LePaparazzi News Updates
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt has a longstanding passion for architecture – and now he's putting it to good use by helping New Orleans as the city rebuilds after Hurricane Katrina.
Pitt and the environmental organization Global Green USA are sponsoring the Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans, a contest to find an Earth-friendly plan for housing and community centers in neighborhoods ravaged by Katrina.
"Our goal is to kick off the rebuilding effort," Pitt told the Associated Press in a phone interview from Namibia Thursday. "It's certainly long overdue and I can only go from the reports that we get … that it's behind, absolutely. People are frustrated." He continued, "We could possibly build something that was better and took into account the historical traditions of the city and the voices of the people."
The actor, along with Global Green president Matt Petersen, came up with the idea for the contest at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City last fall.
Although Pitt, 42, will serve as chairman of the jury when the winner is selected in August, he's currently in southern Africa – and awaiting the birth of his first child – with Angelina Jolie, 30, and kids Maddox, 4, and Zahara, 1.
"Namibia's just a country we're very fond of," Pitt told the AP. "It's a beautiful land and hospitable people and a place that we want to be for the time being."
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Tom: Baby's Birth Was 'Spiritual'
Tom Cruise, who had his first child with Katie Holmes on Tuesday, says the birth of their daughter, Suri, "was everything that we wanted." "It was spiritual. It was powerful. It was indescribable. What words can you use?
It's still something that I'm processing and keep reliving," the actor tells ABC News' Deborah Roberts in a 20/20 interview airing Friday, Cruise made his comments on Thursday night during an interview with the cast of his upcoming movie, Mission: Impossible III, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell and director J.J. Abrams.
Asked whether he'd scale back on his movie stunts now that he's the father of a new baby, Cruise tells Roberts, "No. I mean, I have three beautiful children (including Isabella, 13, and Connor, 11, from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman).
And I love the adventure of life and filmmaking. … You can get struck by lightning walking out of your house… I’m interested in life. And, I’m very active and I love it." In fact, Cruise admits that he suffered an injury while filming M:I 3. "I separated six ribs at a certain point. I never told J.J. or anybody when it happened."
He also confesses that Holmes was less than thrilled by his daredevil stunts: "She said, 'That gave me the willies. I don't want to see that again.'" Cruise even jokes about his well-known enthusiasm.
When Roberts asks if he was pleased with the way the film turned out, he says, "If there were couches and chandeliers, I'd be jumping up and down!" (The interview will be featured on an abbreviated 20/20 airing on ABC on Friday, April 21, from 9:00-9:15 p.m. ET.)
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Denise: Charlie Said He'd Kill Me
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards
In court papers filed Friday, Denise Richards claims that her estranged husband, Charlie Sheen, threatened to kill her.
"I am filing now because I can no longer accept (Sheen's) abusive and threatening manner and must stop him from the cycle of his abuse toward me and our children and his continued threats of violence and statements that he is going to kill me," Richards, 35, says in papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In her 17-page filing, Richards says that Sheen's gambling, pill-popping and violent mood swings led to their initial separation last year.
Among her allegations: That Sheen abused prescription drugs after the 2004 birth of their first daughter, Sam, and told Richards "I 'better not tell anybody about his using these drugs and better keep it to myself.' I understood by these statements that (he) would physically harm me and our baby."
Richards also claims that, on the way to the hospital for the birth of their daughter Lola last year, Sheen placed a gambling bet by phone, and was checking his pager for the results as she was wheeled into surgery for her C-section.
Things turned violent on Dec. 27, 2005, according to the papers, when Sheen allegedly hit Richards's wrist and shoved her in the stomach after she confronted him about pornography Web sites featuring "very young girls" that he'd been visiting. She claims Sheen told her that "if I revealed anything about his lifestyle, 'You won't lay your head down at night.' I understood this to mean that he would kill me."
Several days later, she claims Sheen pushed her over while she was holding Lola and "said to me that he was going to have me killed." In his own filing, Sheen, 40, denies claims that he threatened and hit Richards on Dec. 27 and 30, saying, "I deny having engaged in any such conduct."
In a statement issued by Richards's rep on Friday, the actress said, "I am disappointed that the situation has deteriorated to the point that it has become necessary to seek the assistance of the court. However, my primary concern is and always has been the welfare of the children and this action today was taken to ensure their safety as well as mine."
