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JIM CARREY has sparked a religious fuss after poking fun at Hindu god Lord Ganesh during a skit on U.S. TV comedy show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Jewish and Hindu leaders have joined forces and are demanding an apology from the funnyman and network bosses at NBC after Carrey and SNL regular Kenan Thompson created a sex act on the show named after the deity.
Leading Hindu statesman Rajan Zed tells WENN, "Lord Ganesh is highly revered in Hinduism and is meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines, not to be thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic effects in TV series.
"Such an absurd depiction of Lord Ganesh, with no scriptural backing, is hurtful to devotees. It’s also disturbing and offensive to the one billion Hindus around the world.
"We are requesting NBC immediately removes footage of the comedy skit from all its websites and other links, and we think Jim Carrey, Kenan Thomson, NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Zucker and SNL Executive Producer Lorne Michaels should tender a public apology." In the skit, which first aired earlier this month (Jan11), Carrey played an erotic shaman who had developed new sex positions with Thompson’s elderly character.
The Hindus aren’t the only group upset by the comedy routine - leading Jewish advocate Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer has released a statement criticising the parties responsible for the skit.
She writes, "Portrayal of a religious group’s deity in a form that is condescending and low is a serious affront to the many Hindus who worship Ganesh. Making fun of someone’s religion or god is not within keeping with our ideals as members of a civilised community.
"This skit, The Wrath of Ganesh, should be removed from the NBC website. Jim Carrey, NBC and others responsible for lampooning Lord Ganesh should provide public apologies.
"We Jews fully support Rajan Zed’s protest initiative on this issue and urge others involved in television and film industries to be more considerate to the feelings of devotees of all religions in the future." Meanwhile, officials at the Forum for Hindu Awakening have called the skit a "grave denigration" and "vulgar mockery of Sri Ganesh", appealing for devout Hindus worldwide to protest against it.

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

R&B singer BRUNO MARS has scored a chart double in Britain after landing both the single and album top spots on Sunday (23Jan11).
The star’s debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans shot to the number one slot, while his track Grenade is a non-mover at the top of the singles countdown, despite high-flying Adele’s charge to two with Rolling In The Deep.
British singer Jessie J’s Do It Like A Dude drops a place to three, while Sean ‘Diddy’ Comb’s band Diddy - Dirty Money is at four with Coming Home. The top five is rounded out by rapper Wretch 32’s Traktor.
Mars’ Doo-Wops & Hooligans topples Rihanna’s Loud in the U.K. album chart, while White Lies’ new record, Ritual, debuts at three.

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BEE GEES legend BARRY GIBB was the guest of honour at a G’Day USA event on Saturday (22Jan11) as he accepted an award for his success in Australia.
Actress Olivia Newton-John presented the singer with a plaque at the glitzy gala, which is part of the annual Australia Week celebrations in the U.S.
Gibb’s family, including brothers Robin and Maurice, emigrated to Queensland from England in 1958 and became stars Down Under before conquering the rest of the world. The Bee Gees remain one of the country’s best-selling acts.
Australian actress Abbie Cornish and tennis legend Roy Emerson were also feted at the event.
Previous honourees at G’Day USA include Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Naomi Watts, Kylie Minogue and Russell Crowe.

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Members of rap supergroup A TRIBE CALLED QUEST boycotted the premiere of a new documentary about the band after falling out with director MICHAEL RAPAPORT.
The group was expected to put on a united front at the screening of Beats, Rhymes & Life at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Saturday (22Jan11), but leading members Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jarobi and Q-Tip were no-shows.
The boycott, announced in a statement, comes after rapper Q-Tip accused Rapaport of being insensitive to the group’s requests regarding certain scenes in the film.
The joint statement reads, "Thanks to our fans for their support through the years and for the enthusiasm around the documentary. We hope that the film’s perspective conveys our love of hip-hop culture.
"We could not attend Sundance, but we want to express our love and appreciation for the support that we have received in advance of the film’s premiere tonight. We hope that it is well received."

