Actor James Gandolfini, best known for playing Tony Soprano on the Emmy-winning series The Sopranos, has passed away after suffering a heart attack. He was 51. HBO said in a statement: “We’re all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family. He was special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect. He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us.” The actor was on vacation in Rome, Italy at the time, a statement from his managers added. The three-time Emmy winner, who most recently appeared in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Zero Dark Thirty, was set to star in upcoming HBO series Criminal Justice. The actor's son Michael, 13 reportedly found his father alive, but in distress in the bathroom of their hotel room in Italy. Gandolfini was taken to Policlinio Umberto hospital where he was later pronounced dead. In addition to his 13 year old son Michael, Gandolfini is survived by his wife, Deborah, his sister and 9-month-old daughter, Liliana.


Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana convicted of tax evasion
An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to one year and eight months in prison for tax evasion. The pair's lawyer, Massimo Dinoia, said they planned to appeal, adding that the case is "groundless." The designers, known for their sexy styles favored by celebrities such as Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Katy Perry, have denied the charges. The case dates back to 2004, when two of the company's main brands were sold to Luxembourg-based holding company Gado. Prosecutors alleged that the sale was made to avoid declaring taxes on royalties deriving from the two brands' activities. Under Italian law, the pair wouldn't go to prison because sentences of less than three years are served with house arrest or community service. Moreover, the designers have the right to appeal the verdict twice, and Italian courts often take years to reach a final decision. Public prosecutor Laura Pedio dubbed the operation as a "sophisticated tax fraud" and originally asked for a two-year jail term for the duo. If the conviction is upheld, the pair would also need to pay a fine to Italy's tax agency for €500,000. Over the last five years, Italian tax authorities have ratcheted up pressure on tax evasion in an effort to claw back an estimated €120 billion a year in unpaid taxes, cracking down in particular on the use by Italian companies of offshore centers to avoid taxes. According to Italian tax authorities, the country lost about €17 billion in undeclared or under-declared income to offshore centers last year, compared with €11 billion for 2011, with Luxembourg the leading country used by Italian individuals and companies seeking to hide money abroad. Corporate tax rates in Luxembourg can be close to zero, while they are about 28% in Italy.  While Dolce & Gabbana has emerged as one of the most high-profile cases pursued by Italian tax authorities, Italian authorities have gone after other fashion groups in the past. In 1996, Giorgio Armani received a nine-month suspended sentence and was fined $64,000 for paying off tax authorities in exchange for favorable audits. Mr. Armani admitted to having paid the bribes. Late last year, prosecutors launched an investigation into whether the Marzotto family, a wealthy textile dynasty, and four managers dodged 65 million euros in Italian income taxes when it sold fashion house Valentino through a Luxembourg holding company in 2007. Earlier this year, the family paid the taxes that the state claimed it owed, but will face a criminal trial later this year.


Paula Deen: I Used the N-Word, but Don't Condone Racism
Celebrity cook Paula Deen said while being questioned in a discrimination lawsuit that she has used racial slurs in the past but insisted she and her family do not tolerate prejudice. The 66-year-old Food Network star and Savannah restaurant owner was peppered with questions about her racial attitudes in a May 17 deposition by a lawyer for Lisa Jackson, a former manager of Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House. Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, own the restaurant. Jackson sued them last year, saying she was sexually harassed and worked in a hostile environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs. According to a transcript of the deposition, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, an attorney for Jackson asked Deen if she has ever used the N-word. "Yes, of course," Deen replied, though she added: "It's been a very long time."  Asked to give an example, Deen recalled the time she worked as a bank teller in southwest Georgia in the 1980s and was held at gunpoint by a robber. The gunman was a black man, Deen told the attorney, and she thought she used the slur when talking about him after the holdup. "Probably in telling my husband," she said.  Deen said she may have also used the slur when recalling conversations between black employees at her restaurants, but she couldn't recall specifics.  "But that's just not a word that we use as time has gone on," Deen said. "Things have changed since the '60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do." The civil lawsuit was filed in March 2012 in Chatham County Superior Court and was transferred to federal court a few months later. Deen and Hiers have both denied the allegations made by Jackson, who is white.


