Coroners Report Released on Rodney King

Rodney King was under the influence of SEVERAL substances at the time of his death -- including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and PCP.  According to the report, the cause of death is listed as accidental drowning -- but the drugs were contributing factors.  King's fiancee discovered his body at the bottom of the pool at the couple's home in Rialto, CA on June 17. In the report, the coroner says King was "in a state of drug and alcohol induced delirium" at the time of his death ... and either fell or jumped into the swimming pool. The report continues, "The effects of the drugs and alcohol, combined with [King's preexisting heart condition] probably precipitated a cardiac arrhythmia and [King], thus incapacitated, was unable to save himself and drowned." King became famous in 1991 when he was the victim of police brutality at the hands of the LAPD. The officers involved in the incident were acquitted the following year and the announcement of the verdict led to the Los Angeles riots.

LL Cool J Intruder Faces Life in Prison

The alleged burglar who got his face bashed in by LL Cool J has officially been charged with a crime ... and now faces LIFE IN PRISON if convicted.  Jonathan A. Kirby -- a 56-year-old transient -- has been charged with 1st degree burglary with a person present. But to make matters worse for Kirby, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office has charged him as a 3rd Strike Offender ... and if convicted, he faces a maximum of 38 years to life in prison. Kirby allegedly broke into LL's mansion in Sherman Oaks, CA this week, triggering an alarm in the house ... and waking up the rapper, who went downstairs, found the intruder in the family room ... and proceeded to break his jaw and nose. Prosecutors have asked the judge to set Kirby's bail at $1.1 million.
 "Hawaii Five-0" star Alex O'Loughlin and his girlfriend, model Malia Jones, are about to be parents.The couple, who have been together for the better part of a year, are expecting their first child together. Both have sons from past relationships -- O'Loughlin has a 15-year-old named Saxon, and Jones a 3-year-old, Spike, with ex-husband Luke Stedman. O'Loughlin is currently filming Season 3 of "Five-0," which is scheduled to premiere Sept. 24 on CBS. He starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in "The Back-up Plan" and in the short-lived CBS vampire show "Moonlight" and had a recurring part on "The Shield." Jones, who like O'Loughlin is 35, is a model and former competitive surfer who's appeared in a number of commercials and has been named to People's "50 Most Beautiful" list.

Harvey Weinstein targeted in extortion plot: Would-be actor demanded millions

A 25-year-old aspiring actor who tried to extort money from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and several other wealthy people has been arrested in connection with the scheme. Vivek Shah, an actor and self-described entrepreneur who lives in West Hollywood, was arrested Aug. 10 by federal agents. They allege he sent letters to five wealthy people, each of which said members of their families would be killed unless they wired millions of dollars to offshore bank accounts. The affidavit against Shah doesn't name Weinstein, but it identifies a "Connecticut resident and co-founder of a film studio" as one of Shah's alleged targets. Weinstein lives in Westport, Conn., and co-founded Miramax Pictures with his brother Bob (the two now run The Weinstein Co.). Shah also allegedly targeted Christopher Cline, a billionaire and the majority owner of a West Virginia coal company, who is named in the affidavit; the co-founder of an Internet company in Illinois; the founder of an oil and gas company in Florida; and the child of the founder of another oil and gas company who lives in Texas. The affidavit says the threat to Cline demanded $13 million and notes that the other letters contained similar language. U.S. postal inspectors tracked phone records, prepaid debit cards, rental of a mailbox and security footage of Shah to tie him to the extortion plot. He was arrested at his parents' home in Schaumburg, Ill. The affidavit says local police made contact with Shah on an unrelated matter in May and noticed he was carrying two IDs -- one from Illinois with his real name and a fake California ID bearing a different name (Ray Amin) and address that was used to rent the mailbox and buy at least one of the prepaid cards used in the scheme. Shah's IMDB page lists a couple of small parts in "Bones" and the NBC comedy "Outsourced" and a role in the 2010 film "Our Family Wedding," along with a handful of smaller movies and some commercial work. He also seemed to be good at getting into awards shows and premieres and having A-list stars pose for pictures with him; on Facebook, there are shots of Shah with the likes of Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Sofia Vergara. Shah has been charged with sending threatening interstate communications, a felony that can bring up to 20 years in prison.

Carlos Santana cancels Florida gigs

Carlos Santana has scrapped a series of upcoming weekend concerts in Florida. The veteran rocker and his band, Santana, were due to perform two shows at the Hard Rock venue in Hollywood, Fla., on Friday and Saturday, and a third in Tampa on Sunday. However, the gigs have been postponed indefinitely due to "circumstances beyond our control," according to the group's management.

