Celebrities who fall on tough legal times can often rely on their fellow stars for support.
Jodie Foster spoke out on Mel Gibson's behalf after his anti-Semitic tirade last summer. The cast of "The View" gave Alec Baldwin a place to explain his custody battle and an angry voicemail message he left for his 11-year-old daughter. Robert Downey, Jr., was welcomed with understanding and job offers after his multiple drug arrests.
But few Hollywood players have come out in support of Paris Hilton, who was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. The 26-year-old surrendered to sheriff's deputies June 3 and was booked into a Lynwood jail. She was released to home confinement a few days later, then ordered back behind bars Friday.
A crowd of Hilton fans gathered outside the courthouse Friday where she learned her latest fate. But the hot, young showbiz set that Hilton hangs with has remained mum on the heiress' plight.
Usually "powerful people protect powerful people," said veteran Hollywood publicist Michael Levine.
"But in this case I don't see any rallying around her," he said. "She is a person who got into the famous club for nothing and I think there's some contempt around that."
Howard Bragman, a longtime publicist who runs the public-relations firm Fifteen Minutes, said Hilton doesn't have the "strong foundation of relationships in this town" that would motivate famous folks to stand behind her.
"Paris' career was made in a microwave and not in a crock pot," he said, adding that Hilton lacks the self-awareness that might inspire empathy from her colleagues.
"You've got to understand and accept responsibility for yourself in order for people to rally around you," he said.
Before Hilton was sent back to jail Friday, comedian George Lopez called her brief stay behind bars "more like a spa treatment than an actual sentence."
"Celebrities get treated lightly by the judicial system," he said. "Wealthy and affluent and famous people get treated differently than anybody else."
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Hilton did get special treatment because of her celebrity status: "She got more time in jail."
Host Sarah Silverman cracked a crude joke at Hilton's expense to open last Sunday's MTV Movie Awards at which the heiress made a surprise appearance.
Read more at http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=265152
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Questions and Answers About Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton was in jail, then out, then back again as her bizarre case became more erratic than the driving that landed the hotel heiress in hot water.
On Saturday she was still behind bars, a long way from the red carpet she strolled down a week ago at the MTV Movie Awards, and the subject of endless Internet chatter and questions about her fate.
To help sort it out, here are some answers to those questions:
Q: Where is Hilton now?
A: The 26-year-old is undergoing medical and psychiatric examination at the Correctional Treatment Center at Los Angeles County's "Twin Towers" jail facility downtown.
Q: Does she have a cellmate?
A: No. "Most of the individuals in the Correctional Treatment Center are alone," said sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Q: Will she go back to the same isolated cell she was in earlier in the week at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood?
A: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he would determine the best place to house the heiress when he learns the results of her medical and psychiatric exams.
Q: How did she end up behind bars?
A: Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer originally sentenced Hilton in May to serve 45 days in jail for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless-driving case. She surrendered to sheriff's deputies on June 3 and was booked at the Lynwood jail. She was released Thursday with an electronic-monitorin g bracelet to serve the remainder of her sentence at home. Sauer ordered her to appear in court Friday and sent her back to jail to complete her 45-day term.
Q: Why did the sheriff release Hilton in the first place?
A: Baca said the heiress' release was based on her "severe medical problems."
Q: What's wrong with her?
A: Baca said he couldn't reveal the exact nature of her condition because of confidentiality issues, but he characterized her problems as "psychological." Hilton's spokesman had no comment on her health.
Q: Is she a danger to herself?
A: Baca said Hilton is being temporarily housed at a facility that "has a more intense form of medical support and will watch her behavior so that there isn't anything that is harmfully done to herself by herself."
Q: Will the sheriff free her early again?
A: Only if the court shortens her sentence, Whitmore said.
Read the rest at http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=265154
On Saturday she was still behind bars, a long way from the red carpet she strolled down a week ago at the MTV Movie Awards, and the subject of endless Internet chatter and questions about her fate.
To help sort it out, here are some answers to those questions:
Q: Where is Hilton now?
A: The 26-year-old is undergoing medical and psychiatric examination at the Correctional Treatment Center at Los Angeles County's "Twin Towers" jail facility downtown.
Q: Does she have a cellmate?
A: No. "Most of the individuals in the Correctional Treatment Center are alone," said sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Q: Will she go back to the same isolated cell she was in earlier in the week at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood?
A: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he would determine the best place to house the heiress when he learns the results of her medical and psychiatric exams.
Q: How did she end up behind bars?
A: Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer originally sentenced Hilton in May to serve 45 days in jail for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless-driving case. She surrendered to sheriff's deputies on June 3 and was booked at the Lynwood jail. She was released Thursday with an electronic-monitorin g bracelet to serve the remainder of her sentence at home. Sauer ordered her to appear in court Friday and sent her back to jail to complete her 45-day term.
Q: Why did the sheriff release Hilton in the first place?
A: Baca said the heiress' release was based on her "severe medical problems."
Q: What's wrong with her?
