Faces and Names: Brangelina privacy claim settled

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie accepted undisclosed damages Thursday in London’s High Court to settle a privacy claim against a British tabloid that had reported they were planning to split.

The celebrity couple began legal action against the News of the World after it reported in January that they had agreed to separate. The pair argued the newspaper had made false and intrusive allegations in saying that they had planned to divide assets worth $320 million and had made arrangements regarding the custody of their six children.

“When the News of the World failed to publicly retract the allegations and apologize for them — thereby leaving their readers in the dark as to the true position — the couple felt they had no alternative than to sue,” the couple’s attorney, Keith Schilling, said in a statement. “Today’s victory marks the end of the litigation brought by Brad and Angelina.”

The newspaper confirmed that a settlement had been reached, but declined to comment further.

Costner ends suit against promoter

Kevin Costner has dismissed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a music promoter he claimed failed to back his music career.

Court records in Los Angeles show the lawsuit against Mahee Worldwide Ventures Inc. was dismissed last week.

The actor-director’s attorney, Melvin Avanzado, said the case wasn’t settled.

The 55-year-old Costner sued in April 2007, claiming Mahee reneged on a deal to book the Kevin Costner Band for as many as five shows a year and maintain a marketing website.

The case was delayed because Mahee filed for bankruptcy.

Avanzado said the bankruptcy revealed that Mahee didn’t have any assets.

“We just felt it was time to move on,” he said.

Gibson’s ex under investigation

Sheriff’s detectives in Los Angeles are checking extortion allegations against Mel Gibson’s ex-girlfriend.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the agency is looking into whether Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva may have tried to extort the Academy Award-winner. He declined to offer any other details.

Detectives earlier this month interviewed Grigorieva after she claimed Gibson abused her during an incident in January.

Gibson and Grigorieva are locked in a bitter custody dispute over their infant daughter.

Davis named to equality panel

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed actress Geena Davis to a commission established to promote women’s equality.

Schwarzenegger named the 54-year-old actress to the Commission on the Status of Women. The nonpartisan panel advocates for women and girls in areas such as education and access to health care.

Davis, a Democrat, has worked off screen to reduce gender stereotyping. She is the founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media and is a partner with United Nations Development Fund for Women.

She won an Oscar in 1989 for her supporting role in “The Accidental Tourist.”

Clooney: TV humanitarian

George Clooney will be recognized for his humanitarian efforts at the Emmy Awards.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will present the 49-year-old actor with its Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the ceremony next month.

Clooney is being honored for the “Hope for Haiti” TV special, which is nominated for an Emmy award, and his efforts to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina and raise awareness about genocide in Darfur.

'Seinfeld' soup shop reopens

The bisque is back.

The soup stand that inspired the Soup Nazi episode on “Seinfeld” reopened in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, six years after its famously brusque owner, Al Yeganeh, shut it down and licensed his recipes to a franchising company.

More than 100 people were waiting in line for the noon reopening of the tiny storefront, including a few regulars who remembered the days when Yeganeh ladled broth and imposed discipline from behind the cramped counter.

Much about the shop was the same as in the days before “Seinfeld” made the place famous, including its strict ordering rules, now posted in nine languages.

“THE LINE MUST BE KEPT MOVING. Pick the soup you want! Have your money ready! Move to the extreme left after ordering!”

But some things are different. Yeganeh neither owns nor operates the store now. Like other Original SoupMan stores around the country, it is a franchise, although company President Robert Bertrand said Yeganeh remains involved in the business.

And the soup is more expensive: An extra-large cup of the crab bisque costs $20.

Lohan begins jail sentence

Whisked away to jail in an unmarked sheriff’s car after a brief hearing, Lindsay Lohan reported Tuesday for a 90-day sentence that the troubled actress probably will serve in isolation, and which may be significantly shortened.

Wearing dark denim jeans, a gray top, black corset belt and black jacket, the 24-year-old Lohan showed up at the Beverly Hills courtroom about 10 minutes late. After a short hearing, she rose and was handcuffed behind her back to serve her time for a probation violation.

