Deke Richards, Motown songwriter and producer, dies at 68

Deke Richards, a member of famed Motown songwriting, arranging and producing teams behind such hits as The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" and Diana Ross & The Supremes' "Love Child, " has died. He was 68. Richards, whose real name was Dennis Lussier, died Sunday at a hospice in Bellingham, Wash., after a battle with esophageal cancer. As leader of The Corporation, which also included Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell and Freddie Perren, Richards wrote and produced many hits for The Jackson 5, including their first three singles, all of which hit No. 1 in 1970: "I Want You Back," from the album "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5;" "ABC," which knocked The Beatles' "Let It Be" out of the top spot; and "The Love You Save." Richards' love of music kept him involved with a variety of projects throughout his life, including the production of The Jackson 5's "Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls," a 2012 release that featured rare and unreleased tracks. His final project was the mixing of eight unreleased tracks by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas for the box set "50th Anniversary: The Singles 1962-1972," to be released April 5.

'Game of Thrones' actor Clive Mantle recovering from ear-biting incident

British actor Clive Mantle was hospitalized in the early hours of Sunday morning after part of his ear was bitten off during a fight at a hotel in Newcastle, England. The "Game of Thrones" star, who was appearing in a stage production of "The Ladykillers" in the city, was reportedly attacked at a Travelodge hotel in a dispute over noise levels. He was taken to the local Royal Victoria Infirmary, where surgeons managed to reattach part of his right ear which had allegedly been bitten off during the incident. A 32-year-old man from South Lanarkshire in Scotland has since been charged with wounding with intent and will appear before magistrates next month. Another man has been released on bail in connection with the incident, and a third was let go without charge. A spokesperson for Mantle says, "He is very shaken and shocked by what has happened; you don't expect this kind of thing to happen in a hotel. The part of the ear that was bitten off was found and sewn back on. Mr. Mantle said the police, ambulance and hospital staff were amazing." Mantle has been forced to drop out of this week's productions of "Ladykillers," which continues its tour of the U.K. in Salford, England.

 It's full-speed ahead for Jesse James and Alexis DeJoria, who tied the knot on Sunday in Malibu. With James's youngest daughter, Sunny, 9, and DeJoria's daughter Bella, 10, acting as flower girls, the custom motorcycle-builder, 43, exchanged vows with DeJoria, a pro-drag racer and daughter to entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria. The couple, who got engaged late last year, married at the Malibu home of DeJoria's father, co-founder of the Paul Mitchell hair care products line and Patron Spirits Company. They exchanged rings designed by jeweler designer Neil Lane. James recently relaunched WestCoastChoppers.com, opening a WCC custom motorcycle shop in Austin, Texas, where he lives with DeJoria, who drives Patron Nitro Funny car on the drag race circuit. This is a fourth marriage for James, who got divorced from Sandra Bullock in June, 2010. In September, 2011, James broke off his engagement to Kat Von D.

Sassoon Disinherits Son In $150 Million Will

Vidal Sassoon disinherited son David entirely in his final will. The legendary British hairstylist, who died last May, has left one of his most severe cuts until the end: David Sassoon, the American child he adopted in 1975 at the age of three, is not to receive a single cent of Sassoon’s vast $150 million wealth. Sassoon’s will reads: ”My son David Sassoon and his issue are hereby disinherited and shall take nothing under this will, and for the purposes of the will, shall be deemed to have predeceased me, leaving no surviving issue.” David Sassoon, who is now 41, is not alone in being disinherited by the fashion icon. The will also instructs that former wives Elaine Nations, Beverly Sassoon, and Jeanette Sassoon will “take nothing.” Vidal Sassoon’s life was a classic rags-to-riches story. From modest roots in London’s largely poor East End, Sassoon became the hairstylist who would define a generation, producing eye-catching styles that came to define the Swinging Sixties. He styled the hair of the famous (including Mia Farrow, as seen below) and gained a reputation for his modern, low-maintenance cuts. The year 1971 saw Sassoon step away from the barber’s chair, leaving him free to oversee the 1973 worldwide launch of the first Vidal Sassoon hair products. Their slogan: “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.” Sassoon’s fortune grew rapidly, but it’s not something David Sassoon will be seeing much of; he and his famous father apparently never reconciled before Sassoon’s death from leukemia last May. Sassoon’s will was drawn up two months before his passing and released in the UK.

