Liv Tyler has baby boy
Lord of the Rings star Liv Tyler and her husband, Royston Langdon of the band Spacehog, welcomed a baby boy Tuesday. The baby, born at New York-Prebysterian Hospital, hasn’t yet been named. According to People magazine, the baby was born at 4:11 a.m. and weighed 8 pounds. “They are both doing great,” Tyler‘s publicist, Stephen Huvane, told The Associated Press Wednesday. Besides playing the elf princess Arwen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tyler‘s screen credits include Jersey Girl and Armageddon–both alongside co-star Ben Affleck. But it was her appearance as a teen vixen in Aerosmith’s 1994 video for “Crazy” that really put her on the map. The 27-year-old actress is the daughter of model Bebe Buell and Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, which now makes the sexy 54-year-old rock star a grandfather. It’s probably too early to tell if the baby will have the same, sensual, full-lipped mouth the Tylers are so famous for.
Whitney Houston rams Porsche into bus
Singer Whitney Houston rear-ended a city bus with her sports car in Alpharetta, Ga., Wednesday afternoon but no one was hurt, the AP reports. According to Sgt. Chris Lagerbloom, the accident happened as Houston was making a left turn. The bus sustained minor damage and the bumper of Houston‘s Porsche was mangled–but the 41-year-old singer was not injured. She was given a citation for failure to yield, a misdemeanor. Houston and her husband, R&B singer Bobby Brown, live near the suburb of Alpharetta, about 25 miles north of Atlanta. The couple met in 1989 and were married in July 18, 1992. They admitted to marital problems in in the mid-’90s and reportedly separated in June 1998, but have since reunited.
Anderson gets naked for anti-fur campaign
Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson may have posed naked for an anti-fur billboard, but China’s straight-laced media regulators might not allow the billboards to go up, the AP reports. The posters, featuring the slogan “Give fur the cold shoulder” in English, show the 37-year-old actress topless with her back to the camera and an arm partly hiding her right breast. “Depending on the censors, they may be concerned about it, but it’s very tastefully done,” Jason Baker, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told AP. “We may end up having to crop (the photo) a bit.” China was the origin of 40 percent of all American fur imports in 2000, according to PETA. Anderson has been an longtime and outspoken supporter of PETA and their initiatives.
Critics Choice pick Sideways
The indie comedy Sideways scored a leading eight nominations, including best picture, for the 10th annual Critics’ Choice Awards, Reuters reports. Other Critics Choice contenders included Miramax Films’ Finding Neverland with seven nominations, and Martin Scorsese‘s The Aviator which scored six nods. In the acting categories, Jamie Foxx picked up a best actor mention for Ray and a best supporting actor for Collateral, while Kate Winslet was nominated as best actress for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and as best supporting actress for Finding Neverland. The Critics Choice Awards, organized by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, will announce their winners Jan. 10 in Los Angeles. The WB will broadcast the ceremony live at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Wife Swap producers sue over rival show
British producers of the ABC’s popular reality show Wife Swap have filed suit over the Fox show Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy, labeling it as an illegal rip-off, the AP reports. The suit, filed by RDF Media, targets Fox Broadcasting and the show’s producers, claiming the show, “more aptly might be entitled ‘Trading Copyrights’ or perhaps ‘Copyright Swap,'” and calls the Fox series “a blatant and wholesale copycat” of Wife Swap. RDF Media is asking for more than $18 million in damages plus all “gains, profits and advantages” derived from the Fox show, the AP reports. Fox spokesman Scott Grogan said the network had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
James Brown comes through surgery with flying colors
James Brown underwent successful surgery Wednesday in Atlanta to treat his recently diagnosed prostate cancer, the AP reports. “Mr. Brown has successfully undergone a localized prostate cancer procedure and is resting comfortably,” Dr. James Bennett, his urologist, said in a statement. “We expect a full recovery. With proper follow-up and care, we can also expect a full cure.” Before the operation, the 71-year-old Godfather of Soul said, “I have overcome a lot of things in my life. I will overcome this as well.” Brown is due to release an autobiography next month and is planning a tour of Asia and Australia early next year, the AP reports.
Blake’s trial gears up
Before the murder trial against actor Robert Blake begins on Monday, Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp reversed herself and has decided to allow segments of jailhouse interviews the former Baretta star gave, including the interview he granted journalist Barbara Walters in February 2003, to be used in the prosecution’s case, the AP reports. Snippets will also be played from a recorded conversation that Blake had in jail in 2002, in which he told comedian Mort Sahl that Bakley’s family were “monsters” who would never get his daughter, which, according to the prosecution, will prove Blake killed his wife because he despised her and her family. Defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach said the comment came some 20 months after the night of the killing and had no relevance to Blake‘s state of mind at the time of the murder, the AP reports.
