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Singer CHRIS BROWN can repair the damage caused to his career by his fight with ex-girlfriend RIHANNA, just like basketball star KOBE BRYANT bounced back after his 2003 sexual assault scandal, according to marketing mogul STEVE STOUTE.
The Kiss Kiss hitmaker is facing almost five years in jail in relation to an 8 February (09) incident which reportedly left Rihanna battered and bruised.
Brown’s career has taken a knock since the headline-grabbing altercation, with bosses at gum firm Wrigleys and America’s National Dairy Council pulling promotional campaigns featuring the star, while executives at several radio stations have removed his songs from their playlists after receiving complaints from listeners.
But entertainment marketing titan Stoute, who was instrumental in landing Brown the Wrigley’s deal, insists he can salvage his tattered career and be just as successful as Bryant.
The Los Angeles Lakers star hit the headlines in 2003 when a Colorado hotel employee accused him of sexually assaulting her. Bryant maintained his innocence and the charges were later dropped after his accuser refused to testify in court.
Bryant has since overcome the allegations and regained his star status - and Stout is adamant Brown can do the same, as long as he can win back public support.
He tells MSNBC, "We’ve seen brands move past this before, and we’ve seen celebrities move past this. We’ve seen Kobe Bryant go through what he went through, and all of a sudden he’s back in graces with Nike, he has Vitamin Water deals and he’s the MVP of the league… So it’s all public opinion. Public opinion ultimately does control how these things work out." Brown is due to be arraigned on 6 April (09) on felony counts of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats.

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BRUCE WILLIS and his new model wife EMMA HEMING have made their union official - they have enjoyed a second marriage ceremony in Beverly Hills to make their previous nuptials legal in the U.S.
The couple exchanged vows at the Die Hard actor’s home on Parrot Cay, in the Turks and Caicos Islands last Saturday (21Mar09), with guests including Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher.
And on their return home to Los Angeles from their idyllic honeymoon, the pair committed to each other all over again with a civil ceremony held at a pal’s house in Hollywood on Friday (27Mar09).
Willis’ representative, Pal Bloch, tells People.com, "They could not be happier." The pair has been dating since 2008. It is Willis’ second marriage and Heming’s first.

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MADONNA is facing strong opposition over her bid to adopt a girl from Malawi - a leading childrens’ charity and the tot’s grandmother have condemned the singer’s plans to take home orphan MERCY JAMES.
The pop superstar has confirmed she will file adoption papers in a Malawi court next week (begs30Mar09) to legally adopt the four-year-old.
Mercy James has reportedly been removed from an orphanage and is in the care of a nanny at Kumbali Lodge, outside Lilongwe, where the singer has stayed on previous visits.
But Madonna has come under scrutiny from bosses at U.K.-based charity Save The Children, who claim it is best for a child to stay in their homeland surrounded by their extended family.
A representative for the charity says, "For the most part so-called orphans in poor countries tend to have family still available to them, if not actually a parent still living.
"It is vital, we say, that children should not be taken abroad to be looked after but should be cared for in their own environment by their own community, ideally by their own family, particularly their extended family.
"You cannot literally take every poor child who may only have one parent living, or no parent living, across the world and transport them all into Kensington in London. It’s not a solution." The charity’s appeal to the star comes on the same day the child’s grandmother has hit out at Madonna for her bid to adopt Mercy James - accusing her of "stealing" the youngster from her biological family.
Lucy Chekechiwa, 61, tells Britain’s The Sun newspaper, "Why doesn’t this singer pick other children? It is stealing. I want to go to court, I won’t let her go." Chekechiwa insists the child is supposed to return to her care when she turns six, and that orphanage officials have reneged on their "initial agreement".
She adds, "They told me when I visited her last month that they want to find a better education and home for Mercy. But I am sticking to the initial agreement that Mercy will return home to me after she reaches six years old." The controversy mirrors the furore which surrounded Madonna’s adoption of David Banda in 2006 - with some accusing the Malawian government of side-stepping the country’s adoption laws because of the singer’s fame and wealth. The adoption was subsequently finalised last year (08) following two years of legal wrangling.

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Teenage opera singer FARYL SMITH has made history in her native Britain by scoring the fastest-selling classical debut album ever.
The 13 year old, who shot to fame after winning talent show Britain’s Got Talent, has broken records set by Charlotte Church by sailing to the top of the U.K. classical charts with her first album Faryl.
The record has become the fastest debut by a classical artist to reach gold status.
The singer has also been dubbed the England rugby team’s lucky mascot after performing the National Anthem before the team’s surprise victory in the Six Nations Tournament against France last Saturday (21Mar09).

