University of Auckland senior law lecturer Nikki Chamberlain said there were likely multiple explanations for the recent explosion of US-based entertainment industry lawsuit cases, compared with here at home.
They included differences in civil procedure and funding mechanisms, the role of government agencies, social media and cultural movements, and even something as simple as how deep people's pockets are.
"In the USA, each party is responsible for their own legal costs, even if they are unsuccessful at trial. In New Zealand, the loser pays both parties' costs, usually on a scaled basis. This creates greater cost risks for a plaintiff commencing litigation in New Zealand," she said.
Most US cases are also usually heard by jury trials, whereas in New Zealand, the cases are normally heard by a judge-alone trial. Defamation cases are an exception, as people can elect to have a jury trial.
"Juries tend to award higher damages awards. Further, New Zealand judges are very conservative in awarding exemplary damages, whereas in the USA we see higher exemplary damages awards," Chamberlain said.
Exemplary damages are where courts award to a plaintiff an amount intended solely to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct.
Chamberlain said the highest exemplary damages award in Aotearoa to date was $89,000, compared to million-dollar figures in the US.
"Defendants in the entertainment industry in the US are likely to have deeper pockets meaning there is impetus to sue because you are more likely to get financial recovery," she said.
"In contrast, in NZ, defendants in the entertainment industry may not have as much wealth – given the size and the scale of the economy – meaning there may be less inclination for someone to commence litigation".
Kendrick Lamar's explosive diss track Not Like Us (2024) has proved somewhat of a catalyst for an intricate web of defamation claims and bad blood between himself and fellow rapper Drake.
Lamar's lyrics accuse Drake (real name Aubrey Drake Graham) and his entourage of being "certified paedophiles" who should "be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch", leading to heated legal action from the star in reply.
At this point, Drake has gone as far as to sue Universal Music Group (UMG) through federal court for defamation and harassment.
The suit claimed UMG had used its resources to "elevate a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake's character".
In a now-withdrawn claim, a company owned by Drake first took legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify, claiming in a petition the two music corporations artificially inflated the success of Not Like Us.
In a statement at the time, Universal told the BBC: "The suggestion that [the company] would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue."
According to NBC News, Drake and Lamar are signed to UMG but under different divisions — Drake under Republic Records and Lamar under Interscope.
But despite the ongoing public feud between the rappers, Drake's lawyers said in court documents that the most recent lawsuit is not about targeting Lamar.
"It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetise allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous," they said.
Chamberlain told the Herald a rise in social media exposure and content avenues have opened up more doors for potential lawsuit cases.
"I would say that the increase in technology means that there is more opportunity to breach privacy, IP laws or defame someone, which has also led to an increase in litigation."
In a series of lawsuits and countersuits against each other, Lively and Justin Baldoni claim they were harassed and manipulated on the set of It Ends With Us, the film adaptation of a successful Colleen Hoover novel they co-star in.
Forty-one-year-old actor-and-director Baldoni is currently suing Gossip Girl actor Lively, 37, for extortion and defamation.
This comes as a response to her original lawsuit in December 2024, which accused Baldoni and his production company of sexual harassment and trying to destroy her reputation.
Baldoni has filed for US$400 million ($706m) in damages after claiming the actor orchestrated a smear campaign against him.
Lively's original complaint stated that she was pushed to having an "all hands" meeting with Baldoni, film producer Jamey Heath, and others, about their alleged "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour" after Wayfarer Studios "rebuffed" her concerns, which she claimed she had raised months before the filming started.
The complaint went on to say the parties reviewed a list of 30 demands by Lively, including to stop showing images or videos of nude women to Lively and her employees, describing their genitalia to Lively, and Baldoni and Heath mentioning their alleged previous "pornography addiction" to Lively.
In response, Baldoni has launched multiple countersuits against Lively and news organisations for what he alleged was a targeted media assault on his reputation.
The legal war intensified recently after a video released by Baldoni's team showed him and Lively during a scene on the It Ends With Us set.
Lively's team claims the video corroborates her allegations of harassment, detailing moments where Baldoni allegedly touched her without consent during an unscripted scene.
Lawyers for Baldoni dismissed these claims, maintaining his innocence and releasing the footage as evidence of professionalism on set.
Baldoni also claimed he was "held" in a basement at the premiere of It Ends With Us, and he and his family were barred from joining the festivities.
A trial for the pair has been pencilled in for March 9, 2026.
Settling a billion-dollar payout could be in the Walt Disney Company's foreseeable future should animator Buck Woodall be successful in his claims they stole his movie idea.
Woodall is seeking damages through the California court system of at least US$10b ($17.9b) claiming the media titan allegedly stole elements of a screenplay he wrote in the early 2000s.
Titled Bucky, Woodall's script allegedly includes details similar to Disney's Moana franchise, including a plot about a teenager who defies her parents and embarks on a voyage across Polynesian waters to save their island.
The lawsuit also cited alleged similarities in plot and story devices between Bucky and Moana 2, including a "perilous whirlpool-like oceanic portal" scene that Woodall claims, "could not possibly have been developed by chance or without malicious intentions".