  Veronica De La Cruz is a mom. The Early Today and First Look host welcomed her first child, son Hartley Eric, on Wednesday, March 13 in New York City. Weighing in at 8 lbs., 4 oz., baby boy — whose name honors De La Cruz’s late brother — arrived with green eyes and a head full of dark hair. The anchor founded the Hope for Hearts Foundation in memory of her sibling, who passed away in 2009 while awaiting a heart transplant after struggling to get health insurance with a pre-existing medical condition. “Before my brother died, I started an online campaign to raise money for a life-saving heart transplant,” notes De La Cruz, 32,. “Thousands of compassionate Twitter followers came out to support the effort and we lovingly referred to them as Eric’s Twitter Army. They all displayed banners on their online avatars that read, ‘<3 Eric’ — which is where my son’s name comes from. If you look at my own social media profile, you will see still see a heart followed by the name Eric. That is what inspired my son’s name.” “After the pain and devastation of losing Eric almost four years ago, having a healthy baby feels like an incredible miracle,” she adds. “Of course, he couldn’t be any more beautiful. I think I can safely say I have finally met the love of my life.” Prior to joining MSNBC in 2010, De La Cruz spent over five years at CNN, where she was correspondent for American Morning, anchored the Asian In American series and covered major breaking news stories. She also was a competitive figure skater for 10 years.

My Chemical Romance announce breakup

It’s a sad day for the Black Parade. After a dozen years and nearly five million albums sold, My Chemical Romance have officially called it quits. The apparently amicable breakup was announced via a simple statement on the band’s official website: Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. We’ve gotten to go places we never knew we would. We’ve been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure. My Chemical Romance On his personal Twitter, frontman Gerard Way said, “Beyond any sadness, what I feel the most is pride.”


 'The Croods' scores rock solid $44.7M
This weekend, The Croods proved that cave people have more pop culture appeal than just Geico commercials. The $135 million film, which features vocal performances by Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds, bashed up a strong $44.7 million in its first three days — the second best debut of 2013 behind Oz‘s $79.1 million bow. The colorful family film was produced by DreamWorks Animation. In second, FilmDistrict’s White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen scored an impressive $30.5 million. Down two spots to third place, Disney’s $215 million Sam Raimi-directed adventure Oz The Great and Powerful fell 47 percent to $22 million in its third weekend, lifting its total to $177.6 million overall.
1. The Croods – $44.6 million
2. Olympus Has Fallen – $30.5 million
3. Oz The Great and Powerful – $22 million
4. The Call – $8.7 million
5. Admission – $6.4 million
 Singer Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy over a tax debt dating back almost 20 years. Her attorney, Daniel Stolz, has confirmed the news insisting that Warwick was the "innocent victim of terrible mismanagement." He says, "Ms. Warwick had a business manager who mismanaged her affairs. Before she knew it, she owed a gazillion dollars in taxes. She's actually paid more than the face amount of the taxes, but with all of the crazy interest and penalties that they add, the number kept mushrooming." Stolz goes on to claim Warwick was unable to work out an agreement with tax officials after firing her former financial manager. Last year, she appeared on a list of the top 500 people owing the most in unpaid taxes in the state of California. Stolz adds, "We had no other resort other than to file (for) bankruptcy, so that we could get this off her back finally." Warwick filed with the state of New Jersey last week.


Atlanta Housewife to Divorce

Kordell Stewart -- the former Pittsburgh Steelers star -- has filed for divorce from his reality star wife Porsha Williams. According to Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia, the 40-year-old NFL alum -- who went by the nickname "Slash" during his playing days -- filed for divorce on March 22. Stewart and Williams were married on May 21, 2011 -- they have no children together. Stewart has a son from a previous relationship. Williams currently stars on "Real Housewives of Atlanta." The issue of children came up often on the reality show -- Porsha wanted to have kids AND a career in charity work ... but Kordell told her she had to choose.

  Bar Refaeli has a controversy on her hands after her home nation of Israel picked her for to be the focus of a public relations campaign, renewing cries that she actually dodged the draft there. Refaeli was picked this week by Israel’s foreign ministry to lead a public relations campaign about the nation’s emerging technologies. The ministry was banking on the appeal of the international supermodel, but instead put Bar Refaeli into a controversy. The Israeli army immediately attacked the idea of the 27-year-old Sports Illustrated cover girl serving as a representative to Israel, saying instead that she’s a bad example to Israeli youth. Israel has cumpulsory conscription for three years for men and two years for women, though about half of women and one-third of men don’t serve, mostly for religious or medical reasons. Bar Refaeli said serving would hurt her career, then got married to use that as an excuse to avoid serving. As soon as her exemption was approved Refaeli got divorced, leading to criticism that she was gaming the system. That was at the heart of the army’s opposition to Refaeli serving as a spokeswoman for the nation. “I wish to turn your attention to the negative message that could be delivered to Israeli society,” an army spokesman wrote to the foreign ministry.  The foreign ministry didn’t see it the same way, replying: “Bar Refaeli … is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world and she is widely recognized as Israeli. There is no reason to dredge up the past when we are dealing with a public diplomacy campaign of this kind.” Bar Refaeli didn’t seem fazed by the controversy, tweeting: “You can use the clip for the Foreign Ministry or drop it, but my Instagram feed has more readers than Israel’s most popular newspaper [Yedioth Ahronoth]!”

