PR-Inside.com Entertainment News

Australian tennis ace LLEYTON HEWITT has become a father for the second time his actress wife has given birth to a baby boy named CRUZ.
Hewitt and his wife Bec - a former star of Australian soap opera Home and Away - welcomed the tot on Thursday (11Dec08).
The sports star confirmed the news on his official website: "All are doing well and are very excited about the new addition to the family." The couple already has a daughter Mia, three. They married in 2005 after an eight-week courtship.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

A jury in Los Angeles has ruled in favour of blocking the sale of two Oscars awarded to silent movie legend MARY PICKFORD.
Three female heirs, descended from a woman who married Pickford’s third husband, Buddy Rogers, wanted to auction the star’s two coveted statuettes, including the Best Actress Academy Award, which she scooped for 1929 movie Coquette in her first speaking role.
The trio also wanted to sell an honourary Academy Award handed to Rogers in 1986 for his humanitarian work.
The unnamed sellers hoped to raise money for charity from the sale - but Academy bosses argued that Pickford signed an agreement in the 1970s barring the trophies’ sale.
In the 1950s, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences implemented a rule against selling Oscars in a bid to preserve the awards’ unique value.
According to the agreement signed by Pickford, the academy has the right to buy back Oscars for up to $10 (£6.80) before any statuette can be sold.
And a jury in L.A. decided on Monday (15Dec08) that the current owners of the statuettes are bound by the agreement.
The ruling paves the way for a judge to officially block the sale in a hearing due to take place next week (beg22Dec08).

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Former GREY’S ANATOMY star ISAIAH WASHINGTON has become an official citizen of Sierra Leone.
The actor was born in Houston, Texas, but has spent several months working with Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma in a bid to secure dual-nationality and celebrate his family’s links to the African country.
President Koroma agreed to grant Washington full citizenship and hand him an official Sierra Leone passport in September (08).
The process has now been finalised and Washington is delighted to have achieved his goal.
He says in a statement to PerezHilton.com, "(I am) completely numb yet elated. I am at a lost (sic) for words. I am now a citizen of Sierra Leone. I need to send two photos for the Sierra Leone Passport that awaits me in Freetown. President Koroma now goes down in history as the ‘first’ African President to issue an African-American full citizenship based on DNA. Congrats to all who have been on this historical journey with me. Mission Accomplished.
That said, I’m so moved right now that I am literally wiped out with the gravity of this new reality. Going home to celebrate with my ‘dual citizenship’ with my family."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Country star TIM McGRAW has laughed off rumours he is set to run for governor of Tennessee in 2010 - insisting it is too early for him to become a politician.
The rocker was at the centre of growing speculation he was to put his music career on hold in a year’s time and join the race to become Governor after recently announcing he would love to try his hand at politics.
But McGraw is adamant that although he would consider running for office in the future, he has a lot to learn before he can make a serious bid for the job.
A representative for the star tells People.com, "There’s no truth to this.
It’s something he is interested in, but not for 2010. Later in life."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Scottish rockers THE VIEW have apologised to a fan after frontman KYLE FALCONER broke his nose during a stage dive.
Falconer launched himself into the audience during a performance at Glasgow, Scotland’s, Barrowland venue last month (28Nov08).
The unnamed man was injured during the singer’s crowd-surfing antics, and the band was keen to find him afterwards and make amends.
The View’s sound engineer, Davey Dial Up, says, "Kyle broke a guy’s nose on his crash landing into the pit. The management tracked the guy down and Kyle organised to get him a pass and invited him backstage for a beer."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Veteran singer PAUL ANKA has denied he is set to divorce his wife of less than a year following her recent arrest for felony domestic battery.
Anna Yeager - who wed the star this summer (08) - was detained by police on 28 November (08) after she allegedly threw a piece of ice at her husband’s head during a heated row.
Anka needed medical attention following the incident and Yeager was booked for domestic battery
. No charges were subsequently filed.
The singer now claims the row was "just a little fight" and insists they have not split up.
He tells New York gossip column PageSix, "We have no problems
. We had a little fight
. There’s no divorce, we’re getting along, making love, we’re singing, were happily planning Christmas." And the 67-year-old admits he is now able to laugh about the row, adding: "She has very good aim, I think." The couple, which met when Swedish-born Yeager became Anka’s personal trainer, has been together for four years.
They have a three-year-old son, Ethan
.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

NINE INCH NAILS star ALESSANDRO CORTINI has announced his decision to quit the band - leaving the rockers to tour as a four-piece.
The keyboardist - who joined the Hurt hitmakers in 2005 - has confirmed his departure, announcing he will not join his bandmates on their upcoming trek across Australia in January (09). The live dates will go ahead without him.
It’s a second blow for the band - fronted by Trent Reznor - after losing drummer Josh Freeze this month (Dec08). The percussionist quit to spend more time with his pregnant girlfriend and played his last date with the group on Saturday (13Dec08) night.
Cortini’s statement reads, "It’s been exactly four years since I joined Nine Inch Nails and the time has come for me to move onto new things. I feel a need to explore other paths in music and life which leads me to leave the tour at this stage. I am grateful of the chance I was given: it doesn’t happen every day to be able to work next to some of the most talented people on this planet.
Trent and Co. have been aware of this decision of mine for a while now and are prepared to take the band to the next step." Nine Inch Nails announced last week (beg08Dec08) they plan to take a hiatus from the music scene after their world tour wraps up in February 2009.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

