HOLLYWOOD - Top Story
What a year 2002 has been for Eminem. His new album, The Eminem Show, sold 7.4 million copies and his feature film debut 8 Mile has been one of the most successful pop music films in history. But Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, says he may be getting too big. "It's almost getting to the point where I truly believe I may be getting too big for my own good," he told the Detroit Free Press, "and I never really asked for that." The 30-year-old rapper, who has given up drugs and works out daily, said he also fears his success and newfound mainstream acceptance may do more harm than good. "When everyone loves you, who's left to hate you?" he said. "The kids want something they can hold on to that their parents hate. I know I did growing up. I didn't want to listen to anything my parents listened to." Looks like the bad boy of rap knows a good marketing strategy when he sees it.
Celebs
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling was the top woman earner in Britain this year, according to an annual list in The Mail on Sunday newspaper. Rowling, whose enchanting annual pay of $77 million was six times the salary of Queen Elizabeth, was followed on the list by Madonna, investment banker Robin Saunders, The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson and Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.Pop singer Justin Timberlake, who hired a look-alike of his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears in the video for his new single "Cry Me a River," is denying that the video is about their breakup. "I feel I became so consumed about her that I didn't see some things that I should have seen," Timberlake told Vibe magazine. "I don't feel like I'm saying too much when I say she knows why this happened."On Friday a federal judge blocked the deportation of English-born rapper Ricky "Slick Rick" Walters stemming from his attempted murder conviction for shooting a cousin, the cousin's pregnant girlfriend and a bystander, The Associated Press reports. The rapper pleaded guilty to the shooting, which occurred in 1990, and spent five years in a New York prison. Walters was arrested in June by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents enforcing a U.S. law requiring deportation of foreigners convicted of violent felonies and has been in jail since.Hip-hop star-turned-actress Queen Latifah is scheduled to be arraigned today on not-so-regal drunk driving charges following her arrest near Universal City, Calif., last month, according to City News Services. The performer was stopped on Nov. 20 after she allegedly made an unsafe lane change on the Hollywood Freeway. She was arrested on suspicion of DUI after failing a field sobriety test. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Alex Delgadillo, Queen Latifah, whose real name is Dana Owens, cooperated with officers and was released on $2,500 bail.Movies
Eva Mendes, who played Denzel Washington's kept girlfriend in the police actioner Training Day, will be reunited with her on-screen love interest for MGM's fall thriller Out of Time. The film revolves around a small-town police officer who steals money from the evidence room to runaway with his lover. But when she double-crosses him, he discovers the affair was a setup and vows to seek revenge. The film, which also stars Sanaa Lathan and Dean Cain, is scheduled for release Oct. 3, 2003.
Music
Superior Court Judge R. Bruce Minto ordered rapper and producer Master P to pay $105,000 in punitive damages to a grandmother whose voice was secretly recorded and used to introduce a track on artist Magic's album Sky's the Limit, the AP reports. Geneva Burger, 80, said she didn't know a conversation with a friend of her grandson was being taped when she asked, "When people get hooked on pot, can they get sick if they don't get it?" She said she suffered embarrassment and anxiety when she heard her voice on a "crude gangsta rap CD."