BROKEN ENGAGEMENT
- Drew Philp
After four years together, “Van Wilder” star Ryan Reynolds and singer Alanis Morisette have called off their two-year engagement. The split was officially confirmed by their respective representatives, and the two supposedly remain close friends despite recent events.
CHARGED
Granville Adams, former star of HBO’s “Oz,” faced murder charges after allegedly pushing a man down an elevator shaft. He was arraigned on Feb. 4 and charged with criminally negligent homicide. Adams denied the accusation and claimed it was an accident, but the victim was pushed with enough force to warrant suspicion of a deliberate attack.
LEGACY
Best-selling Sidney Sheldon author died of complications from pneumonia at 89. Sheldon published 18 novels in his time, and also worked as a playwright, producer and screenwriter. Sheldon’s “The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer” won him the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award in 1948, and the TV show “I Dream of Jeanie” was his original creation.
ARRESTED
Actor Ryan O’Neal was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm Saturday after calls were made to the police around 12:30 a.m. O’Neal was involved in a family dispute with son Griffin O’Neal, and reportedly fired at least one gunshot. O’Neal was released early the next morning after posting $50,000 bail.
FINISHED
J.K. Rowling recently announced the completion of the seventh Harry Potter book, the last in the series. To commemorate the occasion, Rowling made a note in black ink on a marble bust in the hotel she was staying at. The book will be released on July 21. Daniel Radcliffe, titular star of the “Harry Potter” films, made news last week when he appeared nude in press photos for his new play “Equus.” Parents of “Harry Potter” fans were not pleased.
running for office
Comedian and author Al Franken has been confirmed as a Democratic senate candidate in Minnesota in the 2008 election. The former “Saturday Night Live” actor will take on Norm Coleman, the incumbent Republican. The 55-year-old actor will leave his radio show on Air America Radio Feb. 14.
RECORD ratings
The Super Bowl earned its second-best ratings ever Sunday with 93.1 million viewers, beat only by the 1996 game between Dallas and Pittsburgh (94.1 million). It was the third most-watch telecast of all time; the series finale of “M*A*S*H” remains No. 1, having earned 106 million viewers in 1983.
youtube CONTROVERSY
Viacom’s demand that YouTube remove more than 100,000 of the clips it owns from the video-sharing site and institute a screening system that would ensure they are not reposted has sparked controversy on two fronts. Google, which recently acquired the site, issued a statement admonishing the decision, while some YouTube users said the company wrongly singled out their personal videos in its demands. YouTube has not commented.
PARIS ON VIDEO – AGAIN
A recent amateur video of Paris Hilton was recently released on the Internet – not quite as good as the last one – in which Hilton blatantly uses derogatory terms toward the LGBT community and African Americans. Gay rights leaders in Los Angeles have demanded a public apology to “all offended groups.”
ARRESTED
Actor Daniel Baldwin was arrested in Detroit Tuesdays after he failed to appear in court in Orange Country, California, on charges of grand theft auto. However, it appears to have been a mix-up, since the vehicle’s owner has come forward and said Baldwin had permission after all.