Archive for December, 2008
Roman Polanski wants to come back
Roman Polanski is ready not to be a pedophile. The fugitive director filed a request Tuesday to dismiss 30-year-old charges in a notorious sex case involving a 13-year-old girl.
He’s claiming prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. The motion alleges that a documentary about the filmmaker released this year revealed “a pattern of misconduct and improper communications” between the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the judge in Polanski’s case.
“This case serves as a classic example of how our justice system can be abused, and defendants’ rights trampled, by an unholy alliance between courts and criminal prosecutors,” said a statement from attorneys Chad Hummel and Brad Dalton. Dalton is the son of attorney Doug Dalton, who represented Polanski in the original case.
Polanski, 75, has been living in France since fleeing the states in 1978 after pleading guilty to the charges. He was originally facing six sex felony counts with a potential sentence of up to life in prison. He plea bargained to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He skipped the sentencing (where he was expected to get 16 months to three years) and fled to France. A warrant was issued for his arrest and is still in effect.
The woman with whom Polanski admitted having sex has said that she wants the charge dropped and that Polanski should be allowed to return to the United States. The court is supposed to consider the wishes of the victim and “wishes have remained unchanged, and this court has the discretion to finally conclude this case without any further harm” to the victim or her family, the motion stated.
The District Attorney’s office says they haven’t been served with the motion.
“We’re looking forward to seeing Mr. Polanski in Los Angeles to litigate it,” said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 21 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The documentary, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” will air Dec. 17 on HBO.
December 3rd, Happy Birthday to…
Happy Birthday to:
“Family Ties” actor Brian Bonsall (1981)
“My Girl” star Anna Chlumsky (1980)
“Charmed” witch Holly Marie Combs (1973)
movie star Brendan Fraser (1968)
figure skater Katarina Witt (1965)
actor Steve Harris (1965)
actress Julianne Moore (1960)
“Kill Bill” 1 and 2 actress Daryl Hannah (1960)
self-proclaimed “Prince of @#$%!@# Darkness” Ozzy Osbourne (1948)
French director Jean-Luc Godard (1930)
singer Andy Williams (1930)
author Joseph Conrad (1857; d.1924).
Coleman pleads no contest
Gary Coleman, the former child star of “Diff’rent Strokes,” star entered his plea to a disorderly conduct charge Tuesday.
Coleman, 40 (and apparently a very cold cowboy judging by the snow suit ensemble he wore to court), was ordered to pay a $100 fine.
He also pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge, which will be waived if he doesn’t have any other violations within a year.
The charges stem from a September incident in which Coleman, his then-wife and his bodyguard were bowling in Payson, Utah when an onlooker, Colt Rushton, snapped pictures of Coleman with his cell phone camera and some of Coleman’s truck in the lot.
According to papers filed by Rushton’s lawyer, Coleman’s then-wife took his client’s cell phone, a fight dutifully broke out and then Coleman ran into Rushton with his truck while backing out of the parking lot.
Sunday Rose spends Tuesday in Paris
Sunday Rose may be able to give Suri a run for her money in a couple of years. And she won’t have an absurdly weird and cult-manipulated father. The five-month-old infant made an appearance with her parents, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, in Paris.
Kidman was in France on a promotional tour for her new epic film “Australia.”
The family of three did a quick tour of the city, with a visit to the Picasso exhibition held at the Grand Palais Tuesday.
During a press conference in Paris, Kidman said that, though her infant daughter has changed her life, she’s not planning to step away from the Hollywood scene for motherhood.
“The rhythm of my life has certainly changed,” she explained. “In my teens and my 20s I wanted to change the world. Now I want to keep telling some beautiful stories… but a lot of me is about just getting to my family.”
Her children with Tom Cruise, Isabella, 15, and Connor, 13, who are living in New York with their father (busy getting indoctrinated into Scientology, I suppose). Kidman lives in Nashville with Urban.
“Wherever your loved ones are is your home. I consider myself to be a citizen of the world,” said Kidman.
Britney bombs
Britney Spears rang in her 27th birthday today with an under-the-big-top performances of “Womanizer” and “Circus” from her new album, “Circus” live on Good Morning America at Big Apple Circus tent at the Lincoln Center in New York.
The performance should look familiar (as in same songs, same clothes, same moves) to the “X Factor” performance she did in the UK Saturday:
Anyone else less than impressed?
She had skimpy outfits and pyrotechnics, but not a lot of actual talent.
The last time she did this performance, it took an entourage of stylists and security to get her to the “X Factor” stage. The Daily Mail reports she banned the reality show’s contestants from approaching her, and, unlike previous guests including Mariah Carey, did not coach the contestants.
During her own performance on Saturday episode, it was revealed her mic was just a prop when the host had to share his with the singer so she could be heard. And, in light of the clear dependence on the tinny-sounding Autotuner, I’m going to go with there was no actual singing here either.
