What's news in the world: Celebrity News

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It's a girl for Salma Hayek and fiance

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Salma Hayek has given birth to a baby girl, Valentina Paloma Pinault, her publicist announced Friday.

"Mother and child are doing well," publicist Cari Ross said in a statement. No other details were released.

The Mexico-born actress, 41, is engaged to businessman Francois-Henri Pinault.

Hayek has starred in films such as "Frida," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and "After the Sunset."

She is one of the executive producers of ABC's "Ugly Betty."

Hayek is also the chief executive of Ventanazul, a production company she formed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Pinault, 45, is the chief executive officer of the luxury goods company PPR SA, which owns high-end labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint

Mime legend Marcel Marceau dies

PARIS, France (AP) -- Marcel Marceau, who revived the art of mime and brought poetry to silence, has died, his former assistant said Sunday. He was 84.

Marceau died Saturday in Paris, French media reported. Former assistant Emmanuel Vacca announced the death on France-Info radio, but gave no details about the cause.

Wearing white face paint, soft shoes and a battered hat topped with a red flower, Marceau, notably through his famed personnage Bip, played the entire range of human emotions onstage for more than 50 years, never uttering a word. Offstage, however, he was famously chatty. "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop," he once said.

A French Jew, Marceau survived the Holocaust -- and also worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children.

His biggest inspiration was Charlie Chaplin. Marceau, in turn, inspired countless young performers -- Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, "Walking Against the Wind."

Marceau performed tirelessly around the world until late in life, never losing his agility, never going out of style. In one of his most poignant and philosophical acts, "Youth, Maturity, Old Age, Death," he wordlessly showed the passing of an entire life in just minutes.

"Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?" he once said.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon praised Marceau as "the master," saying he had the rare gift of "being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language."

Marceau was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, France. His father Charles, a butcher who sang baritone, introduced his son to the world of music and theater at an early age. The boy adored the silent film stars of the era: Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and he also was a fan of the Marx brothers.

When the Germans marched into eastern France, he and his family were given just hours to pack their bags. He fled to southwest France and changed his last name to Marceau to hide his Jewish origins.

With his brother Alain, Marceau became active in the French Resistance. Marceau altered children's identity cards, changing their birth dates to trick the Germans into thinking they were too young to be deported. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton's army.

In 1944, Marceau's father was sent to Auschwitz, where he died.

Later, he reflected on his father's death: "Yes, I cried for him."

But he also thought of all the others killed: "Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug," he told reporters in 2000. "That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another."

When Paris was liberated, Marcel's life as a performer began. He enrolled in Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art, studying with the renowned mime Etienne Decroux.

On a tiny stage at the Theatre de Poche, a smoke-filled Left Bank cabaret, he sought to perfect the style of mime that would become his trademark.

Bip -- Marceau's on-stage persona -- was born.

Marceau once said that Bip was his creator's alter ego, a sad-faced double whose eyes lit up with child-like wonder as he discovered the world. Bip was a direct descendant of the 19th century harlequin, but his clownish gestures, Marceau said, were inspired by Chaplin and Keaton.

Marceau likened his character to a modern-day Don Quixote, "alone in a fragile world filled with injustice and beauty."

Dressed in a white sailor suit, a top hat -- a red rose perched on top -- Bip chased butterflies and flirted at cocktail parties. He went to war and ran a matrimonial service.

In one famous sketch, "Public Garden," Marceau played all the characters in a park, from little boys playing ball to old women with knitting needles.

In 1949 Marceau's newly formed mime troupe was the only one of its kind in Europe. But it was only after a hugely successful tour across the United States in the mid-1950s that Marceau received the acclaim that would make him an international star.

Single-handedly, Marceau revived the art of mime.

"I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello," he once told The Associated Press in an interview.

In the past decades, he has taken Bip to from Mexico to China to Australia. He's also made film appearances. The most famous was Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie": He had the only speaking line, "Non!"

As he aged, Marceau kept on performing at the same level, never losing the agility that made him famous. On top of his Legion of Honor and his countless honorary degrees, he was invited to be a United Nations goodwill ambassador for a 2002 conference on aging.