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Punk icon JOHN LYDON used to sell drugs at HAWKWIND concerts.
Former band member Lemmy, who now fronts hard rockers Motorhead, didn’t have a clue who the Sex Pistols star was when he confronted him at a punk gig in 1977.
Lemmy tells Spin magazine, "I was standing at the bar, and this bush behind me said, ‘I used to sell acid at all-night shows…’ and I turned round and it was Johnny Rotten.
"I remembered him - he used to have long hair, with pockets full of drugs."

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A judge has dismissed charges against Grammy-nominated singer WAYNA after she was arrested for attempting to board a plane at a Houston, Texas airport with a collapsible police baton.
The Ethiopian-American singer, real name Woyneab Miraf Wondwossen, was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon on Wednesday (25Mar09) following the discovery of the offending item.
The 24-inch (61 centimetre) baton was found in Wondwossen’s carry-on bag by Bush International Airport officials at a security checkpoint.
She was transported to a Houston jail and later freed after posting a $5,000 (£3,425) bond.
But the charge was subsequently dropped by a Houston, Texas judge after Wayna and her legal team successfully argued that the baton was merely a prop used during her live performances.
The 35-year-old uses the weapon to perform a song called Billy Club from her 2008 album Higher Ground, about police abuse.
And the singer has thanked prosecutors for realising she made an honest mistake.
She writes in a statement, "The senior prosecutor recognised the case for what it was: an honest mistake that did not rise to the level of a criminal offence.
"Based on the facts, that was undoubtedly the correct decision, and we are thankful for that decision.
"Obviously, the past 48 hours have been life-altering. I’m incredibly relieved and grateful that it’s over and that justice prevailed."

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KATHERINE HEIGL has no idea what lies ahead for her on hit U.S. TV show GREY’S ANATOMY - because no one will tell her what is planned for her character.
The actress has been at the centre of long-running rumours she is set to quit the popular medical series to concentrate on her movie career.
Her co-star James Pickens Jr. even stated that Heigl and fellow castmember T.R. Knight had quit. It was later denied by series creator Shonda Rhimes who insisted Pickens Jr’s comments had been misconstrued.
And Heigl is adamant she is committed to staying involved with the show - even if she doesn’t know how long her character, Dr. Izzie Stevens, will last.
She says "I don’t know if I live or die. I don’t know how Izzie fares. I was assuming that at one point and I got a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head, so I don’t know if that’s a yes or a no.
"No one will tell me and I don’t know how this is going to go."

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GEOFFREY RUSH is the toast of the New York theatre world - his Broadway debut in EUGENE IONESCO’s EXIT THE KING has been lauded by critics - with the Australian actor outshining his co-star SUSAN SARANDON.
The Oscar-winner made his first Broadway bow on Friday (27Mar09) night in the play he originally starred in at the Malthouse Theater in Victoria, Australia.
And the press audience was delighted with his portrayal of a 400-year-old king who is facing death - with a critic from The New York Times describing Rush’s performance as a "knockout" and The Daily News branding the 57-year-old an "ace on stage".
But Rush’s co-star, Susan Sarandon, who made her first Broadway appearance since 1972 as The King’s wife, received less-kindly reviews.
The New York Post theatre critic states Sarandon "barks out her lines as if unsure where she’s meant to be authoritative or just in a bad mood", describing her overall performance as "problematic".
Another expert from The Daily News claims the actress’ big screen appeal doesn’t transfer to her stage work, saying "she emerges far less colourful on stage, from her voice to her body language."

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BROOKE SHIELDS is available for work - her U.S. TV show LIPSTICK JUNGLE has been scrapped.
Rumours that the show, touted as a replacement for hit series Sex And The City, was set to be cancelled from NBC’s schedule began to circulate in December (08).
Shields, who played film executive Wendy Healy in the series, vehemently denied the rumours, insisting she believed the project would last.
But the star has confirmed to E! Online that the show has been dropped after just two seasons.
She tells the news show, "It was going to stay and we just were officially told it’s finally not coming back.
"It’s very sad. I think a lot of people were really sad, but I think we hung on a really long time. It was three great years that we’ve been working on it." The show, which co-starred Kim Raver and Lindsay Price, focused on the busy lives of three successful women balancing their high-flying careers and personal lives in New York City.