A: Baca said he couldn't reveal the exact nature of her condition because of confidentiality issues, but he characterized her problems as "psychological." Hilton's spokesman had no comment on her health.
Q: Is she a danger to herself?
A: Baca said Hilton is being temporarily housed at a facility that "has a more intense form of medical support and will watch her behavior so that there isn't anything that is harmfully done to herself by herself."
Q: Will the sheriff free her early again?
A: Only if the court shortens her sentence, Whitmore said.
Read the rest at http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=265154
Monday, June 11, 2007
Were 'Sopranos' Fans Whacked or Blessed?
And so on the first day of Year One A.T. — After Tony, that is — the "Sopranos"-viewing world was split in two camps.
One was muttering bitterly into its morning coffee at the open-ended conclusion of the epic series, a banal family moment over onion rings that would have delighted existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, author of "Being and Nothingness."
The other was lavishly praising the iconic HBO drama for capturing life's essential ambiguity and disorderliness.
Forget Tony for a minute — the guy's been psychoanalyzed for years. Does all this say anything about US?
For some popular culture critics, the two reactions speak to the difference between entertainment and art, and which of them we want. If we wanted pure entertainment, there was obvious disappointment — no, aggravation — in a finale that set up threats to Tony's life in that last diner scene, then ended abruptly.
But if we see it as art, they say, then why should we object to the artist — series creator David Chase, said to be vacationing in a French chateau Monday — painting final brush strokes on his masterpiece as he wishes? And in retrospect, aren't unanswered questions in perfect keeping with the moral ambiguity that's infused the whole series? And aren't loose ends a huge part of life?
"In our popular culture, we've come to expect things to get tied up neatly," said Jerry Herron, a professor at Wayne State University in Michigan, who found the ending brilliant. "The claim that Chase is making as an artist here is, real life doesn't have neat endings.
"You want Tony blown away? You want him in jail? Chase is saying, 'Fine, you write that script,'" Herron said. "He's saying that life goes on, and art goes on, and he's just going to end it right here."
Brilliant wasn't a good enough word for screenwriting professor Richard Walter, of the UCLA Film School, to describe Sunday night's finale. "That's too tame," he said. "This was genius!"
"Sure, I was frustrated," Walter said of the final cut-to-black as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" played on the jukebox.
To read more visit http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265338
One was muttering bitterly into its morning coffee at the open-ended conclusion of the epic series, a banal family moment over onion rings that would have delighted existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, author of "Being and Nothingness."
The other was lavishly praising the iconic HBO drama for capturing life's essential ambiguity and disorderliness.
Forget Tony for a minute — the guy's been psychoanalyzed for years. Does all this say anything about US?
For some popular culture critics, the two reactions speak to the difference between entertainment and art, and which of them we want. If we wanted pure entertainment, there was obvious disappointment — no, aggravation — in a finale that set up threats to Tony's life in that last diner scene, then ended abruptly.
But if we see it as art, they say, then why should we object to the artist — series creator David Chase, said to be vacationing in a French chateau Monday — painting final brush strokes on his masterpiece as he wishes? And in retrospect, aren't unanswered questions in perfect keeping with the moral ambiguity that's infused the whole series? And aren't loose ends a huge part of life?
"In our popular culture, we've come to expect things to get tied up neatly," said Jerry Herron, a professor at Wayne State University in Michigan, who found the ending brilliant. "The claim that Chase is making as an artist here is, real life doesn't have neat endings.
"You want Tony blown away? You want him in jail? Chase is saying, 'Fine, you write that script,'" Herron said. "He's saying that life goes on, and art goes on, and he's just going to end it right here."
Brilliant wasn't a good enough word for screenwriting professor Richard Walter, of the UCLA Film School, to describe Sunday night's finale. "That's too tame," he said. "This was genius!"
"Sure, I was frustrated," Walter said of the final cut-to-black as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" played on the jukebox.
To read more visit http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265338
Hilton Says She'll No Longer `Act Dumb'
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Paris Hilton says she will no longer "act dumb."
The reality TV star and relentless publicity-seeker spoke with Barbara Walters by phone Sunday, a day after releasing a statement saying she hoped the media would focus on "more important things" than her 45-day jail sentence, according to ABC News' Web site.
"I used to act dumb. ... That act is no longer cute," ABC quoted Hilton as saying.
After spending three days in jail in a reckless driving case, Hilton was briefly released to home confinement Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday. She is now housed in the medical ward of a maximum-security detention center.
According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton's mother, Kathy, phoned Walters. During the conversation, the 26-year-old socialite called her mom on another line, found out her mother was talking to Walters, and then called Walters collect. All jail inmates are required to call collect.
Hilton has been saying that she is changed by her jailhouse experience, and she repeated that theme with Walters: "Now, I would like to make a difference। ... God has given me this new chance."
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265274>1=7703
LOS ANGELES -- Paris Hilton says she will no longer "act dumb."
The reality TV star and relentless publicity-seeker spoke with Barbara Walters by phone Sunday, a day after releasing a statement saying she hoped the media would focus on "more important things" than her 45-day jail sentence, according to ABC News' Web site.