"If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on," he told The AP in an interview in 2003. "You have to keep working."

Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

50 Cent postpones European tour

US rapper 50 Cent has "temporarily postponed" his European tour, prompting questions over whether he has retired from making music.

The star is currently poised to lose a chart battle with rival Kanye West. He vowed to quit if his album, Curtis, was outsold by West's Graduation.

West topped the UK charts on Sunday, and he is expected to win the race to number one in the US later this week.

A spokeswoman for 50 Cent refused to comment on his retirement plans.

She said that "unforeseen circumstances" had led to the temporary postponement of his tour.

The rapper was also due to perform at this week's Mobo Awards and Vodafone Live Music Awards in London, as well as an MTV show in Germany on Friday. Those appearances have also been scrapped.

Simultaneous release

West and 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, both released their third albums last week.

Jackson threw down the gauntlet last month in an interview with hip-hop website SOHH.com.

"If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music," he said.

"I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums."

The last full-length solo album by 50 Cent, The Massacre, was the best-selling record of 2005 in the US, selling 1.14 million copies in its first week of release.

The same year, West's Late Registration sold more than 860,000 copies in seven days.

Both rappers will learn their US chart positions when the final rundown is revealed on Wednesday.

Babyface isn’t afraid to get personal

Singer talks about his recent divorce, and stays humble about his music

By Miki Turner
Entertainment writer

Sept. 13, 2007

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds's new album, "Playlist," features eight cover tunes and two new songs, including an homage to the men and women fighting in Iraq.

HOLLYWOOD - The moment Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds steps out of his shiny silver Range Rover and strolls into his new studio in central Hollywood, there’s no denying that everything about him is kind of cool.

The way he walks is cool — slow strides with just a hint of that ‘70s pimp step. The way he blushes when talking about himself — something he doesn’t like to do — is cool, too. The guitars that line the walls of the hallways leading to his sound booths are really, really cool; as are the gold and platinum records, signs of his success as a singer, songwriter and producer.

And the fact that Edmonds — someone who has the rep of being notoriously shy — was totally forthcoming about his recent divorce, his success, the risks he took in recording his new

CD that drops on Sept. 18 — was totally cool as well.

“Playlist,” Edmonds’ ninth solo album and the first for Island Records, is not your typical let’s-put-the-Babyface-CD-on-and-see-what-happens-nine-months-later kind of groove. Rather, it’s the 10-time Grammy winner’s personal tribute to the songs he knew and loved as a kid. The songs he used to sneak out of church to go listen to on the car radio. It includes eight cover tracks and two original songs.

Among the oldies but still goodies are: “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” “Please Come to Boston,” “Diary,” “Time in a Bottle,” “Fire & Rain,” “Shower the People,” “Longer” and “Wonderful Tonight.”

“Those are the songs of my childhood, you know? And those are the songs that would like kinda hit me,” Edmonds said in a voice so soft that it was hard to hear him. “Those are the ones I kind, you know, grew into.

“But I wanted to make a really honest record at the same time. I didn’t just want to just say I’m going to do a record of covers. I think for me the process of doing this record was inspiring because it was like revisiting music and being a musician and learning some of these chord changes that I hadn’t really studied before.”

Babyface gets personal
The other two tracks on “Playlist” are personal. “The Soldier Song” is Edmonds’ homage to the men and women fighting in Iraq, and “Not Going Anywhere” was written especially for Edmonds’ oldest son Brandon, because of the difficulty Brandon was having adjusting to his parents’ divorce. Edmonds was married to film and TV producer Tracey Edmonds for 15 years. Their divorce was finalized last spring and Tracey is now engaged to Eddie Murphy.

“It’s been hard for my son and it’s still not real easy,” said Edmonds, who also has a younger son named Dylan. “But the one thing he’s got going for him is that Tracey and I are like really good together. You know, we’re really cool and hopefully it’ll help the process since she’s now engaged to Eddie Murphy.

“I just needed Brandon to know that his dad wasn’t going anywhere.”

