A woman who stalked Little Britain star David Walliams has been warned she could face a "significant" jail term after breaching strict bail conditions
May 30, 2008
A woman who stalked Little Britain star David Walliams has been warned she could face a "significant" jail term after breaching strict bail conditions.
Highbury Magistrates Court in London was told that Sarah Bartholomew, 29, sent the comedian threatening and sexually explicit letters.
She was arrested in May this year, but continued to contact Mr Walliams and his agent while on bail.
Her sentencing has been adjourned until 20 June pending a psychiatric report.
Bartholomews lawyer, Jonathan Steingold, said: "My client has asked me to tell this court of her strong feelings for Mr Walliams.
"She has asked me specifically to impart that."
Deputy District Judge David Miller replied: "I think that shes made that quite clear on a number of occasions.
"Im not sure its going to help her."
Bendy
Ms Bartholomew, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, pleaded guilty at a hearing last month to harassing Mr Walliams between last October and February this year, and was released on bail.
She had started following the comedian in 2004, and was frequently seen near his home and the BBC, where he worked.
Late last year, his solicitors wrote to her ordering her to cease contact. In response, she began to email the lawyers and Mr Walliams agent, Carl Hill.
According to prosecutors, the messages began to take on darker tones, with one reading: "David knows whats coming to him."
Ms Bartholomew also sent the TV star underwear, cuddly toys, chocolates and DVDs.
In one message, she said: "Id rip off your pants in a sexual frenzy. You can have me how you want - Im ever so bendy."
She was arrested on 3 May for witness intimidation after sending text messages to Mr Hill and hand-delivering items to the stars home.
But, after being released on bail on 6 May, she resumed contact with the agent - after which she was arrested and remanded in custody at Holloway Prison.
Adjourning sentencing, the judge said: "I take the view that these offences are serious of their type.
"There are a score of aggravating features. Our job is to protect the public, and David Walliams is a member of the public."
Dame Shirley Bassey has been discharged from hospital, where she was recovering from emergency surgery on her stomach
May 30, 2008
Dame Shirley Bassey has been discharged from hospital, where she was recovering from emergency surgery on her stomach.
The 71-year-old star was admitted to hospital in Monaco - where she lives - with abdominal pains in the middle of the night last week.
Basseys spokesman, Paul Carey, said she was now at home "resting up and on the road to a full recovery".
The singer is due to perform at Nelson Mandelas 90th birthday concert in Hyde Park, on 27 June.
Dame Shirley, whose famous hits include Big Spender and History Repeating, has enjoyed chart success since the late 1950s and sang the theme tunes to three James Bond films.
Among her most recent gigs was one at last years Glastonbury festival, where she arrived in a helicopter and wore diamond-encrusted wellington boots.
Bassey was made a Dame in 1999.
Singer Toni Braxton has cancelled the rest of her resident Las Vegas shows so she can concentrate on her health
May 30, 2008
Singer Toni Braxton has cancelled the rest of her resident Las Vegas shows so she can concentrate on her health.
The gig, Toni Braxton: Revealed, at the Flamingo Las Vegas, had been postponed since the 40-year-old was admitted to hospital in April.
At the time officials said she had been suffering from chest pains, but have refused to comment on her current medical condition.
In the past the star has been treated for a viral inflammation of the heart.
Braxton, a six-time Grammy winner for songs including Un-break My Heart, had been due to end her two-year run at the hotel in August.
Sir Paul McCartney has said his Capital of Culture concert at Anfield football ground in Liverpool this weekend will feature "a couple of surprises"
May 30, 2008
Sir Paul McCartney has said his Capital of Culture concert at Anfield football ground in Liverpool this weekend will feature "a couple of surprises".
But the veteran musician has also told the BBCs Janice Long he will perform plenty of old favourites as well.
"If I go to see someones show, I want them to do the hits," he said.
The concert, which also features the Kaiser Chiefs and Liverpool band the Zutons, will be broadcast on Radio Merseyside and screened on BBC Two.
In an interview to promote Sundays event, Sir Paul said he and his band were "just going to have a good night out".