KATY PERRY is reportedly engaged to her longterm boyfriend TRAVIS McCOY after the GYM CLASS HEROES frontman proposed in Paris, France.
McCoy, who has been dating the singer since last year (07), is said to have popped the question during a recent romantic break to the French capital by kissing the star with a diamond ring in his mouth, according to the New York Daily News.
Perry received a yellow diamond promise ring from her partner this summer (08) and was subsequently forced to deny engagement rumours after she was spotted wearing the gem.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

An AMERICAN IDOL producer has denied reports PAULA ABDUL is set to leave the hit reality show, insisting she is an "integral part" of the singing contest.
Abdul has been mired in controversy after a crazed fan committed suicide outside her California home last month (Nov08).
She claimed producers failed to keep Paula Goodspeed away and let her audition on three separate occasions, knowing she had stalked the star for 17 years.
Bosses denied knowing Godspeed was a threat and rumours surfaced that Abdul would be leaving the hit show.
But producer Ken Warwick has flatly denied the reports, insisting the judge is "worth her weight in gold".
He tells People.com, “America loves Paula. She’s an integral part of this programme.
“There’s never been any discussion that we would want to get rid of Paula, Never have I been faced with anyone saying Paula’s got to go. She’s one of the foundation blocks of this series. She keeps Simon well in control, which is worth its weight in gold.” And Warwick is adamant he had no idea Goodspeed had a problem with Abdul and if he had he would not have let her come face-to-face with the judge.
He adds, “I was in the room there and I can absolutely put my hand on my heart and say I didn’t know. I didn’t even know that this person was a risk or termed as a stalker. I knew she was a fan, an ardent fan. But that’s the only thing that came in front of me.
“I would definitely not put a dangerous person or a person remotely dangerous in front of the judges. You wouldn’t take that risk.” He admits Abdul “may have mentioned it to a security man or another junior producer.” But, “if the inference is that I would put someone in there because it would make good television…she certainly didn’t mention it to me. She certainly didn’t mention it to anybody with clout."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Rap superstar SNOOP DOGG is hoping to raise money for charity by putting his garden shed up for sale.
The Drop it Like it’s Hot hitmaker is selling the treasured outbuilding, where he has written many hit songs, on auction website eBay, with the proceeds going to Snoop’s Youth Football League.
He tells E! News, "I’ve had this shed since the turn of the century. I’ve beaten over 1,000 people in Madden in it, watched football game tapes, seen the Lakers win championships, and, most of all, written hits in it." And the shed is personally signed by the man himself for the winning bidder, for whom he has this message: "Enjoy it. And let the legend live on, ya dig?!" (CL/WNWE/LR) WENN - SECOND - HOLLYWOOD, SHOWBIZ & PEOPLE NEWS - 16 DECEMBER 2008

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Actress NAOMI WATTS and actor husband LIVE SCHREIBER have named their second child SAMUEL.
Watts, 40 and Schreiber, 41 welcomed their second son, who weighed in at seven pounds 13 ounces (3.24 kilograms) in New York on Saturday (13Dec08).
And now the proud parents have announced their new tot has been called Samuel Kai Schreiber.
A spokesperson for the couple tells People.com, "Both mom and baby are doing great." The tot is a little brother for Alexander, who was born in Los Angeles in 2007.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Hollywood private detective ANTHONY PELLICANO has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for his part in the wiretapping scheme involving the ex-wife of MGM studios mogul KIRK KERKORIAN.
Pellicano and revered Hollywood lawyer Terry Christensen were both convicted of breaking the law to get their high-profile clients information they needed for legal assaults.
The detective was convicted of wiretapping and Christensen was found guilty of aiding and abetting a wiretap in August (08). Christensen was sentenced to three years in jail last month (Nov08) for conspiring to record the phone conversations of billionaire investor Kerkorian’s ex-wife, Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, in an effort to disprove her claims that the businessman was the father of her daughter.
Pellicano was sentenced in Los Angles on Monday (15Dec08) and, along with two of his co-defendants, ordered to pay $2 million (£1.3 million).
Comedian Chris Rock and top Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz were among those who testified at the Pellicano trial, which began in February (08).
Both admitted to hiring the private detective but insisted they had no idea about his illegal practices.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

