Ari Behn, Spacey accuser and ex of Norwegian princess, dies

Scandinavian writer Ari Behn — the ex-husband of Norwegian Princess Martha Louise and among the people who had accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct — died this week, his manager said. He was 47.

Behn died by suicide Wednesday, his manager told the Norwegian news service NTB. Authorities said he was found at his home in Norway.

The Norwegian royal family said in a written statement that Behn was “an important part of our family for many years and we carry warm and good memories of him with us."

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2016 file photo, Ari Behn is interviewed during the Celebrity Gala 2016 and Wenche Foss' honorary award at Chat Noir in Oslo. Scandinavian author Ari Behn — the ex-husband of Norwegian Princess Martha Louise and among the people who had accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct — died this week, his manager said. He was 47. Behn died by suicide Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019 at his home in Norway, his manager told the Norwegian news service NTB. (Jon Olav NesvoldNTB Scanpix via AP)

Behn, who was Danish-born, and Martha Louise, the oldest daughter of Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja, were married for 14 years. The couple divorced in 2017 and have three children.

The match had critics before it even became official. Negative coverage dogged Behn after a Las Vegas travelogue he hosted on Norwegian TV in the early 2000s briefly showed him around prostitutes, some of them using cocaine.

Behn said at the time that it was mere reporting, not endorsement, and Martha Louise defended him.

FILE - In this April 3, 2017 file photo, Ari Behn poses for the media next to the work "100 strokes before I go" during an exhibition in Gallery Oddvar Olsen in Drammen, Norway. Scandinavian author Ari Behn — the ex-husband of Norwegian Princess Martha Louise and among the people who had accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct — died this week, his manager said. He was 47. Behn died by suicide Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019 at his home in Norway, his manager told the Norwegian news service NTB. (Vidar RuudNTB Scanpix via AP)

Behn also wrote books and plays, including 1999's “Trist som faen,” or “Sad as Hell," a short story collection that was translated into several languages.

In 2017, Behn accused Spacey of groping him under the table at a Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo a decade earlier. It didn't appear that Behn ever pursued criminal charges or a lawsuit against Spacey.

Spacey didn't comment on the allegations at the time, which came amid a string of similar accusations. A lawyer for Spacey didn't respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

Behn's death came a day after Spacey, 60, released a YouTube video in which he pretends to be Frank Underwood, the scheming politician he played in the Netflix series “House of Cards.” He did not address the cascade of allegations against him.

Spacey was dropped from “Cards” after several people stepped forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. The final season aired last year.

Massachusetts prosecutors this year dropped a criminal case alleging the Oscar winner groped an 18-year-old man at a bar on the resort island of Nantucket in 2016. The unnamed accuser in that case invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify about text messages from the night of the alleged encounter.

Police in London have also said they are investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Spacey, but there has been no public update on that inquiry for months.

Los Angeles prosecutors this year tossed a sexual battery charge against Spacey after the unnamed accuser in that case died.

Another player in the Spacey saga, Linda Culkin, was fatally struck crossing the street in Quincy, Massachusetts, in May.

The former nursing assistant had pleaded guilty to sending death threats and bomb threats to Spacey and his associates. She was sentenced to over four years in federal prison in 2014.

Prosecutors said at the time that Culkin became obsessed with Spacey after a patient told her of being attacked by him.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed the pioneering hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa’s lawsuit to reclaim ownership of their master recordings from Universal Music Group.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on Thursday sided with the recording giant, arguing that the Grammy-winning group never owned the copyrights to their sound recordings and didn't transfer them to anyone else.

“Plaintiffs can only terminate copyright transfers that they executed,” the judge wrote. “None of the contracts identified by Plaintiffs indicate that they ever owned the Master Tapes.”

UMG argued that the recordings were “works made for hire,” which would not allow for the reclaiming of rights. Salt-N-Pepa’s lawsuit said their agreements with the label made it clear that they were not.

“Even with the court’s complete rejection of their claims, we remain open and willing to find a resolution to the matter and turn the page so we can focus our efforts on working together to amplify Salt-N-Pepa’s legacy for generations to come,” UMG said in a statement.

Representatives for Salt-N-Pepa said in a statement that they disagreed with the judge's decision and “fully intend to pursue our rights on appeal,” adding: “We remain committed to vindicating and reclaiming our rights as creators under the Copyright Act."

The Queens, New York, duo of Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton became Salt-N-Pepa in 1985. They were later joined by DJ Spinderella, who was not part of the early agreements under dispute and is not involved in the lawsuit.

Salt-N-Pepa signed with Next Plateau Records and released their debut album "Hot, Cool & Vicious" in 1986. Next Plateau was an independent label at the time, and it’s now under the banner of Universal’s Republic label. Some of the group's hits include 1993’s “Shoop” and 1987’s “Push It.”

In 1995 they became the first female rap group to win a Grammy, and in 2021, they received a Grammy lifetime achievement award. In November, they followed Missy Elliott as the second female hip-hop act in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, handed the Influence Award.

At the podium during the induction ceremony, James noted the group's legal fight: "This is the Influence Award. We have to keep using our influence until the industry honors creativity the way the audience does — with love, respect and fairness.”

In their lawsuit, Salt-N-Pepa claimed that the 1976 Copyright Act gives artists the right to reclaim ownership of master recordings and terminate past agreements after 35 years.

But the judge sided with UMG's argument that there is no evidence that James and Denton granted the label copyright that they can now reclaim.

FILE - Sandra Denton, from left; DJ Spinderella and Cheryl James of Salt-N-Pepa arrive at the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Nov. 8, 2025, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Missy Elliott, from left, and Sandra Denton with Cheryl James, right of Salt-N-Pepa, react during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Nov. 8, 2025, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)