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Music producer DAVID GEST is fighting to get a return on the money he paid to ship celebrities to his 2002 wedding to LIZA MINNELLI.
Gest, who has been battling a messy divorce with the entertainer for the past three years, has filed papers in New York City asking for compensation.
In the papers, obtained by US tabloid the National Enquirer, Gest claims he spent a whopping $1.2 million (£666,600) on the nuptials, which took place at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.
He insists more than half that amount was spent on air fares for high profile guests.

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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE forgot the promise he made to Los Angeles’ police chief when he found himself scrapping with photographers early yesterday (19SEP06).
In a recent Rolling Stone article, the pop superstar admits LA’s district attorney "slapped the back of my hand" after Timberlake ’stole’ a camera during a fight with snappers who tried to take shots of him and his girlfriend CAMERON DIAZ on a night out in 2004.
But, despite a warning that he "shouldn’t retaliate with violence," Timberlake was at it again when paparazzi targeted him and Diaz early on Tuesday.
Los Angeles police officials are investigating an incident involving the celebrity couple and the paparazzi after learning that Timberlake had to be physically restrained during an altercation with a snapper.
But this time, it seems the singer had every right to lash out.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Media Relations official MARJAN MOBASSER has told US news show Extra, "Cameron was the victim of a possible assault with a deadly weapon. The deadly weapon was the car that the photographer was driving.
"Miss Diaz was under the impression that the photographer was driving towards her and had to jump out of the way."

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BRAD PITT has been tipped to reverse the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise’s struggling fortunes by replacing TOM CRUISE in the fourth installment.
Cruise, who played agent ETHAN HUNT in the action movies, was axed by Paramount Studios last month (AUG06) following MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III’s poor box office takings and his "unacceptable conduct" off screen.
Now FIGHT CLUB star Pitt is being hailed as a potential savior, despite the fact he recently voiced his aversion to superstar roles, insisting: "Being a part of an ensemble is always more fun, you don’t have to carry the film." An industry insider tells Britain’s London Lite evening newspaper, "Mission: Impossible IV will not include Tom’s character, agent Ethan Hunt.
"They’re considering a brief mention, saying Hunt retired to live a safe life with his new wife.
"They’re set on Brad taking over as a gutsy new head operative who puts together his own unique team of specialists." Studios bosses will reportedly offer over $52 million (£29 million) for Pitt to star in the film, the single biggest wage ever paid to an actor for one film.

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Actress SCARLETT JOHANSSON wishes she could step into the shoes of US President GEORGE W BUSH, because she is convinced she would get far more done than the Republican leader.
The LOST IN TRANSLATION actress, who is a staunch Democrat, admits she is no fan of how Bush is running the country and conducting foreign affairs, and is sure she would make some improvements.
She says, "Whose life would I like to step into for the day? The president’s.
"I could probably get some things done in the Oval Office."

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PIERCE BROSNAN’s son CHRIS has set up his own film company and wants to cast his father in his new movie.
Chris, 33, would be honoured to have his dad appear in his project, after he worked as second unit director on two of his dad’s JAMES BOND movies - THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and TOMORROW NEVER DIES.
He says, "My partner and I have set up a production company, Ghost Army Cinema.
"We’re finalising a script for 16 THIEVES, which is a heist movie set in London. I’m excited about it." When asked about his father, Chris replies, "He might get lucky! Actually there’s a part that I’ve earmarked for him if he’s not too busy."

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Director GEORGE LUCAS has thanked his old film tutors by awarding the university he studied at a $175 million (£93 million) cash gift.
The STAR WARS creator credits the University Of Southern California with giving him the skills he needed to become a Hollywood legend.
Now he’s repaying his mentors by funding a new state-of-the-art home for the university’s acclaimed cinema school, among other projects.
He says, "My experiences there shaped the rest of my career.
"I’m very fortunate to be in a position to combine my two passions and to be able to help USC continue molding the futures of the movie-makers of tomorrow." Lucas graduated in 1966.

