LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Embattled R&B singer Chris Brown crashed his car into a wall in upscale Beverly Hills on Saturday, and later told police officers he was trying to elude aggressive paparazzi, police said.
The crash came on the eve of the Grammy Awards, almost exactly four years after Brown assaulted his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, the night before the awards show in 2009.
In the latest incident, Brown told Beverly Hills police that photographers were chasing him right up until the crash, said police Sergeant Kurt Haefs.
The singer was not cited or arrested at the scene, Haefs said. He added the damaged vehicle may have been towed away.
Media reports indicated Brown was driving a black Porsche.
A representative for Brown, who was not injured in the accident, did not immediately return calls on Saturday evening.
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching Rihanna and he faces ongoing legal troubles stemming from the case.
A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday ordered a new report on the community service Brown was due to perform as a result of the conviction, after prosecutors accused the singer of cutting corners on the work.
Prosecutors have cited occasions when they said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead was performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Rihanna, who has admitted that she has resumed dating Brown, accompanied him to his court hearing on Wednesday.
Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, has denied the latest allegations about the singer's community service and accused prosecutors of persecuting his client.
This year, Brown's 'Fortune' is nominated for best urban contemporary album at the Grammy Awards.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Sandra Maler)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
California boy to be arraigned in "swatting" prank on actor Kutcher
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged a 12-year-old boy on Thursday with making a false emergency call that sent police swarming to the home of actor Ashton Kutcher in a 'swatting' prank.
The name of the boy, who was arrested by Los Angeles police in December, was withheld due to his age. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a juvenile court in Los Angeles on Friday.
The trend toward placing false emergency calls is known as 'swatting' because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers often are sent to the purported crime scenes. Authorities say such situations can be dangerous due to the risk of a misunderstanding between police and occupants of a building.
The boy has been charged with two felony counts each of making false bomb threats and computer intrusion in connection with the October 3 emergency call that drew police to the Hollywood Hills home of Kutcher, star of the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men,' and a similar call on October 10 that sent police to a Wells Fargo Bank.
Authorities have accused the boy of having reported men armed with guns and explosives in Kutcher's home and that several people had been shot. Dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the house. Kutcher was not home at the time.
Swatting calls in recent months have also sent police to the homes of singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Trott)
The name of the boy, who was arrested by Los Angeles police in December, was withheld due to his age. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a juvenile court in Los Angeles on Friday.
The trend toward placing false emergency calls is known as 'swatting' because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers often are sent to the purported crime scenes. Authorities say such situations can be dangerous due to the risk of a misunderstanding between police and occupants of a building.
The boy has been charged with two felony counts each of making false bomb threats and computer intrusion in connection with the October 3 emergency call that drew police to the Hollywood Hills home of Kutcher, star of the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men,' and a similar call on October 10 that sent police to a Wells Fargo Bank.
Authorities have accused the boy of having reported men armed with guns and explosives in Kutcher's home and that several people had been shot. Dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the house. Kutcher was not home at the time.
Swatting calls in recent months have also sent police to the homes of singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Trott)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Court to probe singer Chris Brown's community service records
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to find R&B singer Chris Brown in violation of his probation because they say community service records stemming from his 2009 assault on girlfriend Rihanna contain 'significant discrepancies.'
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Singer Gloria Estefan, husband, plan Broadway show of their lives
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan and her music entrepreneur husband, Emilio, are developing a new Broadway show based on their lives, the show's producer said on Tuesday.
The couple is working with the Nederlander Organization on the show that will trace their lives from leaving Cuba to international stardom.
'The Estefans' journey of success, led by raw talent and passion, is captivating as it drove them from relative obscurity to global sensations,' Jimmy Nederlander, the organization's president, said in a statement announcing the deal.
Estefan, one of the most successful Latin crossover stars, fled Cuba with her family as a toddler. She met her husband in Miami and became the lead singer of his band, which was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. The couple married in 1978.
She has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammy Awards and produced a list of hits including 'Conga,' 'The Rhythm is Going to Get You,' and '1,2,3.'
Emilio, a music, television and film director, was instrument in his wife's career, and helped to develop stars such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez.
'Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come,' the couple said in a statement.