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NATALIE PORTMAN’s amazing year continues - her new movie has shot to the top of the U.S. box office.
Romantic comedy No Strings Attached opened with $20.3 million (£13.5 million) in its first weekend and took over the top of the box office from action film The Green Hornet.
The success of No Strings Attached comes a week after pregnant Portman, who is engaged to her Black Swan choreographer and co-star Benjamin Millepied, picked up a Best Actress award at the Golden Globes.
The actress is the red-hot favourite to land the same honour at the Oscars.

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New TWILIGHT star JUDI SHEKONI has a sideline business - she runs one of the world’s most celebrated new hair extension companies.
The British actress, who will vamp it up as Zafrina in the new Twilight Breaking Dawn movies, tells WENN she set up Extensions Evolution with a friend last year (10) and business has really taken off.
The stunning star explains, "I’ve always been wearing hair extensions since the age of 16 and I’ve definitely made a few weave mistakes in my time. It’s just always been important to me to find better techniques and to make my hair look good.
"My friend already had a company in England where she had done it before and she was interested in doing it again and so we decided to go into partnership.
"We researched it for about a year-and-a-half; all the manufacturing, and figuring everything out before we launched in 2010 and it was instantly successful. We now have stockists in Nigeria, Australia, England, America and Switzerland." Shekoni insists her line is a success because it’s user-friendly and does away with the pain of extensions.
She adds, "We use hair extensions and techniques that don’t damage your hair. The idea is you use our product until your own hair grows and then you don’t need the extensions anymore, versus using hair extensions that rip out your own hair.
"It has been amazing. We have wigs that Beyonce wears and Tyra Banks wears… and we get hair from Russia and China and Brazil." The company became so successful so quickly, the actress considered quitting showbusiness and going back to school to study business.
She says, "I moved back to England and studied for an MBA at Westminster University. I did it for a while but acting came calling again and I decided to move back to L.A." That decision resulted in her landing a dream role in the new Twilight movies.

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JAMES FRANCO gave Oscars producers a taste of his hosting skills when he donned a blonde Marilyn Monroe wig to front a tribute to 1970s sitcom THREE’S COMPANY at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
The 127 Hours star, who will co-host this year’s (11) Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway, was promoting his new documentary, Three’s Company: The Drama, and decided to show up in style.
The 32 year old dressed up as TV show star Suzanne Somers.
Andie MacDowell and Eliza Dushku joined him at the party on Friday night (21Jan11).

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Actor VINCE VAUGHN is struggling with his new role as a dad because he finds looking after his baby daughter "intimidating".
The Wedding Crashers star and his wife Kyla Weber welcomed baby Locklyn Kyla last month (Dec10), and he’s already beginning to realise he’s not the perfect father.
Vaughn has apologised to Weber for failing to carry out his fair share of parental duties, but he’s adamant he will be better prepared to look after his child when she grows up to be a toddler and he learns how to take care of her.
He says, "You feel very grateful that everyone’s OK, but there is an intimidation. I didn’t want to hurt the little girl. I didn’t know what I was doing when it came to changing the diapers, it was a learning curve.
"So I said to my wife, ‘I promise I’ll be much more helpful when she can communicate and we can talk and kind of play and do stuff’… But it’s intimidating at first, there’s a learning curve that you go through."

