HOLLYWOOD - DMX "done started something"
DMX is reportedly the star of his very own crime song. The rapper-actor was arrested last night on charges that he and another man tried to steal a car in a parking lot of New York's Kennedy Airport, The Associated Press reports. According to authorities, DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, and cohort Jackie Hudgins were arrested after Port Authority police interrupted a dispute between the two and another man whose car they allegedly tried to steal. Simmons and Hudgins were arrested on charges of attempted robbery, criminal impersonation and criminal mischief were taken to central booking in Queens late Thursday. Tony Ciavolella, a Port Authority spokesman, told the AP a preliminary investigation indicated that Simmons may have identified himself as a federal agent. This isn't Simmons' first run-in with the law. In 1999, he was fined and ordered to make public service announcements for the Humane Society after police found crack pipes, a pistol and 13 pit bulls at his home in Teaneck, N.J. At the time, Simmons pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Conservative group challenges Fahrenheit TV spots
The group Citizens United has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether TV ads for Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 violate a campaign finance law that prohibits the use of corporate money to air ads identifying a presidential candidate in the 30 days before his party's nominating convention and the 60 days before the Nov. 2 election, the AP reports. Moore, whose documentary opens nationwide Friday, said he would fight the complaint. "It's a violation of my First Amendment rights that I cannot advertise my movie. It's a movie," he said. "I have not publicly endorsed John Kerry. I am an independent, I am not a member of the Democratic Party." It is unlikely the commission will act in time to affect the ad campaign for Fahrenheit 9/11 since issuing a ruling on the complaint could take months.
Ashley Olsen cancels trip to be with Mary-Kate
Ashley Olsen, who had been scheduled to attend next week's premiere of New York Minute in Melbourne, Australian, has canceled the trip to stay near her twin sister, Mary-Kate, who is being treated for "a health-related issue," the AP reports. "Ashley Olsen has decided to be with her family at this time," Robert Thorne, chief executive of the Olsen twins' Dualstar Entertainment Group, said in a statement Thursday. "While it is unfortunate that plans have been canceled, Mary-Kate and Ashley appreciate everyone's support and understanding at this time. They look forward to coming to Australia and New Zealand in the very near future." Earlier this week, Us Weekly and People magazines reported that Mary-Kate was being treated for an eating disorder.
Jackson hearing today to focus on sealed documents
The judge in the Michael Jackson child molestation case has scheduled a pretrial hearing today in Santa Monica, Calif., which will likely focus on the secrecy surrounding the case and the sealing of almost all documents, the AP reports. Prosecutors and Jackson's defense lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., have consistently sought to keep documents under seal, an effort strongly opposed by news media outlets, which are asking that a grand jury transcript, portions of a grand jury indictment and at least 47 sealed search warrants be made public. Jackson will not attend Friday's hearing. The 45-year-old singer has pleaded not guilty to committing a lewd act upon a child, administering alcohol and conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.
Madonna to tour Holy Lands
Kabala follower Madonna, who recently adopted the Hebrew name Esther, is set to visit Israel in October with a group of more than 100 students, AP reports. The trip is planned to coincide with the Jewish New Year, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported, and Madonna will stay in a remote guesthouse to avoid fans and TV cameras so that she'll be able to focus on her studies of Kabala, or Jewish mysticism, the newspaper reported. The singer also canceled three Israeli stops on her Re-Invention tour because of violence in the region. "It's not a good idea to go there and do concerts," she told syndicated entertainment TV show Access Hollywood in an interview last month.
The Cox/Arquettes take on TV producing gig
New parents Courteney Cox and David Arquette have created a production company, Coquette, inking a first-look deal with Warner Bros. TV, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cox and Arquette made their TV series producing debut with Mix It Up, a home-decorating show for WE: Women's Entertainment. "We got our feet wet with our show Mix It Up which is going into its second season and enjoyed that process so much we decided to formalize our commitment by forming this company," Arquette told The Reporter. The new company already has a drama in the works, The Fall and Rise of Taylor Kennedy, being touted by HBO that will star Cox and be written and directed by Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook), the trade paper reports.
Lewinsky feels betrayed by Clinton memoirs
In an interview with British broadcaster ITV to be shown on Friday, Monica Lewinsky, best known for her affair with former President Bill Clinton, says she was disappointed at how their relationship is addressed in Clinton's smash hit memoirs My Life, Reuters reports. Claiming the scandal "destroyed" her life, the former White House intern said, "I really didn't expect him to talk in detail about the relationship. But what I was hoping, and did expect was for him to acknowledge and correct the inaccurate and false statements that he, his staff and the [Democratic National Committee] made about me when they were trying to protect the presidency," she said. "He says he was proud of the way that he defended the presidency, at my expense," she said. "In the process he destroyed me, and that was the way he was going to have to do that, to get through impeachment," Lewinsky added. "I was a young girl and to hear him saying some of the things he was saying today--it's a shame."
DVD-encrypted players in the works
Anti-piracy technology company Cinea is planning to produce 10,000 of its specially made DVD players, the S-View DVD player, by late this summer and will ship them to the 6,000 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences members by October, Variety reports. The special device works like a normal DVD player and is capable of playing off-the-shelf DVDs, but most importantly, will be able to play the encrypted DVDs distributed by studios during Oscar voting time, in hopes of avoiding any piracy issues. If any screeners do leak out with the new technology, watermarks would allow Cinea to trace a pirated copy back not only to the member who received the disc, but the time at which the illegal copy was made. Cinea execs stressed, however, that the only way pirated copies could be made would be with a camcorder recording the television screen or by a tech expert with access to one of the new S-View players, Variety reports.
Kit Bowen contributed to this report.