June 21st, 2011
05:50 PM ET
50 cent to write teen novel about bullyingRapper 50 Cent is no stranger to the best-seller list, and now he's trying his hand at fiction. According to MTV, the “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” star is working on a semi-autobiographical novel about bullying called “Playground.” The book is set to arrive in January from Penguin imprint Razorbill, and will tell the story of a 13-year-old bully who “finds redemption as he faces what he's done.” 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, said in a statement that he wanted to tackle this project because he “wanted to explore how a kid becomes a bully." 
June 21st, 2011
05:48 PM ET
Is Crystal Harris keeping the ring?Crystal Harris never made it down the aisle over the weekend, but she did head over to the Playboy Mansion to see how her former fiancé Hugh Hefner was holding up. The 85-year-old tweeted that he and Harris “remain close friends,” and according to Radar Online, the Playboy mogul even let Harris keep her 3 carat diamond engagement ring. According to the website, Harris stopped by on Sunday to give back the pricey bauble because “it was the right thing to do,” but Hefner told her to keep the jewelry as well as a Bentley he'd purchased for her. 
June 21st, 2011
05:39 PM ET
Penn Badgley to portray Jeff Buckley in biopicJames Franco and Robert Pattinson were rumored to be in the running to portray late singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, but 24-year-old Penn Badgley was the one to snag the role. The “Gossip Girl” and “Easy A” actor will star in the film “Greetings from Tim Buckley,” a biopic that will follow Jeff Buckley’s journey up to his famed 1991 performance at a tribute concert for his father. Thanks to a romance with a young woman working at the concert, Buckley comes to understand the father who abandoned him. Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert, who is overseeing the project, told Australian paper the Sunday Mail that the actor who lands the part "will need a lot of self-discipline because they won't be able to fake it...It's going to take a phenomenal set of skills,” and Badgley seems to understand the pressure. 
June 21st, 2011
05:36 PM ET
Warner Bros. settles 'Hangover' tattoo lawsuitA copyright infringement lawsuit didn’t delay “The Hangover Part II’s” release in theaters, and it won’t affect the film’s transition to DVD, either. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has settled with the tattooist who claimed the ink Ed Helms sports in the comedy infringes on the distinct copyrighted art boxer Mike Tyson has emblazoned on his face. The artist, S. Victor Whitmill, initially tried to stop “Hangover II’s” May 26 release but a judge ruled that the laugh fest was to arrive in theaters as planned, although the case was to move forward. 
June 21st, 2011
03:10 PM ET
Everyone’s a Critic: Stop changing my show's formatLast week, the third season of “Top Chef: Masters” wrapped up, and my immediate response was that congratulations were in order… to all of us viewers who made it through the entire wretched season. The problem wasn’t that the chefs weren’t talented. It was that the producers drastically altered the format of the show from the first two seasons, and in doing so sapped it of any drama or appeal. In seasons 1 and 2, many of the “Masters” contestants were true celebrities (in the culinary world, at least). The show was also structured so these top-name chefs could actually compete. All they had to do was dedicate a weekend to their preliminary round, then maybe one week if they made it to the finals. 
June 21st, 2011
03:06 PM ET
'Killing' producer: We never said there'd be closureWhether you loved “The Killing’s” finale or hated it, quite a few of you tuned in to Sunday’s episode. The AMC show pulled in 2.3 million with the first season ender, a “solid” turnout, as the Hollywood Reporter put it. It’s up from the penultimate episode, which was viewed by 1.8 million, but still not quite as large as the season’s premiere, watched by 2.72 million. Judging by the strong reaction to the loose ends left untied, it’ll be interesting to see how many will return for season 2. Some of you have coined it as a brilliant ending, while others seem to have the same view as TV critic Alan Sepinwall, who has already said he won't watch another season of the crime drama. |
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