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Bereaved actress VANESSA REDGRAVE has pushed back a planned appearance in a charity theatre show following the death of her daughter NATASHA RICHARDSON.
The acting great was scheduled to star in a performance of The Year of Magical Thinking at New York’s Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on 27 April (09) to raise funds for UNICEF and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The money is expected to help children effected by warfare in Gaza and southern Israel.
But a spokesman for the Cathedral has confirmed the event has been delayed until 26 October (09).
Redgrave’s actress daughter Natasha Richardson passed away last Wednesday (18Mar09) after suffering a traumatic brain injury on the slopes of Mont Tremblant in Montreal, Canada two days previously.

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BRITNEY SPEARS’ father has forced the closure of one of the pop superstar’s top fansites - because it keeps breaching copyright rules by posting unauthorised photos, lyrics and videos online.
Jordan Miller, the owner of BreatheHeavy.com, has been told to shut down his site after Jamie Spears took legal action against him.
In a message to fans on the site’s front page on Friday (27Mar09), Miller wrote, "I have been battling the conservatorship Britney is currently placed under for months now.
"When I did not conform to the requests and demands Britneyâ��s management and father, Jamie Spears, recently put upon BreatheHeavy to stay quiet, they in turn became angry and malicious, launching, what I feel is an unjust attack, against me and my website." Jamie Spears’ lawyers demanded Miller’s Los Angeles-based site be shut down by 3pm local time - or face legal repercussions.
Miller also wrote that one of Spears’ lawyers told him "you are an uber fan whoâ��s gone a little too far." He signs off with, "This conservatorship Britney is placed under, which controls every aspect of her life, is now clenching the future of her biggest fansite." Miller is asking fans to donate funds so he can fight the legal action.
If the site remains, Spears’ legal team says it will pursue damages against Miller.

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RUSSELL CROWE has hacked off the hair he was growing to play ROBIN HOOD - because he decided his medieval hero wouldn’t look like a rocker.
The New Zealand-born star admits he has been working around his new look for his past two films - and then simply decided to play Robin as a cropped hair hero.
He says, "I just got sick of it. I made two movies working around the length of the hair - just for Robin Hood - and then, once we finally got the green light, and I knew that I had to click into the work-outs seriously, it didn’t suit any more." And, unlike previous movie Robin Hoods, Crowe won’t be wearing tights: "Basically, the period we’re dealing with is 1198 to 1202 and tights weren’t invented for another 400 years.
"I do have a pretty nice, snazzy pair of leather pants with a rather large cod piece."

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PARIS HILTON was left scared and in tears as she watched her boyfriend, DOUG REINHARDT, take a beating in a Miami, Florida club on Thursday night (26Mar09).
The socialite/actress has now explained what happened after a DJ took offence when she asked him to change the techno music he was playing at the posh Fontainebleau hotel nightclub.
Writing on her official blog on Friday (27Mar09), Hilton revealed Reinhardt was left bloodied as six security guards set about him after he stepped in to protect his girlfriend when she was pushed away from the DJ by one of his entourage.
She writes, "All hell broke loose, it was like something out of a fight movie, it was so frightening. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Doug was fighting off like 6 guys. But he was of course stronger than them all, but one of the idiots punched him in the face and busted open his lip. There was blood all over.
"I cried. I was so upset and scared. It was ridiculous and for such a stupid reason, I cannot believe people behave this way, like ainmals (sic)!" She tells fans, "FYI this is not in my nature to be in club brawls, I’ve never been around anything like that. It was totally unprovoked and thank God Doug was there to rescue me."

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MADONNA’s adopted son DAVID is set for a hero’s welcome in Malawi this weekend (28-29Mar09) when he returns to his father’s village for the first time since his mum rescued him from an orphanage.
Madonna is returning to Africa to complete the adoption of a baby girl and she is also expected to use the trip as an opportunity to reunite her first adopted child with his biological father Yohane Banda.
Banda tells In Touch magazine, "I am excited to get reunited with my son after three years." He tells the publication there will be a huge village party when he arrives.
Madonna also plans to revisit the orphanage, where she first met David, and the child carers there can’t wait.
Lucy Chipeta, the director of Home of Hope Orphanage, tells the magazine, "All the children are happy to be reunited with David. We have planned a special welcoming party for him. We will take him back to his crib and reunite him with the nanny who was looking after him." Madonna is scheduled to appear before a High Court judge in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, on 30 March (09) to process the adoption of a four-year-old girl, called Mercy James. The child was reportedly removed from her orphanage near Blantyre, Malawi earlier this week (begs23Mon09) and subsequently placed under a nanny’s care at Kumbali Lodge, outside Lilongwe, where the singer has stayed on previous visits.

