The trailer for the Casablanca Records biopic Spinning Gold gives a glimpse of the film. Wiz Khalifa is George Clinton, Ledisi is Gladys Knight, Jason Derulo is Ron Isley, Tayla Parx is Donna Summer. Neil Bogart founded the label in 1973 after being an executive at Buddah Records. Kiss, George Clinton’s Parliament, Cher, Village People, Summer and Lipps Inc. were successful Casablanca artists. Timothy Bogart is the writer and director of the movie about his father. Spinning Gold will be in theaters March 31, 2023. 

George Clinton won a defamation lawsuit brought against him by label owner and music publisher Armen Boladian. A two-week trial in Los Angeles determined that 20 statements made in Clinton’s autobiography did not defame Boladian. Clinton has maintained for years that Boladian has stolen the copyrights to some of his most famous songs including “Atomic Dog,” “Flashlight,” “One Nation Under A Groove” and “We Want The Funk (Tear The Roof Off)” through plaigarized documents and not paying artists. 

In 1994, a United States District Court judge ruled that Clinton did not sign the document used by Boladian’s company to record its rights with the Copyright Office. Boladian swore in a 1995 statement that he did alter the language of 1982 written agreement with Clinton and added songs to the agreement pursuant to his power of attorney. 

Clinton’s attorneys Jordan Sussman and Margo Arnold of Nolan and Heiman LLP, shared with the jury the 1994 District Court decision, Boladian’s 1995 declaration and affidavits from two of Boladian’s former employees corroborated that he altered agreements after they were signed by Clinton and other artists. 

The jury decided after hours of deliberation that the statements in Clinton’s book were not actionable because they were either true, matters of opinion, or not made with institutional malice. 

Sussman stated afterwards, “This verdict is a win for George and the First Amendment. No one should be prohibited from sharing their life story, from their point of view, simply because it may paint someone else in a less than flattering light. Especially, as the jury held, when George had no reason to seriously doubt the truth of his statements.”

George Clinton will receive his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame as part of this year’s group of honorees. Clinton will join Martha Reeves, The Black Eyed Peas, Ashanti, the late Nipsey Hussle, DJ Khaled, Avril Lavigne and Los Huracanes Del Norte. Each recipient will have their own individual ceremony later this year. Clinton will be portrayed by Wiz Khalifa in the upcoming Spinning Gold biopic about Casablanca Records and its founder Neil Bogart. This weekend he and his  Parliament-Funkadelic crew will perform at Capital One City Parks Foundation Summerstage in New York City. 

DJ Cassidy presented his Pass The Mic show in conjunction with the Soul Train Awards last night. This edition paid tribute to some of his musical heroes from the ’80s. A section of some of the era’s greatest artists joined him remotely to sing along with his DJing of their song. Jody Watley, Deniece Williams, Morris Day and Jerome Benton of the Time, Shannon, George Clinton, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Alicia Myers, Chaka Khan, Lisa Lisa, Melvin Riley of Ready For The World, Shelia E., Larry Blackmon and Willie Morris of Cameo and El DeBarge all participated and sang one of their classic songs.