LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan will stand trial on March 18 on charges she lied to California police about a June car crash and violated probation, raising the possibility she could be sent back to jail.
A judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday set the trial date on charges related to the car crash and said the court will hold a hearing at the same time on whether Lohan in the incident violated probation from a 2011 jewelry theft.
The star of the movie 'Mean Girls,' who has been in and out of rehab and jail since 2007, wore a black sleeveless dress and looked tired at the brief court hearing. She arrived in Los Angeles late Tuesday from New York and has abandoned her longtime lawyer in favor of new attorney Mark Heller.
Lohan has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing police when she said she was not behind the wheel of her sports car, which smashed into a truck in Santa Monica, California in June.
Lohan, 26, left court without speaking to the media.
The former 'Parent Trap' child star has been in and out of trouble since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession.
Sautner warned Lohan that she could be found in violation of probation even if she is acquitted on charges connected to the car crash because the standard of proof is lower.
Lohan was ordered to appear at Wednesday's hearing because she decided to switch lawyers, firing longtime attorney Shawn Holley this month.
She was arrested in New York on a misdemeanor assault charge on the same day in November that the Santa Monica car crash charges were filed. The Manhattan district attorney's office has not filed a criminal complaint in the assault case.
Lohan's appearance in Los Angeles had been in doubt after Heller wrote to the court earlier this week saying was suffering from an upper respiratory infection and could not appear.
'Glad to see you're feeling better,' Judge Stephanie Sautner told Lohan at the hearing.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
UK's Prince Charles takes first "Tube" trip since 1986
LONDON (Reuters) - Four million Londoners cram onto the city's Underground passenger railway nearly every day, but it is a rarer event for Prince Charles. He rode the British capital's bustling commuter network on Wednesday for the first time since 1986.
The heir to the British throne and his wife Camilla took a one-stop journey from Farringdon to King's Cross on the Metropolitan Line as part of celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of a transport service affectionately known to Britons as the 'Tube'.
The short journey was a rare enough event to cause some confusion at the prince's press office, which initially said he had last ventured onto the Tube in 1979.
'This is just to let you know that it has come to our attention that The Prince of Wales has travelled on the London Underground more recently than 1979. In 1986 The Prince and Princess of Wales travelled by tube to Heathrow Airport to open Terminal 4,' a spokeswoman said in an email to media.
'We're sorry that our previous information was incorrect. Our archives of Royal engagements prior to 1988 are not computerized and in this particular instance a search under 'The Prince of Wales takes the Tube' did not bring up an event which had been logged as the 'official opening of Terminal 4'.'
(Reporting By Estelle Shirbon, editing by Paul Casciato)
The heir to the British throne and his wife Camilla took a one-stop journey from Farringdon to King's Cross on the Metropolitan Line as part of celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of a transport service affectionately known to Britons as the 'Tube'.
The short journey was a rare enough event to cause some confusion at the prince's press office, which initially said he had last ventured onto the Tube in 1979.
'This is just to let you know that it has come to our attention that The Prince of Wales has travelled on the London Underground more recently than 1979. In 1986 The Prince and Princess of Wales travelled by tube to Heathrow Airport to open Terminal 4,' a spokeswoman said in an email to media.
'We're sorry that our previous information was incorrect. Our archives of Royal engagements prior to 1988 are not computerized and in this particular instance a search under 'The Prince of Wales takes the Tube' did not bring up an event which had been logged as the 'official opening of Terminal 4'.'
(Reporting By Estelle Shirbon, editing by Paul Casciato)
A Minute With: Rapper T.I. dips into comedy in "Identity Thief"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Tip 'T.I.' Harris has seen and done it all - three Grammy Awards, a novel, time in jail, a fashion line, TV reality show, businessman and several movies.
Now the Atlanta-based singer is dipping into comedy, appearing in the film 'Identity Thief' as an armed enforcer on the trail of a character played by Melissa McCarthy who is on the run from many of those she's swindled.
T.I., 32, sat down with Reuters ahead of the movie's February 8 release to talk about the film, what's left on his to-do list, and his personal views on gun control.
Q: How did you wind up in a comedic film?