The Nederlander Organization said no creative team has been announced yet.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Eric Walsh)
The couple is working with the Nederlander Organization on the show that will trace their lives from leaving Cuba to international stardom.
'The Estefans' journey of success, led by raw talent and passion, is captivating as it drove them from relative obscurity to global sensations,' Jimmy Nederlander, the organization's president, said in a statement announcing the deal.
Estefan, one of the most successful Latin crossover stars, fled Cuba with her family as a toddler. She met her husband in Miami and became the lead singer of his band, which was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. The couple married in 1978.
She has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammy Awards and produced a list of hits including 'Conga,' 'The Rhythm is Going to Get You,' and '1,2,3.'
Emilio, a music, television and film director, was instrument in his wife's career, and helped to develop stars such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez.
'Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come,' the couple said in a statement.
The Nederlander Organization said no creative team has been announced yet.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Eric Walsh)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Ed Koch remembered as quintessential New York City mayor
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was memorialized on Monday as an in-your-face, wisecracking leader who helped transform the city from a symbol of urban decay to the vital, glittering metropolis it is today.
As Koch's casket was led out of Temple Emanu-El, a soaring Fifth Ave. synagogue opposite Central Park, an organ played Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' while mourners including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a who's who of New York politics stood and applauded.
Koch died on Friday at the age of 88 in Manhattan -- the only place other than heaven he could imagine living, as he was known to say.
'I come today with the love and condolences of 8.4 million New Yorkers who really are grieving with you at this moment,' said the city's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
Speakers joked about the famously attention-loving Koch's obsession with stage-managing his passing. His grave-stone, complete with an epitaph and a bench bearing Koch's name, has been ready since 2008, and his friends said he had been planning the funeral for years.
'We started talking about his death in the '80s,' said his former chief of staff Diane Coffey.
As mayor from 1978 to 1989, Koch, with his trademark phrase 'How'm I Doin?', was a natural showman and tireless promoter of both himself and the city. He helped repair the city's finances as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and later led a building renaissance that would see 200,000 units of affordable housing erected or rehabilitated in some of the city's most crime-infested areas.
He could also be a divisive figure. His determination to shut Sydenham, a poorly-performing Harlem hospital that was one of the only city hospitals employing black doctors, angered black New Yorkers. And AIDS activists said he was too slow to react to the epidemic that ravaged the city's gay population in the 1980s.
Tall, nearly bald and speaking with a high-pitched voice, Koch was an unmistakable presence. He was famously argumentative, and rarely walked away from verbal jousting.
His friend James Gill remembered Koch's response to someone who had written a letter criticizing the former mayor.
'You are entitled to your opinion of me and I am entitled to my opinion of you,' Koch replied. 'My opinion of you is that you are a fool.'
His nephews and grand-nephew and grand-niece remembered Koch, who never married, as devoted 'Uncle Eddie' - eager to hear what they thought of his appearances on talk shows but also happy join his 11-year-old grand-niece for a manicure.
Clinton read from a stack of letters Koch had sent him over the years and said Koch had 'a big brain, but he had an even bigger heart.'
Koch remained relevant in politics long after 1989, when he lost the Democratic nomination to David Dinkins for what would have been a record fourth term as mayor. But when asked if he would run for office again, he liked to say, 'The people threw me out and the people must be punished.'
His endorsement was coveted by candidates decades after he left office. And his unwavering and loud support of Israel made Koch 'one of the most influential and important American Zionists,' said former Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
At Monday's memorial, Bloomberg noted the synagogue Koch had chosen for the funeral stood just a few blocks from the midtown bridge that had been renamed to honor him. Last year, the city released a video of Koch standing at the bridge's entrance ramp, calling out to approaching cars: 'Welcome to my bridge! Welcome to my bridge!'
'No mayor, I think, has ever embodied the spirit of New York City like he did. And I don't think anyone ever will,' Bloomberg said. 'Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and chutzpah - he was our city's quintessential mayor.'
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alden Bentley)
As Koch's casket was led out of Temple Emanu-El, a soaring Fifth Ave. synagogue opposite Central Park, an organ played Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' while mourners including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a who's who of New York politics stood and applauded.
Koch died on Friday at the age of 88 in Manhattan -- the only place other than heaven he could imagine living, as he was known to say.
