US billionaire Bill Gross harassed neighbour by blaring ‘Gilligan’s Island’ song on repeat, judge rules
- Judge rules Bill Gross and girlfriend harassed Laguna Beach neighbours with loud music
- Court case stemmed from a dispute over a US$1 million outdoor lawn sculpture
Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Knill on Wednesday ordered Gross, 76, and his partner Amy Schwartz to stop playing sitcom theme songs and other loud music when they aren’t outdoors for three years and directed them to stay at least five metres away from their next-door neighbours in Laguna Beach.
The neighbours both have modernist, multimillion-dollar trophy homes overlooking the Pacific.
Tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq sought the restraining order to stop what he alleged was “a targeted campaign of harassment” and retaliation that began after he complained to city officials that the billionaire co-founder of Pacific Investment Management had installed unsightly netting over a million-dollar sculpture in his yard without proper permits.
“The court finds the evidence demonstrates Gross and Schwartz wilfully playing music to annoy or harass their neighbours,” Knill said. “The evidence demonstrates on August 23, 2020, Gross and Schwartz manually started the playlist over and over again,” the judge said, pointing out that one 17-minute video from a camera in Towfiq’s property showed that Gilligan’s Island played eight times, as did Green Acres.