Bangladesh will soon have two schools that would teach Punjabi language. The institutes are being constructed by Sampardai Kar Sewa, Sarhali, a religious organization that has already set up a Sikh Research Centre (SRC) at Gurdwara NanakShahi with professor Nirol Kazi of Dhaka University as its head.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has already conducted surveys of the gurdwaras of Bangladesh for their development. On the other hand, Sampardai had been carrying out kar sewa (voluntary service) since 2004 through Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Board whose patron is jathedar of Takht Patna Sahib – Iqbal Singh. Member of Mata Amar Kaur Memorial Sewa Society – Satnam Singh Dhanoa said that Sampardai would construct two schools that would teach Punjabi language besides other subjects to local students. "Initially, the schools would provide education up to Class V and would be upgraded later," said Singh. He said that there were more than 50 Muslim students at SRC.
There existed 18 historical gurdwaras in Bangladesh but at present, only five are left. The kar sewa is being carried out at Gurdwara NanakShahi, Gurdwara Sangat Tola, Dhaka and Gurdwara Pahar Tali, Punjabi Lane, Chittagong, where a darbar and a langar hall have been constructed. Sampardai chief Baba Sukha Singh said that they had appointed eight ragi and granthis for various religious services. Two schools would be constructed each in Dhaka and Chittagong. He said they would also appoint a permanent Punjabi teacher after completion of the school buildings.
He added that Bangladesh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Suresh Kumar and secretary Naraindas look after the management. As Bangladesh has no Sikh population, a large number of Bengali Hindus as well as few Muslims attend daily prayers.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
80,000 on benefits in UK due to addiction, obesity
Reuters, LONDON, April 23: More than 80,000 Britons claim payments for long-term sick leave because of obesity or drug or alcohol addiction, contributing to a 7 billion pound annual bill for Incapacity Benefit, the government said on Thursday.
Out of these, more than 21,200 alcoholics and drug addicts have been receiving the payments for over 10 years, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
"Far from being the safety net it should be, the benefits system has trapped thousands of people in a cycle of addiction and welfare dependency with no prospect of getting back to work," Employment Minister Chris Grayling said in a statement.
As part of its welfare reforms, the government has started reassessing the circumstances of 1.9 million people off work on Incapacity Benefit to see if they are fit enough to return to employment.
Ministers promise more help to those out of work but threaten sanctions against those who avoid getting a job.
The changes are politically risky and could provoke a public backlash, coming at a time of rising unemployment, state spending cuts and an economy weakened after a deep recession.
Sony scrambles to revive PlayStation Network
AFP, SAN FRANCISCO, April 23: Sony on Friday was working to revive its online network that connects PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles to games, films, and other digital offerings.
Disruption of service at the PlayStation Network began late Wednesday and had some suspecting that hackers followed through on a threat of vengeance for Sony's legal action against peers that crack PS3 software defenses.
The Japanese consumer electronics giant was working to figure out the cause of the Network outage, Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said in a blog post with the latest update on the situation.
"We wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running," Seybold said in a message posted Thursday.
"Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter."
The PlayStation Network outage came during a heavy playing week in the United States, with many public schools closed for spring break and an Easter holiday providing an opportunity for an extended weekend.
"Probably is hackers," a user with the screen name Drebin Bushido said in a chat forum below Seybold's message at the PlayStation blog.
"If they are saying nothing this mean they are hiding something."
Players were still able to take part in games offline on the consoles, but lost the ability to challenge others on the Internet, stream movies, or get other services.
Internet vigilante group Anonymous had vowed retribution against Sony for taking legal action against hackers who cracked PS3 defenses to change console operating software.
A message signed by Anonymous at website anonnews.org early this month announced an "Operation Payback" campaign aimed at Sony because of its cases against the two hackers, one of whom cut a deal to settle the case.
Anonymous argued that PS3 console owners have the right to do what they wish with them, including modifying them.
