She dated her Ferris Bueller costar Charlie Schlatter in 1990. She began a relationship with Daniel MacDonald in 1991. They broke up in 1994 shortly before she was cast in Friends. She briefly dated musician Adam Duritz in 1995. From 1995 to 1998, she was romantically involved with actor Tate Donovan and the couple were reportedly engaged.
In 1998, she began dating actor Brad Pitt and married him on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. For years their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success. However, the couple announced their separation on January 6, 2005. Pitt became involved with actress Angelina Jolie, though Pitt has denied cheating on Aniston with her. Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston's birthday, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling. Jennifer Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. It was finalized on October 2, 2005. Media reports speculated that the split was due to Aniston's refusal to have children with him. Jennifer Aniston denied that this was the cause of their split in an August, 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating, "...I've always wanted to have children, and I would never again give up that experience for a career."
Jennifer Aniston revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, Nancy, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy talked about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book entitled, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999). Jennifer Aniston has also stated she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped make her separation from Pitt easier. Jennifer Aniston said her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
Following her divorce, Jennifer Aniston began a relationship with actor Vince Vaughn, with whom she costarred in The Break Up. Relationship troubles were reported in September 2006, followed by a confirmed split in December of that year. She briefly dated male model Paul Sculfor for a few months in 2007. In April 2008, she began dating singer John Mayer. The couple had broken up after a seven-month courtship in August, but resumed the relationship in October, before splitting again in March 20009.
Jennifer Aniston has had two septoplasties to correct her deviated septum—one which was incorrectly done in 1994 and the second in January 2007. Septoplasty is a surgical operation that helps alleviate a common condition that can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping.
She is the godmother of Coco Riley Arquette, the daughter of her good friends, actors Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette.
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Jennifer Aniston Personal Life
Jennifer Aniston Career
She became famous in the 1990s for her role as Rachel Green in the popular US sitcom Friends, a role for which she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television viewers. Her hairstyle at the time, which became known as the "Rachel", was widely copied. She received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress), including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Jennifer (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
She was cast in a Heineken commercial which was later banned due to branding issues. Later, in 1994, Microsoft invited Jennifer, along with Friends co-star Matthew Perry, to shoot a 30-minute promotional advertisement for their new operating system, Windows 95. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy drama about a girl who falls for a gay man, and in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters—under 700 in total—taking $14M in the U.S. box office. In late 2005, she appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It.
In addition to her career as a TV actress, she has enjoyed a successful film career. Her biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character Jim Carrey. She then starred in the 2004 film, Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller. In 2006, she appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival, received a limited release. Jennifer's next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews.
In 2007, she guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt. Aniston played Arquette's snobby rival Tina Harrod. In addition to acting, she has also directed a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson; she has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.
Forbes listed Jennifer Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She is behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins. Aniston's net worth is approximately $110 million. She was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes in October 2007, Jennifer Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry. In 2008, she landed the seventeenth spot on Forbes Celebrity 100 list based on "earnings and fame." Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million.
She appeared in the third episode of Season 3 of NBC's 30 Rock playing Liz Lemon's old college roommate who stalks Jack Donaghy.
She appears naked in a series of photographs that are published on the cover and inside pages of the January 2009 issue of GQ. She tells the magazine that she feels more comfortable today than she did in her twenties or early thirties. "I'm healthier. I'm more at peace in my mind and with my body," she says.
On December 25, 2008, Marley & Me, in which Jennifer starred alongside Owen Wilson, was released. It set a record for the largest Christmas Day box office ever with $14.75 million in ticket sales.It earned a total of $51.7 million over the four-day weekend and placed #1 at the box office, a position it maintained for two weeks. As of February 15, 2009 its total worldwide gross was $161,608,269.
Her next film in wide release, He's Just Not That into You, opened in February 2009. The movie made $27.5 million, ranking #1 at the box office in its opening weekend. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston along with Jennifer Connelly, and Ben Affleck are often praised by critics as being the stand-outs in the film.
As of 2009, Aniston's movies have grossed $900,618,847 in the United States.
In July 16, 2009 Jennifer Aniston was nominated for the 2009 Emmy Awards for her work in 30 Rock.
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Jennifer Aniston Profile
Jennifer Joanna Aniston was born on February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, California, is an American actress.
She grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of the actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. Her father is a Greek American, born Yannis Anastassakis, on the island of Crete, Greece, while her mother is of Italian-Scottish descent and was born in New York City. She has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger). Jennifer godfather was the actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. She lived in Greece for one year as a child with her family, and they later relocated to New York City. Her father has appeared in the soap operas Days of our Lives, Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow.
She attended the New York Rudolf Steiner School and graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. She supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger. In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California.
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Cristine Reyes is dating a non-celebrity suitor
Actress Cristine Reyes is dating a non-celebrity suitor who is a student of Ateneo de Manila University.
The 20-year-old actress identified him only as Gio. She said he is the president of Ateneo’s student council.
"Sobra siyang matangkad. Hindi siya iyong hunk na kapag nakita mo 'wow gwapo!' Pero kapag nakausap mo sobrang may sense kausap. Atsaka nakakapag-usap kami sa phone for like two hours," Reyes said.
She said what she likes most about Gio is his sense of humor.
They have known each other since they were children. In fact, she said, he courted her when they were still in Grade 6. That time though, she said she liked someone else.
"Broken-hearted siya sa akin kasi that time iba ang sinagot ko," Reyes said.
The FHM's world sexiest woman and former “Banana Split” star previously dated hunk actor Dennis Trillo.
Source: http://ph.yahoo.com
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Marie Digby Music Career
She signed a publishing deal with Rondor Music, a subsidiary of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group in early 2005. By the end of 2005, she had signed with Disney's Hollywood Records and her first album of original songs was completed by the end of 2006. Also in 2006, her song "Fool" was included on the Disney compilation album Girl Next. In early 2007, she began to post simple videos of herself singing cover songs of other artists on YouTube in order to gain visibility. Hollywood Records then released a high-quality studio recording of her rendition of "Umbrella" to iTunes and radio stations. She is often seen performing using a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar.
Marie's first official single, "Say It Again", was released to radio stations on January 18, 2008. Her debut album, Unfold, which was completed over a year before, was released on April 8, 2008. The design of the cover for the album was mostly based on the sketches she drew during her downtime while recording the album. She worked with some of Hollywood's best including Tom Rothrock (Producer), Charlie Paxson (drums) and Matt Chait (guitar). Many different editions of the album exist, including a Japanese edition with different cover artwork and an alternate tracklisting. The album's second single, "Stupid For You", was released in September, 2008.
Marie released a collection of Japanese cover songs on March 4, 2009. The album, titled "Second Home," was recorded completely in Japanese and received a limited release only in Japan. One critic in Japan said Marié's voice, "delivers the wind of the spring."
Marie's sophomore English release was originally slated for release in May 2009, but she asked the label to push the release date back until she finds a manager at Hollywood Records. According to Amazon.com, Breathing Underwater will now be released on September 8, 2009. The album in its entirety was leaked to the internet on April 8, 2009, well before the release date. She will have a one night only concert in the Philippines on August 1, 2009 at The Tent in Taguig City.
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Anne Curtis traumatized by road accident
Beyond the physical wound, the “biggest injury” Anne Curtis sustained from Monday's road accident is trauma, said her on-screen partner Derek Ramsay.
"No one was hurt, thank God. But most people would not be able to get to the wheel after an accident like that but I told her that you should get back," Ramsay said.
The actor, who acts as Curtis’ adviser when it comes to car driving, said he is encouraging her to drive again in order to overcome her fear.
