Oscar winner Berry admits to suicide attempt
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry says in a magazine interview that she was so depressed after her 1997 break-up with ex-husband and baseball star David Justice that she tried to take her own life. In tomorrow's issue of Parade magazine, Ms Berry says that since then and following a second divorce, she has learned to take control of her own life and now, at age 40, is considering motherhood.
"I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming when I had an image of my mother finding me," Ms Berry says of the suicide attempt. "She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do.
"My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn't love me didn't mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again," Ms Berry tells Parade.
Her roles have ranged from the beautiful secret agent Jinx in the James Bond movie Die Another Day to the down-on-her-luck waitress in 2001's Monster's Ball, which won her the best actress Oscar.
She was married to Mr Justice for nearly five years in the early 1990s before her star began to rise after portraying singer/actress Dorothy Dandridge in the 1999 television movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
Ms Berry's second marriage to singer Eric Benet lasted four years until 2005, when they divorced in a highly publicised break-up.
"We were in sex rehab after one year. I wish I had left then, but I was putting everyone's needs before mine," she tells Parade. "If I hadn't gone through the first break-up and made that promise to myself, this would have levelled me. I would have walked into moving traffic."
Ms Berry credits therapy and counselling for helping her to take control of her life. Now she is dating male model Gabriel Aubry, who is 10 years younger than her.
"My sights are set on a different chapter in my life, which is motherhood. That's the goal I clearly have set for myself."
Britney Spears reaches divorce settlement
Pop star Britney Spears has reached a settlement in her divorce from her husband, former backup dancer Kevin Federline, People magazine said on Thursday on its website.
Terms were not disclosed.
"The parties signed a global settlement on all issues of their marriage and the custody of the children," a spokesman for Mr Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told People.
Ms Spears, who left a rehab centre last week after a month of treatment for undisclosed issues, filed for divorce from second husband Federline in November after two years of marriage and two children.
A judge would have to approve the settlement for the divorce to become final.
Ms Spears and Mr Federline's representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Michael Jackson ill but not in hospital
Pop star Michael Jackson is recovering from a bad cold or the flu after a trip to Europe but contrary to news reports has not been hospitalised, his spokesman said.
"He was a little under the weather when he returned from Europe. He probably had a bad cold or the flu. But he was never hospitalised," Mr Jackson's spokesman, Raymone Bain, said of the entertainer.
She said Mr Jackson, 48, was in Las Vegas recording music for a new project after attending to "personal business" in Europe.
A columnist for FoxNews.com reported that the onetime King of Pop had been hospitalised in Vegas with pneumonia. "All of us were (a little under the weather). I don't know the diagnosis. But I talked to Michael a couple hours ago and he's fine. He's having meetings."
Mr Jackson has been largely out of the public eye since winning an acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005.
Can Backham fill fashion void in US sports?
Soccer in the US might be hoping for a surge in popularity with the arrival of English star David Beckham, but some fashion critics are also hoping he can teach US sports stars a thing or two about clothes.
"Hopefully it will inspire them to lift their game," said Adam Rapoport, style editor at men's fashion magazine GQ. "I think athletes respond to competition well. If someone's looking better than them they want to get on par with them."
Beckham, 31, has signed a $250 million five-year deal to move to the United States later this year and play for the Los Angeles Galaxy club, but even before he has arrived he has graced the covers of US fashion magazines.
So is the US sports scene in need of a style icon?
"Desperately. And they're in need of a tailor," said Wendell Brown, senior fashion editor at Esquire magazine. "I hope Beckham has a major impact."
Mr Rapoport agreed, saying there had been a fashion void on the US sports scene since the 2003 retirement of basketball star Michael Jordan, who is now one of the world's wealthiest former athletes with endorsement contracts and business interests.
"I don't think anyone's stepped up to the plate since Jordan retired and I think they could use one. It's going to be interesting to see if Beckham can be that guy," he said
Paris Hilton violated probation
Prosecutors asked a judge to revoke Paris Hilton's probation for reckless driving, which could lead to jail time for the socialite, the City Attorney's Office said.
A hearing has been set for April 17 for prosecutors to argue that Ms Hilton, 26, violated the terms of her probation by knowingly driving with a suspended licence, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo.
The hotel heiress and star of the reality TV show The Simple Life was sentenced to three years probation in January after pleading no contest - the equivalent of a guilty plea - to alcohol-related reckless driving.
Five weeks later, police pulled Ms Hilton over again in the city of West Hollywood for driving without headlights and impounded her car, a $190,000 Bentley, when they discovered her license had been suspended, authorities said.
The case was then referred to the City Attorney's Office.
At the time, Ms Hilton's spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said his client was not aware that her driving privileges had been curtailed. But prosecutors have since concluded otherwise.
"We are confident that we have sufficient evidence to prove that her license was suspended, and that she had knowledge of that suspension," Mr Velasquez said.
If found to have breached the terms of her probation, Ms Hilton could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, he added.
