Buzz Briefs: James Brown, Ted Koppel
New Trustee Named In James Brown Estate Saga
A new trustee has been appointed in the fight over James Brown's estate, and a judge handling the case says the trustee's first task is to look at a proposed settlement.
Circuit Judge Jack Early said Tuesday the trustee will recommend whether the judge should approve the settlement.
The proposal would give 50 percent of Brown's charitable trust to educate the singer's grandchildren and needy students in Georgia and South Carolina. Another 25 percent will go to a woman who claims to be Brown's surviving spouse and the mother of his child. The final 25 percent will be divided among some of Brown's adult children.
The judge scheduled a January hearing to hear from those who oppose it.
Brown died Christmas Day 2006.
Ted Koppel Departs Discovery Channel Early
Former "Nightline" host Ted Koppel and his documentary team are taking a buyout from the Discovery Channel six months before the end of their contracts.
Both sides said it was clear there was no interest in continuing to work together. Koppel's last project, a documentary about lynching in the United States called "The Last Lynching," aired a few weeks ago.
Top management at both the network and its parent company, Discovery Communications Inc., has changed since Koppel arrived there from ABC's "Nightline" in January 2006.
The new management is more interested in projects that can be rerun for a long period of time both in the U.S. and internationally, and news programs have a shorter shelf life, said company spokesman David Leavy.
Koppel, 68, also noted that the documentary unit is expensive for Discovery, perhaps more of an issue since the company went public two months ago.
"We leave with gratitude for the professional opportunities we've been given and for the generosity with which we've been treated," Koppel said.
Kanye West Boldly Considers New Album "Great Art"
Kanye West says he's not concerned about whether his new album is a blockbuster, because he's made "great art" - and he feels really good about it.
West's new CD, "808s & Heartbreak," was released Monday. It's a departure for the 31-year-old rapper because it mostly features him singing.
West says he was ready to take a risk and he thinks it paid off.
Says West: "You know people sometimes don't understand great art when they first hear it, but I am very confident in it. Whether it sells as much as the last one, or way more, I feel like I am just successful in doing something I felt really good about."
Vanity Fair To Resume Annual Oscar Party, But On A Budget
The hottest Oscar after-party in town is back - only smaller.
Vanity Fair says its annual Academy Awards party is returning for next year's Oscar night on Feb. 22. The magazine's 2008 bash was canceled in support of the Hollywood writers' strike.
The A-list soiree, which has boasted such guests as Madonna and former vice president Al Gore, will take place at West Hollywood's Sunset Tower Hotel instead of its traditional home, the restaurant Morten's.
The magazine's editor Graydon Carter says on VanityFair.com Tuesday that the bash "will be a much more intimate affair than in years past," with a scaled back guest list.
Given the state of the economy, Carter says the party will also recycle decor from past years.
Broadway Theater Power Gerald Schoenfeld Dies At 84
Gerald Schoenfeld, the longtime head of the powerful Shubert Organization who helped bring numerous works to Broadway, including "A Chorus Line" "Cats" and "Amadeus," has died at 84.
Schoenfeld died early Tuesday at his Manhattan home, said Sam Rudy, a Shubert spokesman. The cause of death was not immediately known.
As chairman of Broadway's biggest landlord since 1972, Schoenfeld ushered many plays and musicals to the Broadway stage and beyond. The Shubert Organization owns or operates 17 Broadway theaters and one off-Broadway playhouse, as well as theaters in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Schoenfeld, a jovial, outgoing man and a familiar figure at Broadway opening nights, had never been to the theater before going to work for the law firm that handled business for the Shuberts - the quixotic, combative dynasty that controlled much of Broadway's real estate in the 20th century.
Met's 125th Gala Will Look To Past & Future
Sopranos Natalie Dessay, Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu and Deborah Voigt are among the stars who will perform at the Metropolitan Opera's 125th anniversary gala on March 15.
Tenors Placido Domingo, Juan Diego Florez, Marcello Giordani and Ben Heppner also will perform on a night that also celebrates the 40th anniversary season of Domingo's Met debut, the company said Tuesday. Others scheduled to appear include mezzo-sopranos Stephanie Blythe and Waltraud Meier; baritones Thomas Hampson and Dmitri Hvorostovsky; and bass Rene Pape. Met music director James Levine will conduct.
The evening includes 26 staged scenes with projections, and scenic and costume recreations of famous Met productions. It will include four excerpts from Gounod's "Faust," which opened the Met on Oct. 22, 1883.