Entertainment News Page 2002

The stars climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the world's water crisis have triumphed - the group has overcome harsh blizzard conditions to reach the 19,340-foot-high (5,895-metre) African peak. Philanthropic singer Kenna led a team of celebrities, including actors Emile Hirsch and Jessica Biel, rapper Lupe Fiasco and Santogold star Santi White, among others, up to the Tanzanian peak for the Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro campaign.

On Thursday, January 7, the group began their journey to raise awareness of Africa's chronic water shortage. The stars used the latest social networking technology to update fans and followers along the way, and on Monday, January 11, White revealed via Twitter.com the group was trudging through a blizzard that slowed their progress.

Michelle Williams (II) has left Music World Entertainment. In addition, the ex-member of Destiny's Child revealed that she has parted ways with manager Mathew Knowles who is also the manager father of her former bandmate Beyonce Knowles. She followed the footsteps of Kelly Rowland who announced her exit from Mathew's management company in January 2009.

"After much prayer and consideration I have decided to part ways from my management team, Mathew Knowles and Music World Entertainment," Michelle said. "From my time in Destiny's Child to my solo career, I am grateful for everything Mathew and his team has done for me."

A group of bouncers accused of assaulting three customers at Jay-Z's sports bar in Atlantic City, New Jersey last year 2009 has been hit with various charges of assault. Several security guards were caught on camera in October 2009 kicking and punching Bryant Norwood, Leonard Clark and Tyrell Durant in the parking lot of the 40/40 Club after the patrons were kicked out of the venue for disorderly behavior.

The employees have since been fired from their jobs as a result of the incident, and now they are facing prosecution for their actions. According to Monmouth County Attorney Eugene Melody, two of the victims - Clark and Durant - officially pressed charges against nine bouncers on Monday, January 11, with the 14 counts ranging from assault and aggravated assault after they were sprayed with a fire extinguisher.

Australian actor Sam Worthington was stunned to find out he'd be appearing alongside Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes in a movie - because he only agreed to take on the role as a favor.

The "Avatar" actor signed up to star in Massy Tadjedin's upcoming film "Last Night", and he felt like he'd hit the jackpot when she mentioned he would be sharing the screen with two Hollywood beauties.

Ben Affleck had no idea who "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively was when she auditioned for his latest movie - and he was so stunned by her talent he hired her on the spot. The actor/director was unaware of Lively's fame when she tried out for a role in "The Town", and was convinced she would be no good in front of the cameras.

But he was so impressed with the 22 year old's performance he handed her the role immediately - and re-wrote the part of single-mum Krista to make it more suitable for a younger actress. Affleck tells Esquire magazine, "The whole movie kind of hinges in a lot of ways on her performance, and I knew it was going to be the hardest part to cast."

In the next few months, Shia LaBeouf will reprise his role as Sam Witwicky in "Transformers 3". According to Mike Fleming from Deadline Hollywood, which reported that the actor moves to CAA Agency, the upcoming movie will kick off principal photography in May this year. Additionally, Screen Crave mentioned that Paramount Pictures is considering to shoot the film in 3-D.

Beside LaBeouf, Megan Fox has signed on for the film. She will be seen portraying Mikaela Banes, the mutual love interest of Sam, for the third time. The actress has previously got promise from director Michael Bay that she will get a "great part" in the next installment of "Transformers" film franchise.

Former Guns N' Roses rocker Slash has backed Robert Plant's decision not to reform Led Zeppelin after the band's one-off reunion gig in 2007. The legendary band came back together for a concert in London, with Jason Bonham replacing his late dad John on drums.

But Plant refused to resurrect Led Zeppelin for a comeback tour, even though the other members were keen to hit the road again. And Slash is convinced the singer made the right decision, because a series of sell-out global gigs would have ruined the magic of the band's reunion.

