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CNN Live Today

'Celebrity Justice'

Aired August 04, 2003 - 10:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A knockout punch to Mike Tyson's bank account. Tyson, who made $300 million from his fights, has filed for bankruptcy. Tyson blames promoters and managers for messing up his finances, but many point to his extravagant lifestyle and frequent legal troubles for his financial downfall. Mike Tyson being irresponsible with his money? No.
Not too surprising to our next guest, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice," Harvey Levin joining us from Los Angeles.

Harvey, we're going to talk Tyson's money in just a second. First though, I want to get to another high-profile celeb, and that is Kobe Bryant.

Good morning, by the way.

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PROD., "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": I could have guessed.

Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's get right to Kobe Bryant. First of all, made a very interesting appearance over the weekend, the Teen Choice Awards. He gets an honor. And explain when this show will air, why it's so significant.

LEVIN: Well, let me tell you why this is significant. There are reports that his lawyer, his defense lawyer almost quit when he attended the ESPY Awards with his wife in the middle of all this. Her concern was that she doesn't want him to project an image that he doesn't care about the proceedings, he doesn't care about how serious these charges are, and she was really, really upset.

She stayed on anyway, and now Kobe Bryant shows up again at the same kind of venue, and it makes you wonder who's in control here. Does he have control over his PR? If he does, that's a dangerous thing for a defense lawyer in a situation like this.

KAGAN: But even more, in accepting his award, he's quoting Martin Luther King Jr., coming across as someone who's oppressed and has to overcome this racial injustice.

LEVIN: Well, maybe that's a precursor to what we're going to see in the case. Frankly, I think the more damaging thing, Daryn, is just showing up carefree. It's as simple as that. That's not the image. This is absolutely not the image that a defense lawyer wants to project, and it's probably not good publicly I think for somebody to do that. I mean, this is a really serious matter, and I don't think smiles or victory signs or anything like that really work in a situation like this.

KAGAN: What is "Celebrity Justice" reporting about these 911 calls?

LEVIN: There were two 911 calls placed at Kobe Bryant's house, one in March of this year, and another on July 3rd. July 3rd is significant because that's the very night that Bryant was interviewed by detectives before being arrested the next day.

Somebody Kobe Bryant called up. There was a female in distress, laying in bed. The paramedics came, and that past March, there was a similar incident where there was a 911 call, and the person, the female, was actually taken, the same female, taken to the hospital for treatment. We don't know if it's Vanessa. Obviously, a lot of people are wondering had she just learned the news from Kobe Bryant? But we don't know more of the specifics than what I just said.

KAGAN: All right, let's talk about Mike Tyson declaring bankruptcy from 300 million to zero, and he says it's the lawyers fault, it's all your fault, and your kind, Harvey.

LEVIN: My kind.

KAGAN: Yes, those big legal bills.

LEVIN: But you know what, look, I mean, give the guy a break. The guy is a -- he was a street fighter, and he's not sophisticated when it comes to money. And we've seen a lot of these situations. And you know what, maybe in part it is the business manager's fault and the lawyer's fault. Mike Tyson isn't the kind of guy who will sit down and say, I think I want to diversify and buy some tax-free bonds. I mean, seriously, that's not who he is. So he does rely on other people, and we've seen lots of cases where people don't manage money well. Mike Tyson needed to be managed in the worst way. He was excessive in every part of his life, and why would you think money would be an exception to that. He needed somebody, and if you blow $300 million, seems to me he wasn't served well.

KAGAN: Well, I guess if you're spending more than coming in, there's not enough money in the world not to go broke.

LEVIN: And you know what, and think about Mike Tyson, he's the definition of excessive. I mean, this is so not a shock, at least to me.

KAGAN: Absolutely. But you still talk about it on "Celebrity Justice," I'm sure.

LEVIN: Of course.

KAGAN: We'll look forward to that. Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice," joining us from Los Angeles.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 4, 2003 - 10:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A knockout punch to Mike Tyson's bank account. Tyson, who made $300 million from his fights, has filed for bankruptcy. Tyson blames promoters and managers for messing up his finances, but many point to his extravagant lifestyle and frequent legal troubles for his financial downfall. Mike Tyson being irresponsible with his money? No.
Not too surprising to our next guest, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice," Harvey Levin joining us from Los Angeles.

Harvey, we're going to talk Tyson's money in just a second. First though, I want to get to another high-profile celeb, and that is Kobe Bryant.

Good morning, by the way.

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PROD., "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": I could have guessed.

Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's get right to Kobe Bryant. First of all, made a very interesting appearance over the weekend, the Teen Choice Awards. He gets an honor. And explain when this show will air, why it's so significant.

LEVIN: Well, let me tell you why this is significant. There are reports that his lawyer, his defense lawyer almost quit when he attended the ESPY Awards with his wife in the middle of all this. Her concern was that she doesn't want him to project an image that he doesn't care about the proceedings, he doesn't care about how serious these charges are, and she was really, really upset.

She stayed on anyway, and now Kobe Bryant shows up again at the same kind of venue, and it makes you wonder who's in control here. Does he have control over his PR? If he does, that's a dangerous thing for a defense lawyer in a situation like this.

KAGAN: But even more, in accepting his award, he's quoting Martin Luther King Jr., coming across as someone who's oppressed and has to overcome this racial injustice.

LEVIN: Well, maybe that's a precursor to what we're going to see in the case. Frankly, I think the more damaging thing, Daryn, is just showing up carefree. It's as simple as that. That's not the image. This is absolutely not the image that a defense lawyer wants to project, and it's probably not good publicly I think for somebody to do that. I mean, this is a really serious matter, and I don't think smiles or victory signs or anything like that really work in a situation like this.

KAGAN: What is "Celebrity Justice" reporting about these 911 calls?

LEVIN: There were two 911 calls placed at Kobe Bryant's house, one in March of this year, and another on July 3rd. July 3rd is significant because that's the very night that Bryant was interviewed by detectives before being arrested the next day.

Somebody Kobe Bryant called up. There was a female in distress, laying in bed. The paramedics came, and that past March, there was a similar incident where there was a 911 call, and the person, the female, was actually taken, the same female, taken to the hospital for treatment. We don't know if it's Vanessa. Obviously, a lot of people are wondering had she just learned the news from Kobe Bryant? But we don't know more of the specifics than what I just said.

KAGAN: All right, let's talk about Mike Tyson declaring bankruptcy from 300 million to zero, and he says it's the lawyers fault, it's all your fault, and your kind, Harvey.

LEVIN: My kind.

KAGAN: Yes, those big legal bills.

LEVIN: But you know what, look, I mean, give the guy a break. The guy is a -- he was a street fighter, and he's not sophisticated when it comes to money. And we've seen a lot of these situations. And you know what, maybe in part it is the business manager's fault and the lawyer's fault. Mike Tyson isn't the kind of guy who will sit down and say, I think I want to diversify and buy some tax-free bonds. I mean, seriously, that's not who he is. So he does rely on other people, and we've seen lots of cases where people don't manage money well. Mike Tyson needed to be managed in the worst way. He was excessive in every part of his life, and why would you think money would be an exception to that. He needed somebody, and if you blow $300 million, seems to me he wasn't served well.

KAGAN: Well, I guess if you're spending more than coming in, there's not enough money in the world not to go broke.

LEVIN: And you know what, and think about Mike Tyson, he's the definition of excessive. I mean, this is so not a shock, at least to me.

KAGAN: Absolutely. But you still talk about it on "Celebrity Justice," I'm sure.

LEVIN: Of course.

KAGAN: We'll look forward to that. Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice," joining us from Los Angeles.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com