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Chris Brown Pleads Not Guilty
Chris Brown pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of assaulting Rihanna.
The 19-year-old singer is charged with assault and making criminal threats following his alleged beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna at a pre-Grammys party on February 8.
Chris arrived at the Los Angeles superior court with his mother nearly an hour late, and quietly said “not guilty, your honour” when the two charges were read out.
He is next due in court on April 29; Rihanna was not present. If convicted on both counts, Chris faces a maximum of four years in prison.
Madonna not giving up without a fight
Madonna is appealing against the ruling which denied her the right to adopt four-year-old Mercy James from Malawi.
The star flew into Luton airport on Sunday to meet with her legal team. “I just filed the notice of appeal this afternoon on instructions from my client,” Madonna’s lawyer Alan Chinula confirmed. "We are just waiting for the court registrar to give us a day when we will appear in court."
Malawian judge Esmie Chondo has explained why she vetoed the adoption, saying she feared relaxing the rules may encourage child trafficking. “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the weakness of the law of the land,” Judge Chondo said.
Meanwhile Madonna’s ex Guy Ritchie has released a statement praising the star’s parenting skills. "Madonna is a fantastic and loving mother who cares deeply about her own children and children who may need additional help and support,” the statement reads. “I fully supported Madonna in her decision to apply for this adoption, and I am saddened that her application has been rejected. She is motivated only by being a caring parent who seeks to share some of the advantages and opportunities that her life has given her. This time it did not work out, but there will be other opportunities and I wish her well in them. She is a great mum.”
Madonna’s adoption bid fails
Madonna’s bid to adopt four-year-old Mercy James from Malawi has been rejected.
"I must have to decline to grant the application to Madonna," Judge Esmie Chondo said at a hearing in Malawi’s High Court. It’s thought the judge rejected the claim due to the country’s residency rules, which state that prospective parents should be resident in Malawi for 18 to 24 months.
Madonna has been in the south African state all week, along with three-year-old son David Banda, who she adopted from Malawi in 2006. She had faced widespread criticism for allegedly attempting to use her star power and money to bypass official adoption procedures, a claim that was fiercely denied by her publicist.
Earlier this week, a number of human rights groups said they opposed the adoption, stating it was preferable for Mercy to be looked after by her extended family in Malawi. Her 18-year-old mother died shortly after giving birth in 2005.
Cheryl: ‘We’re not renewing vows’
Thankfully, Cheryl Cole has rubbished reports in today’s tabloids that she and Ashley are planning to renew their wedding vows.
“It’s absolute rubbish,” a spokesperson for Cheryl said. “It’s not true that they’re planning to renew their vows.”
The Sun reported that the couple planned to renew their vows in Dubai later this year after the football season ended.
Apparently, ‘romantic’ Ashley planned to take Cheryl back to Al Mahra resort, where he proposed in 2005, for a four-day break.
Blockbusters – leaked the way they want??
Transformers 1 had an incredibly slick marketing machine that had us all nostalgic and biting our nails in anticipation of the forthcoming flick at the same time. Now some new images from Transformers 2 have “emerged” online – and they’re pretty exciting!
Further to these, there’s a line-up of transformers from both sides, which reads like the team sheets for some kind of futuristic sports event. I can’t wait to meet “demolisher”.
In contrast to this exciting stuff, it appears that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been leaked onto the internet in near-complete form which is really regrettable for the producers. Clearly this is an example of a positive leak and a negative leak. In the future, as we start to consume more and more digitally, I wonder if the lines will be blurred between intentional leaks and unintended.
Romance round-up: JT, Leo, Eoghan
A lot of loved-up celebrities have been talking about romance rumours in recent days, with Justin Timberlake among the stars who are keen to set the record straight.
JT denied reports he will soon wed Jessica Biel, his girlfriend of two years, during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show. “I’m not engaged,” Justin said. “If she’s engaged, we have a problem.”
A friend of Leonardo DiCaprio seems to have followed suit, denying the star is planning to marry model girlfriend Bar Refaeli anytime soon. "No, he and Bar are not married and not engaged,” the friend told Us Weekly magazine this week.
Pete Wentz has also spoken out, this time to clear up rumours that his marriage to Ashlee Simpson is in trouble. "I laugh out loud at them," he said of the rumours. "I laugh at all of that stuff. It’s like if someone wrote on the internet that John McCain was our president right now. It’s just not true."