“Not Going Anywhere” is actually one of the best tunes on the CD and exemplifies the essence of Edmonds who is at his best when he’s writing about personal situations. When it comes to love songs, he’s a true master.

“Well, I think that every now and then, if you can, you can beam in on that emotion and if you can put it on a record and it’s real, then people can just feel it and they can see it,” Edmonds said. “And we’re not any different from each other. Everybody goes through the same emotions.”

Additionally, it has often been said that Edmonds and/or his music, is personally responsible for about half of the babies born worldwide in the past two decades.

“I don’t know that for a fact,” Edmonds said with a slight grin. “I heard that but I think I didn’t have that much to do with it (laughs)! It’s a cool compliment, but I don’t take that stuff too seriously.”

Daniel Radcliffe: A down-to-earth megastar

He took on the role of off-screen big brother to his ‘December Boys’ co-stars

By Miki Turner
Entertainment writer

Sept. 12, 2007

Daniel Radcliffe still has two more "Harry Potter" films to go, but is looking to stretch as an actor in films like his new "December Boys."

LOS ANGELES - The elevators at the Four Seasons Hotel can be excruciatingly slow at times, but it’s often well worth the wait because you never know who you might bump into.

In the past 10 yeas or so, I’ve shared that lift with just about every A-list actor, director and producer you can imagine. Most never say

anything. They just do what we all do in elevators and stare at the ceiling or watch the floor lights illuminate. A couple of weeks ago, however, I was waiting to get on an elevator going down when I ran into Daniel Radcliffe, who of course, was and is perpetually upward bound.

“Pardon me,” he said as he got on an elevator that was actually going down. “I’m terribly sorry,” he said after realizing his mistake. “I hope I haven’t held you up.” Considering my last experience on these very same elevators was with Jamie Foxx and his bodyguard, who refused to let anyone else on the elevator when it stopped on each floor, I was pretty impressed with Radcliffe’s manners.

“He’s such a grounded, well-rounded 18-year-old guy and he’s so unaffected by his great level of success and fame,” says Teresa Palmer, who plays Radcliffe’s love interest in “December Boys.”

At 18 with all of his wealth — he’s reportedly the UK’s richest teenager — and fame Radcliffe, dressed in all black, could have evolved into a real cad, which would have been acceptable behavior for someone in his profession. But during our interview he couldn’t have been more charming — or witty. When asked about the enormity of the Potter franchise, Radcliffe said dryly, “Mmm-hmm. Biggest since the Roman.”

He’s also one of those kids who appears older than his years. Perhaps he’s had to grow up fast because of who he is and what he does. But that theory was immediately tossed once he started talking about his life, the joys and pains of being part of a franchise, growing up and exposing himself on stage.

New roles, new challenges
There was much ado about all of that last year when Radcliffe, then 17, shed his clothing and appeared nude in the London production of “Equus.” This fall he’ll reprise his role in the American production on Broadway. The London native admitted he’s a little anxious going into the show — but not for the reasons you might imagine.

“I’m pretty nervous about going to Broadway simply because I think the New York audience is really (sophisticated),” Radcliffe said. “Some of these guys see 50 shows a year or something. So, you know, they know their stuff and I think that the theater thing in New York — that the audiences are even more discerning and demanding than the ones in the West End — or so I’m told.

“It’s not about taking the taking the clothes off thing. I mean, that’s just part of the play. That was fine.”

After eight years of playing Harry Potter, Radcliffe is at an interesting juncture in his career. He’ll appear in the next two Potter flicks — No. 6, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” due out next year; followed by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh installment, which will be released in 2010.

But even though Radcliffe knows that he’s financially set for life — thanks to Potter — the thespian in him realizes that he’s got to take off the specs and try new things. In “December Boys,” he plays Maps, the oldest of four orphans who have been selected to spend the Christmas holidays with a family in the Australian outback.

Maps was the proverbial big brother in the film and Radcliffe assumed that role off-screen as well.

“I’m an only child so it was nice to have that sort of feeling of camaraderie,” he said. “I did feel very protective of them simply because when I was 12 years old on a film set, my experience of it was really, really positive and exciting and fun. And I wanted to try and make sure they had a similar experience.”