Donnie Yen tackles iconic Three Kingdoms general
AP, HONG KONG, April 23: Action star Donnie Yen has teamed with two of the filmmakers behind the hit Hong Kong crime thriller "Infernal Affairs" for what they call a "humanized" take on an icon from China's fabled Three Kingdoms period.
The epic battles of armies and wits from the Three Kingdoms era inspired the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and countless TV and film adaptations.
Some of the more recent major movie productions include John Woo's two-part series "Red Cliff," which starred Cannes-winning actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Daniel Lee's 2008 film "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon," which featured Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Maggie Q.
So how to break new ground when drawing from old material? With "The Lost Bladesman," which will be released across Asia on April 28, co-directors and co-writers Alan Mak and Felix Chong have zoomed in on general Guan Yu and tried to craft a more earthly character out of Yen's portrayal.
Guan is a historical figure who has been deified by the Chinese people as a symbol of loyalty and justice. To this day, statues of Guan are common at restaurants and shops in Chinese communities around the world.
In "The Lost Bladesman," Guan tries to escape after willingly becoming a prisoner to rival warlord Cao Cao so he can protect the wife of the warlord he himself serves, who is also trapped. But Yen's Guan is no superhero, the directors told The Associated Press on the sidelines the movie's Hong Kong premiere late Friday.
"Our perspective is a more humanized perspective. Previous adaptations focused on historical fact and period costume. Our starting point was human nature," said Chong, who co-wrote the script to "Infernal Affairs" with Mak. The 2002 crime thriller, co-directed by Mak and Andrew Lau, was later remade as "The Departed" by Martin Scorsese and earned the American his first best director Oscar.
Yen's portrayal "made Guan Yu into an ordinary person," Chong said. "The Guan Yu we have seen in the past is more like a god. He is so holy he can't even touch a woman. Our story was constructed out of the daily encounters of Guan Yu."
Yen, who also was action choreographer on the movie, said Guan is such a storied character that he is happy he could carry the role at all.
"The fact that I am able to portray Guan Yunchang is a breakthrough," Yen told the AP, using one of Guan's alternative names. "If you portray him this way, people complain. If you portray him that way, people also complain. It is very hard to meet people's expectations."
But Chong said he was impressed with the improvement in Yen's acting skills.
"I think this is the best performance out of all of his movies," the co-director said during the news conference for the premiere.
Besides Yen, now one of Asia's most bankable actions stars after the recent success of his kung fu biopics "Ip Man" and Ip Man 2," "The Lost Bladesman" was also boosted by the casting of veteran Chinese actor Jiang Wen, who played Cao. Jiang's stardom has risen in recent years with his successful directing efforts, most recently the political satire "Let the Bullets Fly."
"Everyone know what a good actor he is. To be mentioned in the same breath as him, to be able to act with him is a big step forward for me," Yen said.
"His acting skills are impeccable. After working with him this time I came away with the impression that he is almost a national treasure," Mak said.
Miley Cyrus has royal wedding fever
AP, LOS ANGELES, April 23: Miley Cyrus has royal wedding fever and says she'd love to be a flower girl because she knows their dresses will be amazing.
The 18-year-old admits she wasn't really into the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William until she read about the April 29 nuptials in a fashion magazine. Now, she's excited, plans to watch the televised ceremony and is really curious about what Middleton will wear, from her dress to her shoes.
Cyrus said in an interview that a visit to London earlier this month helped spur her interest as well. That's where she saw the British crown jewels. She called them the "most fabulous thing."
Actress Paz de la Huerta sued over NYC bar ruckus
AP, NEW YORK, April 23: First she was arrested, and now actress Paz de la Huerta has been sued over her encounter with a former reality TV figure she's accused of attacking in a swanky nightspot.
Samantha Swetra's lawsuit, filed Friday, says she was "maliciously assaulted, beaten and battered" on March 20 by the actress, best known for her role on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."