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Actor BEN FOSTER discovered stunt work can be a painful business on the set of new action film THE MECHANIC - after smashing his shoulder.
The 3:10 To Yuma star spent months training for the high-octane movie, in which he stars alongside Jason Statham, and he wasn’t about to let a little shoulder strain stop the production.
But when he started to hear snapping during one stunt scene and then realised he couldn’t move his shoulder when he woke the next morning, he had to reluctantly alert producers to the fact he may have seriously injured himself.
He tells WENN, "The night before the stunt we were doing the intro to the fight, where this character throws me against the wall and I fall. I asked to actually do the stunt and they said, ‘You don’t need to,’ and I said, ‘I do’.
"Anyway, I fell awkwardly on my shoulder and it snapped. I didn’t say anything and asked if we could end and they said they needed one more take, so I do it again and snap… masochism! We got if for the night and I go to bed and think I’m gonna shrug it off. I wake up and I can’t move my shoulder.
"That’s not a call you want to make to the producer: ‘You know that scene we were working on for three months… well, I can’t move!’" Producers called in the doctor for Super Bowl champions the New Orleans Saints to help Foster get through the shoot.
He adds, "He got out a big syringe and pushed it in and squeezed it down; another shot, another shot and it loosened up. Whatever was in that syringe felt really good! And I could move. It was a mix of a lot of steroids, something for inflammation and a painkiller. I didn’t even want to know.
"There were a lot of side affects and I felt pretty aggressive that day. But I called him back when my shoulder tightened back up and he pumped me back up with the syringe and says, ‘I have never put this much into anybody. Have fun out there!’ "After all that, it was still really tight so we decided to go from my right hand to the left hand instead for the scene."

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Former SPICE GIRLS star EMMA BUNTON celebrated her 35th birthday in style on Friday (21Jan11) - with an engagement ring.
The one-time Baby Spice announced the happy news via Twtter.com on Sunday (23Jan11), posting a picture of the ring longtime boyfriend Jade Jones gave her.
She wrote, "Yahooooo I’m Engaged! Love you Jade! I’m a very happy lady!" She later confirmed the news during an appearance on British TV show Dancing on Ice.
Bunton is expecting the couple’s second child in May (11).
They have been together for 11 years and have a three-year-old son, called Beau.
Jones, a chef, was formerly a singer in British boy band Damage.

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GEORGE CLOONEY insists Americans should be interested in what happens in Sudan following the African nation’s recent independence elections - because ongoing war there could cost the U.S. billions.
Appearing on newsman Piers Morgan’s new CNN TV show on Friday (21Jan11), the movie star, who has become a leading celebrity advocate for Sudanese refugees desperate for an end to decades of civil war, addressed Americans who feel he should concentrate his activism on homegrown issues in the U.S.
He said, "Charity should begin at home and there’s a tremendous amount of work being done… We haven’t really dealt with (Hurricane) Katrina, we haven’t dealt with the (Gulf) oil spill… We have a lot of work to do.
"But the Sudan is an issue we’ve been involved with for many many years; we spend over a billion dollars a year there now, basically in triage.
"Rather than doing that, why don’t we spend no money and just our diplomatic will… to be able to avoid those situations before it happens.
"We have great interests in both versions, the north and the south of Sudan succeeding. Remember, the northern part of Sudan is where (terrorist leader) Osama Bin Laden hid out for 12 years… We have great interest in there being success here."

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MADONNA has been criticised by Malawi’s education minister for allegedly failing to inform officials of her plans to make changes to her girls school and open more facilities in the country.
The Material Girl started construction on the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls last April (10), but she’s already in the process of "implementing several changes" to the scheme.
Earlier this month (Jan11), Madonna revealed she is planning to launch more schools across Malawi, instead of concentrating on just one institution, saying, "I realise that the plans we had in place for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls simply would not serve enough children." But the star, who has adopted two children from the African nation, has come under fire from local residents and officials in the Malawian government for failing to consult them about her expansion plans.
Education minister Peter Mutharika tells Britain’s The Guardian, "We’d like to know why she has changed (her plans). Yes, we do appreciate that it is her project; she devised it and she knows best how to implement it. But still, as government, we’d be interested to know why there is this change.
"I honestly don’t know the number of schools she is going to construct, where she will build and for how long. So until we talk to her, we can’t comment much."