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Pop star ASHLEE SIMPSON-WENTZ and her rocker husband PETE WENTZ dismissed reports of marital problems at the MTV Australia Awards in Sydney on Friday night (27Mar09) by puckering up for an onstage kiss.
New mum Ashlee made a surprise appearance onstage at the awards show and urged the crowd to "grab the person next to you" before planting a lengthy smooch on her husband’s lips.
Fall Out Boy star Wentz eventually broke away from the clinch and told the audience, "Sorry, we haven’t seen each other in a while. We’re going to go and find some quiet time and fornicate somewhere." The couple will celebrate its first wedding anniversary in May (09).
The night only got better for Wentz when his band claimed the Best Rock Video prize for their promo I Don’t Care.
Pop star Pink claimed the Best Video award for her smash hit So What, while Katy Perry was named Breakthrough Artist.
Britney Spears’ comeback has proved a hit with fans Down Under too - she won the Best Moves accolade for her energetic dance routines, while former Australian Idol Jessica Mauboy picked up the award for Favourite Aussie, and local rockers Sneaky Sound System took home the Independent Spirit award.
The ceremony, opened by The Killers, also saw performances by Kaiser Chiefs and The Fray, as well as a surprise set by 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice, who wowed crowds with his 1990 hit Ice Ice Baby.

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SHARON OSBOURNE’s dog love is getting out of control - the rock matriarch now owns 18 pooches.
And the constant yapping and dog poop is stressing rocker husband Ozzy out.
He claims his wife picks dogs up from the local pound in Los Angeles whenever she’s in the neighbourhood.
He says, "I’ve got 18 dogs now… We get them from the pound now. When I get home it’s like I’ve got four new dogs." And Sharon admits she has become an upscale dog guardian for strays in Los Angeles.
She adds, "Word’s got out in Los Angeles: ‘Anybody (who) finds a stray dog, call the Osbournes, they’ll take the dog.’" But Ozzy is far from happy with the arrangement: "She’s a soft touch, I have to pay the bills… In the morning, it smells wonderful in my house. That morning breeze; get a lung full of that, it kicks you off for the day… They still crap in the bedroom."

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METALLICA have invited the father of their late bassist CLIFF BURTON to join them onstage when they’re inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next month (Apr09).
Ray Burton will take the stage with the current Metallica line-up and Jason Newsted, the bass player who replaced his son in the band, when they’re honoured in Cleveland, Ohio on 4 April (09).
Newsted, who quit the band in 2001, admits he was thrilled when drummer Lars Ulrich called and asked him to be a part of the induction ceremony - and then perform with his former bandmates at the event.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I think it was just a hard-and-fast rule… anyone who has recorded on any Metallica recordings that have been released to the public as an official release were invited to the induction.
"I talked to Lars, and it�s all good. I was happy to hear from him. I hadn�t talked to him for a long time, so it was nice to hear his voice.
"It was basically as if no time had passed, as far as the conversation went. We picked up right where we left off. It was just absolutely positive. It was like, there we were, getting ready to get a beer some place. And Lars is ready to rock. He sounded like a kid again talking about the induction, and I felt pretty much like that, too. Getting fired up to rock after that many years… itâ��s pretty special.â��

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IVANA TRUMP has saved her marriage just ahead of her first wedding anniversary.
The socialite wed toyboy Rossano Rubicondi in Palm Beach, Florida last April (09), but the wedded bliss didn’t last long - Donald Trump’s ex-wife filed for legal separation in October (08).
She kept the split a secret for three months and then, in a statement, released at the beginning of December (08), she said, "Rossano wants to live in Miami (Florida) and work in Milan… But, I am a New Yorker and my family, friends and businesses are here. As the beautiful song says, ‘Que sera sera!’" However, the couple has purchased a new home in Miami and has vowed to give their marriage another chance.
A spokesman for Trump tells PerezHilton.com, "It was just rough for a while."

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