Unfortunately, Brit must still be a bit gun shy or possibly on drugs again since she couldn’t even answer Diane Swayer about where her upcoming concert tour kicks off before settling on “America.”
It’s March 3 in New Orleans, Britney. Come on, Google that shit.
Her sons, Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden James 2, were in the audience with her mother, Lynne. Celebs like Reese Witherspoon, Teri Hatcher and John Travolta wished her a happy birthday and Hugh Jackman even blew her a kiss and sang her Happy Birthday (possibly the only live singing done this morning).
Swayze still alive and kicking
Despite tabloid rumors that Patrick Swayze is on his death bed, the actor is still alive and kicking. And angry.
Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year and issued a statement Tuesday affirming that so far he is winning his fight against the disease and responding well to treatment.
Says Swayze: “They’re reporting that I’m on my last legs and saying goodbye to my tearful family! … It’s upsetting that the shoddy and reckless reporting from these publications cast a negative shadow on the positive and good fight I’m fighting.”
He adds that such coverage is tantamount to “emotional cruelty,” and angers him “when hope is so precious.”
Swayze stars in the upcoming A&E series “The Beast.”
Lindsay says she and Sam are still hanging on
The rumor mill runs on and on. Lohan made it back home before the holidays from the opening of Dubai’s Atlantis Hotel where she and girlfriend Samantha Ronson were spotted in a series of rip-roaring rows.
According to GossipGirls.com, the actress was spotted out in Beverly Hills without Ronson and headed to an appointment with her psychiatrist before indulging in a little retail therapy at Balenciaga.
The Daily Telegraph quotes a source as saying, “They are fighting like cats and dogs. They fight every day, screaming, crying and yelling at each other … Drama just seems to follow Lindsay, and Sam hates it. The things they argue about have to do with their age difference. But no matter what happens, at the end of the day, they are always fine.”
In response to the rumors, Lohan posted a blog today on her celebrity MySpace entitled “oy vey! rumors..”
She posted:
“just to clear this up.. because i have been getting a lot of emails asking me this one question.
samantha ronson and lindsay lohan (me) are NOT breaking up
:)
take care
xxLL”
Dial back the drama, doll, and you won’t have those rumors, okay?
Balfour arrested in Hudson murders
William Balfour has been arrested in the deaths of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew. The singer’s estranged brother-in-law was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center, which he was being held on a parole violation.
Police had previously identified Balfour, 27, as a “person of interest” in the investigation. Formal charges are pending in the shooting deaths of Hudson’s mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, brother Jason Hudson and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.
Police took Balfour into custody the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered and held him for 48 hours.
Balfour was Julian’s stepfather and the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s older sister, Julia Hudson. He served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction. He has refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives, a police offical who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Surprise, surprise, his mother thinks he’s innocent. Michelle Davis-Balfour told reporters:
“If they found gun powder on his hands, you got a case; if they found a gun on him, he had a case; if they found a fingerprint on the truck that he did this, you got a case; but they don’t have nothing.”
What police do have is the murder weapon, a .45-caliber gun found in a vacant lot in the West Side Chicago neighborhood in October near where King’s body was found in an abandoned SUV.
Getting the skinny on Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake got famous as a fat girl, but she says she can’t believe she spent most of her life that way.
“I can’t believe I was a fat person for most of my life,” the former talk show host told PEOPLE at a recent benefit for the New Space for Women’s Health, a New York City birthing center slated to open in 2010. Lake donned a literally little black Herve Leger dress (size small). She’s down to 130 lbs. after hitting a high of 270.
“I didn’t have surgery and I worked hard. There’s no secret. I’m active. I watch what I eat,” Lake said. Lake sticks to meals delivered by a service called Fresh Dining (“It’s organic, it’s fresh, and I still love it,” she says) but admits unpredictable factors in life could one day interfere.
Despite all her work, Lake said she isn’t “thin” in Tinseltown.
“According to Hollywood standards, I’m not a thin girl. I’m a normal girl.”
Though the pressures of Hollywood hit her hard, she doesn’t want to pass that standard on to her two sons, Milo, 11, and Owen, 6.
“I’m just grateful that I have sons and not daughters because it’s that much harder,” she said.
“With the weight stuff I don’t have any answers. Something tragic in my life could happen and I could balloon and gain weight. I can’t promise I will be like this forever.”
Winehouse’s hubbie wants to end their marriage to save her life
This is a new take on “It’s not you, it’s me.” Amy Winehouse’s husband says he wants out of the marriage – for her sake.
“I have to let her go to save her life,” Blake Fielder-Civil – who is currently in rehab after being released from jail in November – told News of the World. “I am not abandoning her. I am doing this out of love.”
Fielder-Civil also admitted that he “introduced” the 25-year-old Winehouse to crack and heroin. The two married in 2007 and have had tumultuous time of it, what with the rehab (yes, yes, yes) and the public brawls and all that loveliness).
The former video production assistant denied being after the singer’s money and says he will not “fight her for anything.”