"I used to act dumb. ... That act is no longer cute," ABC quoted Hilton as saying.
After spending three days in jail in a reckless driving case, Hilton was briefly released to home confinement Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday. She is now housed in the medical ward of a maximum-security detention center.
According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton's mother, Kathy, phoned Walters. During the conversation, the 26-year-old socialite called her mom on another line, found out her mother was talking to Walters, and then called Walters collect. All jail inmates are required to call collect.
Hilton has been saying that she is changed by her jailhouse experience, and she repeated that theme with Walters: "Now, I would like to make a difference। ... God has given me this new chance."
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265274>1=7703
Hilton's Contrition May Be Cynical Ploy
LOS ANGELES -- One day Paris Hilton is screaming for her mommy as she is cuffed and taken to the pokey in a reckless driving case. The next, she's the model of magnanimity, saying she wouldn't appeal her 45-day sentence and that she is "learning and growing" from her time behind bars.
An insincere buffing of an image scuffed like a pair last season's Jimmy Choos? Maybe. Effective? Probably, say veteran Hollywood image-makers.
"Based on the way the story has been playing out, this is a good move for her," said Michael Levine, who has served as publicist for dozens of celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand and Bill O'Reilly. "Experience has taught me that celebrities respect wisdom but obey pain. What I mean by that is that when they feel the heat they see the light."
If Levine were working with the celebutante, he would recommend she show she has learned from the experience by fading from the party scene for awhile and getting behind sympathetic causes like Angelina Jolie, who traded her bad girl credentials to become a mother and a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.
"When you're in a hole, it's generally a good idea to stop digging ... from doing the same idiotic stuff that got you in trouble in the first place," Levine said.
Hilton's publicist, Elliott Mintz, did not immediately return e-mail or phone messages.
Hilton was at a maximum-security detention center Sunday, where an AP photographer saw her sister Nicky Hilton and ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos go in on one of two days during the week that inmates are allowed visitors.
She has been at the downtown facility since Friday, when Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ordered her back to jail. Sheriff Lee Baca had released her to house arrest the day before for undisclosed health reasons. Hilton was taken from Sauer's courtroom in tears and calling for her mother.
Hilton's lawyers had sought to have her released on grounds that the 26-year-old was suffering an unspecified medical condition.
Read full story... http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265195>1=7703
An insincere buffing of an image scuffed like a pair last season's Jimmy Choos? Maybe. Effective? Probably, say veteran Hollywood image-makers.
"Based on the way the story has been playing out, this is a good move for her," said Michael Levine, who has served as publicist for dozens of celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand and Bill O'Reilly. "Experience has taught me that celebrities respect wisdom but obey pain. What I mean by that is that when they feel the heat they see the light."
If Levine were working with the celebutante, he would recommend she show she has learned from the experience by fading from the party scene for awhile and getting behind sympathetic causes like Angelina Jolie, who traded her bad girl credentials to become a mother and a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.
"When you're in a hole, it's generally a good idea to stop digging ... from doing the same idiotic stuff that got you in trouble in the first place," Levine said.
Hilton's publicist, Elliott Mintz, did not immediately return e-mail or phone messages.
Hilton was at a maximum-security detention center Sunday, where an AP photographer saw her sister Nicky Hilton and ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos go in on one of two days during the week that inmates are allowed visitors.
She has been at the downtown facility since Friday, when Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ordered her back to jail. Sheriff Lee Baca had released her to house arrest the day before for undisclosed health reasons. Hilton was taken from Sauer's courtroom in tears and calling for her mother.
Hilton's lawyers had sought to have her released on grounds that the 26-year-old was suffering an unspecified medical condition.
Read full story... http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265195>1=7703
'The Sopranos' Fades to Black in Finale
This was not, it's safe to say, the way many viewers expected Tony Soprano to end his series. He didn't die, nor was his nefarious past fully exposed to Carmela or his kids. He didn't lose someone precious to him (except for last week's shootings). He didn't go out feeding his precious ducks, or make up with Dr. Melfi. Instead he went out eating an onion ring, listening to Journey, yet still in one of the series' most tension-filled scenes, as viewers' own imaginations saw assassins at every diner table.
Read more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11728993/
Read more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11728993/
Paris won't appeal against jail return
Paris Hilton has decided not to appeal the decision to send her back to jail which means she will serve the full 45-day term behind bars.
The heiress was sent back to Los Angeles county jail on Friday after Judge Michael Sauer rejected the sheriff's claim that she was suffering from a 'medical condition' which precluded her from staying inside. Read the rest of the article at http://www.handbag.com/gossip/hotoffthepress/newsstory/?News_StoryID=454321
The heiress was sent back to Los Angeles county jail on Friday after Judge Michael Sauer rejected the sheriff's claim that she was suffering from a 'medical condition' which precluded her from staying inside. Read the rest of the article at http://www.handbag.com/gossip/hotoffthepress/newsstory/?News_StoryID=454321
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