HOLLYWOOD - Top Story: Bullock Wins Injunction Against Stalker
Sandra Bullock was awarded a permanent injunction Friday against a Michigan man who has been harassing the actress with voice mail, faxes and phone calls, The Associated Press reports. Bullock did not appear in court but her lawyer told reporters that Thomas James Weldon had been stalking the actress for 18 months. No criminal charges were filed against Weldon. "We just wanted our client protected," her lawyer told AP, adding that Weldon, who is from Michigan but is "fairly transient," has a history of psychiatric problems. "Hopefully he will get some help and not fixate on Ms. Bullock."
'60s Drug Flick Finally OK'd by British Censors
Better late than never. The British Board of Film Classification finally gave the go-ahead to release the 1967 film The Trip in the U.K, Reuters reports. The film was written by Jack Nicholson and starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper two years before the three made the 1969 cult classic Easy Rider. The Trip never got a ratings certificate because of its graphic depiction of drug use.
American Idol Chairs To Be Auctioned Off
Want to take Simon Cowell's seat? Now's your chance. The office chairs used and autographed by the American Idol judges, including Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, will be auctioned off to benefit cancer-related charities, AP reports. Abdul's will be auctioned off to benefit a Michigan branch of the American Cancer Society on Aug. 22, while the chair signed by Jackson will benefit Chicago's The Common Thread for the Cure Foundation. Cowell's chair will be auctioned by a yet-to-be announced charity, AP reports.
Eminem and Wife Split Again Over Daughter
Eminem and wife Kim Mathers have split up again after having recently reconciled, Launch.com reports, primarily over conflicts about their daughter Hailie. Mathers believes Hailie may be in danger after the bad-boy rapper used her in a song on an underground mix tape. The song "Hailie's Revenge," about how Hailie saved Eminem from depression after the couple's first split, has Eminem and his daughter exchanging derogatory lines about hip-hop artist Ja Rule, with whom Eminem is engaged in a bitter feud. Mathers is allegedly angry at her ex-husband for exploiting the seven-year-old girl, according to Launch.com. The couple was married in 1999 and divorced in 2001.
Fan Electrocuted at Snoop Dogg/Chili Peppers Concert
Investigators are looking into the electrocution death of a college student Friday at the Red Hot Chili Peppers/Snoop Dogg concert in Charlotte, North Carolina, AP reports. Ashley Faris, 26, was killed at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre as he walked barefoot on a wet concrete stairway with metal edges. The show continued as planned and many concertgoers never knew anyone was hurt, AP reports.
CNN Wants O'Brien To Join Morning Team
CNN has offered NBC and MSNBC anchor Soledad O'Brien a spot as co-anchor for their show American Morning, according to The Hollywood Reporter. O'Brien, whose contract with NBC expires at the end of the month, would be replacing Paula Zahn, who is moving to anchor CNN's new American Evening program.
Role Call: Lopez Engaging Monster-in-Law, Witherspoon's Pregnancy Fits Fair
Jennifer Lopez is in early negotiations to star in the New Line comedy Monster-in-Law, in which she would play a woman who is set to marry the perfect guy until she meets his mother, the world's worst potential mother-in-law…Reese Witherspoon--who found out she was pregnant with her second child with husband, Ryan Phillippe right before she started her new film Vanity Fair--had her delicate condition written into the storyline. Directed by Mira Nair, the film in based on William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel set in London in the 1820s. Witherspoon plays Becky Sharp, a social climber.