Patrick Swayze has checked himself into the hospital for observation after contracting pneumonia, A&E President Abbe Raven announced on Friday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.
Swayze, who has pancreatic cancer, was scheduled to discuss his upcoming drama The Beast. Robert DeBitetto, A&E’s programming senior vice president, explained his absence.
“Patrick has asked that I tell you that this morning he checked himself into the hospital for observation,” said DeBitetto.
“Chemotherapy can take its toll on the immune system, and illnesses are a part of that. Patrick wishes me to tell you that he’s very sorry he cannot attend, but plans to get back to promoting The Beast soon.” Earlier this week, Swayze told ABC’s Barbara Walters that his yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer put him “through hell” while he pushed ahead on his new TV series.
The 56-year-old actor also owned up to his fear: “Yeah, I’m scared. Yeah, I’m angry. Yeah, I’m [asking], ‘Why me?”’
Will Ferrell says audiences should expect the unexpected from his upcoming one-man Broadway show and HBO special about US President George W. Bush.
Ferrell, known for his Bush impersonation on the TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, said on Friday there’s nothing derivative about the production. He says it will surprise people with its twists and turns and what it has to say about Bush.
Executive producer Adam McKay says the show aims to be funny but also hold the Bush administration’s feet to the fire.
Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush is set to begin previews on Jan. 20 and open on Feb. 5.
Can he type with those shades on? Bono is now a contributing columnist for the New York Times.
The Irish rocker’s first column, a lengthy meditation on Frank Sinatra, appeared yesterday. He also did a podcast for the column.
Bono called the gig “an honor,” and joked that he’s “never been great with the full stops or commas.”
The 48-year-old U2 rocker has been an advocate in the fight against AIDS and poverty in Africa.
R. Kelly can officially bump and grind with whomever he chooses: He has finalized his divorce from his wife.
Kelly and his former wife, Andrea, confirmed they were officially divorced after 11 years of marriage.
A joint statement on Thursday said they had reached an amicable resolution concerning all issues related to their marriage and will share joint custody of their three children.
The 41-year-old Kelly — known for the hits Bump N’ Grind, I’m a Flirt, Trapped in the Closet, I Believe I Can Fly and many others — was acquitted of child pornography charges last year.
A convicted pedophile, fugitive filmmaker Roman Polanski, on Friday lost his bid to disqualify the Los Angeles County court system from considering his motion to dismiss a 30-year-old charge of unlawful sex with a minor.
Lawyers for the Oscar-winning director behind such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown filed court papers this week requesting the case be referred to the California Judicial Council for “selection of an impartial, out-of-county” judge.
But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza ruled the defense motion “discloses no legal grounds for disqualification” and was therefore “ordered stricken.”
Polanski’s lawyers filed a separate motion last month seeking to dismiss the 30-year-old case altogether, citing “extraordinary new evidence” of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.
Polanski, 75, an Academy Award winner in 2003 for directing the Holocaust drama The Pianist, fled the US for France in 1978 as he was about to be sentenced for his guilty plea on charges of having unlawful sex with an underage girl.
His bid to dismiss the matter stems from claims that the now-dead Los Angeles judge in the case was improperly coached by a deputy district attorney, David Wells, since retired, ahead of sentencing.
Those allegations gained public attention a year ago in the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, in which Wells spoke of his contact with the judge.
Polanski originally was indicted on six charges, including rape, for having sex with a 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and drugs. The director insisted the sex was consensual but pleaded guilty to a single count of having sex with a minor, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Vilified in the US media at the time, the director has earned a measure of sympathy in Hollywood for the 1969 tragedy of the murder of his then-pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, by followers of Charles Manson.
The victim in the sex case against him, Samantha Geimer, now in her 40s and a mother of three living in Hawaii, has said she believes Polanski’s long exile from Hollywood has been punishment enough. A civil suit brought by her family years ago eventually was settled.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS