A billionaire hologram producer lashed out at attorney Lisa Bloom Tuesday as she cross-examined him in a sexual harassment trial, verbally attacking the lawyer and her mother, prominent feminist attorney Gloria Allred, before a bailiff escorted him out of the courtroom.
"I think you are an abhorrent woman,'' Alki David told Bloom. "Do something with your life, woman."
David, 51, arrived late for his appearance as a witness in trial of a lawsuit filed against him in February 2017 by 42-year-old Chastity Jones, who was hired in January 2015 to work for two of David's companies, Hologram USA and FilmOn.TV.
Jones alleges she was fired from her sales accountant job in November 2016 for refusing to have sex with David, who was behind the hologram technology that brought slain rapper Tupac Shakur to Coachella in 2012 and saw the late Michael Jackson moonwalk at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.
Jones testified earlier in the trial that David inappropriately touched her and showed her a pornographic video on her work computer. She also said David brought a male stripper into the workplace to celebrate the birthday of one of his executives. She said she found the stripper's appearance offensive and considered it sexual harassment.
Bloom opened her questioning of David by asking about the stripper.
After he said he did not see the stripper's performance, Bloom confronted him with his deposition testimony in which he said just the opposite.
News
Top news of the day
"Your depositions are ridiculous and you are a ridiculous woman. You and your mother should be ashamed of themselves," David told Bloom.
Allred was not present during David's outburst.
"You're worse than your client, you have no morals,'' David told Bloom. "I'm not going to respond to a cruel and opportunistic thief."
As Bloom pressed on with her questions, David shed a piece of clothing and complained that the courtroom temperature was too hot. Judge Rafael Ongkeko issued a series of warnings to David, saying the sheriff would be called if he continued his conduct.
David told the judge he would do his best to comport himself properly.
But as Bloom's inquiries continued, David got off the stand, walked toward Jones, got on his knees and appeared to offer her his wallet. Arick Fudali, one of Jones' lawyers, was sitting next to his client.
"Back off,'' Fudali warned David.
David returned to the stand and went on to say that there was nothing wrong with having a stripper in an entertainment company. Meanwhile, the judge continued his efforts to calm David.
"I'm infuriated by what she and her mother have done,'' David told Ongkeko.
David soon thereafter left the stand for the last time, saying, "Just enter a default judgment."
As he walked near the plaintiff to where the bailiff was waiting, Bloom warned David not to go near Jones.
David left the courtroom with the bailiff without any further incident. The judge later met with the attorneys in chambers about the future course of the trial, in which Bloom was scheduled to rest her case today.
After emerging from his chambers, the judge dismissed the jury until later this afternoon.
"You saw what you saw, please don't discuss the case,'' the judge told jurors.
David's lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo, tried to calm her client as he left the courtroom. Garofalo said during her opening statement that Jones never made any allegations against David, a Beverly Hills resident and heir to a Coca-Cola bottling fortune. Before that, Jones praised her boss and said she loved her job, according to Garofalo, who described her client's business as a "wild and outrageous place'' in which sexual innuendo was common.