De la Huerta's lawyer said she would tell her side of the story in court, "with the real facts."
"Paz thanks all her friends and fans for their continued support of her," added the attorney, Jamel Oeser-Sweat. Swetra's lawyer didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Authorities say de la Huerta, 26, punched Swetra in the face and tossed a glass that left cuts in Swetra's leg while at a rooftop bar at the trendy Standard Hotel. De la Huerta faces assault and other charges.
"I'm a real actress — HBO. She's a publicity-seeker, a fake actress," de la Huerta later huffed to police, according to Manhattan prosecutors.
Swetra's lawsuit declares the actress' conduct "beyond all possible bounds of decency, atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community" and seeks unspecified damages.
De la Huerta plays a lead character's girlfriend in the popular HBO series, set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era. She also has appeared in films including "The Cider House Rules," "A Walk to Remember" and "The Limits of Control."
Schwartz serenaded by friends at NYC opera gala
AP, NEW YORK, April 23: At the end of a tough day, there's nothing like being serenaded with your own compositions by Broadway's top stars and getting a standing ovation for your life's work from a glittery Lincoln Center crowd.
Stephen Schwartz, best known as the enormously successful composer behind "Godspell," "Pippin" and, of course, the megahit "Wicked," is also a fledgling opera composer, and his first effort, "Seance on a Wet Afternoon," opened this week to decidedly mixed reviews.
But whatever headaches he may have suffered reading the morning papers must surely have melted by nightfall Thursday as Kristin Chenoweth, Raul Esparza, Ann Hampton Calloway and emcee Victor Garber celebrated his career during New York City Opera's spring gala at the David H. Koch Theater. They were joined by two stars of his current opera, Lauren Flanigan and Todd Wilander.
The actors regaled the audience with anecdotes about the composer, and at one point, Chenoweth, the original Glinda in "Wicked," became so choked up, she could barely sing the phrase, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good" — from "For Good," the emotional climax to "Wicked."
"Stop crying," instructed Schwartz, ever the pragmatist, at the piano.
Esparza gave his all to perhaps Schwartz's best-known song, "Defying Gravity," the empowering anthem sung by the green witch Elphaba. He also sang two songs from the long-ago hit "Pippin," and teamed up with Garber for a few numbers from another 1970s golden smash, "Godspell." (Garber starred in the 1973 movie.)
As for Chenoweth, who recently starred in "Promises, Promises" and found TV fame in an occasional role on "Glee," she sang the ever-popular "Popular" from "Wicked," along with the wistful "Lion Tamer" from "The Magic Show."
Before the show, Schwartz reflected in an interview on his experience branching into opera — when he surely no longer needed to prove himself.
"Yes, but that's what was so nice about it," he said, while acknowledging that his first outing had been harder than expected. "It gave me an opportunity to do something I'd never done before," he said. "It was very exciting to enter new territory."
He responded to criticism that his opera, based on the 1964 British thriller of the same name, tried too hard to be accessible to its audience.
"I fall on the side of the argument that opera SHOULD be accessible," Schwartz said. "There should be times when the audience comes out humming. I don't know why that suddenly became old-fashioned."
Next up for Schwartz is something totally different: a DreamWorks animated film, "Monkeys of Bollywood," for which he's writing lyrics to music by A.R. Rahman ("Slumdog Millionaire").
And will there be another opera? Schwartz didn't rule it out.
"I don't think in those terms," he said, "I do what's interesting that's in front of me."
Thursday's gala was conducted by Steven Osgood. "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" runs through May 1, the last production of the season for a company said to be struggling financially.
Schwartz, of course, is suffering no such troubles. "Wicked" continues to be the No. 1 show on Broadway after more than seven years and is a hit around the world.
Jim Belushi and Robert Sean Leonard team up
AP, NEW YORK, April 23: Backstage at the Cort Theatre, Jim Belushi is trying to explain how he and Robert Sean Leonard have just had a major breakthrough as they rehearse the play "Born Yesterday."