'I come today with the love and condolences of 8.4 million New Yorkers who really are grieving with you at this moment,' said the city's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
Speakers joked about the famously attention-loving Koch's obsession with stage-managing his passing. His grave-stone, complete with an epitaph and a bench bearing Koch's name, has been ready since 2008, and his friends said he had been planning the funeral for years.
'We started talking about his death in the '80s,' said his former chief of staff Diane Coffey.
As mayor from 1978 to 1989, Koch, with his trademark phrase 'How'm I Doin?', was a natural showman and tireless promoter of both himself and the city. He helped repair the city's finances as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and later led a building renaissance that would see 200,000 units of affordable housing erected or rehabilitated in some of the city's most crime-infested areas.
He could also be a divisive figure. His determination to shut Sydenham, a poorly-performing Harlem hospital that was one of the only city hospitals employing black doctors, angered black New Yorkers. And AIDS activists said he was too slow to react to the epidemic that ravaged the city's gay population in the 1980s.
Tall, nearly bald and speaking with a high-pitched voice, Koch was an unmistakable presence. He was famously argumentative, and rarely walked away from verbal jousting.
His friend James Gill remembered Koch's response to someone who had written a letter criticizing the former mayor.
'You are entitled to your opinion of me and I am entitled to my opinion of you,' Koch replied. 'My opinion of you is that you are a fool.'
His nephews and grand-nephew and grand-niece remembered Koch, who never married, as devoted 'Uncle Eddie' - eager to hear what they thought of his appearances on talk shows but also happy join his 11-year-old grand-niece for a manicure.
Clinton read from a stack of letters Koch had sent him over the years and said Koch had 'a big brain, but he had an even bigger heart.'
Koch remained relevant in politics long after 1989, when he lost the Democratic nomination to David Dinkins for what would have been a record fourth term as mayor. But when asked if he would run for office again, he liked to say, 'The people threw me out and the people must be punished.'
His endorsement was coveted by candidates decades after he left office. And his unwavering and loud support of Israel made Koch 'one of the most influential and important American Zionists,' said former Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
At Monday's memorial, Bloomberg noted the synagogue Koch had chosen for the funeral stood just a few blocks from the midtown bridge that had been renamed to honor him. Last year, the city released a video of Koch standing at the bridge's entrance ramp, calling out to approaching cars: 'Welcome to my bridge! Welcome to my bridge!'
'No mayor, I think, has ever embodied the spirit of New York City like he did. And I don't think anyone ever will,' Bloomberg said. 'Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and chutzpah - he was our city's quintessential mayor.'
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alden Bentley)
Singer Frank Ocean wants peace, says no charges against Chris Brown
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rising R&B star Frank Ocean said on Saturday he will not press charges against singer Chris Brown, who he said had 'jumped' him last week in a parking lot fracas.
The encounter between Ocean and Brown still could derail Brown's efforts to remain in compliance with his probation stemming from his 2009 assault against singer Rihanna, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, a legal expert said.
Earlier in the week, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Ocean was 'desirous of prosecution in this incident,' which occurred on January 27 outside a recording studio in West Hollywood.
Representatives for Brown could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Sheriff's deputies had cited witnesses as saying Grammy-winner Brown, 23, punched Ocean, 25, in the brief altercation.
But Ocean on Saturday posted a message on www.frankocean.com saying he wanted to move past the incident.
'I'll choose sanity,' he wrote. 'No criminal charges. No civil lawsuit. Forgiveness, albeit difficult, is wisdom. Peace, albeit trite, is what I want in my short life. Peace.'
Brown and Ocean both are nominated in the best urban contemporary album category at the Grammys Awards, which will be announced February 10 in Los Angeles.
On the day of the parking lot incident Ocean had said on Twitter that he 'got jumped by chris and a couple guys.' He also said he cut his finger and Brown was later photographed with a cast on his right hand.
Brown, whose hit songs include 'Look at Me Now' and 'Run It!,' was placed on probation for five years for the assault on Rihanna. He risks having his probation revoked if charges are filed against him.
But if the judge overseeing his case suspects Brown broke the law, the judge could move to find him in violation of probation even without a criminal charge, said Steve Cron, a defense attorney not connected to the case and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.