Sheen issued a statement of his own on Friday, calling Richards's allegations "a most obvious immature and transparent smear campaign designed to hurt, embarrass and ultimately extort me." The statement continues, "I deeply regret (that) her response to my request for the court to decide what’s best for our children has taken the form of baseless allegations that I deny. For the sake of my children, I am electing not to reciprocate in kind.”
Richards originally filed for divorce in March of last year, when she was six months pregnant with Lola, now 10 months old. The pair appeared to briefly reconcile after Lola's birth in June, but on Jan. 4, they requested that their divorce proceed with a private arbitrator.
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Travolta, Lopez to Star in 'Dallas'
Actor John Travolta appears backstage at the Academy Awards March 5, 2006, in Los Angeles. British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha said Friday, April 21, 2006, that she will direct Travolta and Jennifer Lopez in a big-screen version of the prime-time soap opera "Dallas."
Gurinder Chadha will direct John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez in a big-screen version of the prime-time soap opera "Dallas."
The British filmmaker, who directed 2002's "Bend it Like Beckham," said Friday she had signed a deal with 20th Century Fox. Travolta will star as the conniving Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing and Lopez will play his wife, Sue Ellen.
Filming is set to begin in October, with the movie slated for a late 2007 release.
"Dallas" aired from 1978 to 1991. In 1980, an estimated 83 million TV viewers tuned in to find out who shot J.R., played by Larry Hagman, who had been blasted within an inch of his life in the previous season's cliffhanger finale. (The shooter turned out to be Ewing's sister-in-law Kristin.)
Chadha, who gave Jane Austen a Bollywood twist in "Bride & Prejudice," is also involved in adapting another TV hit, the '60s sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie." She said that film "is still in the pipeline, but there is still some way to go on the script."
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Nick Lachey Says He Still Loves Jessica
Nick Lachey arrives at Teen People's awards luncheon on March 10, 2006 in New York. Lachey says his divorce from Jessica Simpson is a "nasty situation," but he's not trying to hurt her with his revelations about their split -- and, he still loves her. Lachey makes the revelations in his MTV special, "Nick Lachey: What's Left of Me," set to air Saturday, April 22, 2006.
Nick Lachey says his divorce from Jessica Simpson is a "nasty situation," but he's not trying to hurt her with his revelations about their split and, he still loves her.
Lachey's new solo album, "What's Left of Me," is set for release May 9. He sings openly about divorce-driven heartbreak and angst on the title track and in songs such as "I Can't Hate You Anymore."
"It's a nasty situation," Lachey reveals in his MTV special, "Nick Lachey: What's Left of Me," set to air Saturday (12 p.m. EDT).
"It's not fun. ... So, it's not in any way vindictive or an assault on her. In a lot of ways, it's more of an assault on me."
If Simpson feels attacked, Lachey says he doesn't mean any harm: "Jessica knows I still love her."
Lachey, 32, and Simpson, 25, starred in the MTV reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica." The singer-actress filed for divorce in December, after three years of marriage.
As a result of the breakup, the former boy band star says he's "more guarded. I can't be as open with people because I've been burned."
He says his "biggest fear is being alone" and feeling like he'll "never find that person that you're looking for, especially when you thought you had it."
Still, Lachey remains hopeful.
"Do I believe that I'll fall in love again one day? I certainly hope so. I certainly hope I'm not going to be the jerk, uncle, bachelor the rest of my life," he says. "You know, it's not what I envisioned for myself, but at the same time, when I got married, that was it for me, you know, that was my life."
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Roth Out; Opie and Anthony In
David Lee Roth
No question--things are rough for Diamond Dave.
Four months into his radio career, CBS Radio pulled the plug on the ex-Van Halen frontman's flailing morning show, and in a surprise twist, replaced him with XM Satellite stars Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia.
"I was booted, tossed, and it's going to cost somebody," Roth said Friday, hinting that his legal team would go after CBS for the full amount of his reported $4 million contract.
The ousting was made official one day after reports of the deal surfaced and just days before the Roth show's first Arbitron numbers.
In one of the first satellite-to-terrestrial radio syndication deals, XM Satellite Radio agreed to license the Opie & Anthony show to CBS Radio as a replacement for David Lee Roth in the seven markets where he, in turn, replaced Howard Stern in January after Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio.
