‘Redemption of Paradise’ director Noel Howell makes appearance on Judge Judy

*Wins suit brought by make-up artist

Antiguan movie director Dr. Noel Howell continues to make the headlines with his latest high impact action drama Caribbean box office movie ‘Redemption Of Paradise’, starring Macka Diamond.

Dr. Howell made a recent appearance on the popular NBC TV courtroom drama, Judge Judy, to answer to a suit brought against him by Melissa Poncelet Del-Sole, a make-up artist he fired while filming ‘Redemption Of Paradise’.

The tease for that Judge Judy episode said, “Strong marijuana, sexual harassment, and goat water come into play when a make-up artist sues the director of an action film set in Antigua for lost wages.”

According to the court proceedings, Dr. Howell, a paediatrician with a passion for moviemaking, landed on the show after he fired a make-up and special effects artist from the US, who journeyed to Antigua in January to work on Dr. Howell’s movie, ‘Redemption of Paradise’, which had its world premiere in Jamaica last month.

Poncelet Del-Sole sued for breach of contract, sexual harassment against members of the set, and she also wanted compensation for stress she said she suffered.

The CEO of Color Bars Film Production, producers of the film, explained that he had to release the woman from her contract when she displayed erratic behaviour on set, sometimes leaving the set and not returning. “The bottom line is, she did not fulfill the terms of her contract. I had to fire her and send her back home…really for her own safety,” Dr Howell said of the plaintiff.

“I had dehydration and sunstroke because no one would give me any water on set,” Poncelet Del-Sole said. She also said she wasn’t given any food but goat water.

Dr. Howell countered that she was lying, in fact, he said the whole premise of her suit was a lie, and said, “I told her no smoking on the set.”

“You mean smoking cigarettes?” Judge Judy asked.

“She was smoking weed,” Dr. Howell clarified, as he dramatized her strange behaviour when he went to speak to her.

The courtroom erupted in laughter.

Dr. Howell alleged that while in Antigua, Poncelet-Del-Sole met a local man whom she “fell in love with” and who sourced her marijuana.

According to Dr. Howell, her consumption of the marijuana caused increasingly bizarre behaviour. In his testimony, Dr. Howell explained to the judge that, “she wasn’t smoking just any weed…that was good Antigua weed!”

Dr. Howell explained his side of the story to the judge, equipped with signed affidavits from witnesses in Antigua, among other documents, noting that indeed Poncelet-Del-Sole had not fulfilled the terms of her contract.

After hearing both sides of the matter, Dr. Howell was awarded the win in this case, Judge Judy stating that she believed him.

That Judge Judy episode was a talking point for several days, especially in Antigua, as many laughed and mimicked Dr. Howell’s concluding remarks after the case: “You don’t mess with Antiguan weed…that’s wicked weed.”

Redemption of Paradise’ was filmed in January in Antigua and had its world premiere in Jamaica in August.

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