It is official, The Ting Tings call their forthcoming second studio album "Kunst". The band announce it when interviewed by NME for its Albums of 2010 issue, which hits newsstands across the U.K. on January 13.

"Just round the corner to our studio there's a massage parlour, it's called Massage Kunst," member Jules De Martino said. "It's Massage Art, basically ['kunst' is German for 'art']. We took a picture of that and sent it to our label, saying this is the title of the album. They went berserk."

ABC is putting a strong faith in its Wednesday comedies line-up. The network announced during its winter Television Critics Association panel Tuesday, January 12 morning that it has renewed newbies "Modern Family", "Cougar Town" and "The Middle" for a second season. All three have performed solidly in ratings since their Fall premieres.

The Alphabet however, has no good news for "Ugly Betty" which joins the Wednesday slot and others like "Scrubs" and "Better Off Ted". Nevertheless, Head of Programming Stephen McPherson revealed they hope "Ugly" would grow after it was moved from Friday, saying "We still love that show."

Rebecca Romijn has brought her one-year-old twin babies, Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip, to pose for the latest ad for "Got Milk?" campaign. In behind the scene footage of the photo shoot, the "Ugly Betty" actress is seen getting help from her husband Jerry O'Connell, who seems trying to make his children smile. Before posing for the camera, Romijn and her daughters drank milk to get white mustaches. The sneak peek video can be seen at www.whymilk.com.

About ten years ago, Romijn has appeared in a similar ad. For her current involvement, she becomes a spokesperson for "The Great Gallon Give," a campaign that will donate 200,000 gallons of milk at Why Milk? official site and at 19 events across the country to raise awareness of its importance in building strong families.

Courtney Love is hitting the road with an all-new line up for her band Hole in the group's first live concerts since 1999. The rocker founded Hole with Eric Erlandson in 1989 and formed a trio with Melissa Auf der Maur.

The band split in 2002 but Love revealed plans last year 2009 to release new material under the Hole name, without Erlandson and Auf der Maur. She unveiled her new line-up last week, introducing fans to guitarist Micko Larkin, bassist Shawn Saily and drummer Stu Fischer.

Hollywood hard man Sylvester Stallone prefers painting to acting - because he is much happier with a brush in his hand. The action star, 63, has been dabbling in art in his spare time for 30 years and recently sold one of his works for a massive $50,000.

And Stallone admits he prefers life as a painter, because he can always control the end result. He tells Britain's The Times newspaper, "Movies are a vision dependent upon three or four hundred people to accomplish it. So there's great compromising. And so much is lost in the translation. So when you get up there, it's maybe 40 per cent of the way you envisaged it. Because of the finance thing, and the actor doesn't interpret it properly. Or the director isn't on form that day and he missed the whole point.

"Star Trek" beauty Zoe Saldana is joining Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Hudson as the new face of make-up giant Avon. The actress will front the upcoming advertising campaign for the company's latest perfume Eternal Magic, as well as its color cosmetics collection.

Avon is known for its stance against domestic violence and for female empowerment and Saldana is proud to be linked to such a firm, reports People.com. She says, "It means so much to me to be associated with a company that shares my values and believes in empowering women."

British actress Helen Mirren has scoffed at rumors she's planning to write a book about sex - insisting an "offhand comment" was simply taken out of context. Recent reports suggested the 64-year-old actress was penning a tome about bedroom romps.

And though she admits entertaining the idea of writing her own novel, the star insists her prose won't be X-rated. She tells the New York Post, "Please! No! Sometimes you make an offhand comment to someone somewhere and it gets handed down."

Singer/actress Mandy Moore is urging young women to undergo regular medical check-ups to reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer. The star is raising awareness about the disease for the U.S. Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, encouraging the most at-risk females, aged between 19 and 25, to be more pro-active about their personal health and have annual smear tests.

She says, "There's a lot I didn't know about cervical cancer and how to protect my cervical health, which inspired me to take action and rally other young women to join the cause."