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Marine explorer JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU has accused late naturalist STEVE IRWIN of "interfering" with animals - insisting the tragic star would still be alive today if he had been more restrained.
Cousteau, who is promoting his new two-part TV special, JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU: OCEAN ADVENTURES - AMERICA’S UNDERWATER TREASURES, insists he respects the CROCODILE HUNTER star, who died on 4 September (06) after being speared through the heart by a stingray.
But he has reservations about Irwin’s rough treatment of nature, admitting that, while it makes for good television, it is not the most respectful approach.
He says Irwin would "interfere with nature, jump on animals, grab them, hold them, and have this very, very spectacular, dramatic way of presenting things.
"Of course, it goes very well on television. It sells, it appeals to a lot people, but I think it’s very misleading.
"You don’t touch nature, you just look at it. And that’s why I’m still alive.
I’ve been diving for over 61 years - many more years that he was alive - and I don’t mess with nature."

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DAVID HASSELHOFF claims veteran actor CLINT EASTWOOD has had cosmetic surgery on his face.
The former BAYWATCH admits he has had botox injections, and implies MILLION DOLLAR BABY actor/director Eastwood has as well.
He says, "I have had botox. Everyone has. I like how Clint Eastwood looks. He waited until he was 75."

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Film-maker PETER JACKSON faces a tough decision before producing the remake of World War Two classic THE DAM BUSTERS, because the word n**ger is central to the movie’s plot.
Dam Busters Squadron Leader GUY GIBSON’s real-life dog was called N**GER and features poignantly in the original movie, and it was also used as a code word during the daring 1943 bomber raid on Germany.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS director insists he will be criticised if he changes the word to something more acceptable, and will also come under fire if he stays true to MICHAEL ANDERSON’s 1954 original.
He says, "It’s a situation where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
"If you go one way, people are going to say we’ve sold out to political correctness. If you go the other way then you’re obviously going to be inadvertently offending people. So it’s a no-win scenario.
"At some point we’ll have to make the decision and whenever that happens we’ll just see how we feel at the time." The remake, which will be directed by first-time director CHRISTIAN RIVERS, will feature information which was still classified when the original film was shot.

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SCARLETT JOHANSSON is the happiest she’s ever been since falling for her THE BLACK DAHLIA co-star JOSH HARTNETT.
Johansson, 21 and Hartnett, 28, began dating while shooting the 1940s murder mystery in Hungary, and she’s convinced she’s found her soul mate.
She says, "If you’re in a supportive and loving relationship, well, there’s nothing like it! "It’s a real blessing knowing there is somebody who is there for you, somebody with whom you can share the stories of your day, and who is sympathetic to what you’re going through.
"Josh and I have the same attitude to our careers. Josh is a great actor even before I knew him as a person, I admired him as an actor.
"He’s serious about his work, dedicated and very focused."

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British rocker STING is making his name as a movie mogul, after teaming up with his producer wife TRUDIE STYLER to make A GUIDE TO RECOGNISING YOUR SAINTS.
The former POLICE frontman admits his days of appearing on screen are behind him, but he happily snapped up the chance to be executive producer alongside Styler on the New York City-based film, which stars ROBERT DOWNEY JR and ROSARIO DAWSON.
Sting - who has appeared in movies QUADROPHENIA and LOCK STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS - says, "Trudie brought the script into the house, written by this boy from Queens.
"It seemed like a very authentic script and a very authentic voice and five years later we made a very authentic movie and I’m very proud of it." A Guide To Recognising Your Saints premiered in New York City last night (19SEP06).

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American rockers MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE have a surprise for fans on their new album - a cameo from LIZA MINNELLI.
Minnelli agreed to lend her vocals to the track MAMA on LP THE BLACK PARADE for free.
Frontman GERARD WAY explains, "My grandmother was a big Liza Minnelli fan. We needed someone that had a lot of character, someone that was very strong, sorrowful.
"So we put a call in and she did it for free. She was so sweet and just nailed it right away. We never actually met, she was in New York, we were in LA, and we were just talking through this mixing board."

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THE EDGE insists U2 have enjoyed such longevity in the music industry because the four bandmembers compliment each other perfectly.
The guitarist, real name DAVID EVANS, believes the band’s winning combination of ambition, soul, creativity and caution have steered them along the right path since their formation in Ireland in 1975.
He says, "The chemistry of the personalities is a big factor.
"BONO is chairman and founding member of Over-Achievers Anonymous. He has an irrepressible drive to be great. He wants to achieve it all, which actually makes him very vulnerable.
"I am driven in different ways. I might have to take the 12 steps to Workaholics Anonymous. I have a curiosity that compels me to find ways to make music that are fresh and new.
"ADAM (CLAYTON) and LARRY (MULLEN JR) are the counterparts to Bono and myself. Adam has incredible soul, the unlikely conscience of the band.
"Larry is the nuts and bolts, a practical, solid and deeply cautious person who is always going to rein us in when we get too excited.
"We grew up together, we learned how to play music together. In many respects the way we think is almost telepathic."

