Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. 'Entourage' Crew Want Obama on Show
2. Paris Hilton Flirts With Judge During Trial
3. Hollywood Actress Seeks Botox Ban
4. Michael Jackson's Children and the Custody Question
5. Britney Spears Boycotted in Sweden
1. 'Entourage' Crew Want Obama on Show
“Entourage” is the hit HBO show that features a character who is modeled after Ari Emanuel, brother of current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Jeremy Piven plays Ari Gold, a kinder, gentler version of the Hollywood uber-agent who is the sibling of President Obama's No. 1 guy.
As if to complete the life-art connection, two “Entourage” cast members, Kevin Dillon (who plays Johnny Drama) and Adrian Grenier (who plays Vincent Chase) have publicly invited the president to be a guest on the show.
“It would be great if we had a guy like Jack Nicholson or, or, Barack Obama,” Dillon told “Access Hollywood.” “I don't think that'll happen but . . . supposedly he's a fan of the show.”
Grenier gave his thumbs-up to the idea, too.
“Like Kevin said, I think Barack Obama would be great. If he can take some time off from trying to save the world, maybe we could have him on ‘Entourage,’” Grenier said.
“Everybody needs some downtime, right?” the actor added.
Considering the policies that keep bouncing out of the Oval Office, some downtime for the prez would be uptime for the nation.
2. Paris Hilton Flirts With Judge During Trial
Paris Hilton's lawyers may have a case of the jitters.
The heiress-actress recently took the witness stand in a Miami federal district court. She was defending an $8.5 million lawsuit that was filed against her.
Dressed for the red carpet, Paris made a courtroom splash wearing a black dress, six-inch stilettos, diamond rings and other bling.
What was oh so Paris, though, was when on her way up to the witness stand she made a playful little wave at the judge.
“I've never had a witness wave at me before,” a surprised Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno acknowledged.
Worldwide Entertainment Group Inc. filed the suit, which alleged that Paris hadn’t met her obligation to promote the movie, “National Lampoon’s Pledge This!”
The plaintiffs claimed that they had foot the bill for Paris to the tune of $1 million in exchange for “Hilton’s acting services” and for “reasonable promotion and publicity” for the film.
Paris testified that she wasn’t to blame for the movie flop.
“If I have my name attached to something,” she testified, “I want it to be as big as it can be.”
She also said that she “wanted it to do as well as possible” and complained that “it could have been a lot better if it was done more professionally.”
The “Simple Life” star referred to herself as a “brand” and a “businesswoman.”
“I'm always working,” she claimed.
But the judge, like so many other folks, was unfamiliar with Hilton's current reality show, “My New BFF.” So he asked what the acronym stood for.
“My New Best Friend Forever,” she said.
“This will be my best case forever,” the judge said.
“You're my best judge forever,” Paris purred.
3. Hollywood Actress Seeks Botox Ban
Rachel Weisz thinks that Botox should be banned for actors.
Best known for her roles in the Mummy movies and for her Oscar-winning role in “The Constant Gardener,” Weisz says Botox injections leave actors less able to convey emotion.
She compares actors with Major Leaguers, claiming that Botox harms the acting industry as much as steroids harm athletes.
She also says, “Acting is all about expression; why would you want to iron out a frown?”
Can’t you just see one of the Dems sticking a Botox provision in the socialized medicine bill?
That would smooth the wrinkles on the worried blue dogs and keep that frozen smile on the Speaker’s face.
4. Michael Jackson's Children and the Custody Question
After the touching tribute Paris, daughter of Michael Jackson, gave her daddy at the memorial service, media attention turned to the future of Jackson’s three young children.
Despite the fact that the court gave Michael’s mother, Katherine, guardianship over Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II, the legal tug-of-war over custody continues.
Because the two older children, Prince Michael and Paris, were born to a married couple, under California law there is a presumption that the custody of minors will be granted to the legal parents. That presumption of custody would result in the surviving parent, Debbie Rowe, getting custody.
In the past, pursuant to an arrangement with Jackson, Rowe attempted to give up her status as legal parent, but she later returned to court and had her parental rights restored.
Rowe’s effort to end her parental rights will likely be brought up in the legal discussion, but in the state of California, parents’ rights are not terminated without a judicial investigation and hearing.
Still, the presumption gives Rowe custody of the children, if there is no evidence that refutes the idea the custody is in the best interests of the children. The law allows judges to overrule this presumption based on proof that parental custody would be detrimental to the children.
Everything hinges on the evidence. If evidence is presented that Rowe has little or no relationship with the children, her custody will be denied; if evidence is presented that the children have frequently spent time with her and know her as their mother, she will be given custody.
If Rowe wins custody of the two older children, she may also get custody of the third child, Prince Michael II, despite having no claim as the legal mother, because of the court's desire to keep all of the siblings together.
Although Jackson's will names his mother, Katherine, as guardian and, if she were to be unavailable, names singer and actress Diana Ross, a will is not normally effective for custody purposes in a case in which one parent's will deprives another parent of custody.
5. Britney Spears Boycotted in Sweden
A boycott of Britney Spears has broken out in Sweden.
The pop star had a concert scheduled in Stockholm as part of the Scandinavian portion of her latest tour.
Media outlets are unhappy with the attempt to control their coverage.
Swedish media were asked by Britney's people to sign a contract that would stop them from publishing any photos Britney might consider unflattering.
In addition, the pics that she would approve would be owned by her and could only be published for 30 days.
Sweden's four national newspapers have refused to cover the Spears concert.
“If they don't rip up the contract, we're not going to take any pictures,” Roger Turesson, photo editor at Dagens Nyhter, told the Swedish newspaper, The Local.
“We never agree to give up ownership rights to our own material,” another photo editor, Svenska Dagbladet, said.
Newspapers in Denmark, where Spears recently performed, may join in on the boycott as well.
Rumor has it that Britney has been receiving spin control lessons from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.