Gossip/Celebrity News

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Diamonds are Dolly's best friend on Oscar night

LOS ANGELES - In a sure sign that the Academy Awards have become even more glitzy, glamorous and bling-laden than ever, even down-to-earth country star Dolly Parton will be sporting diamonds this year.

Tennessee-born Parton is "not a diamond girl," usually opting instead for costume jewelry while in the spotlight, said her long-time designer and stylist Robert Behar.

But that will change on Sunday, as Parton retires the cheap stuff in favor of dripping diamonds as she walks the red carpet and performs her Oscar-nominated song "Travelin' Thru" from the film "Transamerica."

"I told her it's the Oscars; she had to wear it," Behar said. "It's the Oscars -- we're going with the real thing!"

Diamonds are the best friend of many celebrities at the Academy Awards, where the glittering stones will be set in more unusual ways this year, bedecking the arms, ears and hairdos of the who's-who of Tinseltown.

Stars searching for the ultimate in show-stopping glamour have been courted this pre-Oscar week as diamond designers showcase the classic stones updated with modern looks.

"Everyone in LA is cynical and spoiled and seen it all," said Sally Morrison, director of The Diamond Information Center, who said a $70 million display of diamonds at an invitation-only diamond event in the Hollywood Hills this week allows jaded celebrities to view the latest styles they can borrow for the big Oscar night.

Celebrity guests, including Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher and Demi Moore, ogled displays of diamonds overlooking a grotto-style pool with views of Los Angeles below.

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Jon Stewart saves sharpest Oscar wit for politics

LOS ANGELES - Acerbic comedian Jon Stewart made his debut as Oscar host on Sunday with lots of good-natured jokes about gay cowboys and Hollywood excess while aiming his sharpest barbs at his two favorite targets -- journalists and politicians.



Stewart, 43, drafted by Oscar producers to help spark greater interest in an awards show that has declined in the TV ratings, was largely even-handed in his political humor, mocking both Hollywood support for Democrats and Republican Vice President Dick Cheney's recent hunting mishap.

He also presented a montage of faux campaign ads featuring best-actress nominees attacking each other.

But he drew some of the evening's biggest laughs with an homage to "Brokeback Mountain," a love story about two gay sheepherders, presenting a collection of old western film clips in a way that suggested many of Hollywood's biggest cowboy stars were in the closet with the door ajar.

In one piece of footage, John Wayne is shown delivering the line, "I'll have you spread-eagled on a wagon wheel."

Stewart, who regularly skewers the Washington establishment as star of the satirical newscast "The Daily Show" on U.S. cable TV, kept his opening monologue fairly light, contrary to some predictions that he might prove too provocative for Hollywood's biggest insider event.

His first line on the stage of the Kodak Theater took a self-deprecating jab at his own spare film credits.

"Tonight is the night we celebrate excellence in films, with me, the fourth male lead in 'Death to Smoochy,"' he said, following a pre-taped opening sequence with cameos by past emcees Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman, all turning down this year's hosting job.

Then, in an allusion to Hollywood's traditional place as a bastion of liberal-leaning causes, he touted the Oscar telecast as a rare "place where you can watch all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic Party."

A few moments later, Stewart took aim at the opposite end of the political spectrum with a joke about Dick Cheney's recent quail-hunting mishap and Bjork, an Icelandic singer who once raised eyebrows by attending the Oscars in a garish swan-like outfit.

"I do have some sad news to report," Stewart said. "Bjork could not be here. She was trying on her Oscars dress and Dick Cheney shot her."

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Director Altman reveals heart transplant at Oscars

LOS ANGELES - Legendary film director Robert Altman revealed on stage at Sunday's Academy Awards that he was only alive to collect his lifetime achievement award thanks to a heart transplant he kept secret for over a decade.


"I always thought this kind of award meant that it was over," Altman, 81, said. "I'm here, I think, under false pretenses. I think I have to become straight with you. Ten years ago, 11 years ago I had a heart transplant, a total heart transplant."

"I got the heart of, I think, a young woman who was in about in her late 30s. By that kind of calculation you may be giving this award too early because I think I've got about 40 years left," he said.

The director of such movies as "MASH," "Gosford Park," "Nashville" and "The Player" told reporters backstage that he kept the transplant secret, fearing he would not be hired to work again.

"I didn't make a big secret about it. I thought maybe no one would hire me again," he said adding that heart problems have "such a stigma."

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Uma Thurman and Boyfriend Split

It's over for Uma Thurman and hotelier Andre Balazs, according to a statement issued by the Kill Bill actress.

Speculation about the couple's breakup began at the Oscars, when Thurman turned up at the ceremony alone. The news was confirmed in a statement from Thurman's publicist Robert Garlock, who accompanied the star to an Oscar party.

