Names and faces

In this April 4, 2016 photo, Spike Lee attends the NYU Tisch School of the Arts 50th Anniversary Gala in New York.
In this April 4, 2016 photo, Spike Lee attends the NYU Tisch School of the Arts 50th Anniversary Gala in New York.

Filmmaker Spike Lee and his companies are being sued by the directors of three union benefit plans who contend that he didn’t make sufficient health and pension contributions. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Lee, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks and Black Butterfly Productions. It claims an audit found nearly $45,000 in unpaid contributions between September 2007 and March 2010. The suit said Lee controlled Black Butterfly, a signatory to collective-bargaining agreements, and treated its assets, which include the 2008 film, Miracle at St. Anna, as his own while failing to pay its debts. “Despite multiple demands, Black Butterfly has failed to pay the claims asserted by the Plans. Black Butterfly refuses, and continues to refuse, to pay the amounts due for unpaid contributions disclosed by the audit,” the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs manage plans for the American Federation of Musicians, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Studio Transportation Drivers. They are seeking all unpaid damages, interest, audit costs and legal fees. Lee is a writer, director and actor. His films include Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. His most recent movie, Chi-Raq, is about gun violence in Chicago. A message left with Forty Acres wasn’t immediately returned.

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AP

In this Sept. 15, 2016 file photo, musician Madonna poses for photographers at the World premiere of the Beatles documentary, "Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years," in London.

Madonna says she is supporting son Rocco Ritchie after reports surfaced Wednesday that the 16-year-old was arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana in London. Madonna released a statement Wednesday calling the September arrest “a family matter.” She said: “I love my son very much. I will do whatever I can to give him the support that he needs, and I ask that you respect our privacy at this time.” Rocco was the subject of a monthslong custody dispute between Madonna and ex-husband Guy Ritchie. The couple divorced in 2008. They finally agreed in September to allow Rocco to continue living with his father in London. According to a report in the U.K.’s Sun newspaper, Rocco was arrested Sept. 28.

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