Jackson will hold a star-studded concert tonight at Madison Square Garden to celebrate his 30th anniversary as a solo artist. Scheduled to join him on stage in either appearances or performances are ‘NSync, Gladys Knight, Eminem, Destiny’s Child, Yoko Ono, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Tucker, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando and many more. Jackson is promoting his upcoming album Invincible and is trying to reclaim his “King of Pop” title after a six-year absence from the music world.
The concert also marked the reunion of the Jackson 5, with brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Michael and Marlon making an appearance. Ticket prices for the sold out first night ranged from $45 to $2,500. There will be a second concert on Monday, and the show will also air on CBS at a later date.
Births
Alternative band Limp Bizkit’s frontman Fred Durst is now the father of his second child. A 7-pound, 3-ounce son, Dallas, was born last week. The mother has not been identified.
Honored
French “New Wave” director Eric Rohmer was honored for his lifetime achievements at the Venice Film Festival Friday. The 81-year-old Rohmer had directed such French classics as Ma Nuit Chez Maud (My Night at Maud’s), which won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1969, and L’Amour l’Apres-midi (Love in the Afternoon).
Deaths
Television commentator and sports correspondent Heywood Hale “Woodie” Broun died Wednesday at Kingston Hospital in New York. He was 83. Broun worked for 19 years as a CBS sports correspondent and wrote three books. The cause of death has not been released.
In Courts
A federal judge rejected a temporary restraining order filed by a Little League Baseball coach to block next week’s opening of the movie Hardball, a movie about Little League Baseball starring Keanu Reeves. The coach, Bob Muzikowski, brought a defamation suit against Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures over the film because it depicts Reeves‘ character, who is based on Muzikowski real-life role, as a gambling and alcoholic coach who bullies the players and shows the 9- to -12-year-old players cursing.
Fox News filed suit Thursday against newly hired CNN anchorwoman Paula Zahn’s agent N.S. Bienstock. Fox is accusing the agency of breaching Zahn’s contract with Fox in order to broker the deal with CNN.
In General
The premiere of the highly anticipated film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has been set for Nov. 4 in London. The screening at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square is expected to attract a host of celebrities and will be followed by a glittering party.
Anne Heche‘s mother and sister have come forth to express outrage at Heche’s claims of sexual abuse at the hands of her father in her new memoirs Call Me Crazy. Anne’s mother, Nancy Heche, told PreviewPort.com, “I am trying to find a place for myself in this writing, a place where I as Anne’s mother do not feel violated or scandalized. I find no places among the lies and blasphemies in the pages of this book.” Anne’s sister, Abigail Heche, believes her sister remembers the events of her childhood sporadically and doesn’t feel Anne’s claims are true, especially on the fact that their mother knew of the sexual abuse.
Garry Trudeau, creator of the popular satirical comic strip Doonesbury, made a half-hearted apology to President George W. Bush for his Sunday comic, which cited an Internet hoax saying Bush had the lowest IQ of any president in the past 50 years, according to what has now been determined as a study from a fictional institute. The Doonesbury site acknowledges the error, stating “Trudeau takes full responsibility, acknowledging the use of fictional material from an outside source instead of simply making it up as he usually does..The creator deeply apologizes for unsettling anyone who was under the impression that the president is, in fact, quite intelligent.”
