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British pop star GEORGE MICHAEL is struggling to cut down on his marijuana use, admitting it has become "a problem".
The Fast Love singer, 44, has previously denied having a drug problem, despite being twice arrested for alleged marijuana possession in 2006.
Following his most recent arrest, in October (06), he said: "That’s the second time in a year I’ve been caught with one unused spliff in the car. I had no drink or drugs in my body. I haven’t got a problem with drugs." But the former Wham! frontman has now confessed his heavy use of cannabis is becoming an issue.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs show, he says, "Absolutely I would like to take less, no question. To that degree, it’s a problem." But he also defended his habit, adding, "(But it’s) not getting in the way of my life in any way.
"I’m a happy man and I can afford my marijuana so that’s not a problem."

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Two affiliates of rapper 50 CENT and his crew G-UNIT have been arrested in a New York drugs sting.
‘Lieutenant’ Lowell Fletcher, who claims to be an honorary member of the rap collective, was taken into custody along with his pal Robert ‘Dead Eye’ Baley after a drugs bust earlier this week (ends28Sep07).
Authorities claim ringleader Baley and his Bloods gangmembers made profits of $15,000 (£7,500)-a-week, selling cocaine, heroin and marijuana to local drug dealers in the Far Rockaway area of Queens.
Inspector Robert Boyce, commanding officer of the New York Police Department gang division tells the New York Daily News, "They used the drug proceeds to fuel the gang, and he tried to be a big name in the neighbourhood. (Fletcher was) an aspiring rapper - without a contract." Baley was also involved in rapper Tony Yayo’s alleged assault of a rival label boss’ 14-year-old son earlier this year (07).

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The man who tried to extort $1 million (£500,000) from TOM CRUISE and his wife KATIE HOLMES over stolen wedding photographs has committed suicide in Phoenix, Arizona.
David Hans Schmidt, 47, was due to be sentenced on 11 October (07) for the crime after pleading guilty in August (07) to transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort.
But Lieutenant Anthony Lopez, spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department revealed on Saturday (29Sep07) that Schmidt - who was being held on house arrest until sentencing - was "found dead in his home around 3pm Friday".
Cops visited his house after noticing his ankle monitoring bracelet had not moved. Schmidt, who has been dubbed the ‘Sultan Of Sleaze’ for peddling sex tapes of Paris Hilton and Colin Farrell, is believed to have taken his own life after suffering from depression.
He faced up to two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a substantial monetary fine when he was due back in federal court.
Cruise married Holmes in November 2006 in an Italian castle in Bracciano, near Rome. The Hollywood couple sold the photo rights exclusively to three celebrity publications.

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Screen legend DAME ELIZABETH TAYLOR is planning a Hollywood comeback - she’s auditioning for a role in the remake of SUNSET BOULEVARD, according to reports.
The Oscar-winning actress, 75, is alleged to be applying for the role of faded film star Norma Desmond in the part originally made famous by Gloria Swanson in 1950.
But wheelchair-bound Taylor will be competing against Glenn Close, Meryl Streep and Barbra Streisand for the role, while producers are considering Colin Farrell for the leading man, reports British newspaper the Daily Mail.
Taylor’s last movie outing was in 1994’s The Flintstones, while she has also featured in minor roles in U.S. TV shows These Old Broads and God, the Devil and Bob.
The Cleopatra star has been confined to a wheelchair in recent years as a result of the bone condition osteoporosis and curvature of the spine.

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Rock matriarch SHARON OSBOURNE regrets having had so much plastic surgery - and has ruled out going under the knife ever again.
The 54-year-old mother of three has had work done on numerous areas of her body, including her breasts, her stomach and her legs, but insists she’s had enough.
She says, "My body’s tired. I’ve put it through too much, abused it and my body is knackered. I am content with how I look at my age and I’m really scared of ending up looking like those people whose faces are ironed and foreheads don’t move.
"I regret having my breasts done because I’m never happy with them. But the most painful was having my legs lifted. They literally cut all the way around the top of your thigh, pull up the skin like a stocking, then cut the excess away and sew it back on. When I came round I thought they’d sewn my legs together the swelling was so bad.
"So right now, I’ve really, really had it with surgery." (MT/WNTMI/LJ) WENN - FIRST - HOLLYWOOD, SHOWBIZ & PEOPLE NEWS - 30 SEPTEMBER 2007

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The BLACK EYED PEAS have helped to raise money for the poor by playing a charity concert in Mexico on Friday (28Sep07).
The My Humps hitmakers put on a show at Mexico City’s National Auditorium, where all proceeds from the gig will go to fund education for local children.
And during the concert, singer Fergie revealed to the crowd that the band held the country in a special place in their hearts.
She says, "Being in Mexico is special to all of us, being from Southern California.
"They call Will a ‘blaxican’ because he grew up with all Mexican friends and family. Taboo, of course, being of Mexican heritage. My great-grandmother is from Guanajuato (Mexico), and (Apl.de.ap) just loves the Spanish women, the Mexican women." The R&B/pop group also expressed their desires to work with Latin stars like Shakira, Mana, Alejandro Fernandez and Molotov in the near future.

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LATEST: The SMASHING PUMPKINS have passed on their condolences to the family of a fan who died at their gig in British Columbia, Canada, earlier this week (24Sep07).
Kenny Leung died on Monday while crowd surfing at the rockers’ comeback tour at the Pacific National Exhibition in Richmond. The 20-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a statement released by their publicist, the group says, "The Smashing Pumpkins were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of a young man who attended their Vancouver show Monday night. As they and everyone else await news from the investigation into the nature of his passing, the band want to express their sincerest condolences to his family and friends." An autopsy and toxicology report into Leung’s death was carried out on Thursday (27Sep07), but the results will not be known for weeks.

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Rapper KANYE WEST has continued his protest against MTV, by refusing to let the network film him conducting an interview with another TV station.
The Stronger star vowed to boycott the network after he failed to win any of the five gongs he was nominated for at the recent (Sep07) MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. West was also furious that he had been overlooked to perform on the main stage.
And he remained true to his word at a party in Los Angeles on Wednesday (26Sep07), when he denied interviews to MTV reporters.
But as the cameraman attempted to continue filming West answering questions for another journalist, the hip-hop star promptly put his hand over the lens to block their view, saying: "I have nothing against you, just your bosses."

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Canadian actress LOIS MAXWELL has died. She was 80.
The Golden Globe-winning star - famed for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies - died at the Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia, on Saturday evening (29Sep07).
Maxwell starred alongside Sir Sean Connery in Bond’s first movie Dr No, in 1962. She played the role until 1985, when she appeared in A View To A Kill with Sir Roger Moore. She last appeared on the big screen in the 2001 thriller The Fourth Angel alongside Forest Whitaker and Jeremy Irons. (LJ/WN) WENN - BREAKING NEWS - 30 SEPTEMBER 2007 ————————————————————————–

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Pop superstar CHRISTINA AGUILERA has snubbed the Hollywood party scene, opting for quiet nights in with husband JORDAN BRATMAN instead.
The Dirrty singer, 26 - who is reportedly pregnant with the couple’s first child - wants to leave behind her wildchild reputation and insists she loves nothing more than to cosy up to producer Bratman.
She says, "We still go out but I’m not into the whole Hollywood party scene.
"I know I could have gone down that route and I’m so grateful I never did. We have this new thing about staying in and being cosy. Just the two of us hanging out at home, snuggling up on the sofas."

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LATEST: U2 rocker BONO is confident the SPIDER-MAN musical he is currently working on will dazzle audiences, because it will be "something the likes of which no-one has seen or heard".
The singer is creating the Spider-Man production with his bandmate The Edge and director Julie Taymor, whose new film Across The Universe he has a cameo in.
The U2 stars and Taymor are currently hunting for a New York theatre big enough to house their project, and Bono is already warning audiences to expect the unexpected.
He says, "If we pull off what we’re trying, it will be something the likes of which no-one has seen or heard.
"It should be a hallucinogenic experience for theatregoers. You have the visual energy she (Taymor) brings. The myth of the arachnid and the elasticity of these characters - you can turn theatre upside down." And Bono and The Edge plan to bring a wide range of music to the production.
Bono adds, "We’ve got some punk rock in there and some beautiful opera."

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Actress DREW BARRYMORE has no regrets about her troublesome past - because her experience with drugs and alcohol has made her more appreciative of life.
The Charlie’s Angels star, 32, rose to Hollywood prominence in 1980 at the tender age of five, but her life soon spiralled out of control and by the time she turned 14, Barrymore had already been in rehab twice for cocaine and alcohol abuse.
But she admits her wildchild ways have made her more cautious of her current Hollywood lifestyle.
She says, "(My problems) led me to where I am. I don’t take things for granted."

