Howard Weitzman, Hollywood Power Lawyer, Dies at 81
John M. Heller/Getty Images
His clients included Marlon Brando, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson.
Howard Weitzman, a fixture on
The Hollywood Reporter s annual list of Power Lawyers for representing the likes of Marlon Brando, Morgan Freeman, Justin Bieber and other A-list stars, has died. He was 81.
Weitzman s son Jed told
Billboard that his father died peacefully at his Los Angeles home Wednesday surrounded by family, listening to music from his favorite artists, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and Joni Mitchell. A source said the cause of death was cancer.
It was on behalf of O.J. Simpson in the 1990s that Weitzman became known to a public outside Hollywood. Before the Dream Team came along, he represented Simpson when the former NFL star was arrested in connection with the brutal slaying of ex-wife Nicole and her lover, Ron Goldman.
December 16, 2020
10:32am PT
by
Ashley Cullins
Hollywood Reporter s Power Lawyers Breakfast Goes Virtual as Sherrilyn Ifill Delivers Keynote, Ted Sarandos Honors Netflix s David Hyman
The Hollywood Reporter
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund president and director-counsel Ifill and journalist Jemele Hill headlined a virtual event, which also featured Netflix s Sarandos presenting THR s Raising the Bar Award to Hyman, in celebration of the entertainment industry’s top attorneys.
The Hollywood Reporter s 14th annual Power Lawyers breakfast was one of countless spring events that was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the entertainment industry s top attorneys finally got together in a virtual celebration Wednesday.
Jemele Hill (left) and Sherrilyn Ifill
The president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund spoke with journalist Jemele Hill for a keynote conversation at The Hollywood Reporter s Power Lawyers event.
In a conversation for
The Hollywood Reporter s Power Lawyers event on Wednesday, Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and journalist Jemele Hill spoke about the importance of the Senate runoff races currently taking place in Georgia and how Hollywood can fight voter suppression. When I say it s monumentally important, it s like every person in this country will be affected by the outcome of the Georgia run-off, said Ifill. The same way people engaged in November is the way I hope they are engaging around January.
Alter Kendrick & Baron
Despite major blows to touring and live performances, “business is booming” for Alter, a prolific dealmaker in the music publishing space. “We are in a golden era of music transaction, and I think that’s going to continue,” says Alter. This year she advised Reservoir Media Management in its acquisition of 16,000 copyrights from music publisher Shapiro Bernstein, as well as Primary Wave Music Publishing in its acquisition of various interests of the catalogs of Whitney Houston, Air Supply and Sublime.
This year I’m thankful for: Having an amazing team in our office. The majority of them happen to be women who despite everything that each of us has been handling and juggling in our personal lives, from literal newborns to college kids to grown children to parents to pets still have been super, super professional and pulling together as a team.