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Moviemaker RON HOWARD has defended his decision to keep a controversial joke in new comedy THE DILEMMA after he was slammed by gay rights activists over the line.
The upcoming film caused uproar earlier this month (Oct10) when a promotional trailer was released. The clip featured Vince Vaughn’s character telling a room of people, "Ladies and gentlemen, electric cars… are gay".
Bosses at Universal Pictures agreed to pull the line from the advert, but officials at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called on studio chiefs to axe the scene from the movie, in light of a recent spate of gay teen suicides across America.
Howard refused to bow to pressure and in a letter to the Los Angles Times on Friday (29Oct10), the director explained his reasoning to keep the line in the film.
In the note, he writes, "The Dilemma is a comedy for grown-ups, not kids. It’s true that the moment took on extra significance in light of some events that surrounded the release of the trailer and the studio made the decision to remove it from advertising, which I think was appropriate. I believe in sensitivity but not censorship.
"I don’t strip my films of everything that I might personally find inappropriate. Comedy or drama, I’m always trying to make choices that stir the audience in all kinds of ways. If storytellers, comedians, actors and artists are strong armed into making creative changes, it will endanger comedy as both entertainment and a provoker of thought." GLAAD chiefs are unhappy with the inclusion of the line in the final cut of the film - and President Jarrett Barrios has urged Howard and movie chiefs to "bring people together" with the content of future releases.
He tells The Hollywood Reporter, "Unfortunately, by leaving it in the movie, they are now contributing to the problem. The conversations started as a result of the community’s response to this slur will help schools, media and parents understand the impact of the word ‘gay’ being used as a pejorative.
"Hopefully in the future, Universal and Ron Howard will recognise the power of their words and use their films to bring people together rather than drive us apart."

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

TWILIGHT star ROBERT PATTINSON is planning to spook his castmates this Halloween by staging a massive party in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Pattinson is in the city shooting the latest Twilight saga and he’s planning to spend a little of of his film fortune to show cast and crew a scary old time on Saturday night (30Oct10).
Reports suggest the Brit is spending upwards of $40,000 (GBP26,600) on the bash and will dress up as Count Dracula for the spook-tacular.
Pattinson had originally planned to take over haunted house Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana for the party, but owners confirm to MTV they had to turn him down because they were already fully booked for the Halloween weekend.

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MARIAH CAREY’s concerned husband NICK CANNON is calling on his pregnant wife to box up her famous high heels now she’s expecting the couple’s first child.
The pop superstar confirmed rumours she was expecting earlier this week (beg25Oct10) and her husband is already worried she might topple over again - like she did during a concert in Singapore in September (10).
Cannon grumbled about his battle to keep his glamorous wife out of heels during his U.S. radio show, Rollin’ With Nick Cannon, on Friday (29Oct10), revealing, "I come home yesterday to help my wife get ready for her video shoots and she has these 19-inch heels on.
"So I go into the closet searching for some flats for my wife… She got a lot of damn shoes - it’s like a freakin’ Macy’s. (But) Mariah Carey does not own one pair of flat shoes.
"And then we did find some flats and they were a regular ballet slipper… I was like, ‘I don’t think so’." Carey phoned in to defend herself, explaining, "To be fair, I had some boots from Aspen, some Dior boots!" But Cannon wasn’t happy with the idea of his wife tramping around New York in "ski boots" and added, "I’m going shoe shopping today, needless to say, to buy you some flat shoes."

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RIHANNA has opened up about the fight that ended her romance with CHRIS BROWN at the beginning of 2009 in her most candid interview to date.
The R&B superstar was beaten black and blue by Brown after she allegedly questioned him about text messages he was getting from an ex-girlfriend.
Brown was found guilty of assaulting his then-partner and is still serving community service for his actions.
Rihanna has spoken little about the incident or her break-up, but she opens her heart for a revealing new interview in the December (10) issue of Marie Claire magazine.
Stating she felt like "an empty vessel" for days following the fight, the Umbrella singer admits the violent run-in with her ex helped to make her a much better person.
She tells the publication, "I couldn’t have been the woman I am, the friend, or the sister or the artist, or the role model I am today if I didn’t go through what I went through.
"It’s scary; you just lose touch of everything that you love and everything that you would normally do; how you would dress or how you would say something.
"I needed that wake-up call in my life. That was the only way I would have gotten out of that relationship." And the heartache from the split didn’t last long: "I remember waking up one day and I knew I was over it. I didn’t feel lonely. I felt like I wanted to get up and be in the world - that was a great, great feeling.
"Once you’re back on your feet… if you ever make it back on your feet, that’s the ultimate achievement." The 22-year-old star is now dating Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Matt Kemp, 26, and tells the magazine she’s very much in love: "He’s just easy and really kind."

