Los Angeles - A woman charged with stalking Hollywood star John Cusack, 42, was handed a 5-year probation sentence after she accepted a plea deal. Emily Leatherman, 33, pleaded no contest, thereby avoiding going to jail if found guilty of two charges of petty theft and disobeying a restraining order, the KTLA television channel reported.
In addition the woman has to undergo psychiatric treatment and keep her distance from the actor for at least 10 years, a judge ruled.
Cusack, who did not have to appear in court, had a statement read out by the prosecution saying that he never personally met Leatherman. He hoped that she would receive good treatment, the statement said.
The stalker had been arrested in March in front of Cusack's house in Malibu. She had been served a restraining order to keep 150 metres away from Cusack already in 2006.
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Producer Scott Rudin leaves The Reader project =
Los Angeles - Producer Scott Rudin left the movie The Reader and is taking his nave off the project after a bruising battle with executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
The Hollywood magazine Variety reported that Rudin, who was awarded an Academy Award in February for producing No Country for Old Men, clashed with the producers over the post-production schedule for Steven Daldry's movie of the German bestseller.
Rudin tried to push the release of the Word War II romance starring Kate Winslet back to 2009, while the Weinsteins announced a December 12 release date.
Director Daldry is working hard on the Broadway version of his movie Billy Elliot. Weinstein Co said Donna Gigliotti (Shakespeare in Love), another producer on the movie, would be capable of finishing the work. During the work on The Reader to members of the production team, Sydney Pollack, 73, and Anthony Minghella, 54, passed away.