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry says in a magazine interview that she was so depressed after her 1997 break-up with ex-husband and baseball star David Justice that she tried to take her own life. In tomorrow's issue of Parade magazine, Ms Berry says that since then and following a second divorce, she has learned to take control of her own life and now, at age 40, is considering motherhood."I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming when I had an image of my mother finding me," Ms Berry says of the suicide attempt. "She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do.
"My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn't love me didn't mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again," Ms Berry tells Parade.
Her roles have ranged from the beautiful secret agent Jinx in the James Bond movie Die Another Day to the down-on-her-luck waitress in 2001's Monster's Ball, which won her the best actress Oscar.
She was married to Mr Justice for nearly five years in the early 1990s before her star began to rise after portraying singer/actress Dorothy Dandridge in the 1999 television movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
Ms Berry's second marriage to singer Eric Benet lasted four years until 2005, when they divorced in a highly publicised break-up.
"We were in sex rehab after one year. I wish I had left then, but I was putting everyone's needs before mine," she tells Parade. "If I hadn't gone through the first break-up and made that promise to myself, this would have levelled me. I would have walked into moving traffic."
Ms Berry credits therapy and counselling for helping her to take control of her life. Now she is dating male model Gabriel Aubry, who is 10 years younger than her.
"My sights are set on a different chapter in my life, which is motherhood. That's the goal I clearly have set for myself."
Britney Spears reaches divorce settlement
Pop star Britney Spears has reached a settlement in her divorce from her husband, former backup dancer Kevin Federline, People magazine said on Thursday on its website.Terms were not disclosed.
"The parties signed a global settlement on all issues of their marriage and the custody of the children," a spokesman for Mr Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told People.
Ms Spears, who left a rehab centre last week after a month of treatment for undisclosed issues, filed for divorce from second husband Federline in November after two years of marriage and two children.
A judge would have to approve the settlement for the divorce to become final.
Ms Spears and Mr Federline's representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Michael Jackson ill but not in hospital
Pop star Michael Jackson is recovering from a bad cold or the flu after a trip to Europe but contrary to news reports has not been hospitalised, his spokesman said.
"He was a little under the weather when he returned from Europe. He probably had a bad cold or the flu. But he was never hospitalised," Mr Jackson's spokesman, Raymone Bain, said of the entertainer.
She said Mr Jackson, 48, was in Las Vegas recording music for a new project after attending to "personal business" in Europe.
A columnist for FoxNews.com reported that the onetime King of Pop had been hospitalised in Vegas with pneumonia. "All of us were (a little under the weather). I don't know the diagnosis. But I talked to Michael a couple hours ago and he's fine. He's having meetings."
Mr Jackson has been largely out of the public eye since winning an acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005.
Can Backham fill fashion void in US sports?
Soccer in the US might be hoping for a surge in popularity with the arrival of English star David Beckham, but some fashion critics are also hoping he can teach US sports stars a thing or two about clothes.
"Hopefully it will inspire them to lift their game," said Adam Rapoport, style editor at men's fashion magazine GQ. "I think athletes respond to competition well. If someone's looking better than them they want to get on par with them."
Beckham, 31, has signed a $250 million five-year deal to move to the United States later this year and play for the Los Angeles Galaxy club, but even before he has arrived he has graced the covers of US fashion magazines.
So is the US sports scene in need of a style icon?
"Desperately. And they're in need of a tailor," said Wendell Brown, senior fashion editor at Esquire magazine. "I hope Beckham has a major impact."
Mr Rapoport agreed, saying there had been a fashion void on the US sports scene since the 2003 retirement of basketball star Michael Jordan, who is now one of the world's wealthiest former athletes with endorsement contracts and business interests.
"I don't think anyone's stepped up to the plate since Jordan retired and I think they could use one. It's going to be interesting to see if Beckham can be that guy," he said
Paris Hilton violated probation
Prosecutors asked a judge to revoke Paris Hilton's probation for reckless driving, which could lead to jail time for the socialite, the City Attorney's Office said.A hearing has been set for April 17 for prosecutors to argue that Ms Hilton, 26, violated the terms of her probation by knowingly driving with a suspended licence, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo.
The hotel heiress and star of the reality TV show The Simple Life was sentenced to three years probation in January after pleading no contest - the equivalent of a guilty plea - to alcohol-related reckless driving.
Five weeks later, police pulled Ms Hilton over again in the city of West Hollywood for driving without headlights and impounded her car, a $190,000 Bentley, when they discovered her license had been suspended, authorities said.
The case was then referred to the City Attorney's Office.
At the time, Ms Hilton's spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said his client was not aware that her driving privileges had been curtailed. But prosecutors have since concluded otherwise.
"We are confident that we have sufficient evidence to prove that her license was suspended, and that she had knowledge of that suspension," Mr Velasquez said.
If found to have breached the terms of her probation, Ms Hilton could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, he added.