Dan Cortese Files for Divorce
Dan Cortese -- former MTV Rock N' Jock host and current sometimes actor -- has filed for divorce from his wife Dawn. Dan filed last week in L.A. Superior Court. The couple got hitched back in '94, and they have two children. They put their Malibu house on the market back in June.

Jimmy Fallon band leader says Bachmann's 'Tea Party extremists' hurling racial slurs

Just when we thought the media furor between NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Rep. Michele Bachmann was finished, this could stir things up again: Fallon’s band leader and drummer ?uestlove says “Tea Party extremists” are hurling racial slurs at him on Twitter. “I’ve seen some really colorful epithets in the past four days, but ‘n—er f–khead ghetto stick’ is probably the one that takes the cake,” The Roots musician says. “I’m still trying to get my head around that one. Blocking 3,500 Tea Party extremists [on Twitter] in a three day period is no fun, especially when you’re a drummer dangerously close to carpal tunnel.” The band played “Lyin’ A– B—-” during the Republican presidential candidate’s appearance on the show last week. She demanded an apology from NBC and got it (though was reportedly miffed the apology came from the network’s late night chief rather than the NBC president). NBC promised the band would be “severely reprimanded.” It doesn’t sound like the musician was trying to reignite the situation, however. He says he deeply regrets the “kamikazi” incident (he says he forgot the word “b—-” was in the song’s title) and at one point thought he might get fired. “In the end, was it worth it? “Absolutely not,” ?uestlove said. “It deeply offended a lot of women’s groups and non-Bachmann supporters, and for that I’m deeply sorry. I’m not parading like I’m the poster boy for the feminist movement, but those who truly know me know that that’s not me. I was really just going with her whole revisionist history angle, I wasn’t calling it out on her being a woman.”
 Jennifer Lopez and backup dancer Casper Smart have been dating for merely a month, but she didn't hesitate to bring her sexy beau along for a Thanksgiving vacation to Kauai, Hawaii -- where he quickly bonded with Max and Emme, her 3-year-old twins with ex Marc Anthony. Smart, 24, playfully holds Emme upside down as they frolic on the beach as mom Lopez, 42, lingers behind in the sand.


Raiders' McClain faces charges
Oakland Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain faces a string of charges for allegedly holding a gun to a man's head then firing the weapon just inches from his ear. McClain, 22, is accused of discharging a firearm within city limits, third degree assault, and menacing and reckless endangerment following the incident which occurred Wednesday night as he visited his hometown of Decatur, northern Alabama. According to a statement issued by Decatur Police, McClain and a man identified as Jerradius Willingham got into a fight at a residence in southwest Decatur, during which Willingham "sustained injuries to his head and face." Willingham told police he crawled to his car following the fight at which point McClain "produced a pistol and aimed it at him." Willingham said McClain walked up to him while he was still on the ground and put the gun to his head. "The victim reported that he begged McClain not to shoot him and that McClain took the gun away from his head, held it next to his ear and fired it," the police statement read. The Raiders linebacker was arrested and later released on $2,000 bail Thursday. Willingham was charged with one count of assault, according to police, and released on $500 bond. In January, McClain was driving in Decatur when an unknown individual fired at his vehicle. Police discovered a bullet lodged in the rear passenger door of McClain's Chevy Tahoe. He was unharmed in the incident.
 Zach Gilford has scored a touchdown in the romance department! The Friday Night Lights actor, 29, who played quarterback Matt Saracen on the former hit drama, is engaged, a source confirmed. Gilford's fiancé is fellow actress Kiele Sanchez, 35, who played Nikki Fernandez on Lost and who currently stars on A&E's The Glades. They have been dating for more than a year and in 2010 costarred in an ABC pilot (that was not picked up), The Matadors.

‘Riddick 3′ Secures New Funding, Production to Resume

It’s been a long road for Vin Diesel’s Riddick 3. The third entry in the saga of the popular sci-fi character (who first appeared in the 2000 film Pitch Black, then again in his own 2004 solo venture, The Chronicles of Riddick) has had many starts and stops, the latest start being the actual start of production this past summer – the latest stop being a production halt this fall, when the production company, One Race Films, failed to pay its debt to the studio where Riddick 3 is being shot. However, in a new update  Riddick 3 has secured new funding, and production will soon be back on track. The man who owns the Montreal studio where the film is being shot – is not longer padlocking the studio doors, since Once Race Films has paid their bill in full. The cast and crew of the film is now officially allowed on the premises again, and production is set to resume on December 28th.

Soulja Boy Getting Evicted

A rough year for Soulja Boy is about to get rougher -- he's been served with an eviction notice. Soulja's 2011 has included ... lying about buying a private jet, pissing off the military with one of his songs and getting arrested for allegedly carrying weed and a gun in a briefcase. The rapper, real name DeAndre Way, has not paid his November rent for his Atlanta pad -- a whopping $4,725 -- so he's been served with eviction papers. Soulja has until December 5 to pay up, or risk getting thrown out.