J.Lo, Beyonce, Gwen Stefani are tops in style

People's dapper men: David Beckham, Terrence Howard, Johnny Depp

Sept. 12, 2007

NEW YORK - Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani are among the stylish stars on People magazine’s list of best-dressed women of 2007.
Katie Holmes, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Reese Witherspoon and Ali Larter are other sharp dressers singled out in the magazine’s “Best & Worst Dressed” double issue, on newsstands Friday.

“Whether classic or continental, girl-next-door or glam,” these celebs made all the right fashion moves throughout the year, the magazine said.

Don’t forget the men. David Beckham, Terrence Howard, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and George Clooney meet People’s standards for always stepping out in style, whether they’re wearing tuxedos or T-shirts.

Pitt and his partner, Angelina Jolie, are among the year’s best-dressed couples. Other fashionable duos: Stefani and her husband, Gavin Rossdale; Halle Berry and boyfriend Gabriel Aubry; and newlyweds Tony Parker and Eva Longoria.

Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Lily Allen, Emma Watson and Kate Middleton get the nod for their bold and unexpected sense of style in a special “British Accent” section.

Among the fashion moments the magazine would like to forget: Sienna Miller’s black hot pants and tights and Avril Lavigne’s pairing of a frilly dress and combat boots.

Janet Jackson and Kirsten Dunst are cited for wearing the “worst red carpet dresses” of the year.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bomb or bum rap for Britney? Readers respond

MSNBC

Some are angry at Sarah Silverman, others at media for fat jokes

Britney Spears has been roundly criticized for her leadoff performance at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night.

The Associated Press wrote "She lazily walked through her dance moves with little enthusiasm. It appeared she had forgotten the entire art of lip-synching; and, perhaps most unforgivable given her once taut frame, she looked embarrassingly out of shape."

Reuters said "No longer boasting the buff body that helped drive her to international superstardom almost a decade ago, the mother of two moved sluggishly around the stage."

And gossip blogger Perez Hilton told Reuters "“She blew it. ... It was so bad. It was painful. It was embarrassing. And I loved it!"

But the day after the awards, some critics seemed to soften on Spears. Many pointed out that her supposed out-of-shape frame was much trimmer than most Americans. And a rumor began to circulate that Spears had heard the cruel comments comedian Sarah Silverman was going to send her way just before her performance, thus throwing her off. (Silverman said, among other things, that "(Spears) is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life," and poked fun at a report that Spears called her two sons "mistakes.")

Here are some of your thoughts on Britney's performance and the reaction to it.

SILVERMAN WAS CRUEL
“I feel so incredibly sorry for her, so many people have judged her so harshly, especially with the rumors of what that ignorant what’s her name comedienne said about her and her two beautiful children. Anyone’s confidence would have been shaken and their feelings hurt after hearing someone say those things, I know I would, being a mom myself. If you ask me, Britney does need to take better care of herself and them, and should take some time off to reflect and heal, she’s been through a lot, it’s apparently all snowballing right now. As for the “jokes” Ms. Silverman thought were SO funny, they weren’t, they were cruel and heartless, and she deserves no respect at all for her ignorance, immaturity and cruelty.” --Anonymous

CRITICS WEREN’T HARSH ENOUGH
“Critics are barely scratching the surface of how bad it was, most likely out of courtesy and fear. Lord knows that media outlets want to be first in line to interview her after her next big disaster. And lord knows, she’ll have one. Again, and again, and again.” --Anonymous

FAT JOKE
“Is she pregnant again? Looks like she was about to drop a 10 pounder, maybe that was her problem.” --Anonymous

WANTS CRITICS’ MEASUREMENTS
“I agree that the performance lacked enthusiasm and was very sloppy. However, I think it is in poor taste to criticize Britney’s physique. I for one wouldn’t mind looking like that in a sequined bikini! She has 2 children under the age of 2 for goodness sakes! I’d like the measurements of any of the men who criticized!” --Megan

LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD
“Did not see it, don’t care. Come down to the real world and see what makes it go around.” --Anonymous

CHRIS BROWN NOT CRITICIZED
“’She looked embarrassingly out of shape.’ What the hell were they looking at? I guess you have to have ripped abs now a days for anyone to think your body looks good. Was I watching a different show or did Chris Brown lip-sync too? Ohhhhh wait, that’s ok because he did this elaborate dance number. Excuse me but the last time I looked he was a singer not a back-up dancer. She’s in a no win situation.” --Anonymous

FOCUS ON BEING A MOM
“I do kind of feel sorry for her...she seems like she is trying...it can’t be easy always having everyone watching your every move...that would be hard for anyone...she needs to just take a step back and be with her boys and focus on being a mother for a while.” --Amanda

HEARTBREAKING
“Britney’s performance was heartbreaking. When is someone with influence over this poor, desperately ill girl going to come forward and take charge of her life....before it comes to an end!” --Anonymous

STILL BITTER ABOUT SHAR JACKSON
“I don’t think she is unfairly treated! As the old saying quotes :”you made your bed hard so you lie in it”. She stole a man from a pregnant woman, now she has to pay for it!” --C.A.

STOPPED WATCHING
“I do feel bad for her if she heard the comment that that crappy comedian said about her children. I don’t care who you are. Nobody wants to hear someone call their children referred to as mistakes. That pissed me off and I stopped watching the show. It doesn’t sound like I missed much.” --Lisa

CRITICS PROMOTE ANOREXIA
“These critics are insane. Britney looks healthier than ever! It’s sad that everyone in Hollywood is expected to be anorexic.” --Anonymous

WILL BE FAMOUS FOREVER
“So she gave ONE not so great performance! Everyone screws up at some point. She’s still the most talked about portion of the entire VMA’s.....Madonna took the same approach through her entire career. Britney will be famous forever! This nation is in love with Britney...they can’t stop talking about her! P.S. Her body looks 100 times better than the average American female.” --Lori

EXPLOITED BY MTV
“She was pretty bad, there was not any enthusiasm or passion in her performance. I agree with Kanye West who told Radio station Z100 in NYC today that MTV ‘exploited’ Britney. I agree because they knew she was not ready, but it makes great TV. It’s going to take her doing something even more drastic before people recognize that she truly needs help. I feel for her.” --MPG

IN HER PRAYERS
“Her performance was truly sad. I almost cried for her. Embarrassing! She brings this upon herself. She ‘could’ have a comeback if she even tried to clean up her messy life. I’ll pray for her.” --Kristina

BLOWN CHANCE
“As a professional she looked embarrassingly un-rehearsed, lost in the headlights, amateurish and worse, bored. Opening the VMA’s could have been, and should have been, taken seriously as the career sustaining, or career destroying, opportunity that it was. Many previously irresponsible ‘has-beens’ would have done nearly anything to have taken her place and be given another chance.” --Anonymous

We expected Britney to maintain a sad ideal

It was never about the music — Spears’ career built up on sex appeal

Commentary
By Mary Beth Ellis

In the past 24 hours, I have experienced something I never thought I would: A range of emotions concerning Britney Spears.

I passed the bathroom mirror on my way to the shower this morning and noticed that my body shape was waaaaaaaay closer to Spears’ 2007 MTV Video Music Awards Edition than it was the 2003 Edition. I placed a smug hand over my non-obese-but-non-washboard abs, my…paunch, as some critics would have it. I mentally rolled credits on my own candid reality show and set of paparazzi to track me to the craft store. Go, hot, average me!

Then, as Jay Leno heaped fat-joke scorn upon her head on “The Tonight Show,” I felt sad, and paunch-conscious. If Jay thought Britney was fat, then … then … Jay thought I was fat! Shut up, Jay! Besides — the woman’s had two children! Children she chauffeurs around in her lap, but still! Things … stretch out after you’ve introduced an embryo to the former bricks of the abdominal wall!

And then my sense of women’s college indignation kicked in after I heard Sarah Silverman’s “two children = mistakes” comment. Dude, Sarah. Support a sister when she’s being shined down by her pleather-sporting backup dancers.

