Buzz Briefs: Hayden Panettiere, Wyclef
Hayden Panettiere: To Hollywood And The Seas For A Cause
NBC's "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere belives in fighting against commercial whaling and at the same time supporting her fans.
So the beautiful actress is teaming up with Zude.com (a social networking platform)to kill two birds with one stone.
Panettiere will kick off the cause tonight by auctioning off the opportunity for one lucky winner and five friends to join her at a celebrity fundraiser in Hollywood and then cruise with her on a whale-watching expedition through California's Channel Islands.
The funds raised by this auction will benefit the Whaleman Foundation's "Save The Whales Again!" campaign.
Rapper Wyclef Jean Helps The Hungry In Haiti
At a news conference in New York City, the musician said Tuesday that his foundation, Yele (YAY'-lay) Haiti, the World Food Programme and the Pan American Development Foundation have formed "Together for Haiti."
It will provide food, create jobs and support local agriculture as part of a coordinated emergency response to Haiti's food crisis.
The Grammy Award winning recording artist says rising food prices have created a crisis unlike any he's seen in his native country - one of the poorest in the developing world.
Organizers say the alliance will mobilize an urgent appeal to individuals, companies and foundations.
Jermaine Jackson & Ex Finalize Divorce
Jermaine Jackson and his wife, Alejandra, have finalized their divorce, according to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Jackson, a former member of the Jackson 5, agreed to pay $50,000 for Alejandra Jackson's attorney fees and $50,000 for back child support payments.
The couple were married in 1995 and filed for divorce in 2007.
Alejandra Jackson waived all spousal support and any rights to her ex-husband's jewelry, furniture and business, Jermaine Jackson Entertainment Inc.
The couple's two children will live with their mother and Jermaine Jackson will have visitation rights, according to court papers filed Monday. He agreed to pay $3,000 per month in child support.
Attempts to find a contact number for the 53-year-old singer weren't successful, and a call to his attorney after business hours Monday wasn't returned.
The Late Bruce Lee To Be Honored On Broadway
It appears so, with the announcement Tuesday by Elephant Eye Theatrical of "Bruce Lee: Journey to the West," a new musical slated for New York sometime during the 2010-11 season.
No casting yet for the role of Lee, who died in 1973 at the age of 32, but the show will be directed by Bartlett Sher, who is winning acclaim this season for his direction of the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of "South Pacific."
"Bruce Lee: Journey to the West" will have a book by David Henry Hwang, author of "M. Butterfly" and a score by David Yazbeck, who wrote the music and lyrics for "The Full Monty" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." The choreography will be by Dou Dou Huang, artistic director of the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble.
Besides martial arts, the musical will feature Chinese opera, pop music and more as it traces Lee's journey to film stardom.
"Frank Sinatra Day:" Better Late Than Never
Lawmakers didn't get around to voting until Tuesday on a resolution supporting May 13, 2008 - last Tuesday - as the day honoring the late singer and Academy-Award-winning actor. Making up for lost time, the House voted 402-3 to do just that.
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., sponsor of the non-binding resolution and ostensibly the House's biggest Sinatra fan, told the House how he was introduced to the English language by listening to Sinatra records after his father returned from World War II.
The Puerto Rico-born lawmaker said his father, speaking in Spanish, said English "takes a bad wrap" when people say it is not a romantic language. "He said, if you listen to the way this man sings the English language, you'll realize that indeed it is a romantic language if sung properly."
Serrano, 64, said he has 2,000 Sinatra songs on his iPod and owns all his records and movies.
On May 13, Serrano joined Sinatra's daughter and son, Nancy and Frank, Jr., and U.S. Postal Service officials in New York to unveil a new 42-cent commemorative Sinatra stamp.
Sinatra was also honored in 1997 when President Clinton signed into law legislation awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer and humanitarian. The internationally known singer, who had a popular rendering of the song "My Way," died on May 14, 1998, at age 82.
Serrano said that "nothing more than scheduling" was responsible for the late vote.
