Private eye trial to probe Hollywood's secrets

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes: Private eye trial to reveal Hollywood's secrets
Pellicano has also been retained by stars such as Tom Cruise

Hollywood is bracing itself for a trial which threatens to expose every crooked deal and underhand tactic used by the entertainment industry’s big players over the past 20 years.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes: Private eye trial to reveal Hollywood's secrets
Pellicano has also been retained by stars such as Tom Cruise

Anthony Pellicano, the so-called "private eye to the stars", will take the stand next week to face more than 100 charges of alleged muck-raking, illegal wiretapping of celebrities’ phones, bribing police officers and threatening witnesses.

The tentacles of Pellicano’s operations are said to reach throughout Hollywood.

A court list of 244 people in some way connected to the case brims with stars, directors, studio executives and the town’s top agents as well as their relatives and neighbours.

Many, it appears, were either employing Pellicano or the subject of his investigations.

Whether the high-profile figures who hired the PI knew anything about what he was allegedly up to remains to be seen. Those who have commented so far have denied knowledge of any illegal activity.

Actors Sylvester Stallone, Keith Carradine and comedian Garry Shandling are among the alleged victims of Pellicano’s investigative tactics, which allegedly involved bugging conversations with a specially devised system dubbed "Telesleuth" or paying police officers to run illegal background checks in the hunt for compromising information.

Stallone was allegedly wiretapped by Pellicano in February 2002 at a time when the Rocky and Rambo star was suing his former business manager, Kenneth Starr.

The actor had earlier employed Pellicano before a falling out.

Starr was a client of powerful Hollywood lawyer Bert Fields, who retained Pellicano’s services and has been interviewed by the FBI and told he is a subject of interest in the case.

Fields, who has not been charged in the case, has said he knew nothing about any illegal activity.

Last week Stallone, 61, said he would be willing to testify in a case that spoke volumes about what really goes on in Hollywood.

"In this town, nothing seems as it is," the actor said.

"There’s so much skullduggery."

Pellicano has also been retained by stars such as Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson via Fields, who they both employed.

When Jackson faced child abuse allegations in 1993, Fields allegedly employed Pellicano who unearthed material that purportedly helped to settle the case.

Fields, whose clients include The Beatles, Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta, reportedly also hired Pellicano to help end a gay blackmail threat against Cruise.

As well as Fields, another of Cruise’s lawyers, Ricardo Cestero, is on the list along with Ron Meyer, head of Universal Pictures; Brad Grey, the Paramount Pictures chief; and Michael Ovitz, founder of the Creative Artists Agency and ex-Disney president.

Others in some way connected to the case are Steve Bing, the film producer and Liz Hurley’s ex-boyfriend, Mark Burnett, the reality television mogul and creator of Survivor, restaurateur Peter Morton and billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

Comedian Chris Rock reportedly hired Pellicano after a former model, Monika Zsibrita, lodged a paternity suit against him. Rock has denied knowledge of any illegal activity.

Pellicano, who has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was denied bail, will stand trial along with four co-defendants. They have also denied the charges.

Ignoring the advice of the judge, Pellicano has decided to represent himself in the trial, which is expected to last two months.

The case, packed with alleged activities that seem more LA Confidential than 21st century Hollywood, has gripped the city in a way unseen since the 1993 arrest of madam-to-the-stars Heidi Fleiss.

Pellicano was arrested in 2002 after FBI agents raided his office and found hand grenades and plastic explosives in his safe. They also uncovered a vast cache of illegal wiretaps.

He was sentenced to 30-months for the explosives and weapons found in his office.

His arrest was triggered after Anita Busch, a Los Angeles Times reporter, who was investigating stories about Michael Ovitz and Steven Seagal, found a dead fish on her smashed car windscreen and a note warning her to "stop".