Moviefone Editorial

Tag: paul-walker-death

  • Paul Walker’s Daughter Meadow Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Porsche

    'Fast & Furious 5': Rome PhotocallPaul Walker died in November 2013 and his now 18-year-old daughter just reached a settlement with Porsche.

    The “Fast and the Furious” actor was a passenger in a Carrera GT driven by his friend Roger Rodas at speeds between 80-93 mph, when the Porsche veered off the road into a lamp post and tree. The car burst into flames, and both men died. Meadow Walker, who was 15 at the time of her father’s death, already received a $10.1 million settlement in 2016 from Rodas’ estate.

    Meadow sued Porsche in 2015, alleging her father would still be alive if the company had installed proper safety features. Meadow’s lawyers claimed, in court documents referenced by People, that Porsche knew that the Carrera GT had a history of instability and control issues and “failed to install its electronic stability control system,” which they claim was “specifically designed to protect against the swerving actions inherent in hyper-sensitive vehicles of this type.”

    Porsche had responded to the lawsuit in 2015, saying, “As we have said before, we are very sad whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities’ reports in this case clearly establish that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed.” They also alleged that Walker knew the car he was getting in, and knew the risks of riding at high speeds.

    US-PAUL WALKER-MEMORIAL RALLY AND CAR CRUISEHowever, according to new documents obtained by The Blast, Meadow just reached a settlement with Porsche on October 16. The terms are confidential, but now both parties are requesting that the wrongful death case be dismissed. The Blast’s documents also stated that Paul Walker’s father settled a separate lawsuit against Porsche.

    According to Gossip Cop, the driver of the vehicle’s widow, Kristine Rodas, lost her wrongful death lawsuit against Porsche in April 2016. Her lawsuit alleged that the accident was caused by defects in the car, but the judge decided there was “no competent evidence” to hold Porsche liable for the crash. After the case was dismissed, Meadow’s attorney told Gossip Cop the decision had “no effect on Meadow Walker’s lawsuit” and that “the issues in the cases are very different” because Paul Walker wasn’t driving the vehicle.

    Meadow Walker’s Instagram only has a few photos up, but most are loving photos of her father, and advocacy for his favorite causes through The Paul Walker Foundation:

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  • Comedy Roasts That Took It Too Far

    Saying the words “Friar’s Club” without scaring away millennials who only speak in memes. Making the celeb in the chair feel honored, but just humbled enough to not jump out a window. Showcasing TV-friendly material that has enough foul language to make Quentin Tarantino blush: The comedic roast walks a whole lot of fine lines — it’s just part of the delicate mix of sick burns, underhanded compliments, and unthinkable vocabulary that makes up the cocktail. But sometimes when you shake that cocktail, it explodes right in your face. Pause to remember five roasts that did just that, and had viewers wincing between the laughs all the way.

    Justin Bieber: Too Fast, Too Furious, Too Soon

    The 2015 Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber should’ve been a momentous occasion — yeah, it’s weird that the Biebs got roasted in the first place, but at least we can all laugh at the teen pop star turned way-too-smug 20-something.

    Unfortunately, everyone from Jeff Ross to Pete Davidson cast a cloud over the evening with jokes about the then-recent death of “The Fast and the Furious” series star Paul Walker. The tragic running theme was in such poor taste that even Ludacris complained, and when you’ve offended the man who wrote heartfelt ballads like “Hoes in My Room” and “Move Bitch,” you know you’ve crossed a line.

    Roseanne Flips the Script

    Comedy Central’s 2012 roast of Roseanne Barr is pretty middle-of-the-road — you could say that Roseanne jokes are the gift that keeps on giving, but they were never really a gift in the first place. As her roasters waded through all the expected fat jokes, Roseanne turned the tables and put her infamous ex, Tom Arnold, right in the sniper sights. The result is something that felt way too personal for comfort, full of poison-tipped quips like, “I’m glad you have a good wife, Tom; I’m glad she isn’t with you just for your money — I mean, my money.”

    Ouch. Smells like someone burned the roast.

    Lisa Lampanelli Hassles the Hoff

    Gilbert Gottfried stood right on the “too far” line at the 2010 Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff, but Lisa Lampanelli sprinted on over it. At the time, the Hoff was vulnerable — fresh off a tabloid streak when a video of him eating a hamburger while his kids implored him to stop drinking made the online rounds. The whole thing made the night feel a little pathetic, but Lisa took no prisoners. “The Queen of Mean” earned her title as she somehow managed to fit jabs about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, race, Haiti, Roger Ebert’s fatal cancer, and the Holocaust into less than five minutes of stage time. That’s got to be some sort of record that should’ve never been set.