Resurgence
The former Beatle, who shot to fame in the Merseybeat era, said the Capital of Culture was a good thing for his home city.
"About 12 years ago, Liverpool was a bit on its knees - it was not in good shape at all," he said. "But now theres quite a resurgence."
Dave Grohl of US band the Foo Fighters is also set to appear at the Liverpool Sound concert.
But Sir Paul has played down speculation that fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr would join him on stage, telling the Liverpool Echo "that was never going to be on the cards".
Aerosmith star Steven Tyler has said he checked into a rehab unit because he needed to find a "safe environment" to recover from foot surgery
May 30, 2008
Aerosmith star Steven Tyler has said he checked into a rehab unit because he needed to find a "safe environment" to recover from foot surgery.
He said in a statement that the surgery was to correct injuries caused by his performances with the band.
He issued the statement following reports last week that he had entered a Los Angeles clinic.
Tyler, 60, had problems with drugs and alcohol in the 1970s and 1980s before completing rehabilitation in 1986.
"The doctors told me the pain in my feet could be corrected but it would require a few surgeries over time," he said in the statement.
I really needed a safe environment to recuperate where I could shut off my phone and get back on my feet
Steven Tyler
The pain caused by the surgery had been "intense, greater than Id anticipated", he added.
"The months of rehabilitative care and the painful strain of physical therapy were traumatic.
"I really needed a safe environment to recuperate where I could shut off my phone and get back on my feet."
Aerosmith had their first US number one in 1998 with ballad I Don Want To Miss A Thing.
Their other hits include Cryin, Dude (Looks Like A Lady) and Walk This Way. In 2006, the band were forced to cancel several US tour dates while Tyler had throat surgery.
Three sweaters worn by comic Bill Cosby on the long-running Cosby Show are to be auctioned online to raise money for a charity named after his late son
May 30, 2008
Three sweaters worn by comic Bill Cosby on the long-running Cosby Show are to be auctioned online to raise money for a charity named after his late son.
According to Cosbys daughter Evin, the 70-year-old was cleaning out a closet when he came across the garments.
The items will be sold to raise funds for the Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation, which raises money to benefit educational programs.
Cosbys son Ennis was murdered in Los Angeles in 1994 at the age of 27.
The veteran comedian, who has three other daughters in addition to Evin with his wife Camille, formed the foundation three years later.
The auction on online giant eBay is scheduled for 2 to 12 June, with minimum bids set at $5,000 (£2,537).
"The price of what some of these sweaters might sell for could make a big difference in the lives of thousands of children," said Evin Cosby.
Bill Cosby played Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show between 1984 and 1992, winning fame for his sometimes questionable jumpers.
The father of the late childrens TV presenter Mark Speight has revealed that public support for his family has "filled him with humility"
May 30, 2008
The father of the late childrens TV presenter Mark Speight has revealed that public support for his family has "filled him with humility".
Oliver Speight said letters the family has received were so "stunning in their beauty that you feel moved. That grief is almost stronger than my own".
Mr Speight also revealed the last time he saw his son he had seemed "reserved and withdrawn".
The 42-year-old hanged himself in April following the death of his fiancee.
Tragic accident
Natasha Collins died at the couples flat in St Johns Wood, north London, earlier this year after taking cocaine, sleeping tablets and alcohol.
"He was constantly full of this remorse about her," Speights father said.
Speight was devastated by the death of his fiancee Natasha Collins
"You felt that he was wondering could he have done more, the question wed all ask ourselves.
"The answer is he was asleep. She was found in the bath and the situation is quite clear in my mind - it was a tragic accident."
Mr Speight, who looked after his sons finances, admitted he had had "suspicions" that he had been taking drugs after large sums of money disappeared from his account.
Despite that, he said the SMart presenters legacy would be "the compassion, the artistic skill and the joy that he gave to those children".
He has set up a foundation in memory of his son, which is hoped will find artistic talent.
Former tabloid editor turned talent show judge Piers Morgan has signed a two-year deal with ITV that will see him host an entertainment talk show
May 30, 2008
Former tabloid editor turned talent show judge Piers Morgan has signed a two-year deal with ITV that will see him host an entertainment talk show.