Ramsay was one of Curtis’ friends who got shocked after hearing that the actress figured in an accident in Quezon City Monday. Former boyfriend Sam Milby, Jericho Rosales and Christian Bautista even rushed to the scene to help her.
Ramsay heaved a sigh of relief because his “The Wedding” co-star was wearing a seatbelt when the incident happened. "She has a mark of the seatbelt here (pointing to his left breast) and the impact of airbag, so, a couple of bruises."
He feared that it would have been “a different story” if she was not wearing her seatbelt.
Curtis also admitted that the accident was “completely her fault,” according to the actor.
"She completely admitted na it was her fault. It was an accident. Accident always happens,” he said.
Curtis already reported to the set of television show “The Wedding.” Ramsay assured that the actress is “doing well.”
"Sabi ko, 'kotse lang 'yan. Ang mabuti ay walang nangyari saiyo and anyone else.' And she realized that. She is full of smile until 4 this morning (Thursday) so she's doing well," Ramsay said.
Source: http://ph.yahoo.com
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Youtube star Marie Digby live in Manila
“One impatient girl” is how Marie (pronounced Mar-ee-AY), 26, is described by those close to her. As a toddler, she started taking piano and guitar lessons and, inspired by her favorite artists (Martin Sexton, Beth Orton and Poe among them), started writing songs. She didn’t stop there.
The daughter of a Japanese mother and an Irish-American father, Marie entered a national songwriting contest sponsored by Pantene. Her winning piece, Miss Invisible, won the top prize. It wouldn’t be long before she signed up with Hollywood Records in 2002.It was five years later, in May 2007, that she did Umbrella which became such a huge hit on YouTube that her home company made Marie record that song along with the cover of Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done and two of Marie’s original songs (Stupid For You and Unfold which is the title track of her debut CD). Her second album, Breathing Underwater, was recently released locally by MCA Music.
This Saturday, Aug. 1, Fearless Productions, in cooperation with MCA Music, Music Management Inc. 89.9, GMA 7 and MTV Philippines, is presenting Marie Digby Live in Manila at the NBC Tent at The Fort, Taguig City. Marie arrived this morning from L.A. where she is based.
Here are excerpts from an e-mail interview Funfare did with Marie over the weekend:
How and when did you decide to cover Umbrella?
“I was driving in my car two summers ago when the song Umbrella came on the radio. I loved the song immediately, went home and recorded my cover about 20 minutes later. I spent 15 minutes arranging my acoustic version of it and then recorded the video. I did it so quickly that I mispronounced, not ‘um-buh-rella’ as Rihanna pronounced it.”
Have you actually met Rihanna? If you did, what was her comment on your cover version?
“I have never met Rihanna and have never heard from her as to whether or not she likes the cover. But I sincerely hope that she likes it.”
Tell us about your new album Breathing Underwater (released in the Philippines last week).
“Breathing Underwater is a snapshot of my life recently. I’ve gone through quite the emotional rollercoaster...getting off worldwide touring for Unfold, starting new relationships, and having a generally different perspective on life. I think those changes were captured in the songs that make up the album.”
Do you remember the first song that you performed live?
“It was called Cold Coffee and I sang it to my high school classmates when I was 18.”
Who are some of your musical influences?
“I love Portishead, Smashing Pumpkins, Imogen Heap, Chopin and Jimi Hendrix.”
Is there any one else in your family that sings?
“My sisters are incredibly talented singers but they wouldn’t dare sing in front of people! I have a feeling if they did, they’d be a lot better than me.”
What have been the changes in your life since you became a performer?
“My life is a lot more chaotic in the best way. I feel so grateful that I do what I love everyday of my life and have made it a career.
I get stopped by my fans here and there when I’m out and I’m always appreciative to hear how my music has affected their life.”
What have you heard about the Philippines?
“I’ve heard that the Filipinos are incredibly welcoming and warm. Also that they are huge music fans. If both of those things are true, I think I am sure to have an amazing trip.”
What can we expect from your concert in Manila on Aug. 1?
“I will be playing a mix of old songs and new songs. I tried to find the perfect mix of favorites from Unfold as well as the most important tracks from Breathing Underwater.”
Source: http://ph.yahoo.com
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Marié Digby Profile
Marié Christina Digby was born on April 16, 1983 is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Whose mother is Japanese and father is Irish American, is the eldest of three siblings. Her two sisters are Naomi (born December 12, 1985) and Erina (born August 8, 1987). She began writing songs during high school in Los Angeles, California. After completing her sophomore year as a philosophy major at the University of California, Berkeley, she came out into the public eye when she won the 2004 Pantene Pro-Voice competition with her song "Miss Invisible". The grand prize for the concert included working with a professional producer on an album, $5,000 and performing on stage with other top performers
She is perhaps best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's No. 1 hit "Umbrella", which attracted attention on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills, and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. She performed the song on the late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007. Since then, she has released three studio albums, including one Japanese cover album. These albums have spawned seven singles overall.
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Jackson chef recalled the singer's final days
On the day Michael Jackson died, his personal chef says her first hint of something amiss was when his doctor didn't come downstairs to get the juices and granola he routinely brought the King of Pop for breakfast each morning.
Kai Chase, a professionally trained chef hired by Jackson to maintain a healthy food regimen, recalled the singer's final days in an interview with The Associated Press. She also spoke about the role of his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who is now the focus of a manslaughter investigation.
Chase said Tuesday that she had gotten used to seeing Murray coming and going from the mansion. The doctor usually arrived about 9 or 9:30 p.m. and would go upstairs to Jackson's room, and she said she would not see him again before she left — sometimes late in the evening — but understood he was staying the night.
In the morning, when she arrived for work, Chase said she would see the doctor coming down the steps carrying oxygen tanks. When Murray didn't come downstairs the morning of June 25, "I thought maybe Mr. Jackson is sleeping late," Chase said.
"I started preparing the lunch and then I looked at my cell phone and it was noon. About 12:05 or 12:10 Dr. Murray runs down the steps and screams, 'Go get Prince!' He's screaming very loud. I run into the den where the kids are playing. Prince (Jackson's oldest son) runs to meet Dr. Murray and from that point on you could feel the energy in the house change.
"I walked into the hall and I saw the children there. The daughter was crying. I saw paramedics running up the stairs."
At that point, Chase said, the small group that was gathered — the children, their nanny, a housekeeper and Chase — held hands and began to pray. As paramedics raced up to the room, Chase recalls, "We were all praying, 'Help Mr. Jackson be O.K.'
"Then everyone was very quiet."
At about 1:30 p.m. she said security guards told her and other staff to leave the property because "Mr. Jackson was being taken to the hospital."
When she came outside, she said, ambulances were in the courtyard and a crowd had gathered.
Chase, 37, who has cooked for other celebrities and comes from a show-business family, was hired by Jackson in March, let go in May, then returned on June 2. She said the pop star's focus was on fresh, healthy food for him and the children.
She said she prepared meals for the family and occasionally for Murray. She said Jackson was in training for his upcoming shows in London and told her: "You have to take care of me."
On most days, she said, Murray would bring Jackson the special fruit juice drinks Chase prepared for him, followed by granola with almond milk. For lunch, Jackson would eat with the children from a menu that included such things as spinach salad and chicken.
Murray sometimes joined them for dinner, which might be a seared ahi tuna. She said the doctor conferred with her about the 50-year-old pop singer's food and made sure that he ate.
The only oddity was the oxygen tanks. Chase said she never asked about the purpose of the oxygen and she saw no sign that Jackson was on drugs or was in failing health.
"Normally in the morning, he would bring oxygen tanks from upstairs downstairs, one in each hand," she said.
Authorities searched Murray's Las Vegas home and medical office Tuesday as part of an investigation that included raids last week of his clinic and storage in Houston.
