A 25-second snippet of video showing Verne Troyer and a former girlfriend having sex that was available online over the past couple of days is all the world will see of the tape - for now.
A US federal judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order requested by Troyer's attorneys that prevents porn distributors from taking orders for the full-length video, and prevents TMZ from broadcasting any more clips.
The celebrity Web site posted the short segment on its site on Wednesday; Troyer sued the site and porn distributors on Thursday for US$20 million in damages.
PHOTO: AP
District Judge Philip Gutierrez wrote that Troyer's motion "demonstrated that he will suffer irreparable harm to his reputation" if the tape is distributed. It barred further broadcasting of the tape, which Troyer's attorney interpreted as meaning that TMZ has to remove the video from its site.
TMZ removed the snippet of the tape by late Friday afternoon, instead redirecting Web viewers to its home page. Another post describing the lawsuit remained active on Friday.
Troyer, who is most famous for his role as "Mini Me" in two of the Austin Powers movies, claims the sex tape he made with a former girlfriend was stolen from his home some months ago.
TMZ reported that the video could fetch US$100,000 from a porn distributor. SugarDVD wrote in a statement on its Web site that hoped to reach a deal with Troyer to distribute the full, 50-minute version. Troyer's suit claims he made the tape with his former girlfriend and never intended it to be shown publicly.
The sex life of actor/comedian Bill Murray has also come under spotlight, in a divorce trial that ended earlier this month.
A judge in Charleston County, South Carolina, signed off on the divorce agreement on June 13, barely a month after Jennifer Butler Murray asked for the separation. The couple had been married for 11 years.
Nothing was lost in translation in Jennifer Murray's original complaint, in which she alleged that her husband abused her, was addicted to marijuana and alcohol, and traveled overseas to engage in "sexual liaisons."
The couple's four children will live with their mother, while the 57-year-old Murray will have visitation rights and pay child support. Jennifer Murray also will get their home on Sullivans Island, South Carolina, and a second house in Hemet, California.
The Post and Courier of Charleston obtained the complaint and attached prenuptial agreement before they were sealed.
A prenuptial agreement requires Murray, star of such films as the Ghostbusters movies, Groundhog Day and Lost in Translation, to pay his ex-wife US$7 million within 60 days of the divorce.
On Friday, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler revealed that he sought the "safe environment" of rehab last month to recover from more than just surgery. Tyler says he was fighting a dependency on pain and sleep medication.
"To have your feet done, to have your leg done, you have to be on narcotics," Tyler said. "You have to be on sleep aids at night. I don't know about Joe [Perry] but I was off and running and I didn't like the me that was me."
Tyler released a statement in late May saying he checked into a rehab facility in search of a "safe environment" to recover from several foot surgeries and physical therapy. Tyler said the procedures were to correct longtime foot injuries resulting from his physical performances as the singer for the blues-rock band.
"This was a month ago, so I just put the brakes on and checked into detox and just pulled the plug on all of it," he said on Friday night at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square, where he and bandmates were promoting Guitar Hero 3: Aerosmith. The 60-year-old was known for heavy drug and alcohol abuse in the 1970s and early 1980s, but completed rehabilitation in 1986, after which Aerosmith enjoyed a successful revival.
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