E L James Reveals Director for Fifty Shades of Grey Movie

E L James, the author of the best selling franchise Fifty Shades of Grey, has remained tight-lipped about the upcoming film adaptation – until now.  On Wednesday, James, 50, revealed on Twitter that the movie had finally found its director.  "I'm delighted & thrilled to let you guys know that Sam Taylor-Johnson has agreed to direct the film of Fifty Shades of Grey," James Tweeted.  Taylor-Johnson, 46, – who is also professionally known as Sam Taylor-Wood – made her directorial debut in 2008 with Nowhere Boy, a film about John Lennon's childhood. Her relationship with that film's 23-year-old star, Aaron Johnson, made headlines when the couple tied the knot in 2012 despite a 23-year age difference. She also directed a short film called Daydream which starred Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders's ex-wife, Liberty Ross.  As far as who will play Shades's leading roles, Alex Pettyfer has reportedly shot an audition scene, while Emma Watson denied rumors she'd been cast as the stunning but impressionable Anatasia Steele.


Serena: 'Sorry for what was written'
Serena Williams says she's reaching out to the family of the victim in the Steubenville rape case after the tennis star was quoted in a Rolling Stone article saying "she shouldn't have put herself in that position." "I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article," Williams said in a statement released through her agent Wednesday. "What was written -- what I supposedly said -- is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame." The comment was made in one paragraph of a lengthy story posted online Tuesday about Williams, a 16-time Grand Slam title winner who is ranked No. 1 heading into Wimbledon, which starts next week. Two players from the Steubenville, Ohio, high school football team were convicted in March of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl; one of the boys was ordered to serve an additional year for photographing the girl naked. The case gained widespread attention in part because of the callousness with which other students used social media to gossip about it. "What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me. I was deeply saddened," Williams said in the statement. "For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved -- that of the rape victim and of the accused."


Rumored Kimye Baby Name 'Kaidence Donda West'

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have yet to confirm the claims they've named their daughter Kaidence Donda West, following a report that a nurse at the hospital where the baby was born last Saturday let the name slip.


Jamaican track star suspended

Veronica Campbell-Brown's agent insists one of the cornerstones of Jamaica's wide-ranging sprint success ''is not a cheat,'' even though the test results read differently. While her case is being decided, the three-time Olympic gold medalist will sit out and her country will try to make sense of one of its longest-held fears: a high-profile track star getting busted for doping. Campbell-Brown, or ''VCB'' as she's simply known in sprinting circles, tested positive for a banned diuretic at a meet in May and will serve a suspension while anti-doping officials rule on the positive drug test, island track officials announced Tuesday. After days of swirling rumors, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association said the 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion at 200 meters was suspended from competition while a disciplinary panel reviews the case. They said the matter is being handled according to rules of track's international governing body, the IAAF. Campbell-Brown's manager, Claude Bryan, said the accusation came as a ''shock to her'' and the 31-year-old champion is determined to clear her name. ''Veronica is not a cheat, she has, via hard work and dedication, accomplished a record on the track which is absolutely remarkable,'' Bryan said in a statement.


TV NEWS
FX has ordered an untitled sitcom that would star Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence as Chicago lawyers. The cable net ordered 10 episodes of the sitcom from Bob Boyett (Family Matters, Full House) and Robert Horn (Living Single, Designing Women). The comedy is about the two lawyers who come from “vastly different backgrounds who unexpectedly meet in court on the worst day of their lives.  Brought together by fate and greed, they develop a partnership and friendship, forcing each other to find the balance between the ethical and the unscrupulous in both their professional and personal lives.” The pickup comes via a 10/90 deal, which means that should the series meets its designated ratings during its initial 10-episode run, FX will order an additional 90 episodes (a la Charlie Sheen’s Anger Management).


Deputy Leo is patrolling once more. As long suspected, New Girl star Max Greenfield will return for the Veronica Mars movie, the actor recently confirmed. Fans will remember Greenfield as the young P.I.’s one-time love interest and a member of the sheriff’s department. Greenfield joins a cast that already includes former series regulars Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Percy Daggs III, Chris Lowell, Tina Majorino, Francis Capra and Ryan Hansen.


Hemlock Grove will continue to serve up scares. Netflix has ordered a second season of the original series from exec producer Eli Roth, the streaming service announced on Wednesday.


Pretty Little Liars is taking a (bigger) turn for the soapy. One Life to Live vet Kamar de los Reyes will guest-star on an upcoming installment of the ABC Family sudser. He’ll play a prolific swim coach known for sending his students to the Olympics.


Liv Tyler has booked her first TV gig. The Lord of the Rings actress has joined the cast of The Leftovers, an HBO drama pilot from Lost cocreator Damon Lindelof. Based on Tom Perrotta’s book, the project is set after the Rapture and tells the story of those folks who didn’t quite make the cut.