Lance Armstrong Quits Fight Against Doping Charges, Will Be Stripped of Titles

Lance Armstrong has quit the race. The seven-time Tour de France victor announced Thursday he will no longer fight his investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency – meaning he will be banned for life from ever competing again. Late Thursday, the USADA confirmed it will also strip Armstrong of all results since Aug. 1, 1998. "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong, 40, said in a statement. This latest turn of events began to unfold in June, when the quasi-government agency (recognized as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sports in the U.S.) accused Armstrong of using, possessing, trafficking and giving to others performance-enhancing drugs, as well as covering up doping violations. Armstrong, as he had in the past, vigorously denied the charges. "I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one," he said on his website, where he also accused the USADA of wanting to "dredge up discredited allegations," which he called "baseless" and "motivated by spite." Armstrong, who has never been convicted of any doping charges, had been accused of doping before by other disgraced U.S. riders, including Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton. In February, the U.S. Justice Department closed a criminal investigation after reviewing allegations against Armstrong, apparently for lack of evidence that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Following news reports of Armstrong's decision Thursday, USADA chief executive officer Travis T. Tygart issued the following statement: "It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes. This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance-enhancing drugs." Of losing his titles, Armstrong said: "I know who won those seven Tours. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially Travis Tygart."


Twisted Sister's Dee Snider is 'not gonna take' Paul Ryan playing his band's song anymore
The band, Twisted Sister, asked Ryan's camp on Wednesday (Aug. 22) to stop playing their 1984 hit at campaign events. The wannabe veep's campaign, of course, says it will comply and cleverly responded to the request via an email saying, "We're Not Gonna Play It anymore."   "I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan's use of my band Twisted Sister's song, 'We're Not Gonna Take It,' in any capacity," Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider says in a statement. "There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with -- except the use of P90X."


All You Need Is Kill
Tom Hardy's fiancé and British star Charlotte Riley ("Easy Virtue," "Wuthering Heights") is joining Tom Cruise in Doug Liman's sci-fi thriller "All You Need is Kill" at Warner Bros. Pictures. Shooting kicks off this fall in London. Cruise plays a soldier in a war against aliens who relives his last day over and over after being killed. Emily Blunt and Riley both play soldiers who fight alongside Cruise.


Finding Nemo 2
Ellen DeGeneres is in negotiations to reprise her role of the blue tang fish Dory in Disney/Pixar's planned "Finding Nemo" sequel. The news comes a few weeks before DeGeneres’ long-running talk show returns for its 10th season and is now the most lucrative daytime talk show currently on TV.

Emily Maynard Cheating Controversy Grows: Jef Holm's Brother Says It Did Happen

Emily Maynard and her fiancé, Jef Holm, both say there is no truth to reports that he caught her cheating, but now Jef's own brother says it did happen! Jef proposed to Emily on the season finale of the hit reality show "The Bachelorette" and she happily accepted the stunning Neil Lane sparkler he gave to her, but on a recent vacation with his family he apparently was suspicious of his fiancée and checked her cellphone, where he reportedly found racy text messages and photos sent to another man. When he confronted Emily, they had a huge screaming fight and she ended up leaving the vacation home with her daughter Ricki. "I can tell you that it's all 100 percent true," Jef's brother Mike Holm says.  Emily tried to deny the report, releasing a statement that said, “It's one hundred percent not true," and Jef echoed her denial, saying, "It's funny to me. We were in a gated community in a private home with just my brothers and sisters. It's just bogus a 'source' would [say] we were fighting. None of that is true."  Mike confirmed that he was at the family home and witnessed the fight where Jef told Emily to pack her "s--- and get the f--- out!" of the house and that she left the home in tears with her daughter in the middle of the night. "I was there, and I heard the fight and watched the whole thing go down, Emily leaving and everything." Mike said that the close-knit Mormon family feels strongly about Jef's relationship with Emily."I love my brother very much and, like the rest of our family, I just want him to be happy." Mike apparently doesn't believe that Emily and Jef will break up, saying "We all love Emily, too. Mistakes happen; we all get that."

 One day after denying tabloid reports claiming Bachelorette star Emily Maynard had betrayed fiancé Jef Holm, the couple were hurt – but not surprised – to discover the allegations were made by Holm's own brother, Mike Holm.  "My family all says they are shocked, and obviously I'm shocked," Jef says about Mike, who vacationed with the Holms family, Maynard and Maynard's 7-year-old daughter Ricki in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last weekend. "But if everybody knew the history he had with our family, no one would be surprised."  Once again, an emotional Holm and Maynard denied the reports, which claimed that Emily – who accepted Jef's proposal on the season finale of The Bachelorette – had sent steamy texts to an unidentified man, leading to a huge argument with Jef during a family vacation. "This whole story is 100 percent false," Holm reiterates. "I like to give Mike the benefit of the doubt and think he's changed, but obviously he hasn't. He has a history of doing hurtful things to the family," says Holm. "He's been cut off from a lot of family things because he's so dishonest." Mike Holm declined to comment. After the cheating reports first surfaced Wednesday, Holm says, "I called every single member of my family and asked them if they'd done anything, and he promised me he hadn't." Now Holm is wondering what steps to take next. "It's so disturbing to think that a family member would do this. Even so, he adds, "as hurt as I am, I love him and I love my family."