Celebrity News Headlines

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Elton John was treated in hospital in Los Angeles for a serious respiratory infection that forced him to cancel performances this weekend of his "The Million Dollar Piano" show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In a statement posted on his website on Thursday, the British entertainer, whose hits …

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jane Lynch is lending President Barack Obama a hand after Obama came out in favor of gay marriage. The "Glee" star narrates a new campaign ad for Obama, in which she lauds his push for equality. "In 2008 our country elected a leader who not only acknowledged the LGBT community, but who embraced …

(Reuters) - The British company that had been auctioning what it said was a vial of the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan's blood canceled the sale on Thursday and the owner will donate the material to the Reagan foundation, the company said. "We have negotiated with the consignor to arrange for the item to be withdrawn …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former first lady Nancy Reagan is recovering from fractured ribs she suffered in a fall at her Los Angeles home, her spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The injury forced Reagan, 90, to miss a speech by U.S. Representative Paul Ryan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday, spokeswoman Joanne …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for the hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault added another claim to her civil lawsuit against him Tuesday, taking advantage of a little-used New York City law that applies to "gender-motivated violence." In the amended lawsuit, Nafissatou Diallo claims the former International …

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Brad Pitt, in Cannes to promote his latest movie "Killing Them Softly", has no intention of following fiancee Angelina Jolie into directing, he told Reuters on Wednesday. The 48-year-old, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, hit the red carpet at the film's world premiere on Tuesday, drawing noisy …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is expanding her online empire by teaming up with the Huffington Post for a section dedicated to the chat show host that will engage her audience, the Oprah Winfrey Network said on Wednesday. The Huffington Post Oprah section will launch in August, and will curate content …

MILAN (Reuters) - Kazakh billionaire Goga Ashkenazi, best known for her opulent lifestyle and high-society friends, has agreed to buy a majority stake in fashion house Vionnet, the latest acquisition of a European luxury brand by new-money investors. The London-based entrepreneur with interests in the oil industry will …

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex during at least one party at his luxury villa outside Milan, a witness said on Thursday at a trial where he is accused of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Natascia Teatino told the court that a friend named Aris she had accompanied …

LONDON (Reuters) - Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, who with brothers Barry and Maurice helped define the disco era with their falsetto harmonies and funky beats on hits like "Stayin' Alive" and "Jive Talkin'", died on Sunday after a long fight with cancer. He was 62. The singer had colon and liver cancer and, despite brief …

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Michelle Obama showed off her neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago to some NATO visitors on Sunday, taking five other first ladies to a youth center for lunch and for a musical performance by the children. The women toured the Gary Komer Youth Center, which features a gymnasium, dance studio and …

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Getting married was a smart business move as well as a personal milestone for Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, with the timing of the wedding, the day after the company's initial public offering, potentially proving particularly advantageous, California divorce lawyers said on Sunday. Assuming the …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ronald Reagan's foundation expressed outrage on Monday at a British company's auction of what it says is a vial of the late U.S. president's blood taken at the hospital where he was treated after a 1981 assassination attempt. PFC Auctions, a company based in Guernsey in the United Kingdom, announced …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Terminator 3" actor Nick Stahl, who had been missing for more than a week, has checked himself into rehab, his estranged wife told media outlets on Sunday. Stahl's wife Rose Murphy told E! Online celebrity news website that the actor, who has a history of substance abuse problems, was "really working …

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - For the second time, a 73-year-old Japanese woman has become the world's oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, repeating her own record set 10 years ago, the company that organized the climb said on Saturday. Tamae Watanabe reached the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) summit with a Japanese partner and three …

BRESCIA, Italy (Reuters) - John Elkann, the media-shy chairman of one of the world's biggest car companies, got behind the wheel and demonstrated his driving skills on Thursday in Italy's legendary four-day Mille Miglia rally race. The 36-year-old head of Fiat, which now control Chrysler and was founded by his great-great …

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday named Rafael Reif, an electrical engineer born in Venezuela who has been the university's provost since 2005, as its 17th president. Reif, 61, replaces Susan Hockfield, the first female president of MIT, who announced in mid-February …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Peter Berg parlayed successful acting work on TV shows like medical drama "Chicago Hope" to an even greater directing career of movies such as "Friday Night Lights," which later became a TV series, and the Will Smith action flick "Hancock." On Friday, Berg's latest film, alien-invasion actioner "Battleship," …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears hasn't even taken her seat as the new judge of "The X Factor," but the pop icon is already getting a lesson in the media glare of live, talent show television. Spears had barely wrapped up an appearance in New York confirming she is joining the singing contest before the celebrity …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The second masseur who accused John Travolta of sexual battery dropped his lawsuit against the Hollywood star on Thursday and hired celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who said she may file a new complaint in a different court. Allred now represents the Atlanta-based man, known as John Doe No. 2, as …

(Reuters) - Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wed longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday, announcing the nuptials through a status update on the social networking site. The 28-year-old billionaire's wedding took place a day after Facebook's initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday. …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans bid farewell to renowned author Carlos Fuentes on Wednesday in an emotional tribute attended by the president and the country's most prominent intellectuals before a planned burial in France. Fuentes, who died suddenly on Tuesday at 83 after an internal hemorrhage, was one of Latin America's …

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Kazuo Okada, the Japanese billionaire engaged in a fierce legal battle with Las Vegas casino tycoon Steve Wynn, is diversifying his pachinko company with a string of his own restaurants and is negotiating to build a casino resort in South Korea. On Tuesday, Okada opened a 25,000-square-foot fine dining …