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NORAH JONES and EVAN DANDO teamed up to celebrate TOM PETTY’s 60th birthday at the 2010 Petty Fest event in New York on Thursday night (28Oct10).
Petty turned 60 earlier this month (20Oct10) and that made this year’s tribute at the Bowery Ballroom extra special.
Jones and Dando joined house act The Cabin Down Below Band to cover Petty classics such as It’s Time to Move On, You Don’t Know How It Feels and A Face in The Crowd.
Other guests included The Strokes star Nikolai Fraiture, former Moldy Peaches star Adam Green, Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter and comedians Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis.
All the famous fans returned to the stage for a rousing encore of Petty favourite Free Fallin’.

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Goth rockers MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE are to get their game on in London at the weekend (31Oct10) when they provide the musical entertainment for the National Football League’s annual London game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos.
The group will perform at Wembley Stadium before the kick off of the NFL Pepsi Max International Series game.
More than 85,000 sports fans are expected to attend the big game.
My Chemical Romance will perform their new single Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) and fan favourite Welcome to the Black Parade.
Band frontman Gerard Way says, "Performing to 85,000 fellow NFL fans will be one of the highlights of our European tour. We’re thrilled to be playing to such a huge crowd in such an iconic venue."

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Rapper T.I.’s wife TAMEKA ‘TINY’ COTTLE has been charged with possession of ecstasy following the couple’s traffic stop arrest in Los Angeles last month (Sep10).
Cops who pulled the pair over found illegal substances in their possession and the rap star and his wife were both booked.
The arrest violated T.I.’s probation on an earlier weapons possession charge and that prompted a judge in Atlanta, Georgia to sentence him to 11 months in jail.
Authorities in California elected not to pursue charges against T.I. but his wife now faces up to a year behind bars if convicted. She is due in court for an arraignment on 1 November (10).
T.I. will begin serving his latest prison sentence in Arkansas next month (Nov10). T.I. spent much of 2009 behind bars on the weapons possession charge; he was released in December (09).

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Country singer RANDY TRAVIS and his manager wife ELIZABETH have divorced.
The couple, who wed in 1991, officially ended the marriage on Friday (29Oct10).
A statement from a publicist for the pair reads, "Elizabeth and Randy Travis have agreed to part ways. Elizabeth will remain Mr. Travis’ personal manager. They do not intend to comment any further and ask for your respect for their privacy during this time." Elizabeth fell for Travis in 1976 when he was a teenage performer at her North Carolina nightclub. He got his big break when he was discovered playing at the Nashville, Tennessee club she managed.

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Country star LEANN RIMES has promised fans she’ll "get to the bottom" of her new Shape magazine controversy after editor-in-chief VALERIE LATONA apologised to readers for putting the singer on the cover of the fitness magazine and then backtracked.
Latona called Rimes’ October (10) cover "a terrible mistake" in an email to readers who had complained about the spread, insisting it was wrong to salute someone whose affair with actor Eddie Cibrian had led to the break-up of his marriage.
The editor explained that putting Rimes on the cover was "not meant to put a husband-stealer on a pedestal, but to show (through her story) how we all are human." Then, on Friday (29Oct10), she was quoted in USA Today newspaper as saying, "I stand by the fact that LeAnn’s story is compelling - and her courage and strength in the face of so much adversity is compelling. I wrote to those women apologising that our cover choice did not make them happy, as I have done for other cover stars in the past." But the explanation has only added to the fuss, as far as Rimes herself is concerned.
In a tweet to fans on Friday, the singer wrote, "I’m getting to the bottom of this… Shape is throwing me a party next week as a thank you and a congrats for being on their cover for the third time. I find this very contradictory." She then posted the invitation for the cocktail reception, which will take place at the Trousdale club in West Hollywood on 4 November (10).

