Venice Film Festival

T.I. To Be Held Until End of September Over Bus Trip

T.I.'s choice of transportation from a Forrest City, Arkansas prison has cost him his freedom until the end of September. T.I. was released from prison last Wednesday (August 31st), after an 11 month sentence for violating the terms of his probation, after he was caught with ecstasy, in September of 2010. The rapper, born Clifford Harris, took a luxury motor coach filled with his entourage from the Arkansas prison facility, to a halfway house in Atlanta where he was due to check in. His high-profile mode of transportation to the halfway house angered authorities, who sent him back to federal prison in Atlanta, where he is due to be released September 29th, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. T.I.'s attorney Steve Sadow says that authorities have yet to send a formal notice explaining how the trip on the motor coach was in violation of any rule or law. According to Sadow, as well as T.I.'s wife Tomeka “Tiny” Cottle, the rapper boarded the bus in full view of prison authorities. "T.I. got on a private bus in the prison's parking area in full view of BOP employees. Indeed, he was actually escorted to the bus by a prison guard," Sadow said.

Lauren Bush and David Lauren Tie the Knot

David Lauren, son of fashion mogul Ralph Lauren, and Lauren Bush, niece of former President George W. Bush, were married Sunday in a lavish ceremony in Colorado. After meeting in 2004 and getting engaged last year, Bush, 27, and Lauren, 39, exchanged vows at the designer's 17,000-acre Double RL Ranch (named for Ralph and wife Ricky Lauren) in the Rocky Mountains. Though the actual ceremony took place on Sunday, the entire holiday weekend was built around wedding festivities, including a picnic and softball game Saturday, rehearsal dinner Saturday night and a post-wedding rodeo scheduled for Monday. Merging the two families' fashion sensibilities, the dress code for the wedding was "black tie with a Western twist," say reports. Among the 200 attendees were the bride's aunt and uncle, former President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush, cousins Jenna and Barbara Bush, and another uncle, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Lauren's grandparents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, were unable to attend but sent a video message.

Man found dead in pool of Texans' Smith

 A man has been found dead at the bottom of the swimming pool at the home of Houston Texans defensive end Antonio Smith. Fort Bend County sheriff's spokesman Bob Haenel says the suspected drowning was reported about 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Smith's home just north of the Houston suburb of Richmond. He says foul play is not suspected, but an autopsy has been ordered. Haenel said the dead man was reportedly a 37-year-old family friend of Smith's from the nearby suburb of Katy, and Smith had hosted a birthday party Saturday night. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Smith is about to start his eighth season, and third with the Texans. He's started 31 of 32 games for Houston since signing with the team as a free agent before the 2009 season. Smith was originally a fifth-round pick by Arizona in the 2004 draft out of Oklahoma State.

Melanie Brown Welcomes a Girl

Melanie Brown announced that she had welcomed a baby girl on Thursday evening with husband Stephen Belafonte. Brown, 36, is already a mom to daughters Phoenix, 12, and Angel, 4, and film producer Belafonte, 35, is dad to daughter Giselle, 6. And perhaps the new arrival will have a few very special playmates: Fellow Spice Girls Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton both recently welcomed children: daughter Harper, 7 weeks, and son Tate, 4 months, respectively.
  KISS bassist Gene Simmons, 61, and his decades-long girlfriend Shannon Tweed, 54, have overcome their recent differences and decided to finally tie the knot on Oct. 1 in Beverly Hills. The early evening nuptials – as shown on the two-part invite – will take place at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. The invite requests "classy cocktail attire" even though "we know some Rockstar attire will be worn." The invitations were given a personal touch by their kids Nick and Sophie Tweed-Simmons, including a special message announcing Team Tweed-Simmons with a stenciled portrait of the family drawn by Nick and a poem by Sophie.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Booted from Plane

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is the most recent celebrity to get kicked off an airplane. The latest cause for the boot? Apparently a dress code violation. "Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low!" Armstrong, 39, Tweeted on Thursday. "What the [expletive]? No joke!" Armstrong's outburst didn't go unnoticed. "Very sorry for your experience tonight," Southwest Airlines Tweeted the rocker shortly following the alleged incident. "Someone from our Customer Relations Team will reach out to you to get more details." Later, the company explained in a statement that Armstrong "elected to take the next flight," and overall, "the situation was resolved to his satisfaction."

