Kate Moss
Here's a refreshing news flash: A supermodel is making headlines for actually doing her job and not, say, misusing drugs or cell phones.
Kate Moss is continuing her comeback from last year's drug scandal by signing a reported $900,000 deal to star in an upcoming ad campaign for Calvin Klein, marking a return to the designer who first launched the waifish model's career nearly 14 years ago.
Moss, 32, will once again appear as the face of the high-fashion brand, appearing on billboards and in magazines for a campaign launching this fall.
"Kate and the Calvin Klein brand have a long history together, and it felt natural to reunite them for this new jeans campaign, which will inevitably reunite that spark and highlight the sexy, cool essence of both Kate and Calvin Klein," said the campaign's creative director, Fabien Baron.
The ads, which shoot in New York this week, will also feature the pretty mug of 23-year-old Jamie Dornan, one of the biz's top male models who, nonetheless, is best known as Keira Knightley's ex. (He'll also be seen fawning over Kirsten Dunst in Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette this October.)
Like Moss, Dornan got his start modeling for Calvin Klein in 2004; unlike Moss, his partnership with the designer has so far failed to reach iconic status.
Moss first hooked up with the designer in 1992, appearing alongside Mark Wahlberg in a series of black-and-white shots modeling Calvin Klein jeans--and nothing else. The photos launched the rail-thin model's career, turning her into an overnight sensation and inspiring what became to be known as "heroin chic."
Moss' career seemed imperiled last fall after she was caught on film snorting what appeared to be cocaine with her former boyfriend, the drug-addled British rocker Pete Doherty.
Moss lost high-profile gigs with Burberry, H&M and Chanel in rapid succession.
Just two months later, following a semi-apology and a stint in rehab, Moss began her job-reclamation project, signing on to front Roberto Cavalli's spring and summer campaigns. Burberry announced plans to rehire the supermodel; Longchamps retained the British beauty's posing services; and Christian Dior and cosmetics giant Rimmel both confirmed they would continue to employ the photogenic catwalker.
She also starred in a series of U.K. Virgin Mobile commercials poking fun at her disgraced image, and inked a deal with the company's magnate, and close friend, Richard Branson, to pen a tell-all memoir of her turbulent year.
Moss' renewed partnership with Calvin Klein, meanwhile, kicks off Monday night with an invitation-only celebration dinner in New York.
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No Trial, More Tribulation for Robert Blake
Actor Robert Blake waits outside the Los Angeles County Superior court Friday, April 7, 2006, in Burbank, Calif. Superior Court Judge David Schacter will decide by Monday whether to grant Blake a new civil trial, Blake was found liable in the wrongful death lawsuit brought against the actor by the family of his late wife. Blake's attorney argued that there was juror misconduct.
Robert Blake won't be getting another day in court.
A Los Angeles judge on Monday shot down Blake's request for a retrial in the civil lawsuit brought against him by the family of his late wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge David Schacter lets stand the original $30 million verdict against Blake.
Despite being found not guilty last year of his wife's 2001 murder, the civil jury ruled 10-2 in November that the former Baretta star had "intentionally caused" Bakley's death and ordered him to pay the multimillion-dollar judgment.
I'm frankly shocked by the ruling given the record before the court of egregious misconduct," M. Gerald Schwartzbach, one of Blake's attorneys, said, adding that they planned to appeal Schacter's decision.
Last Friday, Blake's legal crew appeared in court to formally ask the judge to reconsider the case, citing questionable juror behavior--the notion of which was deemed baseless by Bakley's family.
"We had a three-month trial. The jury took two weeks in deciding that Robert Blake killed his wife," Eric Dubin, the Bakley family's attorney, told reporters. "The fact that Robert Blake wants a do-over does not mean he's entitled to one. He's no different than anybody else. He had his day in court, and he lost."
Blake has maintained throughout his criminal and civil trials that he is broke, with most of his earnings having been sucked up by legal fees. The Emmy winner offered Bakley's children a $250,000 settlement when they filed the wrongful death suit in 2002.
Blake told a reporter last month that he has been spending time as a "stable boy" at his friend's Malibu ranch and is living in a small apartment, making ends meet with Social Security checks and his SAG pension.
Blake's motion to obtain a new trial came about a week after another judge turned down the actor's bankruptcy filing, in which he claimed he owed $1.6 million in taxes and other sums to creditors and that his total assets amounted to less than $500,000. The bankruptcy proceedings had prevented him from being forced to shell out any money since the civil judgment.
In a retrial motion filed Mar. 28, Blake's camp alleged jury misconduct in the "tainted" decision that led to the large payday for Bakley's kids. Attorneys M. Gerald Schwartzbach and Peter Ezzell noted potential violations such as a female juror who failed to disclose that her daughter was in prison for the killing of a teenage classmate, a group of jurors who argued that there were biblical reasons to rule against Blake and another juror who admitted discussing testimony during the trial.
Schwartzbach also said that his client's public image had been tarnished by the "absurd" verdict and that the jury had been more inclined to rule against Blake because of a string of celebrity acquittals, including Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson's.
"We want a new trial," Schwartzbach said in court Friday. "It's not about money. He has no money. It's about the integrity of the system." The attorney presented three affidavits implying misconduct, two from the jurors who had opposed the verdict and one who said he was coerced into finding Blake liable.
In documents filed opposing the motion for a new trial, Dubin offered a statement from juror Olivia Valdivia, one of the two dissenters, denying that the outcome was tainted. "Although I did not vote with the majority, I do believe it was both a fair trial and a fair verdict," she said. "The cigarette breaks and conversations I had with fellow jurors were brief and harmless," Valdivia said in response to the allegation that they wrongfully discussed the trial before deliberations officially began.