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Reality TV star TILA TEQUILA has won a restraining order against the photographer who accused her of kidnapping his girlfriend.
Garry Sun hit the headlines this week (ends29Oct10) when he alleged the model and four armed men abducted Shyla Jennings from her Texas home, flew her to Los Angeles and threatened to kill her if she alerted the police to her ordeal.
Tequila hit back, insisting the snapper was nothing more than a disgruntled former employee she had fired after he made "sexual advances" towards her.
In a post on her official website, the star, real name Tila Nguyen, wrote, "Garry Sun is a crazed paparazzi who won’t leave me alone! I remember calling the police on him finally because after I fired him, he went crazy and threatened to kill me… He’s just a crazed paparazzi who had a dangerous fatal attraction with me and is still angry that I fired him." She has now convinced a judge at Los Angeles Superior Court to order Sun to keep his distance, and she is planning to file a lawsuit against him for "making such crazy allegations about me", reports TMZ.com.

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The break-out star of hit new British TV drama SHERLOCK is set for another classic literary adaptation - BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH will star in director DANNY BOYLE’s take on FRANKENSTEIN.
The actor, who plays a modern day Sherlock Holmes on TV, will portray the mad scientist in 2011 when Slumdog Millionaire director Boyle tackles Mary Shelley’s monster story onstage.
Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller will alternate roles as Victor Frankenstein and his monster in the production at London’s National Theatre.

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Former ALLY MCBEAL and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT star PORTIA DE ROSSI ate just 300 calories a day as an eating disorder took over her life.
The actress, who is married to Ellen DeGeneres, has opened up about her battle with anorexia in her new book Unbearable Lightness - and she fought back tears as she talked frankly about her lowest period during a recent taped interview with Oprah Winfrey.
In the tearful chat, which will air in America on Monday (01Nov10), the Australia-born star reveals she once weighed just 82 pounds (37.1 kilograms).
She says, "It wasn’t that I was proud of it, but it was certainly a recognition for my self-control. I definitely had some pretty amazing willpower to get down to 82 pounds. And that’s what I was holding onto to. I didn’t think about anything else."

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HAIRSPRAY star NIKKI BLONSKY has added her weight to a new U.S. magazine controversy following a "hateful" rant by a Marie Claire online journalist about the fat stars of new TV hit MIKE & MOLLY.
Blogger Maura Kelly has apologised for comments she made in a MarieClaire.com article, titled ‘Fatties Get a Room’, in which she blasted TV bosses for putting a show that celebrates an obese couple on the air.
In the article, Kelly claims she would be "grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other…" and adds she finds it "aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room." Sharon Osbourne has already voiced her outrage, insisting Kelly is a "discredit to other women", and now plus-size star Blonsky is having her say.
In an interview with news show Access Hollywood Live on Friday morning (29Oct10), the actress, who recently starred in a TV show about young women at a fat camp, fumes, "That (article) was completely out of line. I think by having that type of blog and that type of dialogue go on, I think their (Marie Claire) sales are going down. It was a very very bad marketing standpoint." And Blonsky has no sympathy for the blogger, who revealed she’s always had trouble with fat people as a former anorexic.
The actress adds, "My grandmother always taught me that people make fun of you because they’re insecure about themselves. Being that Maura Kelly has said that she battled with anorexia, you would think she would be a little sensitive to the subject.
"Clearly she has a lot of pent-up anger… and clearly she’s just a follower and did what her boss told her to do… It comes down to morals and ethics and you have to follow your own heart, even in the industry that you’re in and I think that she should have been woman enough to say, ‘No’, and not have written such a horrendously wrong article." She ended her TV chat by ripping up a printed copy of Kelly’s article and apology, calling it "junk".