With toxicology reports pending, investigators are working under the theory that the powerful anesthetic propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Murray told investigators he regularly administered the drug to help Jackson sleep, and had done so sometime in the early morning of June 25, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Propofol is supposed to be administered only in monitored medical settings by trained personnel; the official told AP that Murray left the bedroom and returned to find the star unresponsive. Police have said Murray is cooperating and have not labeled him a suspect, and his lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor "didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson."
Like Murray, Chase said she was hired to accompany Jackson to London for his comeback concerts and the request was personally made to her by his 12-year-old son, Prince Michael II.
"Prince said, 'Daddy wants me to tell you he wants you to go to London with us,'" she recalled. "I said, 'Tell your daddy that I'm pleased and honored."
She said she had already filled out paperwork and submitted a copy of her passport to the Jackson staff and expected to leave for London on July 3.
On June 23, she said Jackson told her: "I'm packed and I'm ready to go." Two days later, he was dead.
It was the end of her dream job and an idyllic time in Chase's life, a time that had begun in March with a call from Jackson's assistant, Michael Williams. She was told that "a client" wanted her services as personal chef but she was not told the client was Jackson until she was hired.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "I asked him if I was on 'Candid Camera.' I said, 'Am I being punked?'"
She said Jackson had seen her resume which included jobs cooking for Macy Gray and Jamie Foxx as well as catering a fund raiser for President Barack Obama. She said he also knew she was from a multiracial background and her godfather was Redd Foxx.
But before she started she had to pass muster with three other people: the Jackson children.
"I came to the house and the first people I met were the kids. They started interviewing me," she said. "They told me: 'We're into healthy eating.'"
When they approved her, she went to work and "we developed a really great bond."
Most days, she said, Jackson made a point of having both lunch and dinner with the children, Prince, 11-year-old Paris and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, and each meal was preceded by Paris saying grace. After weeks of healthy food, she said she wrote Jackson a note with a suggestion:
"I said, 'What about doing comfort-food Saturdays? We could do barbecued chicken and corn on the cob, maybe Mexican food or soul food.'" She said he loved the idea, but as the concerts approached, healthy eating returned full time.
"He said, 'I'm a dancer,' and he wanted food that would not make him cramp up while he was dancing."
She now treasures little notes she received from the children and from Jackson and a present he gave her.
"One day he handed me a little gift bag and said, 'This is for you from me and the children.' He had given me an iPod Touch because the children told him I still had a Walkman. It had the 25th anniversary 'Thriller' album loaded on it."
She said she has visited with the children since Jackson's death and they are doing well. "They have so many cousins to play with."
As for Chase's future, she said Jackson encouraged her to write a cookbook and she has written one tentatively titled, "Fit for a King." It includes recipes she cooked for Jackson and the story of the time she worked for him.
"He was an inspiration to me," she said.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Coroner delays release of Jackson autopsy results
The Los Angeles County coroner's office says release of Michael Jackson's autopsy results will be delayed.
Coroner's officials had said they were going to release the results this week but Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Wednesday the announcement will probably not come until next week.
Winter did not discuss reasons for the delay.
Jackson died June 25.
A law enforcement official has said investigators are working under the theory that the powerful anesthetic propofol (PROH'-puh-fahl) caused Jackson's heart to stop. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Truth behind Michael Jackson sleeping aid
Propofol (INN, marketed as Diprivan by AstraZeneca) is a short-acting, intravenously administered sedative agent. It has several uses in anesthesia and sedation, including induction of general anesthesia in adults and children, maintenance of general anesthesia, sedation for intubated, mechanically ventilated adults in the intensive care unit (ICU), sedation in procedures such as colonoscopy and endoscopy, and dental surgery; it is also commonly used in veterinary medicine. Propofol is approved for use in more than 50 countries, and generic versions are available.
Propofol is unrelated to the barbiturates, and has largely replaced sodium thiopental (trade name Pentothal) for induction of anesthesia, as recovery after propofol anesthesia is more rapid and 'clear' as compared to thiopental. Propofol is not considered an analgesic, so opioids such as fentanyl are also typically given during surgery for pain control.
Originally developed by Imperial Chemical Industries as ICI 35868, initial clinical trials followed in 1977 in a form solubilised in cremophor EL. However, due to anaphylactic reactions, it was withdrawn from the market and subsequently reformulated as an emulsion of a soya oil/propofol mixture in water. This was re-launched in 1986 by ICI (now AstraZeneca) with the brand name Diprivan (shortened version of diisopropyl intravenous anesthetic). The current preparation is 1% propofol, 10% soybean oil and 1.2% purified egg phospholipid (emulsifier), with 2.25% of glycerol as a tonicity-adjusting agent, and sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH. Diprivan contains EDTA as an antimicrobial agent. Newer generic formulations contain sodium metabisulfite or benzyl alcohol. Propofol emulsion appears as a highly opaque-white fluid due to the scattering of light from the tiny (~150 nm) oil droplets that it contains. It resembles milk, and is jocularly called "milk of amnesia" by medical professionals.
A water-soluble prodrug form, fospropofol, has recently been developed and tested with positive results, being rapidly broken down once in the body by the enzyme alkaline phosphatase to form propofol. Marketed as Lusedra, this new formulation might well have superior properties for use in humans, such as being more readily injectable and perhaps without the pain at injection site that often occurs with the traditional form of the drug. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the product in 2008.
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Anne Curtis discharged from hospital
Anne Curtis, who suffered minor injuries after figuring in a car accident, has been discharged from a hospital. Reports said the young actress is now resting at her home after leaving the still undisclosed facility. Curtis opted to skip her scheduled X-ray examination and went straight home in order to rest, reports added. Curtis was reportedly grateful to all those who came to her aid, some of whom were her friends from show business.
"The Wedding" artist, who was driving a Porsche Cayenne, hit an L-300 delivery van on the corner of Congressional and Mindanao Avenues in Quezon City around 2:30 a.m. Monday.
Aquino Marcelino, the van's driver, said the actress possibly fell asleep while at the wheel. Some of the actress' celebrity friends, including former boyfriend, Sam Milby, actor Jericho Rosales and singer Christian Bautista, reportedly rushed to the scene to help her.
Source: http://ph.yahoo.com
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Jackson mom's request for estate info rejected
The legal team for Michael Jackson's mother on Tuesday asked a judge for the power to press the administrators of her son's estate for more information ahead of a key hearing next week, but the judge rebuffed the effort.
Lawyers for Katherine Jackson on Tuesday requested the authority to interview attorney John Branca and former music executive John McClain this Friday, as well as demand they produce business contracts and other documents related to the late pop star.
Her lawyers argued in a court filing that the information was "potentially crucial" to a hearing set for Monday that could determine the permanent representatives of Jackson's estate, which is estimated to be worth more than $500 million.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff put off dealing with their request until Monday, effectively quashing it.
Beckloff may determine at Monday's hearing whether special administrators Branca and McClain will transition from temporary to permanent representatives of the estate, and whether an allowance will be granted to Katherine and Jackson's three children.
Jackson's 2002 will puts his assets in a trust that benefits Katherine, his three children and unnamed children's charities.
Tuesday's filing was meant to expedite the process of obtaining "important personal, business and legal information and documents relating to Michael Jackson" including his deal with concert promoter AEG Live, according to a written statement from L. Londell McMillan, who is part of Katherine Jackson's legal team.
They're also seeking "life insurance policies, settlements and disputes as well as agreements between the temporary special administrators and Michael Jackson (and others)."
McMillan said they'd requested some of the documents before and had hoped to see them before the Aug. 3 hearing.
Katherine Jackson's lawyers alleged in filings that Branca and McClain were "intent on keeping her in the dark as much and for as long as possible."