"We just made some intricate ... not intricate. What's the word? Intrinsic?" Belushi asks, flailing for the right word.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," says Leonard.
"Internal? No ... you know? The bottom structure?" Belushi says, frustrated.
"Infrastructural?" offers Leonard.
"Infrastructural! Yes. We just made a few infrastructural changes in attitude in a couple of scenes that are just marvelous," says Belushi.
Leonard looks at his co-star with a smile.
"That'll send them in droves to the seats: `We just made few infrastructural changes that will thrill you,'" he repeats.
"OK," Belushi says, not missing a beat. "How about, `We just made something really funny'?"
That's more like it.
Belushi and Leonard — two actors more famous these days for their roles on TV than stage — seem to have already gotten their chemistry down as they work on a revival of "Born Yesterday," Garson Kanin's 1946 award-winning comedy about sex and politics.
The play centers on a showgirl mistress played by Nina Arianda who becomes the object of a tug-of-war between her sugar daddy — a corrupt businessman named Harry Brock, played by Belushi — and a journalist played by Leonard, who is hired by Brock to smooth out her rough edges.
Belushi, 56, says that despite all the on-stage cigar smoking and hats and bourbon, the play still speaks to an audience in 2011.
"It's relevant in that it's going on today in our government, with lobbyists who are trying to get senators by giving campaign funds to put little amendments on their bills," he says. "They were doing that in 1946 the same way they're doing it now. Now, they call them lobbyists."
Belushi, whose show "The Defenders" is on hiatus, and Leonard, who plays Dr. James Wilson on the Fox show "House," have never worked together but have found kindred spirits on Broadway.
"I think Jim is a riot," says Leonard, 42. "It's hard to find a guy who can be physically intimidating and menacing who is also a good actor."
For his part, Belushi carefully avoided watching Leonard on "House" for a selfish reason — the younger man's show was broadcast on the same night as his old sitcom "According to Jim" and on a different network, making him the enemy.
"Petty, petty, petty," says Belushi. Then he jokes: "They were doing really good with ratings so I just assumed it was bad."
Both men have a long history with "Born Yesterday," particularly Belushi, who first performed it as a 19-year-old. He was recruited to play the same role he's doing now — Harry Brock — for a production at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
"It was the first play I did, it made me a star at the school and I got all my work from it," he says, laughing. "I am Harry Brock. That is the Falstaff of contemporary plays. I'm this guy."
Known more for his TV and film comedies, Belushi also has plenty of stage credits, including on Broadway in "Conversations With My Father" and as the Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance." He has been in David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," Sam Shepard's "True West" and John Guare's "Moon Over Miami."
"I'm rooted in the theater. Between sophomore year in high school and senior year in college, I did 40 plays," he says. "Then I went into Second City. I'm at home on the boards."
Leonard, who started performing at the Public Theater when he was 14, is making his 12th appearance on Broadway and won a Tony Award in 2001 for "The Invention of Love." His other Broadway shows include "Long Day's Journey Into Night" with Vanessa Redgrave and "The Iceman Cometh" with Kevin Spacey.
He has wanted to be in "Born Yesterday" for about a decade, ever since he did a table reading and realized the script was better than the 1950 movie version starring Judy Holliday. "The play is so wickedly funny and so moving," he says. "This play is vital and it's beautiful and it's funny in ways you don't expect."
Belushi is even stronger with his praise for the playwright: "I've done David Mamet, who I think is close to Dylan Thomas as can be with music in his writing. Garson Kanin is the conductor. The choice of words, the pauses are as musical as Mamet," he says. "That's why I get so frustrated when I'm one word off because I know I dishonored the composer."
Both men have had to adjust to doing theater again after years of TV.
"It's hard for me to not try to do a scene and get to the result within an hour," says Belushi, laughing.
