Sarandon under fire for calling pope a Nazi
Catholic and Jewish groups are condemning actress Susan Sarandon for referring to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi.
The Associated Press reports the head of the Catholic League said her comment was “obscene” and the Anti-Defamation League called on the actress to apologize to Catholics for the “deeply offensive” remark.
Miss Sarandon, who won an Academy Award for her role in the 1995 anti-death-penalty film, “Dead Man Walking,” made the comment during an interview Saturday at the Hamptons Film Festival on Long Island.
As first reported by Newsday, Miss Sarandon said she gave a copy of the book on which the film is based to the pope, adding, “The last one, not this Nazi one we have now.”
A telephone call to Miss Sarandon’s representative asking for comment was not immediately returned.
Lohan’s probation revoked after community service issue
Lindsay Lohan sported a new accessory after a judge revoked her probation: handcuffs.
The actress was escorted from a hearing Wednesday in handcuffs after Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner revoked her probation because she was ousted from a community service assignment at a women’s shelter.
Bail was set at $100,000.
“There has been violation after violation,” Judge Sautner said.
A city prosecutor said the actress should be jailed, but the judge said she was entitled to a probation violation hearing.
The recommendation is the latest legal problem for the 25-year-old Lohan, who was given probation for a 2007 drunken driving case and a misdemeanor theft case this year.
Judge Sautner set a Nov. 2 hearing to decide whether the actress warrants another return to jail, where she has been sent four previous times only to be released early due to jail overcrowding.
“If jail meant something in the state of California now, maybe I’d put her in jail,” Judge Sautner said.
The actress’s spokesman, Steve Honig, said she immediately posted bail. It was unclear if she had been released.
“Lindsay is hoping this matter will be resolved on Nov. 2 and the court will reinstate probation and allow her to continue fulfilling her community service,” Mr. Honig said.
The actress had been ordered in April to serve 360 hours at the Downtown Women’s Center, an agency that helps homeless women. Judge Sautner said nine of her appointments at the center were “just blown off” and she “showed up once and left after an hour.”
Miss Lohan has since started serving hours with the American Red Cross, but Judge Sautner said that would not count because it was not part of her sentence.
Wayne Newton’s home becoming a tourist attraction
Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton said a yearlong effort to turn his sprawling Sin City estate, Casa de Shenandoah, into a tourist destination is almost complete.
A promotional tour is expected to be held next month and Mr. Newton told the Associated Press he hopes to offer the first public tours by February.
Visitors will be able to survey the singer’s collection of European antiques and celebrity mementos - including Nat King Cole’s watch, a Johnny Cash guitar and a champagne glass used by Frank Sinatra to toast Mr. Newton.
“It’s going great,” Mr. Newton said Tuesday. “It should be open by January or February.”
The attraction initially was slated to open in December, but Mr. Newton said the project was delayed because construction permits were not approved as quickly as expected.
A museum, theater, visitors’ center and other attractions were being added to the property. And revised building plans submitted last month call for expanding the museum space and theater, where Mr. Newton will perform.
Mr. Newton received permission last year to turn his lavish home into a tourist venue after a bruising battle in which his neighbors said they didn’t want tour buses invading the largely residential neighborhood where the “Danke Schoen” singer built his 10,000-square-foot home decades ago.
The 40-acre estate features South African penguins, Arabian horses, Impressionist paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and 17th-century antiques collected from European castles. Some of the keepsakes were gifts from the mentors and friends who helped make Mr. Newton famous, including Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin and Jack Benny.
Mr. Newton, his wife and their daughter are expected to move into a smaller house on the property, ceding the main house to the public.
Soulja Boy on drug charge: ’I’m innocent, man’
Hip-hop star Soulja Boy proclaimed his innocence as he encountered dozens of screaming fans outside a bail bond company after his arrest on a drug charge in Georgia, according to the Associated Press.
CBS Atlanta reported that the artist said “I’m innocent, man” during the chaotic scene Tuesday as bodyguards rushed him into a waiting car.
Soulja Boy, also known as DeAndre Cortez Way, faces a drug charge after police stopped his rental car in the west Georgia town of Temple on Interstate 20.
Temple Police Chief Tim Shaw said police stopped the Cadillac Escalade early Tuesday because a light wasn’t working. He said officers found marijuana inside.
The rapper was released on $10,000 bond.
Carroll County officials say he was represented by attorney Kip Jones, who had no comment when contacted.
• Compiled from Web and wire reports.
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