Branca and McClain's legal team responded that the singer's mother had made "voluminous, burdensome and invasive discovery demands" that were impossible to meet in a short time frame.
It added that it could not produce the contract detailing Jackson's comeback tour with promoter AEG Live because of confidentiality provisions, but was willing to share the contract if Katherine Jackson agreed to the provisions. The parties were unable to agree on the terms.
The administrators' legal team also argued that it was unclear why Katherine Jackson was demanding so much information. Her subpoena and deposition notices had "all the earmarks of a protracted and expensive legal battle which does not appear to be justified," the administrators' lawyers said in a filing.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Police raid Dr. Conrad Murray's gated resort home and downtown Las Vegas office
Police and federal agents swooped on the Las Vegas home of Michael Jackson's personal doctor as speculation mounted the physician could face possible manslaughter charges.
Drug Enforcement Administration and Los Angeles Police Department officers seized mobile phones and a computer after combing through doctor Conrad Murray's gated resort home and downtown Las Vegas office.
A statement released by Murray's legal team said officers had executed two search warrants seeking Jackson's medical records.
"The search warrant authorized investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases," the statement said, adding that Murray was present during the search and assisted officers.
Tuesday's search followed a similar raid last week on Murray's practice in Houston, Texas, where a warrant revealed for the first time agents were seeking evidence of manslaughter in connection with the doctor.
Murray has emerged as the central figure in the mystery surrounding Jackson's sudden death on June 25 at the age of 50 at his rented chateau-like home in Los Angeles.
CNN reported on Monday that police Murray, 51, gave Jackson a lethal dose of a potent anesthetic propofol on the night before his death.
Propofol is used in hospitals to induce unconsciousness in patients ahead of major surgery. Experts say the drug should only be administered by a trained anesthesiologist under strict monitoring conditions.
The possibility that Murray gave Jackson the drug intravenously has fueled speculation he may face manslaughter charges.
Murray's lawyers, who have repeatedly insisted he is innocent of wrongdoing, issued a statement late Monday urging calm amid the flurry of reports suggesting the physician faced a criminal prosecution.
Attorney Ed Chernoff said firm conclusions could only be drawn once the results of toxicology tests from Jackson's autopsy were known.
"Everyone needs to take a breath and wait for these long delayed toxicology results... Things tend to shake out when all the facts are made known, and I'm sure that will happen here as well."
TMZ.com meanwhile reported that Murray had told police in an interview on June 27 he gave Jackson propofol via an intravenous drip.
The website reported police believe Murray may have fallen asleep while the drug was being administered, and awoke to find the singer already dead.
The Los Angeles Coroner's office has said results of tests carried out on Jackson's body will be revealed by the end of the week.
ABC News reported Tuesday meanwhile that pathologists also discovered a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs in Jackson's emaciated body, including the powerful painkillers OxyContin and Demerol.
In the aftermath of Jackson's death, friends of the singer's family said the clan had "unanswered questions" regarding Murray's role, citing his failure to call paramedics immediately after discovering the star.
Murray was also criticized for attempting to give CPR to Jackson while he lay on a bed, even though established medical practice calls for the patient to be placed on a hard surface.
"(Murray) owes it to the family and to the public to say, 'These were the last hours of Michael's life and here's what happened.' That's a reasonable expectation," family friend and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said.
Jackson's death came as he prepared to make a grueling 50-date series of comeback concerts in London. Murray had been reportedly hired by Jackson on a monthly salary of 150,000 dollars to oversee his health ahead of the comeback.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Anne Curtis hurt in car accident
Fans of actress Anne Curtis were rattled by news of her figuring in a road accident early morning of July 27.
According to an "Unang Hirit" report broadcast around 8 a.m., Curtis was brought to St. Luke's Medical Center after her car, a Porsche Cayenne, rammed into an L-300 delivery van at the corner of Congressional and Mindanao Avenues in Quezon City around 1 a.m., Monday.
The actress is said to have suffered minor cuts and bruises.
The driver of the van, identified as Aquino Marcelino, claimed that it was Curtis' car that collided with his vehicle. Marcelino said that he had the truck on idle and was waiting for the green light when the actress' car appeared out of nowhere and hit him. He added that the actress might have fallen asleep while driving her car.
Some of Curtis' friends rushed to the scene, including singer Christian Bautista and actors Jericho Rosales and Sam Milby.
Curtis' road manager, Michelle, said the actress' nanny texted her to pack up today's shooting for "The Wedding" which the actress topbills.
Source: http://ph.yahoo.com
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
In early 2005, Angelina was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but admitted that they "fell in love" on the set. In an interview in 2005, she explained, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife."
While Angelina and Brad never publicly commented on the nature of their relationship, speculations continued throughout 2005. The first intimate paparazzi photos emerged in April, one month after Aniston had filed for divorce; they showed Pitt, Angelina and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya. During the summer Jolie and Pitt were seen together with increasing frequency and most of the entertainment media considered them a couple, dubbing them "Brangelina". On January 11, 2006, Angelina confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child and thereby confirmed their relationship for the first time in public.
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Angelina Jolie Tattoos
Angelina's numerous tattoos have been the subject of much media attention and have often been addressed by interviewers. She stated that, while she is not opposed to film nudity, the large number of tattoos on her body has forced filmmakers to become more creative when planning nude or love scenes. Make-up has been used to cover up the tattoos in many of her productions.She currently has thirteen known tattoos, among them the Tennessee Williams quote "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages", which she got together with her mother, the Arabic language phrase (strength of will), the Latin proverb "quod me nutrit me destruit" (what nourishes me destroys me), and a Yantra prayer written in the ancient Khmer script for her son Maddox. She also has six sets of geographical coordinates on her upper left arm indicating the birthplaces of her children. Over time she covered or lasered several of her tattoos, including "Billy Bob", the name of her former husband Billy Bob Thornton, a Chinese character for death, and a window on her lower back; she explained that she removed the window, because, while she used to spend all of her time looking out through windows wishing to be outside, she now lives there all of the time.
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Emma Watson role in Harry Potter
Emma is perhaps best known for the role of Hermione Granger in the series of films. She first auditioned when she was nine years old and commenced filming when she was ten.
Playing the role of the bookish but kind hearted and loyal ‘Mudblood’ has made Emma a household name and won her a legion of loyal fans across the world. She has starred in all six of the films in which the six series is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince showing in July 2009.
Emma will commence filming the final series of the book in February 2009. The film of JK Rowling’s seventh book will be filmed as one but released in two parts.
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Emma Watson Profile
Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson was born on April 15, 1990 in Paris, France. She is a British actress
The daughter of British lawyers Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson. She has one French grandmother, and lived in Paris until the age of five. She moved with her mother and younger brother, Alex, to Oxfordshire, following her parents' divorce.
From the age of six, she wanted to become an actress, and for a number of years, she trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing and acting. By age 10, she had performed in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince, but she had never acted professionally before the Harry Potter series. "I had no idea of the scale of the film series", she said in a 2007 interview with Parade; "if I had I would have been completely overwhelmed".
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Britney Spears Profile
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana as a Southern Baptist, is an American singer and entertainer. She was first appeared on national television in 1992 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994.
Her parents are Lynne Irene, a former elementary school teacher, and Jamie Parnell Spears, a former building contractor and chef. She has two siblings, Bryan and Jamie Lynn. Bryan Spears is married to Jamie-Lynn's manager, Graciella Rivera.
She was an accomplished gymnast, attending gymnastics classes until age nine and competing in state-level competitions. She performed in local dance revues and sang in her local Baptist church choir. She entered New York City's Professional Performing Arts School when she was eight. Her parents would often argue, and they eventually divorced in 2002.