'Then, Brown would be entitled to have a hearing with witnesses and his lawyers questioning witnesses and so forth,' Cron said.
Cron said prosecutors still can file charges even if a suspected victim does not cooperate.
If Brown is found to have violated his probation, a judge could send him to jail or order counseling, he said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that if Ocean does not want to press charges, it would be difficult to proceed with the case.
Brown's entourage and that of Canadian rapper Drake were involved in a June 2012 brawl in a New York nightclub. No arrests or charges were brought in that case.
(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bill Trott)
The encounter between Ocean and Brown still could derail Brown's efforts to remain in compliance with his probation stemming from his 2009 assault against singer Rihanna, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, a legal expert said.
Earlier in the week, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Ocean was 'desirous of prosecution in this incident,' which occurred on January 27 outside a recording studio in West Hollywood.
Representatives for Brown could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Sheriff's deputies had cited witnesses as saying Grammy-winner Brown, 23, punched Ocean, 25, in the brief altercation.
But Ocean on Saturday posted a message on www.frankocean.com saying he wanted to move past the incident.
'I'll choose sanity,' he wrote. 'No criminal charges. No civil lawsuit. Forgiveness, albeit difficult, is wisdom. Peace, albeit trite, is what I want in my short life. Peace.'
Brown and Ocean both are nominated in the best urban contemporary album category at the Grammys Awards, which will be announced February 10 in Los Angeles.
On the day of the parking lot incident Ocean had said on Twitter that he 'got jumped by chris and a couple guys.' He also said he cut his finger and Brown was later photographed with a cast on his right hand.
Brown, whose hit songs include 'Look at Me Now' and 'Run It!,' was placed on probation for five years for the assault on Rihanna. He risks having his probation revoked if charges are filed against him.
But if the judge overseeing his case suspects Brown broke the law, the judge could move to find him in violation of probation even without a criminal charge, said Steve Cron, a defense attorney not connected to the case and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.
'Then, Brown would be entitled to have a hearing with witnesses and his lawyers questioning witnesses and so forth,' Cron said.
Cron said prosecutors still can file charges even if a suspected victim does not cooperate.
If Brown is found to have violated his probation, a judge could send him to jail or order counseling, he said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that if Ocean does not want to press charges, it would be difficult to proceed with the case.
Brown's entourage and that of Canadian rapper Drake were involved in a June 2012 brawl in a New York nightclub. No arrests or charges were brought in that case.
(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bill Trott)
Friday, February 1, 2013
Schwarzenegger: Simple Austrian upbringing made me green
VIENNA (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his simple upbringing amid the lakes and hills of Austria for a recent conversion to fully fledged green activism, the latest stage in his varied career.
The former body-builder, star of the 'Terminator' action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21.
'Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity',' Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week.
'We didn't have video games, televisions or iPhones. We had the rolling hills, the castles, the ruins, and the beautiful lakes,' he said. 'Even after I made it big and became governor of California, I held on to this love of nature.'
The 'governator' - who left office and split with his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver in 2011, has recently returned to making action movies - expressed surprise at the turn his life had taken, after he had thought all his ambitions fulfilled.
'When I was a little boy in Austria, all I could think about was moving to America, to become the greatest bodybuilder champion in the world and make millions of dollars and be an action hero,' said Schwarzenegger.
'My dream became reality. Who knew my greatest achievement would be in the real world fighting for a green energy future? Green energy wasn't even in my vocabulary.'
(Reporting by Derek Brooks; Writing by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato)
The former body-builder, star of the 'Terminator' action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21.
'Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity',' Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week.
'We didn't have video games, televisions or iPhones. We had the rolling hills, the castles, the ruins, and the beautiful lakes,' he said. 'Even after I made it big and became governor of California, I held on to this love of nature.'
The 'governator' - who left office and split with his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver in 2011, has recently returned to making action movies - expressed surprise at the turn his life had taken, after he had thought all his ambitions fulfilled.
'When I was a little boy in Austria, all I could think about was moving to America, to become the greatest bodybuilder champion in the world and make millions of dollars and be an action hero,' said Schwarzenegger.
'My dream became reality. Who knew my greatest achievement would be in the real world fighting for a green energy future? Green energy wasn't even in my vocabulary.'
(Reporting by Derek Brooks; Writing by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato)
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