A: 'I met with (director) Seth (Gordon) and learned he was the director of one of my favorite comedies, 'Horrible Bosses.' I asked him how would this movie compare to 'Horrible Bosses' and he said it's going to be better. I said, 'I'm in.''
Q: Were you OK taking a supporting role rather than a lead?
A: 'I actually enjoyed the fact that all of the heavy lifting was not on my shoulders. It was Jason (Bateman) and Melissa's show, so the stage was set for me to not screw it up, you know what I mean?'
Q: Last year you appeared on television's 'Hawaii Five-O' and 'Boss.' Do you have role models of hip-hop stars who have successfully crossed over to acting?
A: 'Will Smith and Ice Cube. Looking at the roles Cube has been able to acquire, he created those opportunities for himself. So I think I could take that approach.'
Q: Is there a certain perception of you out there that might hinder you from being taken seriously as an actor?
A: 'I think people might wonder whether or not T.I. can be anything other than T.I., so it's constantly having to reassure people that I'm able to do what I already know I can do.'
Q: For some, T.I. is a successful recording artist and for others he's someone who had several stints in jail on drugs and weapons charges. Can you confidently say that the past is the past?
A: 'I'm not gonna say anything. It's day by day, you know what I'm saying? I'm saying today this is how I am, this is where I am. And tomorrow hopefully will be better than today.'
Q: In 2011 after your last prison term, you showed a softer side by starring in the VH1 reality series 'T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle,' with your wife and six kids. Was that an attempt to right your past transgressions?
A: 'Nah. I think it's a showcasing of who I am today. I don't think that it any way diminishes the mistakes of yesterday. It just makes a correction if people assume that the mistakes of yesterday are ever-present today. It gives people a stage of truth and knowledge to judge from. So if you must judge, at least you can judge from fact.'
Q: You've just released your eighth album, 'Trouble Man II: He Who Wears the Crown.' You also have a your own urban fashion line, A.K.O.O. What else do you need to check off your to-do list?
A: 'Just to remain relevant and meaningful to the cool young consumer of today. The cool kids are out there being admired by others in their peer group, so you want to find ways to continue to put yourself on their minds.'
Q: How do you do that?
A: '(Social media) is a big aspect for those kids. ... So with Instagram, if you take pictures it has to be a picture worthy of showing. If you say something on Twitter, it has to be something that's worthy of listening to.'
Q: With gun control being a hot-button topic today, and with your own experiences with firearms, what are your thoughts on gun ownership?
A: 'I can't possess a firearm (due to previous convictions), so whether they make them illegal or not is gonna be the same thing for me. But I see a need for them. I've been in circumstances where I've had them every day and nothing happened. I've been in circumstances where I didn't have them, and I needed them. In certain areas of society, having a firearm is just as common as having bottled water.'
Q: In what way?
A: 'If you're a shopkeeper, a barbershop owner, a convenience store owner and you handle cash in and out of this area, if everyone knows that you don't have a firearm, then you are basically prey. In these areas, bullets are just as common as sticks of gum, you know what I'm saying? So I think I speak for those people.'
(Reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Will Dunham)
Now the Atlanta-based singer is dipping into comedy, appearing in the film 'Identity Thief' as an armed enforcer on the trail of a character played by Melissa McCarthy who is on the run from many of those she's swindled.
T.I., 32, sat down with Reuters ahead of the movie's February 8 release to talk about the film, what's left on his to-do list, and his personal views on gun control.
Q: How did you wind up in a comedic film?
A: 'I met with (director) Seth (Gordon) and learned he was the director of one of my favorite comedies, 'Horrible Bosses.' I asked him how would this movie compare to 'Horrible Bosses' and he said it's going to be better. I said, 'I'm in.''
Q: Were you OK taking a supporting role rather than a lead?
A: 'I actually enjoyed the fact that all of the heavy lifting was not on my shoulders. It was Jason (Bateman) and Melissa's show, so the stage was set for me to not screw it up, you know what I mean?'
Q: Last year you appeared on television's 'Hawaii Five-O' and 'Boss.' Do you have role models of hip-hop stars who have successfully crossed over to acting?