At age eight, she auditioned for the Disney Channel series The New Mickey Mouse Club. Although she was considered too young to join the series at the time, a producer on the show introduced her to a New York City agent. She subsequently spent three summers at NYC's Professional Performing Arts School and also appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions. In 1992, she landed a spot on the popular television show Star Search. She won the first round of competition, but ultimately lost. At age eleven, she returned to the Disney Channel for a spot on The New Mickey Mouse Club in Lakeland, Florida. After the show ended, she returned to Kentwood and attended high school for a year.
In 1997, she briefly joined the all-female pop group Innosense. Later that same year, she recorded a solo demo and was signed by Jive Records. She began a U.S. concert tour sponsored by American teen magazines, and eventually became an opening act for 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys.
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Hollywood movie for Michael Jackson rehearsal
A Hollywood movie made using footage of Michael Jackson rehearsing for his planned series of comeback concerts could hit theaters by the end of this year, US media reports said Monday.
Daily Variety reported that Sony Pictures studio was close to agreeing a 50-million-dollar deal for worldwide rights to nearly 80 hours of footage showing pop icon Jackson rehearsing before his death.
The report said AEG Entertainment, the company which owns the material and had been behind Jackson's proposed series of concerts in London, had screened the footage to Hollywood studio executives last week.
Variety reported that Kenny Ortega, the choreographer for Jackson's new "This Is It" concerts and the director of hit film "High School Musical," was expected to direct the movie.
So far only a brief snippet of Jackson's concert rehearsals have been revealed to the public.
Footage released on July 2 showed Jackson practicing a song-and-dance routine at Los Angeles's Staples Center two days before his death, supporting accounts he had been in good health.
Associates of Jackson have described the 50-year-old pop star as being in good form, including at another rehearsal the day before his death.
Jackson collapsed and died on June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion. A final cause of death has not been revealed as coroner's await the results of toxicology tests.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Emma Watson picks a college in the U.S.
While the cast of "Harry Potter" might stay hush about plotlines, "Half-Blood Prince" star Emma Watson has revealed an important change is in her future.
According to Paste magazine, Emma confirmed she will enroll as a college freshman at Brown University this fall.
"I am going to Brown, which is an Ivy League establishment in the U.S.A. I've got a place there to read literature," she revealed to the music mag.
In recent months, the studious star made a worldwide college tour that involved many stops on the East Coast and Great Britain. But although her "Potter" co-star Daniel Radcliffe previously told Britain's Guardian newspaper that Emma was attending Brown, the actress remained mum on the subject until now.
And with the cat out of the bag, Emma opened up about her enthusiasm for hitting the books.
"It sounds so geeky, but I really do like studying and reading, and if I'm not working on 'Harry Potter,' then my greatest relaxation is to sit with a book," she told Paste. "That's how I escape stress -- in literature. I always have several books on the go at any one moment, so it's no good you asking 'What's on the bedside table at the moment, Emma?' because often I can't even see the table."
Emma does realize that many at Brown will recognize her for her performances and not for her test scores, but she hopes her fellow students will get over it quickly.
"I do hope that it will be only a short time before I am known s 'Emma Watson, the student from the U.K.' rather than 'Emma Watson who starred in those 'Harry Potter' films.'"
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Joe Jackson: I'm "Not Encouraging" Michael's Kids to Be Entertainers
Despite earlier comments to ABC News that Michael Jackson's kids could be stars, Joe Jackson now says has no plans to turn them into entertainers.
"I'm not encouraging them to do nothing. They have to be what they are, kids at the moment," he said on Monday's Larry King Live
He said the "Jackson Three" rumors are "a bunch of jive."
He also denied ever abusing his late son, who died June 25 at age 50 after suffering cardiac arrest, despite previous accusations from the King of Pop himself.
"I never abused my son," Joe insisted. "Michael was never beaten."
Joe revealed that he didn't know the location of his son's body.
He also said that although he hasn't seen any results from the family's private autopsy, he still suspects "foul play" in his son's death.
Speaking of the singer's private physician Dr. Conrad Murray, Joe said: "The doctor gave him something to make him rest and he don't wake up no more. Something is wrong."
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Emma Watson role in Ballet Shoes
The BBC’s saw Emma’s first professional acting role outside of the world when she plays the character of Pauline Fossil, one of three adopted sisters who individually embark on very different passions and career paths which inevitably bring conflict and heart ache.
Emma is joined by Yasmin Paige and Lucy Boynton who play her screen sister s Petrova and Posy. The television drama which is based on the novel by Noel Streatfeild, also stars Victoria Wood, Armelia Fox and Richard Griffiths as the girl’s eccentric but well meaning adoptive father.
Set in 1950’s, the drama was filmed in 2007 in London, England and broadcast that Christmas. It was watched by a phenomenal audience of millions and received tremendous critical acclaim.
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Angelina Jolie Profile
Angelina Jolie is an American actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency.
She was born Angelina Jolie Voight on on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, she is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the niece of Chip Taylor, sister of James Haven and the god-daughter of Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her father's side, she is of Czechoslovakian and German descent, and on her mother's side she is French Canadian and is said to be part Iroquois.
After her parents' separation in 1976, she and her brother were raised by their mother, who abandoned her acting ambitions and moved with them to Palisades, New York. As a child, she regularly saw movies with her mother and later explained that this had inspired her interest in acting; she had not been influenced by her father. When she was eleven years old, the family moved back to Los Angeles and decided that she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions. She later recalled her time as a student at Beverly Hills High School (later Moreno High School), and her feeling of isolation among the children of some of the area's more affluent families.
At the age of 14, she dropped out of her acting classes and dreamed of becoming a funeral director. During this period, she wore black, dyed her hair purple and went out moshing with her live-in boyfriend. Two years later, after the relationship had ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother's home. She returned to theatre studies and graduated from high school, though in recent times she has referred to this period with the observation,
She has been long estranged from her father. The two tried to reconcile and he appeared with her in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). In July 2002, Jolie filed a request to legally change her name to "Angelina Jolie", dropping Voight as her surname; the name change was made official on September 12, 2002.
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Custody hearing for Michael Jackson's kids delayed again
A hearing to consider who will raise Michael Jackson's three children has been delayed another week, while lawyers work to avoid a court battle over custody.
The delay the third one this month was announced Friday afternoon by a Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman.
Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and mother of his two oldest children, has not publicly revealed whether she will challenge Katherine Jackson, his 79-year-old mother, for custody or visitation rights. Katherine Jackson gained temporary guardianship of her son's children soon after his death last month.
The two women have been working to "privately and amicably resolve" the matter since Jackson's death, a Jackson family lawyer said.
Rowe's lawyer said this week that she was not asking the Jackson family for more money in exchange for dropping a possible custody challenge.
A close friend of Rowe said she has been grieving Jackson's death -- grief made more painful by paparazzi hounding her and media reports vilifying Rowe by depicting her as a heartless woman who would trade her kids for cash.
"Debbie's a very caring, wonderful, warm person," said Marc Schaffel, who met first met Rowe when he worked for Jackson. "She's a very humble person. People, you know, don't give her credit that she was a friend of Michael's for over 30 years."
Jackson and Rowe met when she was working as a nursing assistant in the Beverly Hills office of Jackson's dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein.
Rowe said in a 2003 interview, later obtained by ABC News, that she became closer to Jackson in 1996 when she consoled him after his brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley ended.
"He was upset because he really wanted to be a dad," Rowe said. "I said, 'So, be a dad.' He looked at me puzzled. That is when I looked at him and said. 'Let me do this. I want to do this. You have been so good to me. You are such a great friend. Please let me do this. You need to be a dad, and I want you to be.'"
She told the interviewer they married in 1996 only to "prevent some of the taboo of a child out of wedlock."
