Celebrity News & Gossip

ORLANDO BLOOM BACKS OUT OF NEW FILM

Dominic Cooper

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom has upset movie bosses on his latest film An Education, after he pulled out of the project just days before it was to began shooting.The Pirates Of The Caribbean hunk was signed to star in the film, but had to cancel because of a last minute schedule conflict.The star has been replaced by Dominic Cooper, a relative unknown British actor who starred in the 2006 big screen adaptation of Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys. Producers had to act quickly to find a replacement for Bloom after shooting began last week on the movie. Cooper will play a thirty something playboy in the coming-of-age drama who turns the life of a 17-year-old girl upside down in early-1960s London.

BRITNEY SPEARS LANDS TV GUIDE COVER

Britney Spears

The singer we call toxic Britney Spears has landed yet another hot magazine cover, the new issue of TV Guide. The former singer poses seductively opposite her How I Met Your Mother co-star Josh Radnor on the front of the upcoming issue of the publication. Her role as a secretary on the comedy airs next week on CBS. But all was not sweet for the television cast. The cast and crew were forced to wear wristbands on the set while Britney filmed her cameo role in order to prevent onlookers from photographing the troubled pop star at the studio. Because of the security measure, the show’s star Neil Patrick Harris, who plays womaniser Barney, was denied entry to the studio as he was not wearing a wrist band. “They wouldn’t let me on the stage because I didn’t have the proper wristband. I said to the security people: ‘Lady, I am actually on the show.’ We had words and I eventually made it on set.

YOKO ONO DRUGGED BEATLE JOHN LENNON

Yoko Ono drugged Beatle icon John Lennon during his attempts to give up smoking according to the late Beatle’s ex-girlfriend May Pang.The star dated former assistant Pang for 18 months from 1974 to 75, but returned to his wife Ono following the brief fling. And Pang insists Ono’s methods of helping Lennon to stop smoking were unconventional, she made him drink the cure, which made him physically sick and made him sleep excessively. She says, “He wasn’t ready to go back. It wasn’t as clear cut as, ‘I’m going to leave you and go home.’ He went over there for this method she had to quit smoking. He was going to come back. He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be gone for a couple of hours. I’ll be back, we’ll go for dinner.’ He was gone all weekend. I couldn’t get through to him there. Every time I called, Yoko said, ‘He’s sleeping, he’s sleeping.’ “When I saw him on Monday, something wasn’t right. Something had gone on.When I asked him, he said, ‘I drank this tea Yoko gave me and I threw up.’ I could see a whole different person. But I only knew what he was telling me. Did he think he was being drugged? If he did, he wasn’t telling me. He wouldn’t say much. I let it go. Maybe it’s my naivety.” Pang, 57, is currently promoting a book of rare Lennon photographs, Instamatic Karma.

Editors Note: John Lennon should have stayed with May Pang. I never liked Yoko the many times I have met her and I adore May Pang. Such a difference…

Photo By: James Edstrom

OZZY OSBOURNE ON BLACK SABBATH TOUR

Wild rocker Ozzy Osbourne is giving up trying to make plans for a Black Sabbath 40th anniversary tour, because his bandmates cannot make their minds up.The rock legend first heard there was a big tour planned and the next thing he knew, it had been called off. And now Osbourne’s tired of all the confusion. He tells the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, “If it happens, it happens, if it don’t, it don’t… You get a phone call: ‘It’s off!’ Then it’s back on again.” “You know what? I don’t want to say yes, and I don’t want to say no, because I’ve put my foot in my mouth so many times. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen.” Osbourne’s former Sabbath bandmates are currently touring with Ronnie James Dio as Heaven & Hell.

JAMIE DEROY BEGINS CABARET SERIES

Jamie deRoy

Celebrated cabaret performer Jamie deRoy begins a monthly cabaret series of her Multi MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie de Roy & friends on Tuesday, April 1st (7:30PM) at the New York hot spot Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street ~between 5th & 6th Avenues). The following monthly performance dates will be May 14th and June 11th.Joining Jamie deRoy on April 1st will be: accomplished actress and singer, both abroad and in the US, Drama Desk and Olivier Award nominee Nancy Anderson; violinist Heather Bixler; multiple MAC Award-winning songstress Natalie Douglas; Broadway veteran, currently co-starring in Marcy in the Galaxy, Teri Ralston; rising stand-up comic and Glamour magazine’s new ‘Jake,’ Michael Somerville and the cast of the critically acclaimed “Rendezvous…An Evening with Piaf, Brel, Aznavour & Friends.” Barry Kleinbort is the director of Jamie deRoy & friends and Shelly Markham will serve as musical director.The colorful cabaret series, which has been thrilling New York City audiences for the past 16 years and serves as the basis for deRoy’s award-winning cable television show, spotlights a wide variety of well-known entertainers and newcomers lighting up the cabaret, theater, and comedy worlds.

Jamie deRoy & friends at Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street /between 5th and 6th Avenues) has a $25 cover charge plus a $15 minimum. For reservations, call (212) 206-0440.