SOPRANOS actor LILLO BRANCATO JR. has taken the stand in his murder trial, and denied knowing his accomplice, who shot an off-duty policeman during an apartment raid, was armed with a gun.
Officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot dead by Brancato’s friend Steven Armento when he disturbed the pair allegedly breaking into his neighbour’s Bronx, New York home on 10 December 2005.
Armento was convicted at an earlier trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Brancato - who was shot and wounded by Enchautegui - is charged with second-degree murder, but is attempting to escape a guilty verdict by challenging police claims he was committing a burglary at the time of the shooting.
The star faced questioning for the first time in the murder trial on Monday (15Dec08) and described the night the murder took place.
Brancato claims he had known the owner of the house for several years and had permission to go inside and take painkillers and other pills - but didn’t know the man had died earlier that year.
He said the pills were part of a drug problem that began when he was "introduced to marijuana" on the set of 1993 movie A Bronx Tale and he later became hooked on crack and heroin.
He told the jury that while suffering from judgment-impairing heroin withdrawals on the night of the shooting, he accidentally broke the kitchen window of the apartment in a desperate attempt to wake up his old pill-supplier He says,."I was becoming dope sick. Mentally, I was a mess." Brancato and Armento left the house to try to get drugs from a dealer but later returned, which is when they came face-to-face with the officer: "I heard someone say, ‘Don’t move.’ I turned around quickly and I was shot twice." The actor said he ran away, not knowing he’d been shot by a police officer.
When uniformed officers stopped him, he lifted up his shirt to show them he was wounded and said, "Please help me. I don’t want to die." Anticipating a backlash against his testimony, Brancato’s attorney Joseph Tacopina asked "Is this a role you’re playing today?", to which he replied, "Absolutely not." The trial continues.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

ANNE HATHAWAY’s incarcerated ex-boyfriend RAFFAELLO FOLLIERI has admitted owing more than $3.6 million (£2.4 million) which he scammed during his fraud and money laundering spree.
The 30-year-old Italian was sentenced to a four-and-a-half year prison spell after pleading guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering earlier this year (Oct08).
In legal papers filed in New York on Monday (15Dec08), prosecutors said Follieri has agreed to pay restitution of $2 million (£1.3 million) to the Toronto-based company Dundee Realty Corp.
Follieri will also pay $813,000 (£542,000) to Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund and $40,000 (£26,666) to an Atlantic City monsignor.
Follieri was arrested back in June (08) - two weeks after the actress ended their four-year romance - and accused of posing as the Vatican’s representative in America while duping investors into believing the church would sell property at a discount. Follieri admitted all the charges against him.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Veteran actor PETER FALK’s daughter has filed papers stating her father is no longer able to run his own life, due to deteriorating health, insisting he needs to be placed under a conservatorship order to protect him.
The former Columbo star, 81, suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, according to papers filed by Catherine Falk at Los Angeles County Superior Court.
She claims her father "requires full-time custodial care for his health and safety." The documents further state Catherine is worried her father "can easily be deceived into transferring away property" and believes a conservatorship will protect Peter from "fraud or undue influence." A hearing on the issue is set for next month (Jan09), reports TMZ.com.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

DENNIS QUAID has been awarded $750,000 (£500,000) after a Los Angeles’ hospital blunder left his twin babies fighting for their lives last year (07).
The actor and his wife Kimberley reached the settlement against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the accidental overdose of newborns Thomas and Zoe, who were mistakenly given a near-fatal amount of blood thinning drug Heparin and spent days battling for their lives.
The twins have since recovered and are in good health, but Quaid insists the mishap could have been avoided if there was a better system of marking medicines.
California regulators fined hospital bosses $25,000 (£16,666) after concluding the failure of staff at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to follow their own procedures resulted in incorrect doses of the drug being administered to Quaid’s infants and other children.
Papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday (15Dec08) state: "The settlement is the result of extensive negotiations between the parties and their respective legal representatives, and is intended to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of litigation." The monetary settlement is subject to court approval.
Quaid and his wife have also filed a lawsuit against Heparin’s drug maker, accusing it of negligence in packaging adult and paediatric doses in similar vials. The settlement with Cedars does not affect that lawsuit.
An attorney for Quaid declined to comment, reports People.com.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

FALL OUT BOY performed an impromptu gig to showcase their new album - but ineffective paperwork meant the band were forbidden from playing their instruments.
The rockers were in Washington Square Park in New York on Monday (15Dec08) to film a jam session in front of a small crowd.
However, a blunder with the administration meant they had to play without using their equipment.
But the group soldiered on - and played the set acapella, according to PerezHilton.com.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

British band TAKE THAT are determined to stay around as long as the ROLLING STONES, according to singer HOWARD DONALD.
Donald, along with Mark Owen, Gary Barlow and Jason Orange, reformed the band for a hugely successful comeback in 2006 after enjoying chart success in the 1990s.
And Donald is convinced the band have enough longevity to rival the Can’t Get No Satisfaction hitmakers.
He tells Britain’s Star magazine, "(We’ll) Probably (be around) as long as the Rolling Stones. To knock Take That off the top this time is going to take a very special band."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)