Top Story: Carrey Settles Child Support
Funny guy Jim Carrey and his ex-wife Melissa have settled their dispute over child support for their 15-year-old daughter, Jane, Reuters reports. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Melissa Carrey claimed the monthly stipend of $10,000 wasn’t enough to cover the teen’s expenses, which include such necessities as acting and singing classes, music recording and arranging, tennis, horseback riding and a private ski instructor as well as help in jump starting a career in the entertainment business. “Jane does not have personal security … which I believe is important to have at this time,” Carrey‘s former wife told Reuters. “Jane enjoys Pilates and takes classes at the local Pilates studio but does not have her own personal trainer or her own Pilates equipment,” she continued, adding she would like to build a $200,000 studio for the girl to work out and practice her musical instruments. Details of the settlement have not been released.
Four-Hour Finish for Ferrell
Saturday Night Live alum Will Ferrell finished Monday’s Boston Marathon, which he ran with his wife, in just under four hours, The Associated Press reports. “It’s truly an amazing event. Along with the history and everything, it’s a bit of a blur,” Ferrell told AP of Monday’s race. “Heartbreak Hill felt like a lovely summer day … and then you get hit over the head with a hammer.”
O.J. Gets Reality Check
O.J. Simpson will debut as the star of his own Osbournes-esque reality show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Fort Worth, Texas-based Urban America Television Network has picked up a 13-week series about the former football great, chronicling Simpson’s daily life in Miami. The series will be broadcast on the network’s 75 independent TV station affiliates starting in June.
NBC, Fox Tie for First in Ratings Race, Lewinsky Has Strong “Personality”
According to the data from Nielsen Media Research, NBC’s Thursday night block and Fox’s American Idol competition helped the networks tie for first place in last week’s key demographics, with NBC winning the crown for total viewers (11.2 million). Meanwhile, Monica Lewinsky‘s debut as a TV reality show host got off to good start when her show Mr. Personality aired Monday, drawing in 12.1 million viewers, Reuters reports. The reality series revolves around one female contestant who must choose her mate from 20 masked suitors who can’t reveal their age, occupation or financial status.
Kelly Clarkson’s Album Debuts at No.1
America’s first American Idol choice seems to have been a correct one. Although official numbers have not be released, Kelly Clarkson‘s debut album Thankful is expected to bow on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 with 300,000 copies sold, the Hollywood Reporter writes. “The importance and the future of the franchise is contingent on Kelly being a star,” RCA general manager Richard Sanders told The Reporter. “If she sold only 100,000 copies, it would have been over. Now everyone has to take notice. It’s the No. 1-selling album in America.”
Madonna’s New Album Gets Slammed by Critics
Has the Material Girl lost her touch? That’s what many critics believe after they universally panned Madonna‘s new album American Life, which hit stores on Tuesday. Tom Moon, the music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote, “For the first time in a remarkable 20-year record-making career, Madonna pours that near-mythic knack for reinvention into a spectacularly stinky artistic black hole.” Still, on its first day of release, American Life climbed to No. 3 on Amazon.com’s list of best-selling pop albums.
Songwriter Felice Bryant Dies
Songwriter Felice Bryant, best known for writing the Everly Brothers’ song “Wake Up, Little Susie” and Buddy Holly’s “Raining in My Heart,” died Tuesday in Nashville of cancer. She was 77.
Role Call: DMX Turns “Werewolf” Hunter
DMX, the rapper-turned-actor who recently starred in Cradle 2 the Grave, is in negotiations to produce and star in Werewolf. According to the Hollywood Reporter, DMX will play a mysterious bluesman whose mission is to hunt down the remaining werewolves living among the rich, glamorous and drug-addicted in the Hollywood Hills.