"Unfortunately, it is true," the statement read. "But we remain close friends."

It's an about-face from Thurman's recent statements about her relationship with Balazs, who owns such properties as New York's Mercer Hotel and the Chateau Marmont and the Standard in Los Angeles.

In the February issue of InStyle magazine, Thurman said, "Everyone constantly taunts you that rebound relationships aren't a good idea and that they don't work. But mine is working, surprisingly."

Thurman, who most recently appeared in The Producers, praised Balazs, but also took a shot at ex-husband Ethan Hawke, with whom she split in 2004 following his much-publicized affair.

"It's lovely to have a man in my life who's cute, intelligent, interesting and complicated, and very supportive," she said.

Thurman says she and Hawke, who have two children, remain cordial.

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Beckhams settle libel case over marriage claim

LONDON- British soccer and pop music celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham reached a settlement on Thursday in their libel case against a newspaper that said their marriage was on the rocks.


The Beckhams had brought the case against the News of the World, which published interviews with their former nanny purporting to reveal details of their private life.

At an earlier court hearing, the paper's lawyers said it would try to show the couple were "cynically and hypocritically" misleading the public by pretending their marriage was perfect.

Lawyers for the Beckhams said they would argue that they were in fact happy and that the newspaper had hurt their reputation by writing otherwise.

Both sides issued statements on Thursday saying they had reached a confidential agreement to withdraw the case. Neither would elaborate.

Questions about the Beckhams' marriage became front page news in Britain in 2004 when Rebecca Loos, a former personal assistant of David Beckham, claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the England soccer captain.

The Beckhams have remained among Britain's most talked-about celebrity pairs even though David has moved to Spain to play for Real Madrid and his one-time Spice Girl wife has struggled to restart her pop music career.

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Blond Bond stirred by criticism, but not shaken

NASSAU, Bahamas - Is the next James Bond too blond for Her Majesty's Secret Service? Stricken by heat rash? Licensed to kill but not licensed to drive the famous stick-shift Aston Martin sports car?

Hounded by mounting criticism -- even a threatened boycott -- for picking a blond actor to play the part of the world's most famous dark-haired spy, the makers of the next James Bond movie "Casino Royale" this week assured 007 fans that ruggedly handsome Englishman Daniel Craig will be everything they have come to expect, and perhaps more.

Yes, Craig did lose or chip a tooth during filming in Prague, but it did not stop production, the actor told reporters. No, he did not suffer from excruciating heat rash in the Bahamas. And of course, an Englishman is perfectly capable of driving a manual gear car.

"You go mad if you believe any of it (the criticism)," Craig, 38, told reporters on Wednesday after distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment Co. and producers EON Productions invited journalists to the Bahamas movie set to counter some of the Internet and newspaper nattering.

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Will and Grace star returns to NY stage in June

NEW YORK Eric McCormack, a star of the long-running television program "Will & Grace," will appear in the US premiere of a new Neil LaBute play, taking over a role played in London last year by another well-known television personality, "Friends" star David Schwimmer.

McCormack, who plays Will Truman in the NBC situation comedy about a gay man and his best friend, will play "Man" in "Some Girl(s)," about a soon-to-be-engaged man who pays a last visit to four ex-girlfriends, the producers said on Friday.

The play is set to open on June 8 at the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theater. It will be directed by Jo Bonney, who also directed LaBute's critically acclaimed "Fat Pig" in New York in 2004.

That was the story of a man who reluctantly falls in love with a fat woman but is embarrassed by her size.

LaBute, whose film directing credits include "Nurse Betty" and "Possession," is best known for his 1997 film "In the Company of Men," the controversial story of two men who plot to humiliate a naive deaf woman for fun.

The series finale of "Will & Grace" is due to air on May 18, the day after McCormack starts previews of the new play.

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Jackson ordered to close Neverland

LOS ANGELES -Michael Jackson was ordered to shut down his Neverland Valley Ranch on Thursday by California authorities who have fined the pop star $169,000 for failing to pay his employees or maintain proper insurance.

Jackson's sprawling ranch in the central California foothills was closed, at least temporarily, by an agent of the State Labor Commissioner after the office discovered that his worker's compensation policy had lapsed in January.

"We went out there this morning and issued a stop order to the security guard at the front gate," state Department of Industrial Relations spokesman Dean Fryer told Reuters. "We asked to be escorted in to meet management, but we were refused and turned away, so we gave the order to (the guard)."

Fryer said local animal welfare officials had been asked to care for the inhabitants of Neverland's zoo.

He said that Jackson could reopen the ranch if he obtains workers compensation insurance but may face legal action by the state if he fails to pay the back wages.