Ann Curry Was Forbidden to Publicly Comfort Ailing Robin Roberts

The rivalry between "Today" and "Good Morning America" is so contentious, NBC's Ann Curry was reportedly forbidden from publicly reaching out to ABC's Robin Roberts after the 52-year-old was diagnosed with bone marrow disease in June 2012. In a New York magazine cover story, reporter Joe Hagan writes extensively about Curry's abrupt exit from the morning talk show -- and the immediate fallout the peacock network suffered as a result. When producers began to phase the 55-year-old TV journalist out in the spring, tensions reached an all-time high. "Ann Curry was gone but not gone, which created a situation of spectacular awkwardness," Hagan writes. "Any trust that had existed between Curry and 'Today' was shattered. When Robin Roberts left 'Good Morning America' a month later to get treatment for MDS, Curry asked NBC if she could tweet a note of sympathy for the ABC co-host. NBC said no, afraid she was trying to aid the enemy." Making matters more complicated, Hagan explains, is that Lauer had been in talks with ABC to develop a new daytime talk show with his former co-anchor Katie Couric. The 55-year-old had even spoken with Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, about the possible move. ABC executives were charmed by Lauer and excited about a potential partnership, but according to Hagan, the father of three "surprised them all by calling and saying thanks but no thanks." Lauer extended his "Today" contract for a reported $25 million per year; he says he stayed on the show because he "cared about the show and staff." Though the show's ratings took a hit -- and those of "Good Morning America" soared -- Lauer believes "Today" will bounce back: "I'm confident that the show we're doing today is the one that will allow us to dig ourselves out of the hole."

TV NEWS
The wine will continue to flow in Gulfhaven: TBS has picked up "Cougar Town" for a fifth season. The renewal for 13 episodes comes a couple weeks before the show's current season, its first on cable, concludes. Season 5 is expected on the air in 2014.


Debra Messing has landed the lead in an untitled CBS comedy pilot essentially confirming what the entire TV industry already knows: NBC's "Smash" is dead. Messing will star as a fortysomething mother of three who can't stop telling lies -- big lies and little lies -- to balance her hectic life, relationships and responsibilities. Meanwhile, NBC's "Smash" will air two more episodes in its Tuesday timeslot before being exiled to Saturday nights to finish off a disastrously low-rated Season 2.


Lisa Kudrow is looking to find love on Web Therapy with Steve Carell. The Office vet has been tapped to guest-star in the Showtime comedy’s third season (premiering July 22 at 11/10c), playing a possible beau for the leading lady’s newly single Fiona. The catch: He’s a cult leader. Also tapped to appear in the new season are Megan Mullally, Billy Crystal, Chelsea Handler, Sara Gilbert and, as previously reported, Kudrow’s former Friend Matt LeBlanc.


Disappointing news for Llanview lovers: Two of its popular denizens won’t be around to celebrate One Life to Live’s new home online. Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson  — who reprised their roles as John McBain and Starr Manning on ABC’s General Hospital while Prospect Park ironed out details for OLTL’s online version — won’t return to their old soap once it debuts April 29 on The Online Network. Instead, ABC is reportedly figuring out a way to keep them on General Hospital, but in different roles.  GH is reportedly looking to do the same with Roger Howarth, who is currently shooting episodes for OLTL as Todd Manning — but for only two and a half months. That’s all Prospect Park could get from Howarth, who was heavily wooed by GH to stay in Port Charles.  Though Prospect owns the characters of John, Starr and Todd, it temporarily released the characters to ABC –  which in turn kept Easton, Alderson and Howarth employed after it cancelled OLTL in January of 2012. The trio ended up being a popular additions to GH, thereby prompting ABC to release this statement last month: “General Hospital is excited about Easton, Alderson and Howarth staying on the show, and we are exploring ways to allow that to happen.”


The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the dates and deadlines for next year’s Oscar season, with the ceremony scheduled for telecast on March 2, one week later than this past season. The slight shift steers clear of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which last until Feb. 23.


Storage Wars’ fourth season is slated to premiere April 16 with back-to-back episodes at 9 pm, while Season 3 of American Hoggers debuts the same day with a pair of installments at 10 pm.


Senator/onetime Vietnam POW John McCain and the American Legion have both accepted the apology CBS made at the top of this Sunday’s Amazing Race, for setting one of the competition’s tasks inside a Hanoi site that houses wreckage of an American B-52 bomber and featuring a Communist propaganda song. “CBS did the right thing by apologizing,” McCain said via Twitter. “We all make mistakes. The issue is closed.”