While Schaffel would not say if their relationship was sexual, he said Rowe had "a true, true love there for Michael."
Their first child, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., was born in February 1997. A daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, was born the next year.
Details of how the children were conceived and who was the biological father have been closely guarded amid much public speculation.
The couple divorced in 1999 with Rowe giving Jackson full custody while she got a $8.5 million settlement, according to court documents. Jackson later agreed to additional support.
Rowe gave up parental rights to Jackson in 2001, but she changed her mind more than two years later and sought temporary custody of the children. A California appeals court later ruled her rights were improperly terminated, opening the door to a possible custody battle.
Rowe claimed in the 2003 interview that she still had "some influence" over how Jackson raised the children, citing his practice of covering their faces in public as her idea.
"That was my request, not his," she said.
"I am the one who's terrified. I am the one who's seen the notes that someone's going to take his children," she said.
She said the children don't call her "mom" because she did not want them to.
"It's not that they're not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father," she said.
Rowe, 50, lives on a farm in Palmdale, California, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles, where she breeds horses and dogs.
"She spends time with all of her horses and her dogs," Schaffel said. "If one of her horses is sick, Debbie will stay up all night long caring for them. She'll sleep on the floor in the barn with a horse if he's not well.
"Debbie doesn't run out to all of the social events," he said. "You don't see her shopping on Rodeo Drive. She's not hitting the hot spots. She's not trying to be in the limelight. Debbie is just as happy at home in her very modest, humble, horse ranch."
When Hollywood's paparazzi surrounded her outside a restaurant near her ranch earlier this month, she showed flashes of anger and frustration.
"Are you ready to fight for your kids?" a photographer repeatedly shouted.
"Are you ready to get your butt kicked?" she replied, as she walked through the swarm.
Schaffel said Rowe wants privacy and she's "just trying to go on with her life."
"She doesn't react well with the paparazzi," he said.
Rowe's lawyers have stepped up their efforts to bolster her public image by firing off warning letters and demanding retractions when they see reports they think are wrong.
One letter sent Tuesday demanded the New York Post retract its report that Rowe had agreed to drop her custody claims for $4 million.
"Ms. Rowe has not accepted -- and will not accept -- any additional financial consideration beyond the spousal support she and Michael Jackson personally agreed to several years ago," Eric George said in the letter.
"Among the several contenders for overzealous and inaccurate sensationalism, the New York Post has now seized top honors," George wrote to the paper. "It would be easier to identify those few background facts that are accurate than to catalog the number of blatant falsehoods in your story."
"The Post stands by its story," New York Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan told CNN.
Rowe also filed a lawsuit this week against a woman who claimed in a TV interview to have e-mails from Rowe saying she didn't really want to raise the children. The suit asked that Rowe be given any money paid to the woman for the interview.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Debbie Rowe sues woman over TV interview
Michael Jackson's ex-wife Deborah Rowe has sued a woman who claimed in a television interview that Rowe didn't want custody of the pop star's children but was interested in getting money from the Jackson family.
Rowe filed a defamation and invasion-of-privacy lawsuit Thursday against Rebecca White of Florida. The suit seeks unspecified damages, but specifically targets any money that White may have been paid by TV show "Extra" for an interview that aired earlier this week.
The stories were based on White's description of e-mails she said she exchanged with Rowe after Jackson's death on June 25. Rowe, 50, denies she sent any recent e-mails to White.
The lawsuit also claims intentional infliction of emotional distress and states that Rowe has suffered "shame, mortification, hurt feelings and injury to her reputation" as a result of White's interview.
An e-mail sent to a publicist for "Extra" seeking comment wasn't immediately returned. A phone message left on a phone number registered to White in Key West, Fla. was not returned Friday.
The stories based on White's interview remain active on the show's Web site.
Rowe's lawsuit states that she hasn't communicated with White since Jackson's death. The suit states that White interviewed her in 2008 for an MTV production and has since been "attempting to portray herself as a friend."
In the "Extra" interview, White is described as a "close friend" who claimed Rowe had emphatically stated in an e-mail exchange that she didn't want custody of Jackson's three children.
Rowe is the mother of Jackson's two oldest children.
White also told "Extra" she thought Rowe was motivated by money, and that was the reason she was getting involved in a guardianship case that will decide who cares for the children, who range in age from 7 to 12.
A hearing on whether Jackson's 79-year-old mother, Katherine Jackson, should continue to care for the children is scheduled Monday.
The lawsuit came two days after Rowe's attorney, Eric M. George, demanded a retraction from White. The lawsuit states White hasn't responded.
The suit rejects White's contention that she's a friend, stating that Rowe didn't respond to two e-mails White sent her after Jackson's death. Rowe also rejected an offer to have dinner with White when she apparently flew to Los Angeles for the "Extra" interview, according to the lawsuit.
The filing cites numerous other instances in which White has made outlandish claims to tabloid publications, some of which have been discredited. The lawsuit contends White was paid for those interviews, and suggests "Extra" flew her to Los Angeles and may have paid for her interview.
Rowe has been quick to try to rebut or silence false reports. The lawsuit states that her attorneys got News of the World to remove a story based on assertions made by White. Earlier this week, Rowe's attorney demanded a retraction from the New York Post after the paper ran a story claiming she had accepted a payout to drop her custody bid.
No settlement in the guardianship case has been announced or filed. Nor has Rowe formally petitioned for custody.
Rowe's attorneys, however, have vouched for the authenticity of an interview she gave Los Angeles TV station KNBC in which she reportedly said she wanted custody and a restraining order against Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson.
In that case, George said the comments were reported accurately, but were a "snapshot" into Rowe's thinking, and that no final decisions about a custody bid had been made.
No restraining order petition against Joe Jackson has been filed.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Mementos of MJ buried at storied Detroit cemetery
Stuffed animals, flowers, letters and other mementos placed outside Detroit's Motown Historical Museum in memory of Michael Jackson have been buried at a high-profile cemetery.
Two hearses carried the items Friday morning from the museum to the Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit where they were buried. A vault, granite headstone and two plots were donated for the Jackson memorial.
A brief remembrance and prayer service also was held at the cemetery Friday.
Jackson died June 25 in California. He signed to Motown Records in the late 1960s with his brothers as the Jackson 5.
Woodlawn is the final resting place for several musicians and public figures, including members of the Four Tops, Temptations and Rosa Parks.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Kathy Griffin reveals she was an extra on Michael Jackson's ill-fated 1984 Pepsi commercial
Kathy Griffin reveals she was an extra on Michael Jackson's ill-fated 1984 Pepsi commercial.
"I was happy to be an extra. I was just part of the crowd scene," the comic explains to Extra. "I will just never forget seeing Michael Jackson from a distance and just thinking, 'Oh my God, that's Michael Jackson.' You kind of can't believe it."
Griffin says she remembers the scene shot in L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium in front of 3,000 fans "vividly.
"Jon [Lovitz] was there. They were taping it. We really didn't notice [his hair on fire at first]," she says. "When it actually happened...he was literally spinning, and then there was smoke and a bunch of people kind of jumped on him.
"They didn't tell any extras what was going on. Then rumors kind of rippled through the audience," Griffin goes on. "By the time I got home that night, it was the biggest news story on the news. It's fascinating somebody had that tape.
"And we never knew how serious the injury was," she says. "I could only imagine that was very painful."
Pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now, to learn more about how the accident led to Jackson's addiction to painkillers, obsession with plastic surgery and ultimate downfall.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Michael Jackson - Pepsi burn accident surfaces (1984)
Jackson suffered severe burns after a pyrotechnics mishap caused his hair and scalp to catch afire. Still photos of the accident have been seen before, but the new video on Us Weekly's Web site shows the moment Jackson's hair caught on fire and the top of his head became engulfed in flames.