Juror Eloy Mendoza issued a statement addressing the claim of biblical influence on the jury: "My belief in the Bible did not prejudice either side in this case or prevent me from being a fair juror or the fairness of our verdict".
However, Schwartzbach countered in a brief filed Thursday, the jurors' declarations were "rife with inadmissible statements of opinion and hearsay, are not relevant to the law and lacked evidentiary value." The attorney also quoted Valdivia as saying that several jurors, including the foreman, "said during deliberations that the amount of damages awarded should send a message to the world that celebrities cannot get away with murder."
Judge Schachter, who also presided over the civil trial, had ordered the jury to consider only compensatory damages and not punitive damages for grief or sorrow on the family's behalf. Bakley was shot to death in May 2001 while waiting for Blake in their car outside of an Italian restaurant.
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Celebrities Pay Tribute to Dana Reeve
Television personality Barbara Walters arrives at the New Amsterdam Theater, Monday, April 10, 2006, in New York, to attend a memorial service for Dana Reeve, 44, who died of lung cancer March 6. Dana Reeve was the wife of actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in a 1995 horseback riding accident and died in 2004.
Barbara Walters, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre were among the celebrities paying tribute to Dana Reeve at the singer-actress' memorial service Monday.
"She had a light within her that was captured by the way people talked about her today, especially her son and stepchildren," Clinton said after the private service. "She was one of the most exceptional people I have ever known. It was a very fitting tribute."
Reeve died of lung cancer at age 44 on March 6, a year and a half after the death of her husband, "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve. Reeve had devoted herself to her husband's care and became an activist in the search for a cure for spinal-cord injuries after he suffered near-total paralysis in a horse-riding accident in 1995.
CNN anchor Paula Zahn, a longtime friend, said before the service that Reeve "had so many cruel blows yet never gave in to pity."
"We are all sorry and sad she is gone," Zahn said. "She had a positive impact on everyone and everything she touched."
Zahn said Reeve had told another friend that after her cancer diagnosis last August she was focused "on how to create a world" for the Reeves' 13-year-old son, Will, once she was gone.
"She really expected to come home," Zahn said. "She truly believed she had more time."
Will and adult half-siblings Matthew and Alexandra, Christopher Reeve's children, appeared arm in arm outside the New Amsterdam Theatre before the memorial service, which was closed to the press, saying only "Thank you" to the public.
Christopher and Dana Reeve married in 1992. Life changed drastically for the young show-business couple three years later when he suffered the accident and almost died.
For his remaining nine years, Dana Reeve was her husband's constant companion and supporter during the ordeal of his rehabilitation, winning worldwide acclaim and admiration.
After her husband's death in October 2004, she said she planned to return to acting. She had appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and regional stages and on the TV shows "Law & Order," "Oz" and "All My Children." She had to give up a Broadway role when she was widowed.
Actor Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, paralyzed in a motorcycle accident years ago, said he drew inspiration from the Reeve family.
"I knew then I could maintain my family and my career" after watching Dana and Christopher Reeve, Mitchell said outside the 1,700-seat Manhattan theater.
Others who attended included Robert Kennedy Jr., Robin Williams, Lance Armstrong and Matthew Broderick, who said the service was "very emotional."
"I was glad to be here," Broderick said afterward. "It was beautiful but very, very sad."
Many left the two-hour memorial teary-eyed.
Jennifer Lopez Sues Ex-Husband Noa
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez is suing her ex-husband, claiming he demanded $5 million to keep him from publishing a book containing private details about the star and their relationship.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lopez alleged that Ojani Noa violated a confidentiality agreement by distributing the manuscript of his book to publishers, the syndicated television show "The Insider" reported. She is seeking a restraining order to keep the manuscript from becoming public.
A description of the manuscript appeared Jan. 11 in the New York Post. Lopez's lawyers contacted Noa's attorney, and Noa replied in a letter that he would continue to shop his book, the lawsuit said.
In another letter, Noa said "that he would not agree to refrain from marketing his book unless (Lopez) paid him the sum of $5 million," according to the lawsuit.
Noa's attorney, David DeRubertis, did not immediately respond to a call and e-mail message after business hours.
The confidentiality agreement stemmed from a settlement in October, when Noa dropped his lawsuit claiming Lopez fired him as manager of her Pasadena restaurant without cause. Ojani agreed not to disparage Lopez or make money off disclosure of details of their relationship, the lawsuit said.
Lopez met Noa while he worked as a waiter at a Miami restaurant. The two married in 1997 and divorced a year later. Her second marriage to choreographer Cris Judd in 2001 lasted for nine months. In 2004, she tied the knot with singer Marc Anthony.
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Madonna Marriage May Have Had Bumpy Period
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
Madonna and Guy Ritchie have retreated to Los Angeles where they are patching things up after a bumpy period in their marriage, her father-in-law says in a magazine interview released Tuesday.
"L.A. seems to have helped them. It's easier out there because there is less pressure. They seem to have left the bumps they were having over here behind them," John Ritchie was quoted as saying in an interview with Closer magazine.
"You can never know that things will work, but they do seem to be fitting into each other more," he was quoted as saying.
"They have put everything behind them and have gone to L.A. to enjoy themselves. They're able to go home at night and be together. They both want to see the children. They are going to have a good time out there and be a family."
Reports of a rift in the marriage circulated recently, especially after Madonna didn't include her film director husband in her thank yous after winning a Brit Award in February.
The couple have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9.
"It's the children that will keep them together. The children are everything to them," John Ritchie told the magazine.
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