She is expected to serve her time — probably a quarter of her sentence or less — in isolation at a women’s jail in Lynwood. The facility has hosted several female celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

Ice-T facing some law and order

New York City police said Tuesday they arrested rapper-actor Ice-T on accusations of driving with a suspended license.

Police say the entertainer was driving a 2009 Cadillac near West 40th Street and 11th Avenue on Tuesday when officers stopped him for not wearing a seat belt. They said they ran a check and discovered his license was suspended.

The NYPD said he would be given a ticket and released.

Ice-T has played Detective Fin Tutuola on the TV drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since 2000.

Lohan due to begin jail sentence Tuesday

Lindsay Lohan is due to surrender Tuesday to a Beverly Hills judge to begin her 90-day jail sentence, but it remains unclear exactly how much time the actress will spend behind bars.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has not said exactly how long they plan to incarcerate Lohan, but authorities have said it could amount to only 25 percent of her sentence. Some speculate it could be even less, given jail overcrowding and the relatively minor nature of Lohan’s probation violation on a drunken driving arrest.

The situation puts the sheriff’s department in a tough position, coming three years after Paris Hilton’s early release from jail created national headlines and ultimately resulted in the hotel heiress being sent back to finish her sentence.

Steve Whitmore, a sheriff’s spokesman, said it’s too early to know exactly how long Lohan will spend behind bars. While the Sheriff’s Department has guidelines about how much time nonviolent female inmates should serve, it’s possible that the judge’s order will mandate a certain amount of time.

Zsa Zsa Gabor on the mend after hip surgery

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband thinks she’ll be watching “Jeopardy” again in no time.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the 93-year-old actress’ husband, told a throng of reporters gathered outside their Bel-Air home Monday that Gabor underwent successful surgery to replace her right hip, which she broke over the weekend while watching her favorite game show. He said she tumbled to the floor when she tried to answer the phone.

“It’s just bad luck,” von Anhalt said. “It could happen to anyone.”

Gabor, who has to use a wheelchair after being partially paralyzed in a 2002 car accident, was in surgery for 3½ hours at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to von Anhalt. He said she remained heavily sedated but in good spirits Monday and would likely be recuperating in the hospital for four or five days before returning home.

‘Inception’ earns dreamy reception with $60.4M

Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” is anything but a sleeper as the thriller opened big with $60.4 million and a No. 1 finish at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. action tale about a team that sneaks into people’s dreams is DiCaprio’s biggest opening weekend, topping his previous best of $41.1 million for last winter’s “Shutter Island.”

“Inception” falls far short of director Christopher Nolan’s best, though. Nolan is the man who directed the Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” which opened over the same weekend two years ago with a record $158.4 million.

Slipping to second place with $32.7 million was the previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, Steve Carell’s animated hit “Despicable Me.” Disney’s family adventure “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” was a dud, opening at No. 3 with $17.4 million.

Clinton: Daughter’s wedding is nerve-racking

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says daughter Chelsea’s approaching wedding is making nervous wrecks of both parents.

In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell in Islamabad on Sunday, Clinton was asked about former President Clinton’s role in the ceremony.

“You should assume that if he makes it down the aisle in one piece it’s going to be a major accomplishment,” Clinton said with a laugh. “He is going to be so emotional, as am I.”

The 30-year-old Chelsea plans to tie the knot with investment banker Marc Mezvinsky on July 31 in Rhinebeck, in upstate New York.

Clinton stuck to her pledge not to reveal wedding details.

“My lips are sealed,” she said, adding, “I am under very strict orders not to talk about,” since it is a private matter.

Pink black and blue after fall

A spokesman for Pink’s concerts in Germany said the singer fell off the stage after a stunt went wrong and she underwent a checkup at a hospital.

Stefan Guentner said Friday the singer wasn’t seriously injured in the incident in Nuremberg.

While singing “So What,” Pink fell out of a harness which was supposed to carry her toward the crowd. A YouTube video shows the 30-year-old climbing back onto the stage, but the concert was halted and she was taken to a hospital.

News Tribune staff and wire reports

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