’Citizen Kane’ Oscar auctioned for $861K
The Academy Award statuette that Orson Welles won for the original screenplay of “Citizen Kane” was auctioned for more than $861,000 Tuesday in Los Angeles, the Associated Press reports.
Nate D. Sanders Auctions spokesman Sam Heller said bidders from around the world, including David Copperfield, vied for the Oscar.
The 1942 Oscar was thought to be lost for decades. It surfaced in 1994 when cinematographer Gary Graver tried to sell it. The sale was stopped by Beatrice Welles, Orson Welles’ youngest daughter and sole heir.
Mr. Copperfield, who was outbid in the auction, said he admires Welles not only for his cinematic successes, but because he, too, was a magician. Welles hosted Mr. Copperfield’s first television special.
The auction house declined to release the highest bidder’s name. It said only a handful of Academy Awards have sold for nearly a million dollars.
Michael Jackson paid $1.54 million in 1999 for the best picture Oscar awarded to David O. Selznick for “Gone With the Wind.”
Dutch editor fired after referring to Rihanna with slur
The editor of a Dutch fashion magazine has been fired after the publication used a racial slur to refer to Barbados-born Rihanna, setting off a social media furor and prompting an outraged response from the singer.
Eva Hoeke, editor of Jackie, and the magazine’s publisher said in a joint statement on Facebook that the misuse of a racial slur - “although without malicious intentions” - was cause for Ms. Hoeke’s departure after eight years on the job.
The slur was used in an article about how to dress your daughter like a pop star. Responding to criticism that flashed across the ocean, Miss Hoeke said at first that her use of the term was meant as a joke.
She then put out a Twitter item with a more explicit apology, saying she learned, “1. Don’t publish bad jokes in the magazine 2. Don’t pretend bad jokes to be funny. Sorry guys. My bad.”
On Tuesday, Rihanna responded herself via Twitter: “Your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!!”
Rather than a positive article useful to Dutch girls, Rihanna said Jackie chose to print an item “degrading to an entire race.
Christian Bale prevented from visiting Chinese activist
“The Dark Knight” star Christian Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit a human-rights activist while he was in China to promote a movie the country has submitted for an Oscar, a government spokesman said Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, Mr. Bale was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who lives under house arrest in eastern China, last week. A CNN crew he was traveling with recorded the scuffle.
Asked whether the publicity has been embarrassing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said he thought the actor should feel embarrassed, not China.
He said Mr. Bale was invited by director Zhang Yimou to attend the opening ceremony of the film “The Flowers of War.”
“But he was not invited to create a story or shoot film in a certain village,” said Mr. Liu. “I think if you want to make up news in China, you will not be welcome here.”
Mr. Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year’s “The Fighter,” said he wanted to shake Mr. Chen’s hand and tell him “what an inspiration he is.”
Afghanistan deployment awaits Prince Harry
Britain’s Prince Harry has said he will be deployed to Afghanistan for a second time - almost four years after his previous secret mission was cut short when details leaked, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Harry, who is third in line to the throne, told guests at a military awards ceremony Monday night that he would likely return next year, the Sun newspaper reported.
“I can’t wait to get out there,” Harry said.
Harry served as a battlefield air controller in Afghanistan for 10 weeks beginning in December 2007 but was sent home early after details were made public - first by an Australian celebrity magazine and later on the Drudge Report website.
He became the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a helicopter pilot in the Falkland Islands conflict with Argentina in 1982.
A spokesman for St. James’s Palace, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, would not discuss the details of when or where Harry could serve in Afghanistan. He said it would be a “matter for the military chain of command.”
The prince returned to Britain in November after two months of combat helicopter pilot training in the U.S. At the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, Calif., Harry flew Apache attack helicopters in the desert close to the Mexican border.
During training at the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field in southern Arizona, he fired missiles and rockets. During a brief break from maneuvers, Harry rented a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Scottsdale and rode the six-hour trip to Las Vegas for a weekend visit.
• Compiled from Web and wire service reports.
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