HOLLYWOOD - Top StoryThe man who tabloids claim is Julia Roberts' new boyfriend got a heavy dose of paparazzi pressure on Tuesday--and he didn't exactly take it well.
According to Reuters, Daniel Moder, a movie cameraman who has reportedly been romantically linked with Roberts, allegedly hurled bricks at photographer Francis Griffin as Griffin attempted to take pictures of Moder's family as they exited their Woodland Hills, Calif. home. The family was en route to the funeral of Moder's mother.
L.A. police said on Thursday that Moder had not been arrested on assault charges concerning the incident, in which the bricks damaged Griffin's car.
In Court
John Zuccarini, an Internet entrepreneur who has registered the domain names backstreeboys.com, backsreetboys.com and backstreetboyz.com, will be allowed to continue ownership of the three Web addresses, which are intentionally misspelled in hopes that Internet users will accidentally visit the sites via typos. The World Intellectual Property Organization said on Thursday that the three sites do not infringe on the Backstreet Boys' trademark, according to Reuters.
In General
Emmy-winning actor Michael J Fox will be returning to the small screen as Spin City debuts on Sept. 18. Fox, who had left the show in spring 2000 to battle Parkinson's disease, will appear on the first two episodes of the sitcom, providing some conflict between his character and that of Charlie Sheen's.
At a New York press conference, actor Russell Crowe explained why he waved his Best Actor Oscar around at a recent performance by his rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. According to People, Crowe ordered one of his stagehands to fetch the statue from Crowe's hotel room after seeing a fan's sign that read, "Is that an Oscar in your pocket, or are you just happy to see us?" At the press conference, Crowe said, "That was a moment between me and the people that really support what I do, and respect it and understand it. It wasn't a media moment."
Singer Janet Jackson was forced to cancel two shows on her "All for You" concert tour--Thursday's show in Birmingham, Ala. and Friday's gig in Philadelphia--due to a respiratory infection. The Birmingham show will not be rescheduled. The Philadelphia show, however, will be made up on Oct. 23, according to The Associated Press.
The on-again off-again possibility that boy band 'N Sync might perform at Michael Jackson's upcoming Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Solo Years concert is, well, on again. According to MTV News, 'N Sync rearranged their rehearsals for the MTV Video Music Awards to coincide with rehearsals for Jackson's massive show to be held at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 7. In an effort to help promote the Solo Years celebration, Jackson opened trading at the Nasdaq in New York City on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Filming of the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was delayed on Friday as a red steam train used in the movie got jammed on the tracks, forcing engineers to pry away pieces of a train-station platform to allow the train to pass. The train, called the "Hogwarts Express," is being used during filming of scenes in Edinburgh, Scotland.
At a Christie's auction next Tuesday, a wide array of original movie posters will go up for bids. They include an obscure six-sheet poster for Marilyn Monroe's 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, an original poster for Hitchcock's 1958 classic Vertigo and a rare drive-in promotional artwork for Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's , according to Reuters.
According to Variety, the Fox network is taking another stab at reality TV, this time ordering seven one-hour installments of the show I Want a Wife: Alaska. The premise: a group of 40 guys vie to marry only four single women in Alaska. In other reality-TV news, the cable network Court TV has secured the rights to air the British reality series Ratrap, which utilizes hidden cameras to nab crooks in the act, according to Reuters.