Lopez's ex-husband ordered to pay actress $545,000
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California judge on Wednesday formally ordered the former husband of Jennifer Lopez to pay the singer-actress $545,000 for trying to publish a tell-all book about their relationship.
The ruling affirmed an earlier arbitrator's decision in the case, which included awarding Lopez a permanent injunction barring her ex-spouse, Ojani Noa, from disclosing information about their relationship for personal gain. Noa also was ordered to turn over all materials related to the book.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Solner denied Noa's request for a postponement.
According to media accounts, the unpublished book alleges that Lopez had multiple affairs during her 11-month marriage to Noa, including one with salsa-singer Marc Anthony, her third and current husband.
Anthony and Lopez, 38, married in June 2004, just days after his divorce from a Puerto Rican model and beauty queen, and five months after Lopez broke off her highly publicized engagement to actor Ben Affleck.
Noa's plans for a book were revealed in a January 2006 article in the New York Post describing the proposed book as a 12-chapter "tell-all manuscript" under the title: "The Unknown Truth: A Passionate Portrait of a Serial Thriller."
Lopez sued Noa in June of that year to block publication of the book, claiming it violated the terms of a nondisclosure, "non-disparagement" agreement the couple had reached in the settlement of an unrelated earlier dispute.
An arbitrator assigned to the lawsuit over the book sided with Lopez, awarding her $200,000 in damages, $300,000 in attorneys' fees and nearly $48,000 in arbitration costs.
Before leaving the courtroom on Wednesday, Noa, who represented himself at the proceedings, turned to Lopez's lawyer and said, "I guess you need the money, huh?"
Noa, 31, a restaurant and nightclub manager, had offered not to publish the book if Lopez paid him $5 million, according to Lopez's suit.
Lopez divorced Noa in 1998. She married her second husband, dancer Chris Judd, in September 2001 and filed for divorce from him the following July.
Lopez and Anthony star opposite one another in a movie about salsa legend Hector Lavoe, "El Cantante," which opened in U.S. cities this summer. They also are set to launch a joint concert tour this fall in the North America.