Katy Perry and Russell Brand Laugh Off Divorce Rumors

Katy Perry's life is becoming a soap opera. At least, that's how the pop star sees it, given all the rumors surrounding her in recent days. First, there was speculation that she was expecting, which she colorfully denied. Now, there have been rumors that her marriage is on the rocks – something Perry also denied Wednesday night with a joke on Twitter. "First I'm pregnant & then I'm divorced. What am I All My Children?!" she quipped.
 At the Footwear News Achievement Awards in NYC Tuesday, Jessica Simpson and her mega brand were honored along with the fashion industry's top fashion brands and designers. But her best accessory of the evening: her growing baby bump. "I'm probably going to deliver my baby in [4-inch YSL heels]," she joked. "I went to the doctor yesterday and he said, 'You're gonna need to get out of those heels!' I was like, 'Excuse me! I'll be delivering in these heels!'"



TV NEWS
The revamped Early Show will be known as CBS This Morning beginning Monday, Jan. 9.


Fox has released its midseason schedule, and it details premieres and time slots for three new dramas, trumpets Season 11 of American Idol, and features the back-from-the-ashes return of the comedy Breaking In. Of the new fare, 24 alum Kiefer Sutherland’s Touch will sneak preview on Wednesday, Jan. 25, but not settle into its Mondays-at-9 time slot until March 19. J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz will also call Monday home, debuting Jan. 16 at 8 before moving to its 9 o’clock berth the following week. And as expected, The Finder will grab the Bones time slot starting Jan. 12. (Bones returns “in the spring.”) As previously announced, Christian Slater’s Breaking In will in fact be back for a second season, airing Tuesdays at 8:30 (starting March 6). There, it will be sandwiched between encore and new episodes of New Girl.


ReelzChannel has ordered True Justice, its first original scripted series. The drama will star action movie staple, Steven Seagal, as a member of the Seattle Police Department’s hardcore underground unit.


Jason Biggs is returning to CBS with a stint on The Good Wife. The American Pie star — whose CBS sitcom Mad Love was axed last spring after one season — will appear in a February episode as a client of Lockhart Gardener.  His character, also a lawyer, is being sued for refusing to release the name of one of his clients. After a two-week break, The Good Wife returns with an all-new episode this Sunday.


The film criticism show Ebert Presents: At the Movies will go on hiatus at the end of December. The public TV program was produced and nearly entirely financed by the Chicago Sun-Times film critic and his wife, Chaz Ebert, and was intended to be a continuation of the various review shows hosted by Ebert and the late Gene Siskel, such as Sneak Previews, At the Movies, and Siskel & Ebert. But the Eberts said they can no longer afford to foot the bill and are now searching for new sponsors. “We’ve spoken to the top executives of several channels and film distributors, charitable foundations, web delivery services, potential corporate sponsors, and crowd-funding sources,” said Ebert in his post. “We are still talking with them, but the time crunch has intervened. It is a complicated process, and so we are going on hiatus while we sort it out.” Ebert Presents: At the Movies is hosted by critics Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com. By the end of the year, the show will have aired 50 episodes.


All My Children alum William deVry has nabbed a recurring gig on Nikita. The former daytime star — was seen briefly on The CW spy thriller last week.

Live! With Kelly has lined up a few more guest co-hosts: Taye Diggs, Kevin Jonas, Michael Bublé and Bryant Gumbel will each take a turn in the tall chairs the week of Dec. 12.



The wives of actor Gary Busey and Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard will trade places when ABC debuts a celebrity edition of the reality series Wife Swap early next year. Also on tap for Celebrity Wife Swap are Growing Pains star Tracey Gold and singer Carnie Wilson, as well as Reno 911‘s Niecy Nash and Family Ties’ Tina Yothers. Meanwhile, the spouses of rapper/reality star Flavor Flav and rock star Dee Snider, and wrestler Mick Foley and actor/model Antonio Sabato Jr. will also flip households with each other. The five-episode run of Celebrity Wife Swap premieres Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 9/8c.


Other highlights from Fox’s midseason plan:
* With Terra Nova wrapping its freshman run on Dec. 19, House moves to Mondays at 8 starting Jan. 23.
* Glee will air its winter finale on Feb. 21, then resume Season 3 in the spring.
* No secret to anyone, American Idol launches its 11th season on Wednesday, Jan. 18, with a two-hour audition show. Idol will be followed by Howie Mandel’s Mobbed on Wednesdays, The Finder on Thursdays.
* Fringe and Kitchen Nightmares resume their seasons on Friday, Jan. 13.
* And of the animated fare, Bob’s Burgers serves up fresh epsiodes starting March 11, while newbie Napoleon Dynamite is set to debut Sunday, Jan. 15, at 8:30.
* I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which airs its winter finale on Dec. 21, returns (theoretically) in the spring.