Micheal Bay/ Phil Spector Murder Trial Connection
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:55 pmNow I know this isnt specifically about the movie itself but it does involve the director Micheal Bay.
Yahoo News Article.
Yahoo News Article.
LOS ANGELES (Court TV) - A big-time Hollywood director snubbed Lana Clarkson at a party two weeks before her death, prompting the struggling actress to burst into tears and proclaim, "I hate this town and I don't want to be here anymore," a friend testified Monday at Phil Spector's murder trial.
The witness, a club promoter who goes by the name "Punkin Pie," told jurors that filmmaker Michael Bay, whose movies include "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," and the current hit "Transformers," brushed Clarkson off when she approached him at a music industry function.
At the time, the 40-year-old was desperate for acting work and thought Bay would remember her from a Mercedes commercial he had directed.
Instead, Clarkson returned from the encounter weeping.
"Michael Bay just dissed me, didn't know who I was," the witness, whose real name is Punkin Irene Elizabeth Laughlin, recalled Clarkson saying.
She said that, in a conversation the following week, Clarkson remained distraught and was "crying uncontrollably."
"I don't want to live anymore. I don't want to live in this town. I want to end it. I don't want to be here anymore," Laughlin quoted her.
The actress's state of mind at the time of the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting has been the focus of the defense case. Spector, 67, contends that Clarkson took her own life in the foyer of his mansion, either accidentally or because she was disappointed in her career.
Laughlin was the fourth friend of Clarkson to testify for Spector's defense that the actress was depressed in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
As other witnesses have, Laughlin said Clarkson was in dire financial straits, felt humiliated by a job she had taken as a hostess at the House of Blues, and was heartbroken by the end of a once-promising romance.
Laughlin was the closest of Clarkson's friends to testify. She described the actress as her "soul mate" and "the love of my life." She spoke in a soft, low voice and sobbed as she described trying to comfort Clarkson in what would be their final conversation.
"It's the second worst day of my life," Laughlin said of her turn on the stand. The worst, she said, was the day Clarkson died. A defense lawyer showed jurors Laughlin's personal calendar for February 2003. Scrawled across the month in red ink, she had written, "My lost year. My life is gone & empty."
On cross-examination, a prosecutor suggested Laughlin was painting Clarkson in a negative light because she was estranged from the actress's family. Laughlin acknowledged that the family had kicked her out of the "inner circle" because they thought she was the anonymous source for an article in Star magazine, an allegation she said was false.
"It hurts my feelings," she admitted.
Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson also pressed her on her financial dealings with a friend of Spector. Laughlin said the man, identified as David Kessel, was an investor in a club where she derived most of her income. She said Kessel had told her that he regarded Spector as a father figure.
The prosecutor is to continue cross-examining her Monday afternoon.