'The Help' leads mediocre holiday

Americans are more interested in an empowering civil rights tale than a faux-NASA mission or 3D sharks. At least that's the story according to Box Office Mojo's estimated Labor Day weekend box office returns. "The Help" led the box office for the 4th week in a row with $14 million in ticket sales, followed by the Helen Mirren-fronted tale of redeption, "The Debt," which was a surprise no. 2 with $9.6 million.  "Apollo 18" and "Shark Night 3D," campy holiday fare calculated to appeal to end-of-summer moviegoers, both fell relatively flat with $8.7 million each.

1. The Help – $14.2 mil
2. The Debt – $9.7 mil
3. Apollo 18 – $8.7 mil
4. Shark Night 3D – $8.6 mil
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – $7.8
6. Colombiana – $7.4 mil

Katt Williams clarifies apology for anti-Mexican rant

Comedian Katt Williams defended remarks he made to a Mexican member of his audience last week that were perceived as xenophobic, telling CNN  that while he apologizes to anyone who perceived them as hateful to the Mexican-American community, he would not apologize for the comments he made on stage. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant," Williams said. Williams stressed that as a comedian he cannot apologize for a performance, drawing a sharp line between what is said on stage and his true feelings.

 A few months ago, the Internet was up in arms over a white David & Goliath T-Shirt that read, in pink bubble letters, "I'm too pretty to do math." Then there was the one with "Future Trophy Wife" written on it. The long-sleeve T-shirt that J.C. Penney pulled off its website today amid plenty of parental outrage read: "I'm too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me." And, judging by the description of the shirt on the J.C. Penney website—"Who has time for homework when there’s a new Justin Bieber album out? She’ll love this tee that’s just as cute and sassy as she is"—it seems like the company didn't have a problem with the shirt until customers started to complain. J.C. Penney removed the T-shirt and issued this statement:  "J.C. Penney is committed to being America's destination for great style and great value for the whole family. We agree that the 'Too pretty' t-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale.  Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them. We would like to apologize to our customers and are taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise that they have come to expect."

Singer Sues for Leaky Mansion

After dropping $6.9 million on a Beverly Hills mansion, singer, Rihanna is furious that the place is a "leaky piece of crap" and is suing the seller for lying to her about the condition of the home.  She has filed a formal lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming the seller knew about all sorts of problems with the home but withheld the information. According to the documents, Rihanna's home was hit by a "moderate rainstorm" in January 2010 ... but because of the defects, water leaked into multiple rooms ... causing some serious damage. Rihanna says "the actual value of the property at the time of purchase, taking into consideration the extensive construction defects ... was worth millions of dollars less" than the price she paid for it. Rihanna is now suing the former owner ... along with the inspector, the real estate agents involved with the sale, and engineers who worked on the house.

 

TV NEWS

After three seasons, TNT has canceled the medical drama "HawthoRNe. The series, which starred Jada Pinkett Smith as hospital executive Christina Hawthorne and Michael Vartan as her husband, surgeon Tom Wakefield, aired its last episode Aug. 16. In a statement on the cancellation, TNT said, "TNT truly appreciates the tremendous dedication of everyone involved in 'HawthoRNe.' The series gave TNT the opportunity to work with many outstanding people, including Jada Pinkett Smith and the rest of the show's talented cast, crew, producers and writers. We wish everyone involved with 'HawthoRNe' nothing but the best."

The Sopranos vet James Gandolfini is reteaming with HBO to exec-produce and potentially star in Big Dead Place, a comedic drama based in Antarctica.

Already the CBS chatfest, created by "Roseanne" alumna Sarah Gilbert, gave Leah Remini the heave-ho in August. And on Friday, Holly Robinson Peete blogged that she's been "officially" not invited back for season 2. "After weeks in limbo, I was finally 'officially' given word from CBS today that I have not been picked up for the 2nd season of The TALK," Robinson Peete wrote on her personal blog. "I realize there have been several reports and 'leaks' for sometime to this effect but until today I was not contractually released which prevented me from moving on and finding other work."

Big Brother evictee (and real-life fashion model) Cassi Colvin will guest-star on an October installment of CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful as — what else? — a runway-walker named Cassi who helps show off a new fashion line.

Audrina Patridge's days as a reality star are apparently over ...  or at least for now. She says of her little-watched VH1 series, "We finished in April, and I kind of decided I wanted to take some time off from reality." The network confirmed this, although with a slightly different take, saying, "VH1 will not be picking up 'Audrina' for a second season." This cancellation shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The April debut of "Audrina" brought in only 791,000 viewers, and ratings consistently dropped from there. The season finale delivered a minuscule 530,000 fans.