And then I drank, and I cried, because I had been … defending Britney Spears.

I have settled, at last, like the rest of America, on a sense of grim acceptance: She brought this on herself.

She brought it on herself when she didn’t even bother to develop what, so I’ve been told, is an actual ability to sing. Instead Spears invested in a midriff-bearing top and a red Kabbalah bracelet and not much else, clothing-wise. Or music-wise. Live by the Spandex, die by the Spandex.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise when one major newspaper’s site, next to an article trashing the performance, invited readers to “Click Here for Photos of the Disaster,” as though the 3-minute show were instead some sort of massive, California-snapping-off earthquake. For Britney Spears had died, right there in front of Paris Hilton and everybody, after a long illness of divorce, rehab, and Kevin Federline. The Spandex is dead, long live the Spandex … on the next 14-year-old down the pop-tart pike.

But listen to us whipping ourselves in the aftermath of the aftermath. Hear the backlash to the “fat Brit” criticism: What, oh what, kind of messages are we sending to young girls? Why is the media so nasty to poor Britney and her size-6 self? Aren’t we now criticizing clavicle-obsessed women, and isn’t that great?

Oh, darlings. Guess why Britney crammed herself into that spangled bikini to begin with. We’ve thrown movie deals and endorsements and limos at her this past decade for doing so. She parades before us as a pile of flesh, and thusly shall we judge her. She hadn’t yet learned that she was no longer holding up her end of the deal.

I wrote about four years ago that Spears doesn't sing onstage because Spears doesn't have to. She is a graduate of the Madonna School of Two-Note Vocal Range Music: thrust, synthesized stomp, and in the morning call the Toys R Us people marketing your 12-inch doll self to second graders. Who needs talent when you have a padded bra? With sequins?

It was never the music. It was the strip show Spears delivered against well-arranged thumping bass, and — bearing in mind that I type this as a person who, during a recent move, unearthed not one, but three New Kids on the Block VHS video collections — we must come to terms with the fact that we never paid Britney Spears to sing. We paid her to dance, and be nubile, and hit the AbMaster. Oh, and move her lips in the general direction of the faux microphone every so often. Keeping up appearances, you know.

This isn’t about weight, either. It’s about Spears symbolizing a disturbing trend of equating inappropriately young sexiness with success, with some twisted form of feminism. She certainly didn’t have a problem riding (and I do not use that verb lightly) a highly sexualized image to a massive, massive amount of money and fame. And now that childbearing and simple metabolism has made that no longer possible? Well. Then Dr Phil, of all people, will call your halfhearted grinds a “train wreck,” and commenters on YouTube will bewail your thighs, thighs that leave the dent of finger marks when the male backup dancers try to grope you through your fishnet stockings.

And so then we had what we had on Sunday night, which was a woman completely OK with beginning her number after having introduced herself thusly: “It’s Britney, bitch!”

As the self she created and we perpetuated collapsed before our very eyes under the simple weight of too many calendar pages, one couldn’t help but notice Britney Spears’ hair as she halfheartedly spun and dipped. She constantly pushed over-proccessed, fake-blonde strands out of her eyes as a sixth-grader in a spelling bee might, mascara-rimmed eyes peering uncertainly and beseechingly out at a crowd that stared back, bewildered and largely silent. She was, 10 years after launching her career as a sexually precocious Catholic schoolgirl, a child again.

But the hair that she kept grabbing at, security blanket-like, wasn’t even hers. It was fake, a poorly attached weave.

She shaved her real hair off seven months ago.

Herself.

Mary Beth Ellis runs BlondeChampagne.com from the Washington, D.C., area and is still attempting to come to terms with the concept that Donnie Wahlberg won’t totally fall in love with her someday.

© 2007 MSNBC Interactive

Mindy McCready sentenced to one year in jail

Country singer violated probation by being invovled in a domestic dispute

Sept. 14, 2007

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Mindy McCready was sentenced Friday to a year in prison on a probation violation after being charged in a domestic dispute in Florida.

