K evin Hart’s media company will have to defend its case in public after a California judge rejected its attempt to settle the dispute behind closed doors.  On Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that Hartbeat cannot move its lawsuit against two former workers to arbitration, according to court documents obtained by TMZ . Because of that decision, all filings and hearings will now be part of the public record. At the heart of the case are Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam. Eddings joined Hartbeat in 2022 and Gwam followed in 2023. Hartbeat accuses them of taking confidential details from the company’s podcast unit and using them to build a competing podcast business. The court papers allege the two used that information to prepare a pitch deck aimed at raising millions for their new company. Hartbeat is asking the court to stop them from launching it. The company argued the employees had signed contracts requiring disputes to be settled through arbitration, a process tha...

J oy returned to six families in Abia State on Thursday after police rescued their children and arrested a man accused of trafficking them.   The operation was carried out by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit in Aba North, following what the police described as credible intelligence.   According to the Abia State Police Command, the children were found at the home of the suspect during the raid.   Addressing journalists, the command’s spokesperson, DSP Maureen Chinaka, identified the suspect as Nnamdi Lazarus, 51. She said he hails from Mbano in Imo State but has been living in Uratta, Aba.   “Upon receiving credible information, our operatives moved in swiftly and rescued the six children who were being kept at his residence,” Chinaka said in a statement issued on Thursday.   She explained that after due verification, the children were safely reunited with their families.   The police said investigations are still ...