    Chevy Chase Gets Weird

    Being mean is a natural part of the roast’s recipe. But something about the New York Friar’s Club roast of Saturday Night Live” posse didn’t show up, Chase sat through the whole torpid affair behind a pair of shades and an uncomfortably humorless scowl, somehow managing to make the audience feel like he was both a terrible sport and yet undeserving of the onslaught that came his way. This one just amped up the mean factor on far too many levels.

    James Franco Plays Softball

    In 2013, James Franco invited a bunch of his Judd Apatow-alumni buds to a fancy dinner, and they lightly ribbed him in what felt like an extended press junket rather than an envelope-pushing night of comedy. This Comedy Central-aired “roast,” to use the term loosely, went way too far in the other direction — it was a too-nice, undercooked dish with no bite and some very unfunny bark.

    Just let Sarah Silverman leave this right here for you: “I can’t tell if this is a dais or the line to suck Judd Apatow’s balls.”

    Sources

  • Paul Walker Shares Blame for His Death, Porsche Says in Lawsuit Filing

    US-ENTERTAINMENT-PAUL WALKERPorshe is hitting back at the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Meadow Walker, the teenage daughter of the late Paul Walker, who is suing the automaker for negligence in its design of the vehicle in which her father was killed. According to the automaker, Paul Walker was intimately familiar with the car and knew the risks it posed — and therefore could be considered partially responsible for his own death.

    TMZ shared Porshe’s court filing — the company’s official answer to Meadow Walker’s suit — on Monday, which stated that Paul Walker was “a knowledgeable and sophisticated user of the 2005 Carrera GT.” As such, the site said, Porsche maintains that Walker “should not have allowed or participated in a high-speed ride under the conditions that existed.”

    “Porsche also takes issue with allegations that the car’s design was defective,” TMZ wrote of the filing. “The car company says ‘the subject 2005 Carrera GT was abused and altered …’ The company added the car was ‘misused and improperly maintained.’”

    Those comments echo similar statements that the automaker made when Meadow Walker’s lawsuit was first filed back in September. Porsche cited authorities’ ruling that the car — driven by Paul Walker’s friend, Roger Rodas, who was also killed in the crash — was traveling at 90 mph, and that the crash “resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed.” Rodas’s widow has also filed a similar suit against Porsche, which is still pending.

    According to Porsche’s filing this week, Walker could also share “comparative fault” with Rodas, meaning he was also responsible for his death. A representative for Meadow Walker released a statement to TMZ disputing that claim. It said:

    It is beyond regrettable that Porsche is trying to deflect its own responsibility by blaming the victim — Paul Walker — for his own death by getting into the passenger seat of its Carrera GT. Contrary to Porsche’s assertions, the facts are clear: Paul was the passenger in a car that was not designed to protect its occupants, in a crash on a dry, empty straightaway in broad daylight and at speeds well below the vehicle’s advertised capabilities.

    If Porsche had designed the car to include proper safety features, Paul would have survived, he would be filming ‘Fast and Furious 8’ and Meadow Walker would have the father she adored.

    [via: TMZ]

    Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images

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  • Porsche Responds to Lawsuit Filed by Paul Walker’s Daughter, Blames Driver

    Fast & Furious 6 - World Premiere - Red Carpet ArrivalsIn response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Paul Walker‘s daughter, Meadow, automaker Porsche has said that Walker’s death was the result of reckless driving, not a defect in the vehicle.

    “As we have said before, we are very sad whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities’ reports in this case clearly establish that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed,” Porsche’s statement said.

    Meadow Walker filed a lawsuit against the automaker on Monday, claiming that design defects and a lack of safety measures directly contributed to her father’s death on November 30, 2013. Walker was the passenger in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by his friend, Roger Rodas, when Rodas lost control of vehicle and slammed into a tree, causing the car to burst into flames; both men were killed in the accident.

    Law enforcement officials had said that the car was traveling at 90 mph when it crashed, though Meadow Walker’s lawsuit disputes that number. Her lawyer, Jeff Milam, said in a statement about the suit, “She’s a teenage girl still dealing with the tragic loss of her father.”

    Rodas’s widow filed a similar suit against Porsche in 2014, which is still pending. Earlier this year, Porsche responded in much the same way, siding with authorities who deemed that reckless driving caused the crash.

    “Roger Rodas’s death, and all other injuries or damages claimed, were the result of Roger Rodas’s own comparative fault,” Porsche said at the time.

    [via: Entertainment Weekly]

    Photo credit: Getty Images

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