Leonard agrees: "It's so fun to do something over and over again for months," he says. "It never gets boring."
That doesn't mean there isn't pressure.
"Every night you hear those voices of people sitting down and you know there's 1,100 people out there — 980 of them have never seen this play," says Leonard. "It's my job to give it to them tonight. And Garson Kanin is laying in his grave going, `Please do the best you can.'"
Jeremy Renner to take over "Bourne" franchise
Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: There's barely enough Jeremy Renner to go around.
"The Hurt Locker" star, who was also Oscar nominated for his work in "The Town" last year, has been handed an offer for the starring role in Tony Gilroy's "The Bourne Legacy."
Gilroy, who wrote or co-wrote the first three films in Universal's "Bourne" saga, has been testing actors for the last few weeks to play a brand new lead character distinct from Matt Damon's Jason Bourne (Damon isn't returning). But Renner is the guy everybody wants right now.
The problem, as always, is scheduling. It took a while to work out his ability to star in Paramount's "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," which he's shooting now for a March release. That followed filming his role in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," also for Paramount, which hits theaters in December.
Then there's the little movie "The Avengers," in which he plays Hawkeye for Marvel Studios and Disney. That comes out in May next year, but audiences will get a sneak peek at him in "Thor," which Paramount hammers into theaters in two weeks to kick off the summer.
"Avengers" starts shooting soon and will continue filming into August and September with Joss Whedon at the helm and a slew of other superheroes on set.
But Renner had been considering starring opposite Eric Bana in Sheldon Turner's revenge thriller "By Virtue Fall" in the fall. It's a project Renner has been flirting with for most of the last year. Now it looks like he will instead jump from "Avengers" right into his third (!!) potential franchise with "Bourne," then shoot "Virtue" after the New Year.
"Vampire Diaries" creator opens up about show
Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: One of the most talked about shows on U.S. network CW, "The Vampire Diaries," has given the young adult set an edgier, sexier "Twilight" for the small screen. But sustaining the fast-paced storytelling, balancing an ensemble cast and taking on showrunning duties on a popular series isn't without its challenges. Even with regular web buzz, the Thursday drama averaged less than 3 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo in its most recent airing.
It's been a busy few weeks for series creator Kevin Williamson ("Dawson's Creek"). The TV vet spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the creative changes that took place on "Diaries," maintaining the speed of its storytelling and what has changed in television since "Dawson's Creek" aired.
The Hollywood Reporter: "Vampire Diaries" runs through storylines very quickly. Are there any concerns about sustaining the pace?
Kevin Williamson: It's hard to do. In terms of burning through story, no. This is one of those shows where the story just keeps coming. We're already planning Season 3 and we already know what the big storyline is and the big thruline.
THR: What has been the biggest adjustment for "Vampire Diaries" since it began?
Williamson: One of the biggest changes is we've gone from a four-act structure to a six-act structure. It's been one of my biggest challenges, trying to keep momentum in the story. We're all about our twists and turns and to try to work all that through sometimes - with a teaser - a seven-act break, is a bit of a head-scratcher.
THR: The show attracts a similar demographic that "Dawson's Creek" garnered. How has that audience evolved?
Williamson: The audience has seen every story ever done. They know every twist and turn that you're going to do. Part of the way you can send them off-kilter and keep them intrigued is to move at a fast pace so you don't give them time to get bored, you don't give them time to think about what the next twist is going to be because it happens so fast.
THR: Was there a storyline you weren't 100 percent sold on in the beginning that ended up moving forward?
Williamson: I remember when we came up with the. I said we can only bring Katherine in once or twice. We had written the first episode and we were down on set watching Miss Nina portray her in that little black outfit and slink her way to set. I said, "OK, we might need to rethink this." We kept saying we'd see her in three or four episodes, and the next thing you know, Katherine took over. We recreated the storyline. She was always supposed to be the puppeteer and the mastermind off-camera, and we brought it on-camera. It gave us another true villain and for Damon another adversary.
