Tag Results for Laura Raposa

Tom Scholz, the lead guitarist for the Band Boston, has sued the Herald's Inside Track gossip columnists, Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, for libel, saying they fabricated a story blaming him for lead singer Brad Delp's 2007 suicide. The kicker: Scholz is represented by Howard Cooper, the same lawyer who won a $2.1 million libel case against the Herald on behalf of Judge Ernest Murphy.

It’s Howard Cooper versus the Boston Herald, round two.

Cooper, you may recall, is the Boston lawyer who represented then-judge Ernest Murphy in his libel suit against the Herald, which had portrayed him as someone who had “heartlessly” demeaned a teenage rape victim. Murphy won a $2 million-plus verdict against the Herald in 2005. I don’t think Murphy was libeled, but Cooper was able to convince a jury otherwise. Here is more than you’ll ever want to know about that case.

Now Cooper is suing the Herald on behalf of Tom Scholz of the band Boston, claiming that Inside Track reporters Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa fabricated quotes attributed to Micki Delp, ex-wife of Boston lead singer Brad Delp, as well as from unnamed “insiders,” to make it appear that Delp had blamed Scholz for her husband’s suicide.

Courthouse News Service has a detailed account of the suit, though there’s a mistake in the lede — Delp committed suicide in 2007, not 1997. The story is accompanied by a copy of the complaint (pdf). I have not had a chance to do more than skim it, so I’m staying away from any detailed analysis. I do see that Cooper cites Boston magazine’s 2006 story “Gals Gone Wild,” by John Gonzalez, as example of what Cooper calls Fee and Raposa’s “unprofessional, irresponsible and reckless tactics and methods.” For good measure, Cooper calls them “so-called ‘reporters.’”

The Herald has not yet filed a response. Herald spokeswoman Gwen Gage tells the Boston Globe, “We’re aware of the complaint and we will review it. Beyond that, we have no further comment.”

In 2006 "Beat the Press" alumnus Mark Jurkowitz wrote an in-depth profile of Cooper for the Boston Phoenix (via Romenesko). The headline: “The media’s worst nightmare?” At One Herald Square, the answer to that question would be a decided “yes.”

If you want Gospel with your Sunday brunch, you can always go to the House of Blues. If gossip is more your style, you might want to try Channel 38.

A new show starring the Boston Herald's Inside Track columnists, Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, debuts on WSBK this weekend, Raposa said a few minutes ago."TrackGals" will air at noon Sundays on 38, and also on sister station WBZ/Channel 4 at 12:30 a.m.

Raposa describes the show as a hybrid, but also unique.

"It's a little bit Inside Track, a little bit Saturday Night Live, a little bit Access Hollywood," she said. "But it's local, and there really isn't anything out there like it on the air."

Today's Herald and the Inside Track Facebook page have the lowdown on the first couple of shows, including the second which is - predictably - a Tom Brady special, which follows Raposa and Fee as they try to Track down the star Patriots quarterback. Raposa says the show will include "a lot of us out on the town, doing our jobs."

The Herald reports that the show is being produced by music video veteran Ian Barrett with crew support from Media Boss in Natick and will be sponsored by Foxwoods, the MGM Grand, Subaru of New England.

The show will soon have its own web page, which will be part of bostonherald.com, Raposa said.