Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson has been cast in a big-screen version of the popular TV series Baywatch, according to Britain's The Sun. She'll play CJ Parker, a role originated by Pamela Anderson. "She was the unanimous choice for the role," a source tells the paper. "Jessica has all the assets to make Pammi's part her own."
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Couric Leaving Today Show
Katie Couric
Saying that "sometimes change is good," Katie Couric – after 15 years cohosting NBC's Today show – will jump ship to anchor the CBS Evening News, she announced on Today Wednesday morning.
She will become the first woman to serve as sole anchor of a network flagship newscast. On Today, cohost Matt Lauer had turned to Couric and asked, "Anything new?" There was.
After listening to my heart and my gut – which have served me very well in the past few years – I've decided that I will be leaving Today at the end of May," Couric replied.
She called this "a difficult decision," telling viewers, "It may sound corny, but I really feel that we have become friends over the years." She called her going to CBS Evening News (and 60 Minutes) "the worst kept secret in America."
Today news anchor Ann Curry said she felt like she had a "sister who was going off to college," while weatherman Al Roker said CBS was "the lucky one."
"Once in a while we get on each other's nerves," Couric said during her announcement, but, turning to Lauer, added, "As Dorothy said to the Scarecrow, I think I'm going to miss him most of all." CBS is likely to release its own statement later on Wednesday.
Couric is expected to begin her new job this fall. The news – which comes 15 years to the day after Couric debuted on the top-rated morning show – ends months of speculation about whether Couric, 49, whose four-year, $65 million contract at NBC expires in May, would decide to fill the evening anchor chair left open after Dan Rather retired last March.
News veteran Bob Schieffer has served as the temporary anchor of CBS Evening News, currently ranked third among the three major network newscasts. On Tuesday, Schieffer said, according to The Washington Post, "I've known Katie for many years. … She's a first-rate reporter and a terrific interviewer." He added, "I love Katie, and I think she'll love CBS News."
In January when rumors began surfacing that Couric was being considered for the slot, she addressed the speculation by telling reporters: "My contract (with NBC) ends in May, and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do … I'm fortunate to have a couple of opportunities to think long and hard about."
The likeliest replacement for Couric on Today is said to be Meredith Vieira, currently one of the hosts on The View and the host of the syndicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, both part of ABC. Others mentioned have been NBC's Campbell Brown, Natalie Morales and Ann Curry.
Reacting to all the buzz about Couric that was circulating Tuesday, ABC's Diane Sawyer told TV's Access Hollywood she was "truly, truly excited," adding, "I'm just so happy when women are in strong positions everywhere."
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David Hasselhoff Seeks Rehab for Wife
David Hasselhoff and Pamela Bach
The David Hasselhoff-Pamela Bach divorce is getting even uglier. The former Baywatch actor has filed papers implying that Bach, who has accused him of domestic violence, has a drug problem and needs psychiatric help.
In papers filed Tuesday at Los Angeles Superior Court, Hasselhoff, 53, requests that Bach, 43, complete a drug rehabilitation program and submit to random drug testing. He also asks that she retain a doctor who specializes in psychiatric medications.
Bach's lawyer, Gary Mitchell, tells PEOPLE, "Pamela has no history of drug use and the allegations are completely false. The request is in reference to a recent surgery she had and a prescription for Vicodin, but she has not abused Vicodin and has actually taken less than the prescribed amount."
In March, Bach filed a request for a restraining order against Hasselhoff, accusing him of domestic violence. According to court papers, Bach claimed that Hasselhoff broke her nose prior to December 2005 and verbally abused and physically threatened her on several other occasions.
"David categorically denies that he has engaged in the conduct alleged by his wife," Hasselhoff's lawyer told PEOPLE. "He says, 'The only person who broke my wife's nose is her plastic surgeon.'" Hasselhoff, who has two teen daughters with Bach, is seeking to end their 16-year marriage.
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Dana Reeve to Be Remembered on Broadway
Dana Reeve
Family and friends of late actress and activist Dana Reeve, who died of lung cancer at age 44 on March 6, will pay tribute to her April 10 at a private, invitation-only memorial service to be held at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway.
