release Sunday, Netflix said Rhimes' shows Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder would continue to air on ABC. In a statement, Rhimes, 47, said she was grateful to the network for giving her career a start but that she was looking forward to expanding her audience and "creative identity" with Netflix. "Starting today, we are thrilled to begin creating new Shondaland stories with Netflix," she wrote. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
A Section on 08/15/2017