Jackson didn't realize his hair was on fire. In the video, he's still dancing as the flames are on his head. When he spins, the flames go out. People on the set tackle him to extinguish the fire, and his brother Jermaine Jackson, playing the guitar in front of him and oblivious to the commotion, turns around. When Michael Jackson emerges from the pile of people trying to help him, the top of his head is bald.
The accident, witnessed by thousands of stunned fans at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, came at the height of Jackson's fame, about a year after the release of his best-selling "Thriller" album. It marked what would be the beginning of serious, lifelong pain for Jackson, who had been treated for painkiller addiction and has been described by relatives and friends as being hooked on pain medication at the time of his death last month at age 50.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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New video shows Jackson's head catching fire
A US entertainment magazine has released never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson's hair catching fire while filming a commercial in 1984, an accident it said led to an addiction to painkillers.
The harrowing video shows Jackson dancing down stairs for the commercial completely unaware that his head is in flames.
The "King of Pop" was making a Pepsi advert at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 27, 1984 when the horrific accident took place, caused by fireworks that exploded too early.
Jackson suffered severe burns to his hair and scalp. "He was never the same after the accident," Us Weekly said in a report accompanying the release of the video late Wednesday. The 50-year-old superstar died on June 25 from an apparent cardiac arrest.
Still images of the accident had been released but the video had never been shown publicly before. Contacted by AFP, Us Weekly refused to reveal how it obtained the copy.
"As a policy we do not comment on how we acquire material," said Cheryl Crowley, a spokesperson for the magazine.
Jackson, 25 and at the height of his "Thriller" fame when the video was shot, made the commercial with his brothers with thousands of fans in the audience.
In the video, the first try appeared to go smoothly, with Jackson dancing down the steps in his signature moves, but the director ordered more takes.
It was the sixth take that went horribly wrong, the video showing Jackson facing the audience beneath a lighting rig when the fireworks exploded around him. He kept dancing and spinning, unaware that his hair and head were burning.
The flames went out when he twisted around as part of his routine. But others saw the accident and security guards rushed to the scene in a split second. His brother Jermaine turned to see Michael Jackson in trouble.
As Jackson emerged, it became clear some of his hair had burnt off.
Pictures were released at the time of Jackson being taken away in an ambulance, his head in bandages, but still holding up his trademark sequined white glove.
"To relieve the second and third-degree burns on his scalp and body (and later to help him tolerate multiple surgeries on the scorched spot on his head), Jackson was prescribed several medications -- which kicked off his addiction to painkillers and obsession with plastic surgery," Us Weekly quoted sources as saying.
Friends and relatives have said since Jackson's sudden death that he was addicted to painkillers.
But one of Jackson's former agents, Jay Coleman, told AFP that it was "reckless and totally unjustified" to blame the accident during the Pepsi commercial for his drug addiction.
"Pepsi is being made a scapegoat here. It is grossly unfair for the media to blame this incident as the start of all his troubles," said Coleman who managed the Pepsi-Michael Jackson relationship for 10 years.
Jackson "never put a blame on Pepsi. Pepsi made a donation of over a million dollars to start a burns center in his name and they paid for all the medical expenses," Coleman said.
"The issue for Michael -- and I worked with him and his entourage for 10 years -- wasn't this incident, it was the fact that for over 25 years he had constant surgery.
"He had lots of procedures and those procedures and surgeries continually led him to take painkillers. That addiction developed over a long period of time and you need doctors who will enable him to continue to take those drugs."
Los Angeles police said Wednesday they were investigating Jackson's death, but would not confirm it was being treated as a homicide investigation, as reported by entertainment website TMZ.com.
TMZ, citing "multiple" law enforcement sources, said "the evidence points to the anesthesia Propofol (Diprivan) as the primary cause of Jackson's death" and that the Los Angeles Police Department was focusing on Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray.Source: http://www.yahoo.com
[Click to Watch the New Video]
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Michael Jackson Previously Unreleased Song
In the song "A Place With No Name," the late King of Pop sings about his desire to travel to a mysterious locale: "Take me to a place without no name."
It is not clear when the song was recorded or if it is referring to a heaven-like utopia or a remote getaway.
The 25-second snippet obtained by TMZ is an interpolation of America's song "A Horse With No Name" that reached Number 1 on The Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972.
Years ago, America's manager reportedly approved Michael's "A Place With No Name."
Jim Morey, America's current manager who also represented Michael in the late '80s and early '90s, told TMZ that the band supported Michael's rendition. "The band was honored that Michael chose to do their song and they hope it becomes available for all Michael's fans to hear."
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Police report treating Jackson's death as homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department is treating King of Pop Michael Jackson's death as homicide, a media report said on Wednesday.
Celebrity news website TMZ.com citing "multiple law enforcement sources" said evidence points to Propofol, an anesthesia, as the primary cause of the pop star's death. Vials of Propofol were found in Jackson's home after he died.
The law enforcement sources said there is "plenty of powerful evidence" linking doctor Conrad Murray as the person who gave Propofol to Jackson.
Meanwhile, never-before-seen footage of the 1984 Pepsi commercial where a faulty pyrotechnic caught Michael Jackson's hair on fire has just been released, according to the website.
The gossip blogosphere says this could be what instigated Jackson's widely reported painkiller addiction.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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Aishwarya Rai - Miss World 1994 Crowning
Crowning of Miss World 1994. The final results: Miss World - Aishwarya Rai, India 1st Princess - Basetsane Julia Makgalemele, South Africa 2nd Princess - Irene Esther Ferreira Izquierdo, Venezuela.
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Aishwarya Rai Upcoming Movies
In Tamil-language film title Endhiran that being directed by S. Shankar, who with Endhiran, directs his tenth feature film. Her co-star is Rajinikanth. Another upcoming movie also is Ashokavanam the tentative title of a forthcoming Tamil language drama film being directed, written and produced by Mani Ratnam, set to be released in 2009. It stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles.
Raavan a Hindi language film directed by Mani Ratnam set to be released in 2010. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Govinda. It is also being made in simultaneously in Tamil as Ashokavanam with a slightly different cast.
Action Replay is an upcoming Bollywood Indian film being directed by Vipul Shah and starring Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai and Neha Dhupia. It is based on a 1994 Gujarati Indian play of the same name. The film was announced in September 2008, is currently being filmed. It is expected to release in late 2009.
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Aishwarya Rai International Achievement
She has been the most popular face of Indian cinema globally. In 2004 she was chosen by Time magazine as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People", and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Asia Edition in 2003. She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on 2 January 2005, which said that "at least according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts", she was "The World's Most Beautiful Woman". In October 2004 a wax figure of her was put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum. She was the 6th Indian and the second Bollywood personality after her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan to get this honour.
In 2005 she became a global brand ambassador of L'Oreal alongside Andie Macdowell, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz. The same year, a special Tulip in the Netherlands was named "Aishwarya Rai" after her. She became the first Indian to appear on such shows as Late Show with David Letterman, and was the first Bollywood personality to appear on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. In 2005, Harpers and Queen's list of 10 Most beautiful women in the world ranked her at the 9th spot.
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Aishwarya Rai Film Career
Her debut movie was in the Tamil industry that was directed by Mani Ratnam titled Iruvar. Even in her debut movie she has handled dual roles along with Mohanlal and Tabu. Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya was her first movie in Bollywood. Jeans was her third project with director Shankar and the movie made her to be identified in the industry as a good actress.