A: 'Will Smith and Ice Cube. Looking at the roles Cube has been able to acquire, he created those opportunities for himself. So I think I could take that approach.'
Q: Is there a certain perception of you out there that might hinder you from being taken seriously as an actor?
A: 'I think people might wonder whether or not T.I. can be anything other than T.I., so it's constantly having to reassure people that I'm able to do what I already know I can do.'
Q: For some, T.I. is a successful recording artist and for others he's someone who had several stints in jail on drugs and weapons charges. Can you confidently say that the past is the past?
A: 'I'm not gonna say anything. It's day by day, you know what I'm saying? I'm saying today this is how I am, this is where I am. And tomorrow hopefully will be better than today.'
Q: In 2011 after your last prison term, you showed a softer side by starring in the VH1 reality series 'T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle,' with your wife and six kids. Was that an attempt to right your past transgressions?
A: 'Nah. I think it's a showcasing of who I am today. I don't think that it any way diminishes the mistakes of yesterday. It just makes a correction if people assume that the mistakes of yesterday are ever-present today. It gives people a stage of truth and knowledge to judge from. So if you must judge, at least you can judge from fact.'
Q: You've just released your eighth album, 'Trouble Man II: He Who Wears the Crown.' You also have a your own urban fashion line, A.K.O.O. What else do you need to check off your to-do list?
A: 'Just to remain relevant and meaningful to the cool young consumer of today. The cool kids are out there being admired by others in their peer group, so you want to find ways to continue to put yourself on their minds.'
Q: How do you do that?
A: '(Social media) is a big aspect for those kids. ... So with Instagram, if you take pictures it has to be a picture worthy of showing. If you say something on Twitter, it has to be something that's worthy of listening to.'
Q: With gun control being a hot-button topic today, and with your own experiences with firearms, what are your thoughts on gun ownership?
A: 'I can't possess a firearm (due to previous convictions), so whether they make them illegal or not is gonna be the same thing for me. But I see a need for them. I've been in circumstances where I've had them every day and nothing happened. I've been in circumstances where I didn't have them, and I needed them. In certain areas of society, having a firearm is just as common as having bottled water.'
Q: In what way?
A: 'If you're a shopkeeper, a barbershop owner, a convenience store owner and you handle cash in and out of this area, if everyone knows that you don't have a firearm, then you are basically prey. In these areas, bullets are just as common as sticks of gum, you know what I'm saying? So I think I speak for those people.'
(Reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Will Dunham)
Monday, January 28, 2013
Barbara Walters, hospitalized after fall, recovering from chicken pox
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Celebrity newswoman Barbara Walters, who was hospitalized earlier this month after falling and injuring her head, is recovering from chicken pox, her co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Monday on 'The View' talk show.
Goldberg said Walters, 83, who is in a New York hospital, has been told to rest and is not receiving visitors.
'You all know that she fell and cut her head 10 days ago and then was running a temperature,' Goldberg said on the show.
'But it turns out it is all the result of a delayed childhood. Barbara has the chicken pox,' Goldberg adding, saying Walters had never had the illness as a child.
Walters, 83, had been admitted to a Washington hospital during President Barack Obama's inauguration weekend after she fell and cut her head at the British ambassador's residence, her network ABC said.
Goldberg joked: 'She's been told to rest, she's not allowed any visitors, and we're telling you, Barbara, no scratching.'
ABC-TV said Walters, who created the long-running talk show after working decades as one of television news' best-known journalists, was transferred to a New York hospital late last week from Washington and was expected to be discharged soon.
Despite Goldberg's light-hearted remarks about the illness, usually associated with children, chicken pox can be serious for adults and the elderly, accompanied by more severe itching from hundreds of blisters.
Headaches, fever and chills, sometimes leading to pneumonia, can follow if the illness is not properly treated and precautions are not taken, or if the patient has a compromised immune system.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Philip Barbara)
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
Goldberg said Walters, 83, who is in a New York hospital, has been told to rest and is not receiving visitors.
'You all know that she fell and cut her head 10 days ago and then was running a temperature,' Goldberg said on the show.
'But it turns out it is all the result of a delayed childhood. Barbara has the chicken pox,' Goldberg adding, saying Walters had never had the illness as a child.
