Adam Yauch, who helped make hip-hop a worldwide cultural force as one-third of the influential crossover group the Beastie Boys, has died after battling cancer. He was 47. The band's publicist said in a statement that Yauch died in his native New York on Friday morning. Yauch, also a film director who co-founded the distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories and an organizer of several charitable concerts, including the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, was first diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left salivary gland in 2009. His death was reported by GlobalGrind, a media company partly funded by Russell Simmons. Simmons and Rick Rubin led Def Jam Records as it rose to prominence in the 1980s thanks to acts including the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. With bandmates Mike D (Michael Diamond) and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz), Yauch started the Beastie Boys in the late 1970s as a hardcore punk outfit. But they evolved into a sneering, comedic rap group that, under the guidance of producer Rubin, broke through by mixing hip-hop beats and classic guitar riffs -- the same formula often employed by Run-DMC. He said after his cancer diagnosis in 2009 that it was "very treatable," and the group delayed tour plans and the release of their album "Hot Sauce Committee Part 1," which was finally released last year in slightly different form as "Hot Sauce Committee Part 2." He is survived by his wife and his daughter.

'The Avengers' scores biggest opening weekend of all time with $200.3 mil

Puny Potter. Disney’s The Avengers smashed the opening weekend record by earning $200.3 million this weekend. The prior record was held by last summer’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, which debuted to $169.2 million. But The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, was the perfect storm: a highly anticipated 3-D action movie that combined the superheroes of several prior Marvel blockbusters while managing to stand alone as a well-reviewed, crowd-pleasing film in its own right. Oh, and it had a Hulk. The $220 million picture started the weekend off with $80.5 million on Friday (the second-best opening day ever after Deathly Hallows — Part 2), and then added an estimated $69.7 yesterday for the biggest Saturday gross on record. Hollywood could not have dreamed of a better way to start the summer movie season, and the bar has been considerably raised for July’s The Dark Knight Rises. For Disney, which bought Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion, this record opening is obviously a colossal victory. It also helps to wash away the bad taste left behind by the studio’s underperforming John Carter, which The Avengers outgrossed domestically in a single day. And perhaps most importantly, it sets the stage for a series of Marvel sequels: Iron Man 3 in May 2013, Thor 2 in November 2013, and Captain America 2 in April 2014.

. The Avengers — $200.3 mil
2. Think Like a Man — $8.0 mil
3. The Hunger Games — $5.7 mil
4. The Lucky One — $5.5 mil
5. The Pirates! Band of Misfits — $5.4 mil
 George Lindsey, best remembered for his role of Goober Pyle – cousin of Gomer Pyle – on CBS's rural sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, died Sunday morning in Nashville, where he lived, after a lengthy hospitalization. He was 83. Andy Griffith, 85, said in a statement that accompanied the Lindsay family's announcement of the death, "George Lindsey was my friend. I had great respect for his talent and his human spirit." Griffith also said the two often spoke by phone. "Our last conversation was a few days ago. We would talk about our health, how much we missed our friends who passed before us and usually about something funny. I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our 80s, we were not afraid to say, 'I love you.' That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other. 'I love you.' " While in the Air Force stationed in Orlando, Fla., he met and, in 1955, married Joyanne Herbert, and they had two children. The marriage lasted until 1991. Before his long TV career, which also included another comic stint on CBS's Hee Haw, Lindsey studied acting in New York and played in stage productions there. His survivors, include son George Lindsey, Jr., daughter Camden Jo Lindsey Gardner, two grandsons and his companion of many years, Anne Wilson.

 

No Doubt album release date set

No Doubt has finally set a date for the release of their long-awaited new album. "Ear candy coming your way!" the band wrote in a message on their website announcing that the record will be coming out on Sept. 25. This will be the sixth studio album for the band, and their first release since "Rock Steady" in 2001. No Doubt had started working on the recordings in 2008, when Gwen Stefani was pregnant with her second child, and the band set out on tour in 2009.

 Downey and his producer wife, Susan, welcomed son Exton Elias in February, and the actor couldn’t resist showing off pictures of the little guy during a Thursday appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Ex-Viking's wife guilty in hit-and-run

The wife of former Minnesota Viking Joe Senser was convicted Thursday of two felonies in a hit-and-run accident that killed a man, with jurors brushing aside her defense that she never saw him and thought she had hit a construction barrel or pothole. Amy Senser was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident and failure to promptly report an accident, both criminal vehicular homicide charges, in the August death of Anousone Phanthavong. She was acquitted of a third felony charge of gross negligence. She was also convicted of misdemeanor careless driving. Senser was to remain free until sentencing July 9. Each felony count was punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but sentencing guidelines suggested four years. The misdemeanor carried a potential sentence of up to 90 days in jail. Her lead attorney, Eric Nelson, vowed an appeal. He said Senser was in shock. ''She has insisted that she didn't see him. She wants the world to believe that's the truth.'' Senser, he said, ''is not the type of person who would knowingly leave a man on the road to die.'' It wasn't until the next day, when her husband called her outside to look at the car and the couple saw news reports about Phanthavong's death, that the couple called an attorney. On the stand, she wept as she said she was still struggling to accept the fact that she had hit him. ''If you're driving a car and you have an accident, the state Legislature and all the rest of us believe you have a duty to stop. That clearly is something that Mrs. Senser did not do,'' Freeman said. ''And you have a duty to report that accident.'' Phanthavong, 38, was a chef at a Thai restaurant near the site of the accident. His car had run out of gas and he had pulled to the side of the highway exit ramp. He was filling the car's tank when he was hit. Parts of a Mercedes were found at the scene, and authorities sought the public's help in finding the driver.  At trial, her stepdaughter Brittani testified that Amy Senser only came forward after Brittani, angry that some people had speculated she was the driver, threatened to go to authorities.
 Actress Julie Benz married Rich Orosco on Saturday, her rep confirmed. The couple tied the knot at 6 p.m. at the historic John Sowden house in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. The wedding featured a Mexican theme, in a nod to Cinco de Mayo and to the groom, a marketing executive, who is of Mexican heritage. Engaged since last June, the former Dexter star, 40, met Orosco five years ago.
 