Winehouse hasn’t visited her husband since he entered a rehab center as part of an early release agreement. He spent about a year behind bars for assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Meanwhile, Winehouse’s U.K. spokesman Chris Goodman told PEOPLE that the singer is still hospitalized at a London clinic and is “doing fine.”
The rep says she is being seen as part of her ongoing medical care. Goodman said he is unaware of anything formal underway to end the marriage.
Mario Lopez to host ‘Miss America’ again
Mario Lopez has found his niche in the world of shallow reality TV. He has been tapped to host the Miss America pageant again this year.
The “Saved by the Bell” alum and current host of “Extra” will be the master of the ceremonies, set to air live on TLC. The pageant will take place in Las Vegas.
TLC’s programming vice president, Brent Zacky, said: “Mario and the Miss America Organization’s past relationship has proven beneficial and we look forward to having him in Vegas again this year.”
And he looks forward to the strippers – I mean, strippers.
December 1st, Happy Birthday to…
Happy Birthday to:
British actress Emily Mortimer (1971)
actor Jeremy Northam (1961)
jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius (1951; d. 1987)
Irish singer Gilbert O’Sullivan (1946)
comedic/dramatic actress Bette Midler (1945)
The Doors drummer John Densmore (1944)
comedian Richard Pryor (1940; d. 2005)
singer Lou Rawls (1935)
comedian/director Woody Allen (1935)
stage actress Mary Martin (1913; d. 1990).
Spoiler Brothers
I hate spoilers. Hate, hate, hate them. Usually the best time watching a movie is the first time for me, so these boys are on my super-special hate list as The Fine Brothers impressively spoil 100 movies in five minutes:
Ivana be alone – Trump splits from fourth husband
Here’s hoping the fifth try’s the charm. Ivana Trump is dumping hubbie #4, Rossano Rubicondi. Her marriage to the Italian entrepreneur lasted all of five months.
They were wed in April in a $3 million ceremont for 400 guests, hoested by ex-husband Donald Trump at his Florida Mar-A-Lago estate.
Trump says she filed a legal separation agreement three months ago. The 90 day silence is because Trump didn’t want to ruin Rubicondi’s chances as a contestant on the Italian celebrity edition of the “Survivor.” (OK, seriously? Can we be a smidge more creative in our excuses?)
The 35-year-old was in Honduras shooting L’Isola dei Famosi (Island of the Famous). Ivana wrote in her Page Six magazine column that she was terrified for his safety.
“I am freaking out. He’s going to the jungle where you get all kinds of diseases, and he went through a thousand pulls and malaria shots,” she wrote. “I am worried. In the jungle there are no mobile phones, no computers and no cigarettes, but there are plenty of tarantulas, cockroaches and snakes.”
It was on the set of that show that Rubicondi had an affair with a young Argentinean model named Belen Rodriguez as the cameras rolled. Meanwhile, Trump was spotted arm-in-arm with 23-year-old model Marius Rusovici at a New York charity gala earlier this month.
Of the split Trump said: “Rossano wants to live in Miami and work in Milan. … But, I am a New Yorker and my family, friends and businesses are here. As the beautiful song says, ‘Que sera sera!’”
Travis Barker and DJ AM to reunite
Travis Barker and DJ AM are jumping back on the horse. The stage, actually.
Barker and DJ AM will reunite for the first time, professionally, since their plane crash in South Carolina in September. The pair, who go by TRVSDJAM, will perform at New Year’s Nation’s Los Angeles New Year’s Eve Party at The Lot in West Hollywood.
“I’m ready to get back on stage with AM and continue to rock the house,” Barker said in a statement. “I’m very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A.”
The show will stream live on the Internet and other New Year’s Nation parties will broadcast the concert.
Tina Fey’s scar story
For those (like me) who have wondered about that scar on Tina Fey’s left cheek, at last there’s an answer. Fey and her husband were interviewed for a cover piece in the January Vanity Fair, which taps Fey as the new American sweetheart.
In the interview, Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond says a stranger slashed Fey’s face when she was 5 years old. According to Richmond, the incident occurred in the front yard of her house.
“It was in, like, the front yard of her house, and somebody who just came up, and she just thought somebody marked her with a pen. … That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life,” he said.
Fey said talking about the attack would seem like exploiting it.
“It’s really almost like I’m able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of ‘Oh, I guess we should use this side’ or whatever. Everybody’s got a better side,” said Fey.
Other bits from the interview:
On her Palin imitation: “I feel clean about it. All these jokes were fair hits.”
On her Republican parents: “I grew up in a family of Republicans. And when I was 18 and registering to vote, my mom’s only instruction was ‘You just go in and pull the big Republican lever.’ That’s my welcome to adulthood. She’s like, ‘No, don’t even read it. Just pull the Republican lever.’” (Fey made a call to arrange for Richmond’s excited Republican parents and sister to meet Palin at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.)
