Gossip, July 3, 2007
Barbra Streisand wins enthusiastic welcome from Berlin fansBERLIN (AP) — Barbra Streisand has played her first concert in Germany, winning an enthusiastic welcome from some 18,000 fans in Berlin and praising the capital’s “beauty — and desserts.”Saturday night’s appearance at Berlin’s open-air Waldbuehne was part of a European tour that also has taken her to Zurich, Switzerland, and to France for the first time.
“I can’t believe it took me so long to come here,” she told the audience. “I definitely got a taste of Berlin. This city is filled with culture, beauty — and desserts.”
Streisand’s German concert attracted local luminaries including Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and Guido Westerwelle, the leader of Germany’s biggest opposition party, who said the singer’s presence was a “giant compliment for Berlin.”Vivica Fox called officer racist LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vivica A. Fox called a state patrol officer a “racist white cop” during her drunken driving arrest and repeatedly failed sobriety tests, according to an official report.The 42-year-old actress, who is black, was pulled over in March after passing a California Highway Patrol officer who said her Cadillac was doing 80 mph and weaving in its lane on the Hollywood Freeway.
The officer noticed that Fox’s eyes were red and watery and that she had a “strong odour of alcohol, according to the report. After she failed sobriety tests, he arrested Fox for investigation of driving under the influence.
“Fox began to walk away, yelling at my partner, ‘Brother, help a sister, are you going to let this racist white cop do this. ... Well, are you?’,” according to the report.
The arresting officer is identified as Officer Laubscher and his partner as Officer De Alba.
Fox continued to speak in a “condescending manner” as she was placed in the patrol car, according to the report.
She was taken to the Van Nuys jail, where a breath test was conducted but had to be stopped when she “burped quite loudly,” the report said.
“The report stands on its own, and we can’t comment further because it’s a case pending before the courts,” said Fran Clader, patrol spokeswoman. Fox eventually was cited and released.
Breath tests indicated her blood-alcohol level was greater than .08 percent, California’s legal limit for a driver. She was charged in March with two misdemeanour counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit. Her arraignment was scheduled for July 19.
If convicted, Fox could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
A call to Fox’s manager, Lita Richardson, was not returned.
Fox has appeared in such films as Kill Bill and Independence Day.James Earl Jones to open Magna Carta show
The Broadway and movie actor who also was behind King Mufasa in The Lion King — as well as countless Verizon commercials — will recite the Declaration of Independence at the Magna Carta: Foundation of Freedom exhibit one day before the Fourth of July.
“Here’s an opportunity to focus on the declaration itself — besides the holiday, besides the great explosions and bombs bursting in air,” Jones said in an interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
The exhibit, presented by the National Education Association and sponsored by Verizon Communications, will run from July 4 to July 25. The Magna Carta is on loan from Great Britain’s Lincoln Cathedral.
In addition to the Magna Carta, the 1215 document that helped inspire the Declaration of Independence, the centre also features a signed Emancipation Proclamation and a printing of the US Constitution.Heidi Fleiss plans brothel for womenLAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss is diversifying, airing her Dirty Laundry in Nevada as she makes plans for a legal brothel for women.Dirty Laundry is a 24-hour, coin-operated laundry — 13 washers and 14 dryers — the one-time leader of a high-priced ring of call girls to the stars is opening at a shopping centre in Pahrump, west of Las Vegas.
Fleiss, who has become an avid collector of parrots and macaws since moving to Pahrump, said she decided to open the laundromat after the death of one of her pets, a macaw named Dalton.
“I had to force myself to do something,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Nothing in my 41 years — nothing — ever affected me like this.”
Fleiss moved to Nye County in late 2005, after serving a jail term for running the prostitution ring, and announced plans to open Heidi’s Stud Farm in the town of Crystal, about 20 miles north of Pahrump.
The 20-man operation would be Nevada’s first legal bordello catering exclusively to female customers. It still needs approval from the Nye County Liquor and Licensing Board, and Fleiss said she plans to submit an application within the next three months.
“I have at least 400 women who are ready to buy a membership,” and men applying for jobs, she said.Criss Angel’s wife claims he deserted her
Angel, known for his Mindfreak show on the A&E network, subdued his sometimes flashy look for a court hearing Friday. But he flashed a bit of humour during a break, gesturing toward his estranged wife’s lawyer and saying, “I can make him disappear.”
Angel, whose real name is Christopher Sarantakos, and his wife, Joanne, 37, married five years ago, after a decade of dating, according to her lawyer, Dominic Barbara. But the magician kept his marriage quiet and then deserted his wife as he became famous and hasn’t given her “a cent” of his millions, Barbara said.
Angel’s lawyer, Elliott Wiener, said Joanne Sarantakos’ accusations of mental cruelty and abandonment were unfounded, and “the notion that she’s not being supported is simply not accurate.”
The 39-year-old punky illusionist dedicated his latest stunt — a seeming escape from a box encased in concrete and suspended 40 feet above the ground near Manhattan’s Time Square on June 5 — to Shrek the Third star Cameron Diaz. But he demurred when asked whether they were dating, telling AP Radio News they were “good friends”.
Barbara told a judge he would aim to subpoena the 34-year-old actress in the divorce case. Diaz’ publicist and agent didn’t immediately return telephone messages left this weekend.