In lieu of flowers, Playbill.com reports, the family has asked that donations be made in Reeve's honor to the Christopher Reeve Foundation (www.ChristopherReeve.org), which supports efforts to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.
Roger Rees, artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, where Dana and Christopher met, said last month, "We mourn her loss, of course, but let us celebrate, too, this vibrant, optimistic, beautiful and thrillingly talented actress."
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Tom Cruise Reveals His Abusive Childhood
Tom Cruise
With fiancée Katie Holmes close to giving birth, Tom Cruise has admitted his own father was no role model.
Speaking to Parade magazine, Cruise – who has two children with ex-wife Nicole Kidman – said of his father, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, "He was a bully and a coward – the person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. … It was a great lesson in my life, how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang!"
Cruise, 43, says, "For me it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him.' There's that anxiety." When Cruise was 12, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sister Lee Anne with her.
The actor tried for a reconciliation 10 years later, when his father "was in the hospital dying of cancer, and he would only meet me on the basis that I didn't ask him anything about the past." Cruise sums up the experience as a life lesson. "When I saw him in pain, I thought, 'What a lonely life.' He was in his late 40s. It was sad."
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Garth Brooks's Ex Kidnapped at Gunpoint
Garth Brooks and Ex- Wife Sandy
Sandy Brooks, ex-wife of country music star Garth Brooks, was kidnapped at gunpoint by a man who worked on her Oklahoma farm, authorities said Tuesday.
The incident occurred after Brooks cooperated with a bail bondsman who wanted to arrest the worker on her property Monday. (The man was wanted on an outstanding warrant.) The worker – identified as Quintine Cornelius Harper, 24 – responded by drawing a weapon, forcing her into a car and ordering her to drive away, Rogers County undersheriff Barry Lamb tells the Associated Press.
After driving for several miles, Brooks stopped the car and fled into a convenience store, Lamb said. Harper was arrested and charged Tuesday with kidnapping and weapons offenses. Sandy Brooks and Garth Brooks (who wed Trisha Yearwood in December) were married for 15 years. They have three children, but none were present at the time of the kidnapping, Lamb said.
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Jessica Alba, Playboy end spat with Hefner apology
Actress Jessica Alba is shown on the cover of the March 2006 issue of 'Playboy'.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film star Jessica Alba forgave Playboy magazine on Tuesday for making her an unwitting cover girl after founder Hugh Hefner sent the actress a personal apology and pledged to donate money to her favorite charities.
Alba had threatened to sue Playboy after the men's magazine printed a photo of the bikini-clad actress from her 2005 movie "Into the Blue" on the cover of its March issue -- which she said duped readers into thinking she was nude inside.
"In light of Mr. Hefner's personal apology for Playboy's unauthorized use of my photo on their cover, I have decided to discontinue my claims against them," Alba, 24, said in a written statement.
"This was never about money, it was about setting the record straight about something that was done without my knowledge or consent," she added.
Alba's lawyers, who claimed that Playboy tricked Sony Pictures Entertainment into supplying the photo after the "Fantastic Four" star refused to pose for the cover, had also asked that the magazine pull the March issue from newsstands.
A spokeswoman for Playboy was not immediately available for comment. The magazine initially had claimed to have "done nothing wrong" in giving cover treatment to Alba, who was chosen "sexiest star of the year" by Playboy readers in an online poll.
In his letter to Alba, Hefner apologized for "any distress unintentionally caused by the publication of your photo" on the March cover.
"What was intended as a tribute to your tremendous popularity has been misinterpreted by some as something else for which we are truly sorry since we are among your biggest fans," Hefner said.
A representative for Alba, who also starred in films "Sin City" and "Honey" and the TV series "Dark Angel," said the actress did not file a lawsuit against Playboy but that her lawyers had been speaking to attorneys for the magazine.
He said that Playboy, a unit of Playboy Enterprises Inc , had agreed to make donations, in a sum he would not disclose, to two charities supported by the actress.
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