In Marshall, a Jury Rules That Only Tyler Perry's to Blame for Diary

Been a long while since I've heard the name Bob Gale, who was quite the big deal back in the early 1980s for having written the likes of Used Cars and Back to the Future, both for Robert Zemeckis, with whom he was Oscar-nominated in '86. (Gale also wrote the...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 9, 2008

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Been a long while since I've heard the name Bob Gale, who was quite the big deal back in the early 1980s for having written the likes of Used Cars and Back to the Future, both for Robert Zemeckis, with whom he was Oscar-nominated in '86. (Gale also wrote the Back to the Future sequels -- and 1941, ugh.) Last I heard he was doing comic books for Marvel. And, so happens, he's also collecting big paychecks to testify up in Marshall, where Gale on Monday was the expert witness on Tyler Perry's behalf as the filmmaker defended himself against a Fort Worth woman's claim that he stole her play to make Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

But the mess in Marshall's over now: This afternoon, a jury ruled that Donna West won't be collecting a single penny from Perry. But she'll no doubt be happy to field offers from those interested in reviving her Fantasy of a Black Woman. --Robert Wilonsky

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