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Late THE WHO rocker JOHN ENTWISTLE died because he continued living "high" into middle age, according to his surviving bandmate PETE TOWNSHEND.
Townshend claims he and frontman ROGER DALTREY found it impossible to curb Entwistle’s appetite for partying and drugs, because the bassist insisted he would prefer to die than give up his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.
Townshend says, "What happened with John was that he got used to living high, and his money supply was cut off.
"In the end, when Roger came to me and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got to help John, let’s try to train him to live less high,’ we couldn’t do that.
"And as we trained him to live less high, he died. He didn’t want to live less high. he preferred to be dead, in a sense." Entwistle died in June 2002 from a heart attack after taking cocaine in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Hip-hop star MYA strongly denies claims she dated 50 CENT, and even hints the IN DA CLUB rapper may be gay.
Mya jokingly claims the rapper has simply mixed her up with his G-UNIT cohort LLOYD BANKS, reports the New York Daily News. She says, "50 and I never dated… despite what he chooses to believe in his own mind.
"I don’t know how he would get Lloyd Banks confused with me."

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Hip-hop superstar EMINEM has further rubbished retirement rumours with the news he is working on a new D-12 album, which will include tracks recorded with slain bandmember PROOF.
The STAN hitmaker fuelled rumours he was set to step behind the scenes when he pulled out of his European tour with 50 CENT last year (05) and subsequently went into rehab to treat an addiction to prescription medication.
And the murder of Eminem’s best friend Proof in a nightclub in their hometown of Detroit, Michigan, in April (06) was thought to have further distanced him from the hip-hop scene.
But he says, "The D-12 album and those unreleased songs with Proof are coming."

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TRAVIS BARKER has launched a scathing attack on his former BLINK-182 bandmember TOM DeLONGE and record company bosses on his upcoming album.
The punk rock outfit announced an indefinite hiatus last year (05) with DeLonge confirming new project ANGELS AND AIRWAVES two weeks later.
But Barker - who has since formed a band with Blink-182’s MARK HOPPUS - is convinced the break-up was part of a record company plot and rants about the experience on +44’s new song NO IT ISN’T.
He tells MTV, "That song is absolutely about the end of Blink-182. It was a classic case of something bad happening and everyone around you not telling you what the deal was.
"Like the owner of your record label telling you, ‘Oh, everything is going to be fine. Any press you do, Travis, make sure you say everything is cool!’ And it turns out the same dude is part of the conspiracy of Tom quitting Blink.
"The only reason we were being cool and calling it an ‘indefinite hiatus’ is because that’s what this dork at the head of our record label was telling us.
So that’s when you find out that everyone was conspiring against you. That makes you go, ‘F**k you.’ Here’s a song about the real deal.’"

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The fight leading up to D-12 member PROOF’s murder was scrutinised on the opening day of his killer MARIO ETHERIDGE’s trial yesterday (19SEP06).
The hip-hop star was shot dead in April (06) after an altercation with Etheridge’s cousin KEITH BENDER at an after-hours club on Detroit, Michigan’s famed Eight Mile Road escalated.
Proof - real name DESHAUN HOLTON - shot and mortally wounded bouncer Bender before Etheridge fatally opened fire on the rapper in what he claims was self-defence.
Etheridge has escaped murder charges but stands accused of illegally firing a weapon in an occupied building and carrying a concealed weapon.
Michigan’s Wayne Circuit Court yesterday heard the rapper did not reach for his weapon until Etheridge let off warning shots into the ceiling of the CCC Club to end the confrontation.
But prosecutor ELIZABETH WALKER insists his actions fuelled the fight, arguing, "That was the first display, the first use, the first time anyone knew about a weapon." Etheridge’s attorney, RANDALL UPSHAW, retorted his client wasn’t aggressive until Proof shot his cousin.
If convicted on both charges, Etheridge could face up to nine years in prison, according to AllHipHop.com.

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