THR: Has Twitter affected your ability to maintain a level of secrecy?
Williamson: I do feel like spoilers get out there, whether it be the blogs or leaks within the studio and network. We've had a couple of big twists spoiled on the Internet and I'm always sad about that. I do know that if something is spoiled and given up and read it, and then that episode airs three weeks later, it doesn't hurt us too much. Most people who read those blogs, they read it so they can learn the spoilers and it doesn't keep them from watching.
THR: What is the most frequent note you receive from the network or studio?
Williamson: We write so quickly that it'll be a note going, "Could you explain what they mean in this moment?" We're such a serialized show that if you didn't watch last week, you're not going to understand this week. So we try our best in Act 1 to reset, we try to stick in exposition to explain what's going on.
THR: What were conversations like casting a pivotal character like Klaus?
Williamson: I wanted someone who felt European, who felt old world. Clearly, I went to the accents. Joseph Morgan came in and he nailed it. He had the sense of humor that I wanted Klaus to have. The way we always described is, "Klaus can out-Damon Damon." We teased this season between Damon and Klaus, but there's so much material, it's an open minefield next year between Damon, Stefan and Klaus. The originals, here they come.
THR: Why do you think some of the TV shows you created in your career didn't last?
Williamson: When I brought "Hidden Palms," I wrote it on spec and said, "Here's a story about a kid who moves to Palm Springs and moves in next door to a teenage serial killer." It was a teenage "Dexter." As soon as it got picked up, they went, "We don't know about that 'Dexter' part." It was a little bit of wrong time, wrong network. I probably should've put that script in a drawer and waited.
THR: As a showrunner, what is your biggest challenge?
Williamson: The deadlines. TV goes so fast; you're filming one, you're editing one, you're prepping one and you're writing one all at once. You've got your hands in seven different episodes all at one time. It's hard to juggle from time to time, particularly if one has a hiccup.
THR: Any other projects?
Williamson: I'm halfway through a new feature and I'm halfway through a new TV show, but they're just sitting there waiting for me to dive into them. Both are in the thriller realm: one's horror and one's more dramatic thriller.
Stefano Langone never wanted to win "American Idol"
Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: Eliminated "American Idol" contestant Stefano Langone said on Friday he never wanted to win the talent show, but saw it as a way to launch his own musical career.
And, in an unusual decision, the 22 year-old said he had deliberately kept secret his true self and his piano skills from the 25 million strong audience on the most-watched TV show in the United States.
"When I came out for 'American Idol' I never really wanted to be the American Idol. It was getting that foot in the door in the music industry," Langone told journalists on Friday.
"It is hard to really show your chops on the show...One thing I really wanted to save and keep close to myself was my original music and my piano playing. That is something I want to show to the world (in the future) and I think will be very special," he added.
Langone finished in what he called "lucky 7th" place on the show on Thursday after finding himself in the bottom three on three occasions. He had been a judge's wild card choice for the top 12.
During the competition, Langone had been urged several times by judges to make more effort to connect emotionally with his material.
The ebullient, fresh-faced singer said on Friday he wanted to forge a career that combined the singing style of Stevie Wonder and Bruno Mars, along with collaborations with rap artists.
"I am going in a different direction than any other American Idol really has," Langone said. "There is a wide open crowd and market out there now and I am ready to pounce on it."
"When I am off this show, I am really going to show the world what kind of impact I can make," he added, saying he was "completely at peace" with his early exit.
Langone's departure leaves six singers -- double bass-player Casey Abrams, rocker James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Jacob Lusk, Haley Reinhart and country singer Scotty McCreery -- in the running for the "American Idol" title and a guaranteed recording contract.
The "American Idol" finale airs on the Fox network on May 24 and 25. Past winners include such Grammy-winning artists as Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson.
Mel Gibson breaks silence on domestic violence scandal
Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: Mel Gibson has broken his silence on his damaging domestic violence scandal, calling the leak of angry personal phone calls with his then-girlfriend last year a "personal betrayal."