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KICK-ASS star CHLOE MORETZ has become the victim of a callous computer hacker who tampered with her Facebook and Twitter accounts after a break-in at her home.
The teenage actress had a massive impostor problem after her home was burgled recently.
She tells Entertainment Weekly magazine, "They stole all my pictures, my Twitter, my Facebook (was hacked).
"We got broken into, and I got my computer stolen and my iPad, so I have fake everything now." And Moretz has discovered that fame as a child star comes with freaks and stalkers.
She adds, "I got this weird stalker person in France, and he followed me into the hotel and said all this stuff to me.
"I was really freaked out and I didn’t go out of the house for two days."

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Funnyman WILL FERRELL gave U.S. TV audiences a late night laugh on Thursday (28Oct10), with a surprise musical tribute to CELINE DION.
The Anchorman star appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and insisted he is good pals with the diva, who has been hiatus from her Las Vegas residency to prepare for the birth of her twin baby boys last Saturday (23Oct10).
And Ferrell revealed he’d been anxiously rehearsing Dion’s hits to fill in for the star as she takes a break to focus on family.
He told the talk show host: "My good friend Celine Dion is currently taking a leave of absence from her show because she just had twins. She’s on hiatus… so I’m taking over her show in Vegas. I’m scared beyond belief. I’m not familiar with the material. I’m workshopping things. I would love to perform something." Ferrell then took the stage to perform Dion’s The Power of Love with a drummer and harpist, standing in front of a glittering banner baring her name, as the studio audience laughed and cheered.

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Acting veteran SIR MICHAEL CAINE scrapped plans to expand his restaurant empire to Cuba, amid fears he would face violent opposition for supporting anti-U.S. revolutionary FIDEL CASTRO.
The Brit moved his restaurant empire stateside in the 1990s when he opened his sixth eatery, Miami’s South Beach Brasserie - and admits he was keen to expand south to the Caribbean nation.
But a Cuban friend persuaded him to axe the idea amid concerns the actor would face angry protests for appearing to support the regime of the country’s former president.
He explains, "I had this restaurant in South Beach a long time ago, I owned this restaurant and I had a Cuban friend. I said to him, ‘I’m thinking of going to Cuba,’ and he said, ‘Don’t.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘They will burn your restaurant down if you go to Cuba…
(for) being friendly to Castro.’"

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GEORGE CLOONEY has signed on to direct RYAN GOSLING in a big screen adaptation of political Broadway play FARRAGUT NORTH.
The actor and production partner Grant Heslov have teamed with Farragut playwright Beau Willimon to adapt the 2008 drama for the big screen.
The movie version, entitled Ides of March, follows a press spokesman, played by Gosling, who is manipulated by veteran operatives during a U.S. political campaign, and seduced by a young intern, played by Evan Rachel Wood.
Clooney will also star in the film, as candidate running in the presidential primary race, while Paul Giamatti will play a rival campaign manager. Marisa Tomei rounds out the cast as a reporter for the New York Times.
Shooting is scheduled to begin in February (11).

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Actress EVA LONGORIA PARKER has been cleared of any wrongdoing in her recent California car crash - police have determined the driver she collided with was at fault.
Roman Gasparyan filed a negligence suit against the Desperate Housewives star on Tuesday (26Oct10), accusing her of causing him injury by swerving her car into his on Los Angeles’ famous Hollywood Boulevard last week (20Oct10).
Gasparyan announced he was willing to drop the matter, but only if she accepted responsibility for the collision.
Speaking to TMZ.com on Wednesday (27Oct10), his attorney said: "Mr. Gasparyan is not here for the money. He’s here for justice and Mr. Gasparyan puts this proposal to Ms. Longoria that if she admits to this accident, that she’s at fault, and that she apologises publicly to Mr. Gasparyan for causing him an injury and damages, we will dismiss this lawsuit.
"We want everyone to know that Mr. Gasparyan wants justice and the truth to come out of this matter. We will give Ms. Longoria until tomorrow to respond to our offer." A spokesperson for Longoria Parker has previously denied Gasparyan’s allegations that the actress is to blame for the crash.
And now police have cleared her of any wrongdoing.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ.com police have concluded that the other driver was "at fault" because he made a left turn in front of the actress, causing their vehicles to collide.

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