Gossip/Celebrity News

LONDON - Police say a convicted murderer who once served as the personal assistant to the duchess of York is back in custody after she escaped from a low-security British prison.

HONG KONG - Ben Kingsley, famous for his Oscar-winning portrayal of Indian independence hero Mohandas Gandhi, is reaching deeper into the country's history with a new role as the Mogul emperor who ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal.

SYDNEY (AFP) - British pop star Robbie Williams on Wednesday ruled out any quick return to touring, fearing his "inbuilt" drug addiction could strike at any time.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Alicia Keys has won fans with her music but now the Grammy-winning R&B star is hoping to uplift them by launching her own jewelry collection inscribed with inspirational messages.

NEW YORK (AFP) - An AFP journalist who is among the few independent reporters still working in war-torn Mogadishu received Tuesday a key press award for his work, along with three other correspondents.

NEW YORK - Donny Osmond was declared the new champion of "Dancing with Stars" on Tuesday night, taking home the show's mirror ball trophy in the season finale of the ABC contest reality program.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The narrative behind "The Princess and the Frog" is that Walt Disney Animation has rediscovered its traditional hand-drawn animation, which has been supplanted by computer-generated cartoons. But this misses the point about what allowed Pixar -- which Disney now owns -- DreamWorks and other CG-animation companies to upstage the one-time king of the animation world. It's a thing called story.

ATLANTA - Celebrity chef Paula Deen got an unexpected serving of ham — across her face. The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Since they are old dogs, there are no new tricks in Walt Disney's "Old Dogs," a shamelessly predictable, overly broad comedy aimed at the family audience starting Thanksgiving weekend. One could debate whether John Travolta or Robin Williams have reached an age to be mistaken for grandfathers, but they certain don't shy away from jokes their grandfathers would have groaned about.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - During the last U.K. stop of her "I Am..." tour at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England, Beyonce announced that she plans to release a new album next year.

DETROIT (Billboard) - With a lineup that includes Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Colbie Caillat and Sean Kingston, the seventh "A Very Special Christmas" Special Olympics benefit album has a younger audience in its crosshairs.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury head the cast of the new Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music - the waltz-filled rumination on love - starting Nov. 24.

Jessica Hecht, Michael Cristofer, Santino Fontana and Corey Stoll will join the previously announced Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, in her Broadway debut, in the new Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Adam Lambert was kicked off one morning TV show and snapped up by a rival on Tuesday after his sexually-charged performance on a live music awards show made him one of the most risky and sought-after celebrities in the United States.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director and comic actor Tyler Perry, whose films include the recent "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," has given $1 million to the NAACP in the largest gift ever by a single person to that civil rights group.

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. - The New Jersey town where Richie Sambora grew up says Bon Jovi's lead guitarist can come home whenever he wants.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A nude photo of film director Roman Polanski, who is now being held in a Swiss prison, and his wife Sharon Tate taken shortly before she was brutally murdered, will be sold at an upcoming auction where it could fetch more than $10,000, organizers said.

WAUKESHA, Wis. - A financial dispute between Oprah Winfrey's mother and a high-end fashion store in Wisconsin has been settled.

WASHINGTON - It's an all-star lineup for Tuesday's first state dinner of the Obama White House: Oscar-winners Jennifer Hudson and A.R. Rahman headline the entertainment list.

PARIS (AFP) - US rap star 50 Cent's fourth and latest album, titled "Before I Self Destruct" and featuring a much-awaited duo with Eminem, is getting mixed reviews from the critics.

NEW YORK - Warner Music Group Corp., one of the nation's largest record companies, on Tuesday posted an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter as severance costs weighed on results despite a strong slate of music releases from artists including Jay-Z and Madonna.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Australian heartthrob Hugh Jackman is joining forces with Steven Spielberg in a futuristic movie about robot boxers, entertainment industry press reported Tuesday.

MILAN (Reuters) - Hollywood wild child Lindsay Lohan is staying on as artistic adviser at fashion house Emanuel Ungaro despite her debut collection being panned by critics, president and chief executive Mounir Moufarrige said on Tuesday.

LONDON - It's the talk show talked about around the world.

NEW YORK - All the single ladies — Shakira is looking out for you!

The last time we heard from the hand-drawn animators at Disney, they offered up the barnyard tale "Home on the Range." The 2004 'toon was so forgettable it seemed as though it really might be the last time we ever heard from the hand-drawn animators at the studio where the art form was pioneered.

BALTIMORE - Filmmaker Tyler Perry has donated $1 million to the NAACP to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the civil rights organization.

Rihanna, "Rated R" (Island Def Jam)

BALTIMORE - Filmmaker Tyler Perry has donated $1 million to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the civil rights organization.