"May 13 came up on us a little sooner than expected," the congressman said.
Hands Off My Mink, Lindsay Lohan
Maria Markova said in a lawsuit filed Monday that Lohan, 21, took the $12,000 golden sheared mink coat while in the nightclub 1 Oak on Jan. 26.
The 22-year-old Markova's lawyer, Merrill Cohen, said Lohan had been sitting next to her client. Cohen said Markova next saw her coat on Lohan in a photo in OK! magazine.
Cohen said she called Lohan's representatives and demanded the return of the coat. She said Markova got the coat back Feb. 14.
Photos: Celebrity Circuit
Lohan's lawyer, Blair Berk, said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case.
Cohen said the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, asks unspecified damages.
Plea Deal In Latin Star Alejandro Sanz's Blackmail Case
A husband and wife who once worked for Latin music star Alejandro Sanz took a plea deal Monday just as their blackmail trial was about to start.
Carlos Gonzalez, 38, and 48-year-old Sylvia Alzate admitted making threats of extortion against Sanz. They agreed to a sentence of two years' probation and their criminal record could be erased if they successfully complete that term. The plea came minutes before jury selection was to begin.
The pair had faced up to 50 years each behind bars if convicted of the original charge of trying to extort money from Sanz, a Spanish singer who has won multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards. Sanz, whose real name is Alejandro Sanchez Pizarro, was not in court Monday.
Security was nevertheless extremely tight outside the courtroom, with cell phones collected from all spectators and reporters and an extra metal detector set up outside the door.
Circuit Judge Israel Reyes imposed a strict gag order on everyone connected to the case for the next two years, banning participants from talking publicly about the case. He ordered Gonzalez and Alzate to stay away from Sanz. Reyes also ordered Gonzalez released from jail.
Prosecutors said the couple threatened to release unspecified information about Sanz to Hispanic media unless they were paid $500,000. Gonzalez had done maintenance work at Sanz's home in Miami Beach, and he and his wife were allowed to live there.
A short time after the threat in December, Sanz issued a press release acknowledging that he has a 3-year-old son from a previously undisclosed relationship.
Sanz had objected to being forced to testify in the case but eventually gave a videotaped deposition, which remains sealed under Reyes' order.
Wedding Bells Are Ringing For George Takei
George Takei said he will wed his longtime partner and business manager, Brad Altman, now that the California Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage.
Takei, the original Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," said on his Web site that he and Altman have shared their lives for more than 21 years and are "overjoyed" to be able to legally marry.
"No more 'separate but equal.' No more second-class citizenship," wrote Takei, 71. "Brad and I are going to be married as full citizens of our state."
Takei, who also had a recurring role on NBC's "Heroes" last year, said he and Altman are planning the details of their wedding.
Bam! Emeril Switches Over To Fine Living Network
Emeril Lagasse is leaving the Food Network's prime-time schedule for the Fine Living Network, a move the chef hopes will mean a second course of "Emeril Live!"
The show that combines cooking, music and the chef's own energetic personality has been a staple of the Food Network's primetime lineup since its 1997 debut.
But ratings have trailed off, and last year the Food Network moved the show from 8 p.m. Eastern to 7 p.m. Its average audience has declined from 717,000 three years ago to 579,000 this year, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The Food Network will air reruns of "Emeril Live!" in the afternoon. But corporate sister the Fine Living Network will pick up the show at 7 p.m. starting on July 7.
The show will air seven nights a week in that time slot. In its first week, five original episodes will be shown and, for about two months, a new episode will be shown each Monday while the rest are reruns.
Fine Living is carried in about 50 million homes, fewer than half the nation's 110 million homes with television. The Food Network is in more than 90 million.
"As you know in television, things have to evolve and this is a little evolution for me," Lagasse said.
While his prime-time showcase may be smaller, Lagasse said it represented an opportunity to expand his fan base to people who might not necessarily seek him out. He'll also be paired on the schedule with Martha Stewart; on weekdays Fine Living airs reruns of Stewart's syndicated program a day after it's shown on broadcast television.