ABBA DRUMMER FOUND DEAD IN GARDEN

Ola Brunkert’s House

The former drummer for 1970s hit Swedish pop group Abba, Ola Brunkert, has been found dead by a neighbor after an apparent accident in his house on a Spanish island in Mallorca Spain, police said on Monday. Brunkert bled to death from a throat wound which police suspect was caused after he accidentally smashed a pane of glass, a spokeswoman for the Civil Guard police said, adding that authorities were awaiting the result of an autopsy. The official Web site of the band said Brunkert was possibly the only instrumental musician to appear on all the albums released by the band. Abba’s two male and two female vocalists were among the world’s best-known faces in the 1970s with hits including “Waterloo” and “Dancing Queen.”

SIR ELTON JOHN BACKS HILLARY CLINTON

The Legend Elton John

Presidential contender Hillary Clinton has received a cash boost from rock icon Elton John.The Rocket Man has pledged his support to the presidential candidate by donating cash from a concert to her campaign.The singing star will perform at a concert, entitled ‘Elton and Hillary: One Night Only’, at the world famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 9th. He says, “I’m not a politician but I believe in the work that Hillary Clinton does.”

Editors Note: Hey Elton, why not give us a backstage photo. After I will show you the New York City you have never seen ! I’ll leave my boytoys at home…..

BIRKHEAD SAYS DANIEL SMITH STOLE DRUGS

Larry Birkhead

Dead Hollywood model Anna Nicole Smith’s son Daniel took drugs and stole Methadone from his mother, an inquest into his death heard on Monday.Larry Birkhead, the father of Anna Nicole’s baby daughter Dannielynn, stunned the Bahamas hearing when he revealed his former lover noticed drugs were missing from her home in Studio City, California in April 2006. And when she checked her in-home surveillance cameras, Anna Nicole had video proof that Daniel and his friends had stolen the Methadone, Birkhead testified. Birkhead also told the court he’s now not completely sure he saw lawyer Howard K. Stern smoke marijuana with Daniel, despite telling police he witnessed just that in 2006.The inquest also heard that Daniel was taken to a Los Angeles hospital for misuse of Valium in July 2006, reports TMZ.com. Daniel died from a suspected drug overdose three days after his mother gave birth to baby daughter Dannielynn in September 2006. He was 20. Anna Nicole passed away from an accidental overdose in Florida six months later in February 2007.

Photo By: Click Snap/BuzzFoto.com

LAMAR FIKE’S DRAWBRIDGE PRODUCTIONS

Dallas-based LAMAR FIKE, the key member of Elvis Presley’s famed Memphis Mafia, who formally started up his own Drawbridge Productions in February, is now putting the finishing touches on the accompanying screenplay to his forthcoming book FIKE: AN UNCOMMON JOURNEY ON ELVIS PRESLEY BOULEVARD, written with best-selling celebrity-author Mark Bego, titled “ONE OF THE BOYS; ‘57 TO 60’.” The screenplay was written by Fike, Bego, and filmmaker D. Edward Stanley. Drawbridge Productions was formalized to bring under one umbrella Fike’s many productions as well as to contain all his ‘intellectual properties’ pertaining to his Presley-related projects in the works. Says Fike, “There are several ongoing projects and I now to have them all under the Drawbridge umbrella, makes prefect sense.” Fike formed the company with his business partner Taylor G. Atha. Having now finished the screenplay, Fike says that his LA-based agent has already begun shopping it with immediate positive results coming in. “We want the right type of deal for it … with someone who can effectively get the job done. I look at the finished product, now having been able to take a step or two back, as something that deserves to be on told on film. There’s never been an accurate rending of the Elvis-story, and truth be told, it’s long overdue. So, when we get to the point of putting the film in production, we want it done the right way.” Fike continues, “It’s funny … we wrote the book first, but the screenplay almost wrote itself. We realized during the creation, that again, it is a great story … and, it’s one that’s never been told before and deserves to be.” Fike is also provisionally on board as a talent judge for a new television show to be produced later this year in the U.S. … enabling him to not only seriously put himself out there again in the public eye, but to appear as a credible force in the business. “I’ve logged quite a bit of time in this entertainment business, working for talented people like Elvis, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, and, record company executive Jimmy Bowen, but I’ve been a bit under the radar. I’m ready to step up to the plate!”

PARIS HILTON HITS THE ROAD WITH BENJI

Television star Paris Hilton is preparing to go on the road with her new boyfriend Benji Madden’s band Good Charlotte when the rockers kick off an international tour next week.The socialite has been with the guitarist, the band mate and twin brother of Nicole Richie’s partner Joel, for just over a month, but she is convinced their new romance will be able to survive life on the road. She tells People magazine, “We’re actually leaving in a couple days for South Africa, so I’ll be with him.”I’m just happy to be together, so no matter where we are, we’ll have a great time.”After shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, the rockers are due to perform in Europe before hitting the road in North America in the summer.