Meanwhile, X Factor ‘hottie’ Eoghan Quigg has admitted he did snog rival contestant Diana Vickers, but says there was no spark.
“We had a snog but I didn’t feel anything so there’s nothing going on,” Eoghan told Star magazine. “I think people really wanted us to be together but we weren’t. I don’t know how she felt. There was nothing for me there and there was never going to be anything. I swear I don’t fancy her. I did kiss her but I don’t fancy her." Hmm… sounds like a man spurned if you ask us!
Jade Goody statue for home town?
Jade Goody is to be commemorated with a statue near her childhood home in Bermondsey, south London.
Bob Skelly, chair of Bermondsey community council, told the Mirror: “The council has plans for the Dickens Estate area where Jade grew up, and I’m sure we could do something.” The announcement comes after councils in both Bermondsey and Essex, near Jade’s residence in Upshire, were bombarded by requests from the public for a permanent memorial to the reality TV star, who died on March 22.
Jade’s family support the idea of a statue: “It’s wonderful news,” spokesperson Max Clifford said last night.
In other Jade news, the Daily Star reports that Michael Jackson will attend the star’s funeral on Saturday – we’ll believe that when we see it. Jacko was moved by Jade’s battle when he was in London last month to promote his O2 Arena gigs, and phoned her to wish her well. He didn’t speak to Jade directly, but apparently promised Jack that he would try to make it to her funeral.
Jade will be laid to rest in St John the Baptist Church in Buckhurst Hill on April 4.
Madonna splits with Jesus on Twitter
First we had the rumours that Jennifer Aniston broke up with John Mayer because he spent too much time on Twitter and not enough time with her, now Madonna has confirmed her split from toyboy Jesus Luz over Twitter!
Madge doesn’t have her own Twitter page but the news broke when she joined longtime manager and good friend Guy Oseary for a 10-minute chat to fans via his Twitter page.
One fan wrote: “Hello Madonna honey am glad you are single again – you made your best music as a single woman,” to which Madonna replied: “Not as glad as I am! M.”
In other Madonna news, reports state she is close to adopting a four-year-old girl from Malawi. An official at the ministry of Gender and Child Development said: “Her name is Mercy James from Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. She has no father and mother, they both died… We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week.”
Jacko’s Jumbo Jungle Jamboree
If I’m starting to come up with headlines like that, I should probably stop reading the tabloids.
But you just can’t beat them for trashy pop stories such as the news in today’s Daily Mirror that Michael Jackson is planning to ride onstage astride an elephant at his London concerts later this year.
Not only that, there’s talk of panthers led on gold chains, tropical birds flying about the place, monkeys, and no fewer than 100 Masai warriors.
The last time he attempted anything so grandiose was at the 1996 BRIT Awards when his messianic performance was interrupted by Jarvis Cocker’s bum-wiggling antics.
But that was at the height of Cool Britannia when the country was feeling good about itself. Jacko’s self-important preaching felt out of place and vaguely obscene.
But as we all know, things are very different now.
While I was thinking about this earlier, something occurred to me that I never thought I would say.
In these dark days of recession, global terrorism, and 24-hour rolling cancer coverage, could it be that a bit of Jacko-inspired lunacy is what we need to cheer us up?
Just a thought.
Bruce Willis & Natasha Bedingfield get hitched
Well, life goes on, and it was a special weekend for Bruce Willis and Natasha Bedingfield as they both got married (not to each other).
Bruce married British lingerie model Emma Heming who, at 30, is 24 years his junior. Ex-wife Demi Moore attended the ceremony with her young spouse Ashton Kutcher, who at 31 is four months older than Bruce’s new wife.
Natasha Bedingfield, meanwhile, married American businessman Matt Robinson on a Malibu cliff top overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The 27-year-old singer has been living in Los Angeles since hitting the big time with her hits These Words and Unwritten in 2004.
"Our wedding day was everything we’d hope it would be," Natasha said afterwards. "It was simple, beautiful and natural. Free from trappings or formalities… We are now very much looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together. Love is hard to find, so when you do find it, hang on to it!"
The latest engagement rumours: after dating for over seven years, it’s believed that Harrison Ford and Brothers and Sisters actress Calista Flockhart are finally going to get hitched. It’s also been reported that Jake Gyllenhaal has popped the question to his girlfriend of 18 months, Reese Witherspoon, after the actress was spotted wearing what appears to be an engagement ring.
