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The police videotape shot during Diana Ross‘ Dec. 30 arrest will be released for public record, The Associated Press reports. A judge on Tuesday ordered the release of the tape, which shows Ross being arrested for driving under the influence in front of a video store in Tucson, Arizona. The tape, however, will not include audio. According to AP, the singer’s attorney, Leon Silver, and city prosecutor Beverly Ginn agreed to the conditions of the release under the state’s open records act that requires public records to be available, excluding private, confidential information. Ginn told AP the tape would be ready after editing by Friday at the earliest.
Celebs
Seems Sabrina the Teenage Witch has put a spell on rocker Mark Wilkerson of the band Course of Nature. AP reports Melissa Joan Hart, 26, and Wilkerson, 25, got engaged the day after Christmas, but no date for the nuptials has been set. The couple met last year at one of the band’s concerts.
More spells cast? Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Alyson Hannigan and Angel evildoer Alexis Denisof (who plays that show’s Wesley Wyndham-Pryce) are also tying the proverbial knot. Denisof, 36, popped the question to Hannigan, 28, over the holidays. It’s the first marriage for both.
On the opposite side of the marriage coin…Pamela Anderson and ex-husband Tommy Lee have ended their bitter custody battle over their two young sons, Anderson‘s lawyer, Suzanne Harris, told AP Tuesday. The couple signed an agreement and submitted it to the court. “(The filing) contains everything you could possibly think of about how to raise the children and where they will live,” Harris said. Anderson now has the option of relocating the boys to Michigan, home state of her fiancé, Kid Rock.
Writer/producer Paul Monash, known for producing movie hits such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Carrie and writing TV fare such as Peyton Place and The Untouchables, died Tuesday in his Los Angeles home after a brief illness. He was 86.
Movies
Variety reports Heidi Fleiss, once known as the “Hollywood Madam,” is turning her life story into a feature film for Paramount Pictures and as a potential vehicle for Nicole Kidman. Called Pay the Girl, Fleiss told Variety the story “should be like Pretty Woman, but with the visual energy and excess of Scarface.” She added, “All of the madam movies have been like B-level porn or they’ve been boring. The world I was living in was not boring.” Oh, we can’t wait for this one.
Tube
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Looks like the newest reality show being pitched to the major networks is one in which a regular guy is put through intensive training so he can get into the ring with ear-bitin’, knockout-punchin’ Mike Tyson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Stu Schreiberg is in negotiations with Tyson’s representatives. Yikes.
The grass-roots organization Center for Rural Strategies launched a second set of ads against CBS’ plans to do a reality show based around the ’60s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. CRS president Dee Davis said in a statement, “We believe that Americans should get an honest portrayal of rural life and not just stereotypical characters.” Fox News reports CBS appears to be backing away from the show, with no family selected or airdate set.
Music
Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Avril Lavigne and Pink are among the nominees for the UK’s version of the Grammys, the Brit Awards. The awards will be handed out Feb. 20.
Books
The wait is over for the millions of Harry Potter fans. Publishers Scholastic of the U.S. and Bloomsbury of Britain announced the fifth Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will finally hit bookstores June 21. The book will be the longest about the boy wizard thus far, with 38 chapters and 255,000 words.
