Buzz Briefs: Madonna, Ethan Hawke
Forbes Names Madonna Richest Woman In Music
Madonna is the richest woman in music.
The 49-year-old entertainer leads Forbes.com's list of the top 20 "Cash Queens of Music," earning $72 million between June 2006 and June 2007.
The pop star's "Confessions" world tour pulled in $260 million, Forbes said. She also made money from album sales, her fashion line with H&M and a deal with NBC to broadcast her concert performance at London's Wembley Stadium.
Forbes.com said it compiled the list by examining concert grosses, merchandising revenue, album sales and other revenue from clothing lines, fragrance deals and endorsements.
Barbra Streisand is No. 2 with $60 million, thanks to her comeback tour of North America and Europe.
Celine Dion ranks third with $45 million, largely from her successful "A New Day" show in Las Vegas, which she wrapped up in December after a five-year engagement at Caesars Palace.
Shakira is fourth with $38 million, followed by Beyonce ($27 million), Gwen Stefani ($26 million), Christina Aguilera ($20 million), Faith Hill ($19 million), the Dixie Chicks ($18 million) and Mariah Carey ($13 million).
Hilary Duff, Avril Lavigne and Martina McBride each banked $12 million.
Britney Spears ranked 14th on the list, earning $8 million from music royalties and sales of her fragrances with Elizabeth Arden.
Spears is followed by Carrie Underwood and Nelly Furtado ($7 million each); Fergie, Jennifer Lopez and Sheryl Crow ($6 million each); and Norah Jones ($5.5 million).
Ethan Hawke, Girlfriend Expecting A Baby
"I can confirm and they are thrilled," Hawke's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"No further details will be made available," Buxbaum said in an e-mail.
Hawke, 37, has two children from his marriage to Uma Thurman.
His screen credits include "Training Day," "Dead Poets Society," "Great Expectations" and "Before Sunset."
Rapper "C-Murder's" Murder Trial Delayed
Jury selection was to begin next month but now the trial has been pushed back to June 9th. Attorneys handling the case say problems have come up concerning some of the witnesses. No details were available about what those problems are.
C-Murder is charged with second-degree murder in the January 2002 death of a teenage fan. Steve Thomas was shot to death at a club in Harvey, Louisiana.
A jury convicted the rapper in September 2003. But months later, he was awarded a new trial after the judge found prosecutors withheld background information on three defense witnesses.
The rapper is under house arrest as a condition of his $500,000 bond. However, he has been able to leave his home to promote both his music and a book he wrote while behind bars.
Britney Spears Reunites With Her Mom
Lynne Spears arrived in Los Angeles on Monday and accompanied her daughter to a Mercedes Benz dealership in Beverley Hills on Tuesday.
The two were seen arguing the entire time in Spears' car. After 15 minutes at the dealership, Spears pulled her car over, so they could continue their mother-daughter argument.
Lynne Spears was reported as being "very worried" and "pacing around the house" while Spears went out to visit her paparazzo pal Adnan Ghalib.
Later on, some of Spears' friends, including Alli Sims and Sam Lutfi, came over to join Lynne Spears to have a hear-to-heart with Britney.
Afterwards, Spears was seen at a J. Crew store with Lutfi and was reported to be "totally out of it" and speaking with somewhat of a British accent.
Heche, Ex-Hubby Given $240,000 Each To Pay Legal Fees In Divorce Battle
The money also will help Coleman Laffoon pay the rent at his current home and other expenses, Superior Court Judge Gail Ruderman Feuer said.
The judge's ruling covered some, but not all, of the money from last year's sale of a Hancock Park home.
Heche, star of TV's "Men in Trees," is under a court order to pay attorney's fees for Laffoon.
The judge ordered money from the home's sale released to the couple's attorneys but reserved authority to determine how much should be paid out to them, said Melvin S. Goldsman, attorney for Laffoon.
Daniel J. Jaffe, an attorney for Heche, said he was pleased with the decision and said the Hollywood writer's strike has seriously affected her possible earnings.
"We don't know if the show is going to be picked up for a third season," he said.
Goldsman, however, told the judge that Heche's claims of financial difficulty were "nonsense" and estimated she recently was earning $62,000 a month.
Heche and Laffoon were at the court hearing.
Heche, 38, and Laffoon, 34, were married on Sept. 1, 2001. He filed for divorce on Feb. 2, 2007, citing irreconcilable differences.
Laffoon is seeking $22,000 a month in spousal support for himself and the couple's 5-year-old son, Homer.
The judge delayed a decision on that request until April 14.
Actress Louisa Horton Hill Dies In New Jersey
Louisa Horton Hill, a stage, film and television actress and former wife of "The Sting" director George Roy Hill, has died. She was 87.
Horton, who used her own name professionally, died at Lillian Booth Actors' Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., on Friday, her daughter-in-law, Sandy McCormick Hill, said Tuesday.
Horton made her film debut in 1948's "All My Sons" opposite Burt Lancaster and Edward G. Robinson. Other movie credits include the 1976 film "Swashbuckler," starring James Earl Jones and Robert Shaw.
Horton met George Roy Hill while both were actors in a Shakespeare repertory company. They married in 1951 and remained close even after they divorced in the 70s.
George Roy Hill, whose hits included the 1973 Oscar-winning film "The Sting" and 1969's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," died in 2002 at age 81.
Horton starred on Broadway in the 1940s in "The Voice of the Turtle," a romantic comedy set in Manhattan.
In 1989, she played the mother of a lesbian daughter in the off-Broadway production "The Blessing."
Horton, who also appeared in many live television dramatic series, was born in China and raised in Haiti and the Washington, D.C., area. She lived in Manhattan for nearly 50 years. She is survived by four children and 12 grandchildren.
Wesley Snipes Publicly Defends Himself In Tax Evasion Trial
He says he has "always been paying" his taxes and trying to comply with federal tax rules.
But the actor claims the problem has been with the IRS, not with him. His attorneys have claimed Snipes tried to get the IRS to clarify his claim that he isn't liable to pay income taxes, but didn't get a response.
Snipes and two co-defendants are charged with seeking millions of dollars in refunds for taxes they'd already paid. Snipes is also accused of failing to file returns for several years straight.
If convicted, he could get up to 16 years in prison if convicted on all counts, although sentences that long are unusual.
Yesterday, the defense in the case rested without calling a single witness.