Steely Queen Amidala is absolutely not a draft dodger.
Natalie Portman So says the rep for Natalie Portman, who played the battle-ready ruler in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” denying quotes attributed to the 18-year-old actress in an Israeli newspaper that had the Jerusalem-born star saying she’d “passed on” an army draft notice sent to her last year. (In Israel, all citizens — men and women — must do mandatory service upon turning age 18.)
“They made up the quotes,” Portman publicist Kelly Bush tells today’s New York Post. “She was never notified by the army for service.” According to Bush, in fact, Portman is “exempt” from the army.
And as an official at the Israeli consulate in New York confirmed to the paper, Israelis do not have to serve in the army if they leave the country before the age of 16. Portman immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1988, at about age seven.
DEEP SIXX-ED: For those keeping score at home, rule-challenged rocker Nikki Sixx has more notches on his judicial belt. The Mötley Cr¨e bassist pleaded no contest Thursday in North Carolina to charges he kicked a security guard in the head and urged fans to do the same during a concert there in 1997. Ex-bandmate and melee cohort Tommy Lee did the no-contest plea thing last week. Both dudes got suspended sentences.
HE KILLED ‘EM: Comic Rodney Dangerfield, 77, was in “stable condition” at a Las Vegas hospital for an undisclosed reason, reports Thursday said. The “no respect” stand-up checked himself into the medical center one morning after he wrapped a six-night-long gig at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.
OSCAR WATCH: Two-time nominee Edward Norton (“American History X”) and onetime nominee Uma Thurman (“Pulp Fiction”) have joined the presenters’ roll for the 72nd Annual Academy Awards — this gig, of course, hinging on whether there are any statuettes to hand out.