The ex-Daily Mirror editor will also return to co-judge a third series of Britains Got Talent and present a new documentary series in 2009.
"I am delighted to be joining ITV at such an exciting time of change and evolution for the network," he said.
"I look forward to making innovative entertainment programmes," he added.
The cricket-loving journalist and presenter, who celebrates his 43rd birthday on Friday, is the author of two best-selling memoirs.
His current role as TV presenter received a boost when his friend Simon Cowell hired him to judge US variety contest Americas Got Talent.
Sought-after
Earlier this year Morgan won the US version of Celebrity Apprentice, having been previously fired from the British version.
He also presented a three-part ITV documentary about the exclusive Sandbanks peninsula in Dorset.
Peter Fincham, ITVs director of television, called Morgan "one of the most sought-after and popular entertainment personalities on British television".
"I am delighted we have been able to secure an exclusive partnership with him on ITV," said the former BBC One controller.
Comic actor Harvey Korman, who played Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles, has died at the age of 81 in Los Angeles
May 30, 2008
Comic actor Harvey Korman, who played Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles, has died at the age of 81 in Los Angeles.
Korman, who appeared in a number of other Mel Brooks films, was also known for co-starring in US TV classic The Carol Burnett Show.
He died in Los Angeles on Thursday after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said.
Brooks said: "A world without Harvey Korman - its a more serious world."
It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh
Mel Brooks
He added: "It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met, wed crash to floor in comic ecstasy.
"It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh."
Korman came to prominence on The Danny Kaye Show - which he joined in 1964 - appearing as a sidekick to the comedian.
He then became part of the cast of the Carol Burnett Show - a comedy sketch programme - in 1967.
But he will be best remembered for his scheming politician in Brooks Western satire Blazing Saddles.
Guest appearances
Other films Korman appeared in included Herbie Goes Bananas, Huckleberry Finn and two Pink Panther movies.
It takes a certain type of person to be a television star. I didn have whatever that is
Harvey Korman in 2005
He also guest starred in many other TV shows including The Muppet Show, Dr Kildare and ER.
In a 2005 interview, the actor said he was not altogether comfortable with being a TV personality.
"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said.
"I didn have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright."
Korman is survived by his wife and four children.
Britney Spears is not yet well enough to appear in the case dealing with her fathers control of her assets, her lawyer has told a Los Angeles court
May 30, 2008
Britney Spears is not yet well enough to appear in the case dealing with her fathers control of her assets, her lawyer has told a Los Angeles court.
Samuel Ingham said her condition was "fluid" because of treatment changes.
Court commissioner Reva Goetz agreed it may be "harmful" for the singer to appear in her conservatorship case when it goes to court on 31 July.
Jamie Spears was granted control of his daughters assets in February after she was admitted to a psychiatric ward.
A US court creates conservatorship when a person cannot care for themselves.
$100m estate
Mr Ingham and lawyers for Mr Spears met privately in Mr Goetzs chambers for 90 minutes to discuss the condition of Mr Spears.
After their meeting, Mr Goetz told the court that, as the singers diagnosis was incomplete, she was not yet ready to take part in the case, which is due to begin at the end of July.
Mr Spears temporary authority, which puts him in control of her assets and estate, was extended in March until the scheduled start of proceedings.
Kevin Federline and Britney Spears were married in September 2004
The singers estate is thought to be worth $100m (£50.8m).
Ms Spears has led a troubled existence since splitting from her husband, Kevin Federline, in 2006.
Her increasingly eccentric behaviour - which included shaving off her hair in full view of the paparazzi and a shambolic performance at the MTV awards - ended with a spell in a psychiatric ward at the beginning of February.
She lost custody of two-and-a-half-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, 20 months, in October, and lost visiting rights in January when Mr Federline was given full custody.
Earlier this month, a lawyer for Mr Federline said a judge had granted Ms Spears greater access to her sons.
The lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said Ms Spears had made progress in getting her personal life back together.
Music Festivals
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