NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Eat Pray Love’ author separating from husband

NEW YORK

The author of “Eat Pray Love” is splitting up with her husband, whom she describes meeting at the end of her million-selling memoir.

Elizabeth Gilbert announced on her Facebook page Friday that she was separating from Jose Nunes after being together for 12 years, and married since 2007. She called the parting “very amicable” and the reasons “very personal.” The posting was confirmed by Gilbert’s publicist at Riverhead Books, Jynne Martin.

Gilbert’s book, published in 2006 and adapted into a film of the same name starring Julia Roberts, tells of her worldwide journey in the wake of breaking up with her first husband.

Domestic violence charges dropped against Lawler, fiancee

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

Court records show domestic violence charges have been dropped against wrestler Jerry Lawler and his fiancee in Tennessee.

Shelby County General Sessions Court records posted online show prosecutors decided not to pursue domestic assault charges against the 66-year-old Lawler and his 27-year-old bride-to-be Lauryn McBride. The charges were dismissed Friday.

A judge had ordered the couple to stay away from one another after their arrests in June at Lawler’s east Memphis home. Police records say they got into an argument that turned violent, but police could not determine a primary aggressor.

Lawyer: Woman required to tell Cosby she was talking to cops

PHILADELPHIA

Bill Cosby’s lawyers argued Friday that a woman accusing him of sexual assault had to notify him before she spoke to police last year under the terms of their confidential civil settlement.

Cosby wants a federal judge in Philadelphia to void the 2006 court settlement and order Andrea Constand to refund the money he paid her. The amount has never been disclosed.

Cosby sued Constand for breach of contract in February the day before her lawyers testified at a key hearing in his criminal case. Constand’s lawyers, along with her mother, also were named as defendants for the information they provided. The lawyers argued Friday that Cosby filed the suit to “chill” the testimony of key witnesses at his upcoming criminal trial.

Lawyer Dolores Troiani called the lawsuit “disturbing and distasteful” and asked that it be dismissed. She said the settlement clearly carves out an exception for Constand to keep mum if authorities request secrecy.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno did not immediately rule on the request.

Constand met Cosby in about 2004 when she worked at Temple University, where he was a longtime trustee. She went to police in 2005 to say the TV star had sexually assaulted her at his home as she sought career advice. Cosby wasn’t charged at the time but was arrested a decade later, in December, after his testimony in the lawsuit was unsealed and dozens of other accusers had come forward.

Associated Press