Walters, 83, had been admitted to a Washington hospital during President Barack Obama's inauguration weekend after she fell and cut her head at the British ambassador's residence, her network ABC said.
Goldberg joked: 'She's been told to rest, she's not allowed any visitors, and we're telling you, Barbara, no scratching.'
ABC-TV said Walters, who created the long-running talk show after working decades as one of television news' best-known journalists, was transferred to a New York hospital late last week from Washington and was expected to be discharged soon.
Despite Goldberg's light-hearted remarks about the illness, usually associated with children, chicken pox can be serious for adults and the elderly, accompanied by more severe itching from hundreds of blisters.
Headaches, fever and chills, sometimes leading to pneumonia, can follow if the illness is not properly treated and precautions are not taken, or if the patient has a compromised immune system.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Philip Barbara)
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Actor Burt Reynolds reportedly in intensive care with flu
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American actor Burt Reynolds is battling the flu in the intensive care unit of a Florida hospital, CNN reported on Friday.
The 'Smokey and the Bandit' actor arrived at the unnamed hospital with dehydration and was later transferred to intensive care, Reynolds' manager, Erik Kritzer, told CNN.
'He is doing better at this time,' Kritzer was quoted as saying on Friday afternoon. 'We expect, as soon as he gets more fluids, he will be back in a regular room.'
Reynolds, 76, is famous for roles in 1970s movies including 'Deliverance' and 'The Longest Yard.' More recently, he won a Golden Globe award for his role as a porn king in 1997 film 'Boogie Nights.'
Reynolds had heart bypass surgery in 2010.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)
The 'Smokey and the Bandit' actor arrived at the unnamed hospital with dehydration and was later transferred to intensive care, Reynolds' manager, Erik Kritzer, told CNN.
'He is doing better at this time,' Kritzer was quoted as saying on Friday afternoon. 'We expect, as soon as he gets more fluids, he will be back in a regular room.'
Reynolds, 76, is famous for roles in 1970s movies including 'Deliverance' and 'The Longest Yard.' More recently, he won a Golden Globe award for his role as a porn king in 1997 film 'Boogie Nights.'
Reynolds had heart bypass surgery in 2010.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
"Black Swan" choreographer named dance director of Paris ballet
(Reuters) - French dancer Benjamin Millepied, who was the choreographer of the film 'Black Swan,' was on Thursday named director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious dance companies.
Millepied, 35, who last year married the Oscar-winning star of 'Black Swan,' Natalie Portman, with whom he has a son, will take up his new role in October 2014.
The announcement by the director of the Paris Opera, Nicolas Joel, ended months of speculation over the successor to Brigitte Lefevre, director of dance at the Paris Opera since 1995, who plans to retire at the end of the 2013-14 season.
The same position was held for several years by Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who died in 1993.
A statement from Paris Opera said Millepied was born in Bordeaux and trained at the Lyon Conservatory.
He joined the School of American Ballet as a teenager before joining New York City Ballet where he became a principal dancer in 2002.
He was both the choreographer and a dancer in the 2010 film 'Black Swan,' a psychological thriller that received five Academy Award nominations and won Portman the best actress award.
Millepied retired in 2011 to focus on choreography and moved to Los Angeles where he founded the L.A. Dance Project, which made its debut last September.
Millepied is also the new face of Yves Saint Laurent's men's fragrance 'L'Homme Libre' - French for 'The Free Man' - and also features in ads for Air France.
Almost all the 150-plus dancers in the Paris company are trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School with admittance to the corps de ballet decided by an annual competition.
Lefevre joined the Paris Opera Ballet School when she was 8 years old and entered the corps de ballet aged 16, so Millepied's appointment came as a surprise to many.
(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
Millepied, 35, who last year married the Oscar-winning star of 'Black Swan,' Natalie Portman, with whom he has a son, will take up his new role in October 2014.
The announcement by the director of the Paris Opera, Nicolas Joel, ended months of speculation over the successor to Brigitte Lefevre, director of dance at the Paris Opera since 1995, who plans to retire at the end of the 2013-14 season.
The same position was held for several years by Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who died in 1993.