In 1999, she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. The film was centered around Rai's character, Nandini, who is forced to marry Devgan's character despite being in love with another man (Khan), and as her husband tries to get her to her previous love, she eventually falls for him. Rai's portrayal won her critical acclaim, and the film became her first box office success in Bollywood. She won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for the film. In the same year she appeared in Subhash Ghai's Taal, in which she played the role of a young village girl Mansi, who becomes a big Pop star after being hurt by her lover played by Akshay Khanna, the film was an average performer in India but was a big success among the international audience, especially in the United States, where it became the first Indian film to reach the top 20 on Variety's box office list.
In 2000, she appeared in Mansoor Khan's Josh alongside Shahrukh Khan and Chandrachur Singh, in which she played a Catholic girl named Shirley who falls in love with the sibling of her Brother's enemy. The film was a commercial success. Later that year she appeared in Satish Kaushik's Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai opposite Anil Kapoor. It was a moderate success and her performance earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination. Later that year she played a supporting role in the Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, the film was a major commercial success and became the second highest grosser of the year, it also earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award nomination. Later that year, she also starred in the Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain, alongside Mammooty, Ajith Kumar and Tabu.
In 2002, she appeared alongside Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, an adaptation of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay famous novel by the same name.
In 2003, she acted in Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Chokher Bali, an adaptation of one of Rabindranath Tagore's novels by the same name. She portrayed the character of a young woman called Binodini, who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies soon after they are married.
In 2004 she appeared in Gurinder Chadha's Bollywood-style English adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Bride and Prejudice alongside Martin Henderson. In the film she portrayed the role of Lalita Bakshi, the film's counterpart of Elizabeth Bennet in Austen's novel. This was followed by Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Jayapradha, in the film she played a negative role for the first time in her career. In the same year she appeared in in her second film with Rituparno Ghosh, Raincoat alongside Ajay Devgan. The film was highly acclaimed by the critics, whereas she received rave reviews for her performance.
In 2005 she appeared in Shabd a film based on a love triangle alongside Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan. The film was a box office flop wheraeas it received average reviews from the critics. Her next release that year was Paul Mayeda Berges's The Mistress of Spices based upon the novel The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in which she starred alongside Dylan McDermott. The film received negative review by critics and was also a commercial failure.
In the year 2006, she starred in J P Dutta's Umrao Jaan, a second film adaptation of the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), written by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. She portrayed courtesan and poetess by the same name from 19th century.
In 2007 she appeared in Mani Ratnam's Guru as Sujata, speculated to be based on the life of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani, it was a rag to riches story about an ambitious small town man who ends up as the owner of the biggest corporation in India. The film was premièred at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, making it the first Indian film to have a mainstream international premiere in Canada.
In 2008, she starred alongside Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's historical drama Jodhaa Akbar playing the role of Jodha Bai, the Hindu wife of the Muslim Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, played by Roshan. The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the highest Bollywood grossers that year. She earned her eighth nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare for her performance.
In 2009 she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions to Indian cinema. In the same year she refused to accept the second-highest Order Of France, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as her father was suffering from serious illness, and she wanted her whole family to attend the award function. She is only the fourth Indian actress after Amitabh Bachchan, Nandita Das and Shahrukh Khan to be chosen for an Order Of France. At the same year also she was starring in the English film The Pink Panther 2 as Sonia Solandres.
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Aishwarya Rai Personal Life
She has previously dated Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi. She is married to Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan who is three years younger. After much speculation concerning their relationship, her engagement to Abhishek Bachchan was announced on January 14, 2007. The announcement was later confirmed by Amitabh Bachchan.She married Bachchan on April 20, 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the South Indian Bunt community, to which she belongs. Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence Prateeksha in Juhu, Mumbai. Though the wedding was a private affair intended for the Bachchan and Rai family and friends, the involvement of the media turned it into a national extravaganza.
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Aishwarya Rai Profile
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (born Aishwarya Rai, and sometimes known simply as Aish) is an Indian actress and former Miss World.
She was born on November 1, 1973 in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and has also co-produced one of her movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003).At an early age her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir high school in Santa Cruz. She then entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her HSC studies. She did well in school and planned to become an architect and went on pursuing studies in architecture. She can communicate in several languages, including her mother tongue Tulu, as well as Hindi, English, Marathi and Tamil. She started studying architecture but gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling.
In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her academic education after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. She then started working as a professional model and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.
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Angelina Jolie Film Career
Angelina's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) made her an international superstar. She was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews. Slant Magazine commented, "Angelina Jolie was born to play Lara Croft but [director] Simon West makes her journey into a game of Frogger." The movie was an international success nonetheless, earning $275 million worldwide, and launched her global reputation as a female action star.
Angelina then starred opposite Antonio Banderas as the mail-order bride Julia Russell in Original Sin (2001). In 2002, she played Lanie Kerrigan in Life or Something Like It, a film about an ambitious TV reporter who is told that she will die in a week. The film was poorly received by critics, though Jolie's performance received positive reviews. CNN's Paul Clinton wrote, "Jolie is excellent in her role. Despite some of the ludicrous plot points in the middle of the film, this Academy Award-winning actress is exceedingly believable in her journey towards self-discovery and the true meaning of fulfilling life."
Angelina reprised her role as Lara Croft in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003. The sequel, while not as lucrative as the original, earned $156 million at the international box-office. Later that year Angelina starred in Beyond Borders, a film about aid workers in Africa.
In 2004, Angelina starred alongside Ethan Hawke in the thriller Taking Lives. She portrayed Illeana Scott, an FBI profiler summoned to help Montreal law enforcement hunt down a serial killer. The movie received mixed reviews and The Hollywood Reporter concluded, "Angelina Jolie plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, but she does add an unmistakable dash of excitement and glamour." She also provided the voice of Lola, an angelfish in the animated DreamWorks movie Shark Tale (2004) and she had a brief appearance in Kerry Conran's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), a science fiction adventure film shot with actors entirely in front of a bluescreen. Also in 2004, Angelina played Olympias in Alexander, Oliver Stone's biographical film about the life of Alexander the Great. The film failed domestically, with Stone attributing its poor reception to disapproval of the depiction of Alexander's bisexuality, but it succeeded internationally, with revenue of $139 million outside the United States.
Angelina's only movie in 2005 was the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The film, directed by Doug Liman, tells the story of a bored married couple who find out that they are both secret assassins. Jolie starred as Jane Smith opposite Brad Pitt. The film received mixed reviews, but was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The Star Tribune noted, "While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." The movie earned $478 million worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2005.
She next appeared in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd (2006), a film about the early history of the CIA, as seen through the eyes of Edward Wilson, played by Matt Damon.
In 2007, Angelina made her directorial debut with the documentary A Place in Time, which captures the life in 27 locations around the globe during a single week. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and is intended to be distributed through the National Education Association, mainly in high schools. She starred as Mariane Pearl in Michael Winterbottom's documentary-style drama A Mighty Heart (2007), about the kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. The picture is based on Mariane Pearl's memoirs A Mighty Heart and had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter described Jolie's performance as "well-measured and moving", played "with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent." The film earned her a fourth Golden Globe Award and a third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Jolie also played Grendel's mother in Robert Zemeckis' animated epic Beowulf (2007) which was created through the motion capture technique.
Angelina co-starred alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman in the 2008 action movie Wanted, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Mark Millar. The film received predominately favorable reviews and proved to be an international success, earning $342 million worldwide. She also provided the voice of Master Tigress in the DreamWorks animated movie Kung Fu Panda (2008). With revenue of $632 million internationally, it became her highest grossing film to date. The same year, Angelina played Christine Collins, the lead in Clint Eastwood's drama Changeling (2008), which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It is based on the true story of a woman in 1928 Los Angeles who is reunited with her kidnapped son—only to realize he is an impostor. She received her second Academy Award nomination, and also was nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. The Chicago Tribune noted, "Jolie really shines in the calm before the storm, the scenes [...] when one patronizing male authority figure after another belittles her at their peril."
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