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Top Story
Andy Bird, a broke aspiring director who dated pop icon Madonna for 18 months beginning in 1997, is now speaking to the press. Bird told Scotland's Sunday Mail that he supported the Material Girl's decision to abort their baby. Bird also said the couple split because he couldn't handle the attention that Madonna's fame brought. Apparently, he's a much stronger man now--or he's broke again.
Deaths
Carol Burnett's daughter, Carrie Hamilton, passed away at the age of 38 on Sunday. The actress (TV's Fame) died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to complications from cancer.
In Courts
The Estefans--singer Gloria and husband Emilio--have been granted a temporary restraining order against Juan Carlos Diaz, who claims Emilio has sexually harassed and threatened him. Judge Deborah White-Labora did not comply with Diaz's request for a reciprocal TRO against Emilio, but did say she'd ask the elevators in the courthouse to stop playing Gloria's music.In General
The Toronto-based company Chum, which runs the music channel MuchMusic, has filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), stating that rival MTV Canada is playing too many music videos, Variety reports. It's alleged that MTV Canada is violating their license agreement, predicated on the station's playing a maximum of 10 percent music videos. Memo fro Hollywood.com to MuchMusic: When MTV Canada airs videos featuring Britney Spears, they really don't count as "music" videos. The 63-year-old agreement that restricts the activities of talent agents is nearing the end of its 15-month termination phase, and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), which monitors the pact, is in frantic negotiations with agents. Primarily the pact prevents agents from acting as producers. The problem is, no one can figure out what it is producers actually do. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has regained hearing in one ear after receiving a cochlear implant. Limbaugh became profoundly deaf due to an autoimmune disorder. Either that, or due to listening to his own pusillanimous diatribe lo these many years. Mike Tyson is being sued for divorce again, PageSix.com reports. Monica Tyson filed the requisite papers with Maryland officials Thursday. The second-year medical resident cited Iron Mike's penchant for the ladies as one reason for the split. Another being that when Mike nibbles on her ear he tells she tastes "just like Evander Holyfield." The New York Post has calculated 21 TV stars' per-viewer salaries--and the results may surprise you. All My Children's Susan Lucci proved to be the biggest bargain at 23 cents per viewer, though Lucci earns $1 million per season for her work at ABC. And Katie Couric, despite her recent $65 million contract extension, logs in at only $2.82 per viewer. Hollywood.com has computed that Larry King (an incredibly high $5.78 per viewer) is still a bigger bargain than Drew Carey ($300,000 per viewer), as only four people actually watch The Drew Carey Show. A ruby-encrusted, sterling silver and gold saddle owned by the late Roy Rogers was sold at auction for $412,000 Saturday. Hundreds of Czech rubies decorate the saddle, which was made using 1,400 ounces of silver and 136 ounces of gold. The anonymous winner was heard muttering, "No one told me the horse was sold separately."