Chris Brown Receives a Shiny Review For Probation

Sorry, Chris Brown — the probation guys don’t hand out any shiny statuettes.

But a judge says that the R&B singer, who’s on probation for the felony assault of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, has received an “extremely favorable” report, L.A. Now reports.

Brown, who according to the Associated Press talked and laughed with lawyer Mark Geragos during the brief hearing today, was sentenced in August to five years’ probation and 180 days community labor. He was also ordered to stay 100 yards away from Rihanna — unless they’re professionally obligated to attend the same entertainment event, in which case the distance drops. A lot.

Um, so, speaking of entertainment events, Rihanna was recently added to the list of performers at the American Music Awards, which will be held Sunday at the Nokia Theatre at LA Live …

At last year’s AMAs, you might remember, Brown was a big winner. (This year, Michael Jackson might take top honors — he has four nominations. Go figure.)

Rihanna, meanwhile, told a radio interviewer Thursday that she still likes Brown’s music. “When [his music] comes on on the radio, I don’t snub or turn it off; I listen,” she said.

Well isn’t that nice.

So the AMA red carpet might’ve gotten a little interesting this weekend — except that Brown, who played a show in L.A. last night, is heading back out on tour.

LA TIMES BLOG

Donald Trump Weighs: Carrie Prejean

Carrie Prejean has been calling Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, for advice on what she should do since she was fired as Miss California and a sex tape surfaced. Prejean — a Christian who was vilified because she opposes gay marriage — has lost all credibility and her reputation has been blown to shreds, Trump told one source. “Maybe,” Mr. Trump said only half-jokingly, “she should become a major porn star, make millions of dollars, and give it to worthy causes.”

NY POST

Cindy Crawford Extortionist Caught

A German man wanted for trying to extort $100,000 from former supermodel Cindy Crawford over a photo of her daughter has surrendered to authorities, Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Edis Kayalar, 26, gave himself up to police in the southwestern town of Nuertingen on Monday evening. Police then searched his apartment in the nearby town of Wendlingen.

Kayalar had just returned from a trip to Turkey, Bild said.

He was charged in federal court in Los Angeles last week with trying to extort money from Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber over a photo of their daughter gagged and bound to a chair.

The photo apparently was snapped by the then 7-year-old girl’s nanny as a private joke when she was playing “cops and robbers” with the girl.

It fell into the hands of Kayalar, who was the nanny’s friend, according to court documents.

Kayalar contacted Crawford, 43, last summer and sought to use the photo to get money from the couple, saying tabloids would pay a lot, the court papers said.

Crawford and Gerber contacted authorities, prompting Los Angeles police to launch a criminal probe.

Kayalar was arrested in September and deported to Germany for being in the United States illegally. But earlier this month he again phoned Crawford and Gerber and demanded $100,000, which led to him being charged with extortion.

Kayalar faces up to two years in prison if returned to the United States and convicted.

REUTERS

Jaycee Dugard and her family object to plan for film

A spokeswoman for Jaycee Dugard says only Dugard and her family should decide when and if a film is made about the 18 years she spent with the man charged with kidnapping her.

In a statement Tuesday, family spokeswoman Nancy Seltzer said a plan to make a movie about Dugard’s life was “exploitive, hurtful and breathtakingly unkind.”

The statement came after Shane Ryan, a director of low-budget horror movies, announced that he expected to start production next month on “Abducted Girl, An American Sex Slave.”

LA TIMES

Ryan O’neal Left Nothing In Farrah Fawcett Will

Ryan O’Neal may have been the love of Farrah Fawcett’s life, but their long-time romance evidently didn’t qualify him for rights to her estate.

Fawcett, who died of cancer in June at age 62, did not name O’Neal in her will, a copy of which was obtained by RadarOnline. According to the document posted only, the couple’s lone child together, Redmond Fawcett O’Neal, will receive the most cash of any person named in the will: $4.5 million. Fawcett also left $500,000 to her nephew, Gregory Walls; $500,000 to her father, James Fawcett; and $100,000 to ex-lover Gregory Lawrence Lott.

Read More at ABC NEWS

Jon Gosselin Too Famous To Work?

Recently released court papers reveal that Jon Gosselin may be the first person ever to plead “famous.”