A statement from Paris Opera said Millepied was born in Bordeaux and trained at the Lyon Conservatory.
He joined the School of American Ballet as a teenager before joining New York City Ballet where he became a principal dancer in 2002.
He was both the choreographer and a dancer in the 2010 film 'Black Swan,' a psychological thriller that received five Academy Award nominations and won Portman the best actress award.
Millepied retired in 2011 to focus on choreography and moved to Los Angeles where he founded the L.A. Dance Project, which made its debut last September.
Millepied is also the new face of Yves Saint Laurent's men's fragrance 'L'Homme Libre' - French for 'The Free Man' - and also features in ads for Air France.
Almost all the 150-plus dancers in the Paris company are trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School with admittance to the corps de ballet decided by an annual competition.
Lefevre joined the Paris Opera Ballet School when she was 8 years old and entered the corps de ballet aged 16, so Millepied's appointment came as a surprise to many.
(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
Booker winner Mantel says play next "logical step"
LONDON (Reuters) - Double Booker prize-winning author Hilary Mantel said the characters in her historical novels about the rise of Thomas Cromwell will take the next 'logical step' to a stage adaptation at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) this year.
Mantel said in a video interview on the RSC website this week that she has always longed to give 'solid form' to her depictions of Cromwell, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in her 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies' books.
'From the moment I started writing Wolf Hall the characters were fighting to be off the page,' Mantel said in the video.
The 60-year-old Mantel said she was delighted to have playwright Mike Poulton, whose works have garnered some of the theatre world's top awards, recreate her novels for the stage.
'He's the man who knows about the stagecraft,' she said. 'I'm the one who knows the characters inside out.'
The first woman and first Briton to win the Booker twice for her novels set in Henry VIII's court said she has been inspired by the RSC since the age of 15 when she went alone to its Stratford-upon-Avon home and watched four plays in three days.
'It was a shaping experience, so it really is a dream come true for me to have the opportunity to see the RSC present my plays,' she said.
Mantel is working on a third novel in the trilogy.
The RSC also said on Wednesday that David Tennant will star in the title role of 'Richard II' in winter 2013, making his return five years after a turn as Hamlet which earned him a best Shakespearean performance trophy at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards in 2009.
'Both plays will be directed by Royal Court Associate Director Jeremy Herrin, making his RSC directing debut,' RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran said.
The world premiere of 'Wendy & Peter Pan' by Ella Hickson and directed by Jonathan Munby will round out the winter season, the RSC said.
Tickets for the RSC's winter 2013 season, which begins in October 2013 and runs until March 2014 will go on sale for members on February 11 and for the wider public on March 18, the RSC said.
(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Patricia Reaney)
Mantel said in a video interview on the RSC website this week that she has always longed to give 'solid form' to her depictions of Cromwell, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in her 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies' books.
'From the moment I started writing Wolf Hall the characters were fighting to be off the page,' Mantel said in the video.
The 60-year-old Mantel said she was delighted to have playwright Mike Poulton, whose works have garnered some of the theatre world's top awards, recreate her novels for the stage.
'He's the man who knows about the stagecraft,' she said. 'I'm the one who knows the characters inside out.'
The first woman and first Briton to win the Booker twice for her novels set in Henry VIII's court said she has been inspired by the RSC since the age of 15 when she went alone to its Stratford-upon-Avon home and watched four plays in three days.
'It was a shaping experience, so it really is a dream come true for me to have the opportunity to see the RSC present my plays,' she said.
Mantel is working on a third novel in the trilogy.
The RSC also said on Wednesday that David Tennant will star in the title role of 'Richard II' in winter 2013, making his return five years after a turn as Hamlet which earned him a best Shakespearean performance trophy at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards in 2009.
'Both plays will be directed by Royal Court Associate Director Jeremy Herrin, making his RSC directing debut,' RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran said.
The world premiere of 'Wendy & Peter Pan' by Ella Hickson and directed by Jonathan Munby will round out the winter season, the RSC said.
Tickets for the RSC's winter 2013 season, which begins in October 2013 and runs until March 2014 will go on sale for members on February 11 and for the wider public on March 18, the RSC said.
(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Patricia Reaney)
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