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LATEST: DAVID BECKHAM’s father TED is on the road to recovery - he has regained consciousness after suffering from a heart attack earlier this week.
The 59-year-old gas fitter was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, London, on Wednesday (26Sep07) and later transferred to the London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green, where he is now said to be in a stable condition.
The LA Galaxy soccer star, 32, flew in from Los Angeles on Wednesday and was joined by his pop star wife Victoria on Friday afternoon (28Sep07).
And although Beckham Snr.’s health is gradually improving, it is not known when the celebrity couple will return to the U.S.
Beckham’s spokesman Simon Oliviera says, "It’s too early to say how long David and Victoria will be here. They will stay as long as it takes and as long Ted needs them.
"He is conscious and talking, and that’s a positive step."

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LATEST: LINDSAY LOHAN will be spending five days of "quality time" with her father MICHAEL next week (begs01Oct07) - in a secret location away from her Utah rehabilitation clinic, according to reports.
The Mean Girls actress, 21, checked into the Cirque Lodge in Utah in early August (07) to seek counselling following two drink drive charges earlier this year (07).
Her mother Dina recently insisted the star’s third stint in rehab will not be coming to an end any time soon, despite reports to the contrary, and now ex-convict Michael says he will be whisking Lindsay away as part of the rehab centre’s out-patient therapy programme.
He tells the New York Daily News, "I’m looking forward to spending the next week with her. We’ve been in constant phone contact. She’s in a great, great place now. I’ve never heard her so honest, contrite and focused.
"Lindsay is weeding out all the bad. She’s taking a step back and reevaluating her life. What she tells - her honesty and openness - has brought me to tears. It’s beyond words how proud I am of her." And Michael - who has become an ordained minister since being released from jail in March (07) - hopes his visit will encourage Lindsay to kick her drug and alcohol addictions completely, because of his own experiences with illegal substances.
A source says, "They believe Michael’s the best person for Lindsay to be with now.
"Not only is he her dad - someone with her best interests at heart - but he’s also someone who successfully turned his own life around after battling substance abuse."

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The Indian star of OWEN WILSON’s new movie insists she’ll never pick up another cigarette after chain smoking her way through the film.
Pretty Amara Karam had never smoked before landing the part of Rita in The Darjeeling Limited - and asked friends to help her master the habit, so that by the time she first met director Wes Anderson she’d be puffing like a pro.
But she hated every moment she had to put a cigarette to her lips.
She says, "As part of the audition process I made sure that I lit up at some point during the day because I wanted Wes to see me smoking because I didn’t want him not to cast me because he didn’t get that smoking vibe.
"Before, I was holding it like some kind of blowtorch that might singe somebody. I didn’t smoke and all of my friends smoke and so I developed a bit of a complex, so I practiced smoking with my friends in preparation for the film.
"I gave up as soon as I finished filming. It’s really disgusting."

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Actress JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT is convinced the set of U.S. TV show GHOST WHISPERER is haunted after she and several crew members felt a ’spirit’ tugging on their clothes.
The superstitious 28-year-old admits the idea of a ghost haunting the show’s set sounds ridiculous, but insists a phantom lurks there.
She says, "There can be energies and spirits in and around places.
"We were filming in a certain part of a lot and there was this building I was walking out of to start a scene, and there were seven crew members who went inside this building and had very strange experiences.
"One of the ladies felt her sweater being tugged and she couldn’t explain it and another guy felt somebody tugging on the bottom of his jeans, and I had the bottom of my dress tugged.
"We definitely felt like something was in there."

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HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX was the big winners at London’s National Movie Awards on Friday night (28Sep07), with the movie blockbuster taking home three gongs.
The fifth installment of the boy wizard franchise was honoured as Best Family Movie, while the film’s 18-year-old star, Daniel Radcliffe, was awarded for Best Male Performance - beating his co-star Rupert Grint.
The Best Female Performance award also went to a Harry Potter star - Emma Watson, 17, was praised for her role as Hermione Granger, taking home the gong ahead of Hollywood regulars Kirsten Dunst, Keira Knightley, Dame Judi Dench and James Bond star Eva Green.
But the latest 007 spy movie didn’t lose out completely - Casino Royale was chosen over Die Hard 4.0 (also known as Live Free Or Die Hard) and Transformers to win the award for Best Action and Adventure, and the accolade for Special Recognition.
Other winners on the night included The Simpsons Movie, which won Best Animation, and British cop comedy Hot Fuzz, which was honoured as Best Comedy.
The inaugural National Movie Awards took place at the Royal Festival Hall and was also attended by Christian Slater, Dame Helen Mirren, Jamie Foxx and Mischa Barton.

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A U.S. radio channel dedicated to BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND and its members launched on Friday (28Sep07).
Sirius Satellite station E Street Radio made its debut with a recording of a rare 1978 concert taped at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey.
The channel will continue to broadcast gigs recorded throughout the band’s 35-year career alongside interviews with Springsteen and the musicians in the E Street Band.

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