The 31-year-old country singer has been in jail since July, when she returned to Nashville after being accused of scratching her mother in a scuffle and resisting sheriff’s deputies in her hometown of Fort Myers.

McCready received a suspended three-year sentence in 2004 for fraudulently obtaining prescription painkillers. She was resentenced Friday because of the probation violation.

The singer sobbed as she asked for leniency from Circuit Judge Jeff Bivins.

“Your honor, I can honestly tell you this: This has been the longest two months of my life ... not being able to hold my son ... has been excruciatingly painful.”

“I could only say, I’m sorry,” she said. “Please give me a chance to make things as right as they can possibly be.”

Bivins sentenced her to a year in the county jail with credit for 75 days of time served. After her release she will face another two years of probation.

Deputy District Attorney General Derek Smith said McCready violated probation by being charged in a new offense, not reporting those charges immediately to her probation officer and by the nature of the new assault charges.

McCready had a hit in 1996 with “Guys Do It All the Time.”

She has struggled with legal and personal problems that included a beating by her then-boyfriend and suicide attempts. She gave birth to her son in 2006.

Still pending is a charge of violating her probation for driving on a suspended license in 2005. She pleaded guilty to the driving charge, but her attorney has since sought to withdraw the plea, citing new evidence.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fred Durst pleads no contest in assault case

Limp Bizkit singer accused of deliberately hitting two people with car

Sept. 14, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Fred Durst pleaded no contest to seven misdemeanors, including assault, battery and reckless driving, for deliberately hitting two people with his car.

William Fred Durst, 37, entered the pleas Aug. 16 and was handed a suspended 120-day jail sentence, ordered to perform 20 hours of community service and fined $1,500, according to Superior Court documents.

The documents, first obtained by CelebTV.com, also show the Limp Bizkit lead singer was slapped with a restraining order saying he cannot "annoy, harass, strike, threaten or otherwise disturb the peace" of the two victims, whose names weren't disclosed.

Durst must stay at least 100 yards away from the victims and he cannot possess a firearm.

A telephone message left with The Firm, the Beverly Hills representatives for Durst and Limp Bizkit, wasn't immediately returned.

Durst allegedly hit the two Los Angeles residents with his vehicle Oct. 26, 2006, according to the documents. Misdemeanor charges filed in January included two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of battery, one count of making a criminal threat and one count of reckless driving.

There were no details about the incident.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Shakira rests hips to study at UCLA

Colombian pop star takes month-long course on ancient Western history

Sept. 14, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Shakira may get high grades in singing and swiveling her hips, but what about ancient Western history?

For the past month, the Colombian pop star has been taking a class at the University of California, Los Angeles, called "Introduction to Western Civilization: Ancient Civilizations from Prehistory to Circa A.D. 843."

"She went when she finished her tour, for the summer," Shakira's manager Fifi Kurzman told The Associated Press.

For years the 30-year-old has studied on her own, also taking tutorials on the history and languages of the countries she visits, Kurzman said.

The singer, known for last year's "Hips Don't Lie" and other hits, released her first album at age 14 and later took time off to finish high school.

She decided to take a musical rest this summer following her worldwide "Oral Fixation" tour to focus on social causes, Kurzman said.

The class began Aug. 6 and ended Thursday, though Shakira didn't attended the last few classes, according to course lecturer Robert Cleve. Cleve said he hadn't known she was a celebrity during the course and was astonished to learn she was a pop star.

"She told me she was visiting from Colombia and that she was just doing this for her own enlightenment and enjoyment," Cleve said. "She looked like just an ordinary student. She wasn't flamboyant ... she didn't act like a big celebrity or anything."

Shakira, who sat near the front in the third row of the lecture hall, would often discuss the course material with him after class.

"I was really impressed with how intelligent she was," said Cleve.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Getting "Brave" with Jodie Foster

By Moira Macdonald

Seattle Times movie critic

TORONTO — Jodie Foster, blue eyes wide, is excitedly talking about books.