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Colombian superstar SHAKIRA was the toast of the NRJ Music Awards in France on Saturday (23Jan11) as she picked up two of the night’s top prizes.
The singer was named International Female Artist of the Year, and also took home the International Song of the Year trophy for her track Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).
Meanwhile, Usher was crowned International Male Artist of the Year at the ceremony, held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes.
Black Eyed Peas stars Will.i.am and Apl.de.ap were also in attendance at the 12th annual prizegiving, where they picked up the International Group of the Year and Concert of the Year honours on behalf of the hip-hop group.
Lady Gaga and Beyonce were also celebrated for their Telephone collaboration, which was voted Music Video of the Year, while Justin Bieber won the International Revelation Of The Year prize at the event, run by French radio station NRJ.

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British singer ALEXANDRA BURKE has postponed a concert in England until next month (Feb11) due to "emergency building works" at the venue.
The R&B star was due to perform at the Regent Theatre in Ipswich on Saturday (22Jan11) but the gig was called off to allow for urgent repairs.
A spokesperson for promoters AEG Live says, "The height of the ceiling requires extensive scaffolding to allow for more detailed examinations and repair work. We apologise to our customers but their safety is of paramount importance… We are hopeful that we will be back in business by early February." Burke is expected to bring her All Night Long show to the theatre on 24 February (11).

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Legendary opera star PLACIDO DOMINGO celebrated his 70th birthday in style on Friday (21Jan11) as stars from around the world flocked to his native Spain to mark the milestone with a gala concert.
Around 20 of the world’s top opera stars performed at Madrid’s Teatro Real opera house, where the tenor is currently appearing in Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride.
The chorus of Teatro Real opened the event, while American soprano Deborah Polaski performed a scene from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier.
Germany’s Rene Pape, Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta and Uruguayan baritone Erwin Shrott also showed up to celebrate the landmark date, as Domingo watched the show from a balcony with his family.
Domingo told reporters, "I feel very happy, very lucky and very thankful for all the public has given me around the world, they gave so much encouragement.
"To arrive at 70 singing is a great privilege for me and it is a great privilege to be able to make the public happy still. I don’t know how many more years I am going to be singing… but at the moment I still can do it."

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A representative for ETTA JAMES has asked fans to pray for the cancer-fighting blues star as she approaches her 73rd birthday.
It emerged earlier this month (Jan11) that the At Last singer is gravely ill and undergoing treatment for leukaemia in California.
James is due to turn 73 on Tuesday (25Jan11) - and her manager has called for the support of devotees to help the star through her health problems.
The rep says, "It breaks my heart to see her this way. But she is fighting. I just ask everyone to pray for Etta." James has been out of the spotlight in recent years and has suffered from Alzheimer’s disease since 2009.

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Ageing TV hunk JASON PRIESTLEY once found an obsessed fan in his bed, wearing his Calvin Klein underpants.
The former Beverly Hills, 90210 star had to leave work and head home when police called to alert him to a break-in at his Hollywood home.
He recalls, "I had a girl break into my house and she made it all the way into my bed and she was in a pair of my Calvin Klein underwear… and I came home and found her there.
"The cops were there too… They took her away. She set off the alarm to my house and that’s when the cops came, and she refused to leave. So I came home from work and she was there… It was wild."

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RUSSELL BRAND was forced to pull out of an appearance at the British Comedy Awards in London on Saturday (22Jan11) after a close friend was taken ill in the U.S.
The funnyman was unable to pick up his Outstanding Contribution to British Comedy trophy at the ceremony because he was at his pal Martino Sclavi’s bedside.
The Italian film producer was reportedly admitted to a New York hospital on Wednesday (19Jan11) after suffering severe headaches, and a biopsy revealed a brain tumour.
He is said to be in critical condition after undergoing surgery to remove the growth.
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star apologised for his absence in a video message played for the audience at London’s O2 Arena.
Accepting his prize, Brand said, "I’m really sorry I couldn’t be there. One of my friends is really ill and there’s no way I could travel." Brand was expected to reunite with British broadcaster Jonathan Ross at the event, marking their first joint TV appearance since their controversial calls to actor Andrew Sachs on a U.K. radio show threatened to end their careers.
The pair came under fire after leaving offensive messages on the Fawlty Towers star’s answering machine about Brand’s fling with Sachs’ granddaughter.

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