"Apparently, we can talk about it now. So much for keeping a lid on this," Opie and Anthony said Friday on their show's Website. "The Opie and Anthony show will be replacing David Lee Roth in several markets on CBS Radio Free-FM stations."
Opie and Anthony, Stern's longtime rivals, are no strangers to CBS Radio. During their prior tenure on terrestrial radio, they were fired by the company--then called Infinity Broadcasting--after they broadcast a live account of two listeners supposedly having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.
After two years of exile, they were hired by XM in 2004 and currently have one of the satellite provider's top 10 shows.
Under the terms of the deal, a three-hour version of the Opie & Anthony XM show will air on WFNY New York, WYSP Philadelphia, WBCN Boston, KLLI Dallas, WNCX Cleveland, WRKZ Pittsburgh and WPBZ West Palm Beach.
CBS Radio will have control over the portion of the show its stations air, while XM retains control over the uncensored version simulcast on satellite radio, as well as two additional exclusive hours of the program.
Though Roth said he only learned his show had been pulled while en route to the station Friday, he recently predicted in an on-air rant that the show could be yanked by May after he received four management letters in five days with regard to his content.
Though the rocker was endorsed by Stern himself to take over the morning-drive time slot, listeners never warmed to the show, which one Rolling Stone critic called "skin-crawlingly awful."
Industry analysts have been puzzling over exactly where on the dial Stern's former audience of 12 million is tuning to, as only an estimated 1 million to 2 million of his devoted listeners followed him to satellite.
Recent online polls have shown that ex-Stern listeners who haven't switched over to satellite haven't gravitated to his replacements either, and have instead turned to other well-established morning programs, such as NPR's Morning Edition.
The self-proclaimed King of All Media expressed his displeasure with his terrestrial disciples in a recent interview. "You haven't come with me yet? How dare you?" he told Entertainment Weekly. "We're up to wild, crazy stuff; the show has never sounded better."
Meanwhile, CBS Radio, which sued Stern for more than $200 million in February, is likely hoping to plug any further migration to satellite radio by putting an already established show in the morning slot. And if the hosts of that show happen to have an ongoing feud with a certain ex-host, so much the better.
As for Roth, well, at least he has that whole EMT thing to fall back on.
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George Michael reignites feud with Elton John
Rock star George Michael performs at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London in this July 2, 2005 file photo. Michael has reignited his feud with Elton John, saying recent harsh media treatment of his personal life started when John
LONDON (Reuters) - British pop star George Michael has reignited his feud with
Elton John, saying recent harsh media treatment of his personal life started when John made adverse comments about his state of mind.
British tabloid the Daily Mirror printed the headline: "Drugs Could Kill George Michael" after the 42-year-old was arrested in February for possessing illegal drugs.
"The trajectory of my particular soap opera (with the press) launched from that statement Elton made about 18 months ago when Elton hadn't seen me for years," Michael told ITV host Michael Parkinson.
"Elton said he thought I was really miserable for some reason. From that point on I've been trying to prove that I'm not. Unfortunately it made me incredibly vulnerable to the press."
In December, 2004, John said Michael appeared to be in a "strange place," wasting his talent by staying at home and shunning the limelight.
"The subtext to it is 'well, he was all right before he came out and now he lives this depraved gay life and he's miserable and fat'," Michael said, adding that he felt fine.
Michael ended years of speculation about his sexuality by announcing he was gay after he was arrested in 1998 for engaging in a "lewd act" in a public toilet in Los Angeles.
John, 59, was one of the first to take advantage of a change in British legislation last December allowing gay marriage.
Michael, the former frontman of Wham!, said he planned to legally register his partnership with Kenny Goss when the couple reach their 10th anniversary later this year and was planning his first tour for 15 years later in 2006.
"I haven't felt this good since I was a lot younger," he told ITV television in an interview to be broadcast on Saturday evening. A transcript was made available on Friday.
Michael has sold more than 80 million records and performed hits such as "Careless Whisper," "Last Christmas" and "Faith."
"It's ... a strange frustration to have to keep looking at this parallel life, this Fleet Street life," he added, referring to the London street where major newspapers used to be based.
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