Fired 'X Factor' judge Cheryl Cole sues for Season 2 money: $2.3 million

Cheryl Cole, who was slated to be a judge on the first season of the U.S. "X Factor" but was released from her contract before live shows began, is suing the show's bosses to the tune of $2.3 million. Cole filmed a few episodes of "The X Factor" in 2011 before Simon Cowell decided she wasn't a good fit for the U.S. version of the show and offered her former position on the U.K. judges panel back. Cole left the U.S. version but turned down the U.K. position. "I probably got this wrong, and I'll admit it," Cowell said. "I guess that's what happens when you make reality TV. I take it on the chin." Despite being axed before the show even began airing, Cole was paid her complete salary for Season 1 - $1.8 million. Now, she's suing for her Season 2 money. Cole's attorneys say that she had a pay-or-play clause in her contract, meaning that she gets paid whether she appears on the show or not. She's seeking not only the $2 million she was promised for the second season, but also $100,000 one-time wardrobe allowance, her $25,000 one-time all-inclusive stylist allowance, her $15,000-per-month apartment allowance to rent in Los Angeles, and a $2,500-per-month living allowance.

 Ice-T is giving wife CoCo Austin the cold shoulder over some hot pics she took with another man. The photos, which have since been deleted from Instagram, show the married model, 33, cozying up to rapper AP.9 in Vegas, where she is currently performing in the burlesque revue Peepshow. (Austin replaced former headliner Holly Madison, who is almost seven months pregnant with her first child.) In one snapshot, the blonde bombshell closes her eyes while AP.9 plants an affectionate kiss on her cheek; in another, the rapper buries his face in her neck as she seductively gazes at the camera. Austin's husband, 54, is less than thrilled about the photos and took to Twitter over the weekend to vent his fury in a series of outraged tweets. "Most of [the pics are] disrespectful and in bad taste," Ice-T shared on the micro-blogging site. "She's made me look and feel like s--t." The actor deleted his comments shortly after posting them, but by then, his anger had already gone viral. "I say this on Twitter because there's no way to avoid the obvious misconduct of a married [woman]," he wrote. "That's it. Any more questions, ask [my wife] @CoCosWorld." Austin, for her part, initially tried to downplay the incident, tweeting: "Woke up to people in a panic about some pics. Please guys, I'm happily married, sometimes fans & friends take silly pics. It's harmless." However, she later backtracked and apologized for the photos to both her husband of 11 years -- with whom she stars on the E! reality show Ice Loves Coco -- and her fans. "Ice is right, the pics I took with this man were in poor taste & I disrespected my husband," she shared. "However the pics were the only thing that happened." "I feel so sad. The bottom line is I love Ice & I can understand why he's upset," she added. "There's no excuse for my actions. I'm so sorry baby & to everyone."

 

Salt 2
"The Prince of Tides" and "Seven Years in Tibet" scribe Becky Johnston has been hired to pen re-writes on a sequel to "Salt" at Sony Pictures. Angelina Jolie is expected to reprise her role of CIA officer Evelyn Salt. Jolie is the one who requested rewrites to the earlier draft by Kurt Wimmer and it has apparently taken almost a year to find someone all involved could sign off on.

Get Hard
Kevin Hart has signed on to star in the comedy "Get Hard" at Warner Bros. Pictures. No director is yet onboard, but Gary Sanchez is attached to produce. Will Ferrell plays a wealthy investment banker sentenced to a maximum security prison for a crime he didn't commit. He enlists the help of the man who usually washes his car (Kevin Hart) to prepare him for doing hard time before he has to report to prison in thirty days.

 

The Muppets 2
Ty Burrell ("Modern Family") will replace Christoph Waltz as an Interpol inspector in Disney's sequel "The Muppets 2." James Bobin is returning as helmer and shooting kicks off in winter in London. Waltz was forced to back out due to scheduling conflicts. Two other key roles still to be cast are a Russian femme fatale and a mysterious male lead.

Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott Is Pregnant

First comes the sound of wedding bells, and next comes the baby rattle. Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and drummer Chris Tyrrell, who became engaged on Independence Day in 2011 and married Jan. 7 in upstate New York, are now expecting a child. "Chris & I are excited to announce that our Christmas gift has arrived a little early this year! We are having a BABY!" she wrote on Twitter Friday. "We feel so blessed!!!"

The wedding's back on – though it may be a good idea to save that gift receipt. Hugh Hefner, 86, officially confirms that he is once again engaged to Crystal Harris, 26, telling his Twitter followers, "I've given Crystal Harris a ring. I love the girl." And to prove it, Harris posted photos of the big diamond sparkler, calling it "my beautiful ring." Neither announced a wedding date, though sources say they're planning to tie the knot at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve.Whether that still happens remains to be seen. This is the plan they had in 2011 – a wedding at the mansion – except that Harris called it off just days before the nuptials were scheduled to happen in front of 300 invited guests.