Evangelista and Pinault Child Support Trial Begins
When supermodel Linda Evangelista told French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault in 2006 she was pregnant with his child, he asked her to get an abortion, her attorney charged Thursday on the first day of a child-support trial in Manhattan. Pinault, 49, who is currently married to actress Salma Hayek, denied that charge but testified he told Evangelista that "if she were to have a child (they) might not have a relationship." With that a four-month relationship, in which he said the couple only actually saw each over seven days, came to an end. The case drew widespread attention last year after it was reported Evangelista was seeking as much as $46,000 a month in child support. Evangelista, 46, gave birth to a son, Augustin, now 5, and supported him for the first several years of his life. She decided to take Pinault to court after private child-support negotiations failed and her multi-year contract as a spokesmodel for L'Oreal Paris cosmetics ended in 2010. Pinault testified he first received a child support request from Evangelista in 2007.  "I asked, 'What do you have in mind?', he said. "I received a demand. It was not reasonable, I made a counterproposal." He said the next time he heard from Evangelista was 2010, when she filed the support case. Augustin is Evangelista's only child. Pinault has two children from a previous marriage, and a third child by Hayek. The trial is expected to last several days, after which a surrogate judge will decide on the amount of child support due to Evangelista. Either side may appeal that ruling to a family court judge.
 During a whirlwind day which saw Chris Bosh take a charter flight from New York to Miami to be with his wife Adrienne and witness the birth of his son at 3:00 a.m. Thursday morning, only to make it back a frantic return back to New York City and Madison Square Garden with less than an hour to spare to suit up and play in Miami's Game 3 matchup with the Knicks, to say the Heat star survived a hectic 24 hours or so would be a drastic understatement. What makes the ending of the story even better is that following the game Thursday night, Bosh reportedly hopped back on a private jet and returned to Miami in order to reunite with his wife and son.
 

'Days of Our Lives': Lindsay Hartley files for divorce from 'Smallville' star Justin Hartley

"Days of Our Lives" star Lindsay Hartley has just filed for divorce from "Smallville" star Justin Hartley who played Oliver Queen/Green Arrow on the series. Lindsay filed the docs in L.A. County Superior Court, citing "irreconcilable differences. The couple met on the set of "Passions" and have a seven-year-old daughter. She's asking for asking for joint physical and legal custody. Lindsay made an appearance on "Smallville" back in 2010. She has also appeared on "All My Children."
 Less than two weeks after her birth at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Pearl Osbourne, the first child of Jack Osbourne and fiancee Lisa Stelly, makes her debut on the cover of Britain's HELLO! magazine. Cradled by famous grandmother Sharon Osbourne.

Vogue bans too-skinny models from its pages

Vogue magazine, perhaps the world's top arbiter of style, is making a statement about its own models: too thin is no longer in. The 19 editors of Vogue magazines around the world made a pact to project the image of healthy models.  They agreed to "not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder," and said they will ask casting directors to check IDs at photo shoots and fashion shows and for ad campaigns. The move is an important one for the fashion world, said model Sara Ziff, who was discovered at 14 and has since founded The Model Alliance, dedicated to improving the working conditions of models and persuading the industry to take better care of its young. "Most editions of Vogue regularly hire models who are minors, so for Vogue to commit to no longer using models under the age of 16 marks an evolution in the industry," she said. "We hope other magazines and fashion brands will follow Vogue's impressive lead." American, French, Chinese and British editions of the fashion glossies are among those that will start following the new guidelines with their June issues; the Japanese edition will begin with its July book. Models' health — and especially their weight — has been a lightning rod the past few years, especially after the death of two models from apparent complications from eating disorders in 2006-07, but the focus, until now, has been on runway fashion shows. The Council of Fashion Designers of America adopted a voluntary initiative in 2007, which emphasizes age minimums and healthy working environments during New York Fashion Week, and London Fashion Week designers sign a contract with the British Fashion Council to use models who are at least 16. The primary fashion organizations in Italy and Spain banned catwalk models who fall below a certain Body Mass Index level, and earlier this year, Israel's government passed an anti-skinny-model law.
Jimmy Fallon will release his second album this summer – and on it, he'll bare a lot more than his soul. Fallon unveiled the cover art for the forthcoming comedy record, fittingly titled Blow Your Pants Off, on his late night talk show Thursday. The photo depicts Fallon lying sultrily on a bed, holding a glass of red wine with a roaring fire in the background. He's wearing a jacket, shirt and tie … and nothing else. "I don't even remember taking this photo at all," cracked Fallon, holding up a copy of the record featuring a strategically placed release-date sticker. "It's just a guy relaxing at home. He has a nice glass of wine. … Started listening to the album and his pants blew off." "I don't know if this is my butt or a stunt butt," Fallon, 37, added. "It's like the Mona Lisa of album covers." The album, which will include original songs as well as popular content from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, also features guest appearances by artists including Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen. Blow Your Pants Off will be released June 12.