Documents from Gosselin’s recently filed contract lawsuit against “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ network TLC itemize the octodad’s issues in his own words, reports RadarOnline.

In an affidavit, Gosselin states, “Now, I find myself unemployed and without the ability to secure non-entertainment related engagements because the enormous Media interest, cameras, reporters and public interest makes it impossible to carry on normal daily activities, let alone find, secure and maintain a job with an employer who is willing to be exposed to the daily Media intrusions that has impeded by life.”

While he may have a point there, Gosselin, 32, discredits himself by implying that TLC played favorites with Jon and estranged wife Kate.

“The Plaintiff has promoted and even facilitated opportunities and appearances for my wife,” Jon states, “yet attempts to restrain and enjoin me from making a living for my family.”

It is all part of Jon’s $5 million countersuit against the network, accusing TLC of violating Pennsylvania’s child labor laws, cutting Jon off from the media and owing him $175,000.

NY Daily News

German Charged in Crawford Embezzlement Scheme

A German man was charged with trying to extort $100,000 from Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber over a photo of their daughter bound to a chair and gagged, authorities said.

Edis Kayalar, 26, has not yet been arrested. He was recently deported to Germany.

The photo was purportedly taken by the couple’s former nanny earlier this year and shows the girl, then 7, tied to a chair. Kaia told her parents that the nanny took the picture as part of a “cops and robbers” game, according to an affidavit.

The nanny, who was fired a week before Kayalar called the couple, was not charged; apparently, Kayalar stole the photo from her.

Gerber — who owns the Whiskey Blue bar at the W Fort Lauderdale among other hot spots — eventually paid Kayalar $1,000 “for his trouble,” the affidavit said. But the German wanted more, saying he had another copy.

Miami Herald

Balloon Boy Parents Plead Guilty in Court

The Colorado couple, Richard and Mayumi Heene, accused of pulling a hoax by reporting their son was aboard a runaway balloon is avoiding more spectacle and a trial by entering guilty pleas. (Nov. 13)

They say the only reason they did it was so the wife wouldn’t be deported to Japan.

Stripper apologizes to Fergie

But just because Josh Duhamel is a wandering vacuum of all-encompassing nothingness, it doesn’t mean that everyone’s given up on the stripper story. Nicole Forrester, the stripper at the centre of all this, is still doing her best to bang on about it at every opportunity. So much so, in fact, that she’s decided to publicly apologize to Fergie for all the terrible things she did with Josh, just to string out her 15 minutes. US Magazine reports:

“I’m sorry.” At the time of the one-night stand, she explains “I thought, ‘Nobody’s gonna find out. It’s not gonna hurt anybody… I’m sorry that I didn’t think of it like I think of it now.” Things have been tough for Forrester since the news broke. Her son even told her “‘you’re disgusting. I didn’t know you had sex with him,’” she claims.

You have to feel for Nicole Forrester. After all, how was she to know that allegedly sleeping with a married actor and then voluntarily doing numerous high profile paid interviews about it on TV, radio and in print would lead to people finding out about it? She’s the real victim here. That poor woman.

Cindy Crawford, Husband Targeted in Extortion Plot

Cindy Crawford and her entrepreneur husband Rande Gerber were the victims of a $100,000 extortion scheme involving a photograph of their 7-year-old daughter purportedly taken by the couple’s former nanny, according to court papers filed Thursday by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office.

The photo shows the child “in revealing clothing, bound to a chair and gagged,” say the documents filed in U.S. District Court, reports Los Angeles TV station KTLA.

According to an affidavit in the case, the child informed the Gerbers that the nanny took the photo as part of a “cops and robbers” game. Annett Wolf, a rep for the former supermodel, issued a statement saying the photo was taken without Crawford’s knowledge.

An acquaintance of the nanny reportedly threatened to sell the photo. He has been identified as Edis Kayalar, 26, a recent deportee to Germany now believed to be in Stuttgart, according to officials. Authorities say that even after his deportation Kayalar continued to demand $100,000 – or he would release the photo to the media.

He has been charged with one count of extortion. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of up to two years. The nanny, who has not been named, has not been charged.

Wolf’s statement also said, “Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter.”

Crawford, 43, and Gerber, 47, have been married since 1998. Besides their daughter, who is now 8, they also have a son, 10.

PEOPLE

Next Page »