Woodall, in his lawsuit, said he produced a screenplay and trailer for Bucky and shared details of the project with Jenny Marchick, former Mandeville Films director of development, as early as 2003.
Marchick is currently DreamWorks Animation's head of development for features, and had a first-look deal with Disney through Mandeville.
After she asked Woodall for production material, he claims Marchick assured him Bucky would be well on the way to being green-lit.
"Disney's Moana was produced in the wake of Woodall's delivery to the defendants of virtually all constituent parts necessary for its development and production after more than 17 years of inspiration and work on his animated film project," the lawsuit claimed.
In response to the lawsuit, the company said it would gladly provide originality of the Moana movies.
As reported by Decider, Moana director Ron Clements said in a court declaration that the film was "not inspired by or based in any way on [Woodall] or his Bucky project, which I learned of for the first time after this lawsuit was filed".
Currently incarcerated pending trial for racketeering, sex trafficking by force, and transportation for purposes of prostitution, P Diddy (Sean Combs) is one of the most recognised media faces caught up in the courts of late.
But amid his criminal trial, he's also facing multiple lawsuits for his alleged behaviour involving assault, revenge porn and physical assault.
According to Vulture, in the rapper faces a deluge of allegations in the civil court from victims as young as 10 and incidents as recent as 2022.
Chicago record producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones jnr filed a federal complaint in 2024 against Combs, accusing him and the people who work with him of being part of an illegal racketeering enterprise.
Comb's lawyers, in a media statement, said Jones jnr was a "con man, shamelessly looking for an easy and wholly undeserved payday".
Another 2023 lawsuit filed by Casandra "Cassie" Ventura alleged Combs of engaging in sexual assault, battery, and requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts when she was 19.
Video was also obtained by CNN showing Combs allegedly drag Ventura across the floor of a hotel in 2016.
A mutual agreement was settled soon after.
Other suits filed include an anonymous male claiming he was the victim of an aggravated sexual assault that allegedly took place in a Macy's department store in 2008, as well as allegations from various complainants of drink spiking and assault at parties hosted by the rapper.
In 2023, Combs released a media statement saying the claims were "sickening" and that he would "fight for my name, my family and for the truth".
His criminal trial is scheduled for May 5, 2025.
A bombshell claim in 2024 revealed that Empire State of Mind rapper Jay Z (real name Shawn Corey Carter) had been accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Combs in 2000.
First reported by NBC News in December 2024, a civil lawsuit from an unnamed complainant — referred to as Jane Doe — claimed she was sexually assaulted after being driven to an MTV VMAs afterparty
Carter, husband of pop superstar Beyonce, was the first celebrity to be accused of sexual assault in connection to Combs.
In a statement to CNN responding to the allegations, Carter said the alleged victim's descriptions were "so heinous" that he implored her and her team to file a criminal complaint as opposed to a civil suit.
"Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?" he said.
In her suit, the girl alleged she began to feel "woozy" and "lightheaded" after having a drink at the party and made her way into a nearby bedroom.
She then alleged Carter raped her first, followed by Combs, whom she hit before grabbing her clothes and leaving.
Through his lawyer Alex Spiro, Carter argued the girl's lawyer Tony Buzbee has continued pushing a case that was "riddled with inconsistencies".
Reporting on the Bossip website claimed the girl's father denied the event, with the man telling NBC: "I feel like I would remember that, and I don't."
Earlier this month, Carter filed for dismissal of the sexual assault lawsuit, and it remains to be seen what the results will be.
"I suspect that there has always been grounds for the sexual assault suits within the entertainment industry but we may be seeing more of them because of the #MeToo movement," Chamberlain told the Herald.
Chamberlain said there were procedural differences when filing a lawsuit in the US and in New Zealand.
"In both cases, you determine the appropriate court to file the prescribed documents for your claim. However, in the US, there is the federal and state court split which means there is more work to do in determining the appropriate forum to file," she said.
"In New Zealand, any claim seeking damages more than $350,000 should be commenced in the High Court –normally by filing a notice of proceeding and statement of claim."
When looking at the types of lawsuits filed, she said New Zealand doesn't see many civil personal injury cases or civil sexual assault cases filed because of the litigation bar provided in the Accident Compensation Act 2001.
"We do have some defamation, IP and privacy claims. However, given how expensive litigation is, and the tendency of New Zealand courts to award lower damages awards, we do not see as many as in the US."
She also said that in certain areas such as privacy law, New Zealand's common law and statutory protections are "lagging behind" many other jurisdictions such as the US, which also "stifles litigation".
And how long could we see some of these huge US cases last?
Chamberlain said the average timespan of a suit varies depending on the nature of the case (number of claimants, number of claims, number of interlocutory applications, otherwise known in the US as pre-trial motions, etc), but it was common for civil cases to be protracted for years.
"Often, there will be a settlement entered into before the judgment stage is reached," she said.
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald's entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke's Bay Today.