Guatemala judge orders McAfee released
Lawyer Telesforo Guerra says the judge notified him verbally of the ruling, but that it may take a day for formal written notification to win McAfee's release. Judge Judith Secaida did not return phone calls on Tuesday seeking to confirm the ruling. Guerra said Secaida ruled McAfee's detention illegal, ordered him released and gave him 10 days to put his immigration situation in order. McAfee was detained last week after he sneaked into Guatemala from neighboring Belize. Police in neighboring Belize want to question him in the fatal shooting in November of a U.S. expatriate who lived near his home on a Belizean island.

'How I Met Your Mother' negotiations: Jason Segel 'unlikely' to sign for Season 9

If this season of "How I Met Your Mother" is to be its last, the show's writers will need to know soon so they can set the show's final stories in motion. So it's no surprise to hear that after a quiet period earlier this fall, negotiations for a ninth season have picked up recently. 20th Century Fox TV, which produces the series, is talking with CBS about a renewal at the same time it's discussing new contracts for creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and the show's five stars. One of those stars, Jason Segel, is "unlikely" to return for another season. Thomas said at the start of the season that he and Bays would "never ever" want to continue the show without all five regulars, which would seem to point toward an ending this season. On the other hand, Segel hasn't said an unequivocal no to a ninth season of "HIMYM," and CBS may need the show enough to make it worthwhile for the actors to return. If negotiations for a ninth season fail, though, we can probably expect to hear word of "How I Met Your Mother" wrapping up within the next few weeks.

TV NEWS
Dallas has set a date for what is bound to be the the biggest TV swan song of 2013 — the funeral of J.R. Ewing. Three weeks after TV legend Larry Hagman‘s death from cancer complications, Dallas will lay his alter ego — an icon to multiple generations of viewers — to rest in the upcoming second season’s eighth episode, slated to air on March 11 on TNT.  Hagman completed filming a number of Season 2 episodes prior to his sudden passing. Although production was not significantly impacted, producers quickly began crafting a proper sendoff — one that is rumored to feature a number of returning Dallas vets (including several that have not yet been seen on the TNT version.) Dallas‘ sophomore season is set to premiere on Jan. 28.


30 Rock has locked in Ice-T for a series-finale guest spot, the SVU star has revealed via Twitter. Further details about the role are being kept under wraps.


Fresh off the Sons of Anarchy Season 5 finale, Theo Rossi, who plays Juice on the FX biker drama, will guest-star on Law & Order: SVU. Rossi will appear in the Jan. 2 episode of NBC’s long-running procedural as Enrique Rodriguez, a working-class Catholic who is determined to seek justice for his sister when he finds that she was part of a church cover-up. The potential church scandal comes to light as Detective Tutuola angles to prove his ex-brother-in-law (Boardwalk Empire‘s LaRay Harvey) innocent of assaulting a priest (True Blood’s Denis O’Hare). During his run on Sons, Rossi has between seasons also guested on series such as Alcatraz (which starred his real-life girlfriend Sarah Jones), Hawaii Five-0 and Lie to Me.


Former Disney darling Brenda Song has nabbed a recurring role on New Girl. The actress, who currently appears on Scandal, will play a new love interest for Lamorne Morris’ Winston.


Teen Wolf star Colton Haynes has landed a recurring role on Arrow. The actor, who in early October hinted at his departure from the MTV hit, joins the CW drama as Roy Harper, a “handsome, street-savvy” teen who falls for Oliver’s little sister. Fans of DC Comics will likely recall that Haynes’ soon-to-be alter ego has taken on many iterations since his 1941 inception, including Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy and the Justice League’s Red Arrow. Little is known, however, about how he’ll factor into Arrow‘s mythology, other than that he’s said to be a very “important player.”


Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg will host the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards, airing Saturday, Feb. 23 on IFC.


Ever wonder how those cunning buyers on A&E’s Storage Wars continue to get so lucky in their attempt to find treasure in abandoned storage units? We’re about to find out: Cast member Dave Hester is suing the cable network and Original Prods., claiming he was wrongfully terminated after he accused the show of committing fraud. According to the suit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Hester was fired from the top-rated series after making light of its “outrageous conduct.” “In one episode a pile of old newspapers announcing the death of Elvis Presley was discovered,” the lawsuit states. “In another episode, a BMW mini car was found buried under a pile of trash. When Hester complained to producers that A&E’s fraudulent conduct of salting and staging the storage lockers was possibly illegal, he was fired.” The suit says that Hester is the most experienced buyer on the show. His bio on the network show site says he’s been at it for 25 years. (He once purchased a box lot at an abandoned moving and storage auction for $750 that contained a painting from impressionist artist Jack Wilkinson Smith, the suit says. He sold it for $155,000). Hester is seeking damages in excess of $750,000 from the show, which is in the second half of the third season. An A&E spokesman said the net does not comment on pending litigation.