The Oscar-winning director of "Braveheart" described the leaked tapes, in which Gibson was heard ranting, swearing and threatening Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, "terribly humiliating and painful for my family."
Gibson added that he did not care if he ever acted again.
"I've never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality -- period," Gibson told Hollywood journalist Allison Hope Weiner in a lengthy interview for website Deadline Hollywood on Friday.
Gibson last month pleaded no contest to a charge of hitting Grigorieva, the mother of his baby daughter, as their relationship broke down in early 2010.
He was sentenced to three years probation, a year of counseling and community service.
In his first public comments on the saga, Gibson said the tapes of phone calls leaked a year ago were edited, adding; "It's one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn't represent what I truly believe or how I've treated people my entire life."
"Who anticipates being recorded? ... Who could anticipate such a personal betrayal?" Gibson said.
Gibson's longtime manager left him, his movie "The Beaver" was delayed for months, and actors on the sequel to comedy "Hangover 2" refused to work with him because of the fall-out of the sexist and racist remarks on the tapes.
They were leaked to the media as Gibson was trying to make an acting comeback after making vicious anti-Semitic remarks during a 2006 drunken driving arrest, and the end of his 28-year marriage.
The delayed movie "The Beaver", in which Gibson plays a depressed husband who communicates through a beaver hand puppet, is now to be released in the United States on May 6.
But Gibson seemed unconcerned by what movie-goers would think of him as an actor now.
"I don't care if I don't act anymore," he said. "I could easily not act again. It's not a problem. I'm going to do something now because I want to do it and because it's fun."
Gibson said he was working on a "total bodice-ripping swashbuckling" comedy movie project in which he hoped to take a supporting role.
Actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster were among the few Hollywood stars to publicly defend Gibson at the height of the Grigorieva scandal last year.
Gibson was not surprised at the lack of support.
"Why would anyone want to speak publicly and drag themselves through this crap? ... Very many people are supportive of course, but you find out who your friends are."
Lindsay Lohan ordered back to jail
Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 23: Lindsay Lohan was ordered back to jail for 120 days on Friday after a judge ruled that a jewelry theft charge was a violation of her 2007 probation for drunk driving.
Lohan, who served two weeks in jail last summer, was taken from a Los Angeles court by sheriff's deputies after being ordered to stand trial on June 3 on a reduced misdemeanor charge of stealing a $2,500 necklace in January.
The judge in the case ruled that the evidence she had heard on Friday in the jewelry incident was a probation violation and sentenced the actress to 120 days jail and 480 hours community service -- some of it a morgue.
"She is to serve 120 days...forthwith," judge Stephanie Sautner said. "Perhaps she might see how women who have fallen on real hard times have to live and maybe she will change."
Lohan turned to her lawyer looking confused and distressed as she was taken into custody at the Los Angeles courthouse.
Lohan's lawyer filed an immediate appeal and Lohan's camp scrambled to post bail set at $75,000 to secure her swift release from custody pending that appeal.
Hours earlier, the troubled "Mean Girls" actress scored a victory when judge Sautner reduced her jewelry theft charge from a felony to a less serious misdemeanor, cutting the amount of time she would have to spend behind bars if convicted.
Sautner said however that the evidence suggested that Lohan meant to steal the necklace. Lohan has denied theft and friends have said she believed the necklace was on loan.
"I see the intent here and I see the level of brazenness with 'let me see what I can get away with,'" Sautner said.
Sautner said that Lohan has been punished a lot for her 2007 drunken driving and cocaine possession case, but that her behavior since then has been questionable.
Lohan has been in and out of rehab, jail and courtrooms since 2007. Once considered among the most promising young actresses in Hollywood, Lohan's career has come to a virtual halt but earlier this week she secured a role in an upcoming movie about New York mobster John Gotti.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)