Movie-star interviews can be surreal encounters: a carefully measured 20 minutes alone in the company of someone who seems utterly familiar and yet a stranger. Everyone always asks me what these encounters are like, and their eyes fall when I say that usually, they're like little business meetings. The actors are almost always polite; they shake hands, smile and answer questions patiently, hitting their planned sound bites. Talking to the press is part of their job, and they do it smoothly, if often a bit soullessly.

But maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that Foster, at the Toronto International Film Festival to promote the vigilante drama "The Brave One," would be an exception. An actor since early childhood, Foster has long blazed her own trail. After playing an underage prostitute in "Taxi Driver" made her a star in her early teens, she didn't go off the rails but kept on working — and earned a degree from Yale in her spare time. She went on to win two Academy Awards, for "The Accused" and "The Silence of the Lambs," and made a stellar directing debut with "Little Man Tate." Now in her 40s, she's still headlining movies, usually dark dramas in which she can explore a character's complexity.

In a brief but thoughtful interview, an animated and friendly Foster seemed to genuinely enjoy talking about her work. And she especially lit up when asked about books — "It's my first love," she said. "It's how I approach film, which kind of drives people crazy. I approach film like a book report. But I love literature, I like dissecting it and talking about it and the side of it that's intellectual and the side of it that's emotional, and bringing those two together." She's currently re-reading John Fowles' "The Magus," which she first read at 15. "It totally changed my life," she said. "It's so beautifully, beautifully written."

"The Brave One" (opening Friday) was, in its beginnings, something of a literary exercise for Foster, who received the screenplay at an early stage. Its heroine, Erica, is a radio commentator in New York whose life is instantly altered when she and her fiancé, David, are viciously attacked one night in Central Park. David is killed, and a devastated Erica finds that she has changed — now fearful, she gradually becomes determined to wreak vengeance by way of vigilante justice.

Foster felt the original script, written by Roderick Taylor and Bruce A. Taylor, was promising but "needed a lot of work. The soul of the movie, in some ways there were glimpses of it, but it wasn't realized." With writer Cynthia Mort and producer Susan Downey, Foster worked closely for "months" to create a new draft, which she presented to director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game").

"There will be people who don't like it," she said of the movie. "It is subversive, and it is difficult. It's moving in ways that are at once beautiful and also monstrous. I think that's what's great about the film: It's a very sophisticated filmgoing experience but, in some ways, in an unsophisticated genre. There's part of it that's an amazing intellectual journey that you want to talk about because of the ambivalence that you feel towards things, but it's also really satisfying. It's strangely satisfying."

Foster's interest in the film (for which she is an executive producer) partly stemmed from the female twist on the vigilante action-film genre. Women, she noted, rarely turn to violence. "We essentially are a species who turns rage inwards, and we hurt ourselves. We hurt the things we both love about ourselves.

"What if one day, we said, 'I don't want to hurt me anymore. I want to live, and I want you to die.' I think it is inside all of us. I love movies that say, there is a thing inside of me that I have never wanted to lay claim to, and here it is. I think that's what really resonates. It would be a totally different movie if it were a guy."

Foster has cut back on her film work in recent years to spend more time with her two young children. She hasn't directed a film since 1995's "Home for the Holidays"; two recent planned directing projects ("Flora Plum," with Russell Crowe, and "Sugarland" with her "Taxi Driver" co-star Robert De Niro), both fell through because of funding problems. She says she'd like to direct again, but it may be a while. "It's hard to do two careers at the same time," she said. "I won't make as many movies as a director as others do."

As an actor, though, she's as busy as she wants to be. Foster's currently shooting the family adventure film "Nim's Island" in Australia, and is in no hurry to find her next project. She's unconcerned about the conventional wisdom about the lack of roles for middle-age women.

"There aren't as many," she acknowledges," "but, you know, there aren't as many movies for 45-year-old men either. I don't think it's a plot. It's like novels. The primary experience of a novel is usually to see someone who goes from being an unconscious person of 20 or 21 to becoming a conscious person later. So there are fewer roles.

"My mom always said my career would be over when I was 40, so I needed to figure out what I was going to do. So I keep waiting!"

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725
or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com