Los Angeles - A California charity worker is suing controversial actor Sacha Baron Cohen, claiming that a stunt for his upcoming movie left her confined to a wheelchair, celebrity website TMZ reported. Richelle Olson, of Palmdale, California said the incident occurred in 2007 when Cohen appeared in the guise of his provocative gay character Bruno at a bingo even she organized for local pensioners.
According to the lawsuit, Cohen appeared in sexually revealing clothing to read out the bingo numbers and she was forced to take away his microphone when he used "vulgar and offensive language."
In the ensuing tussle she fell to the ground and was mobbed by three of Bruno's crew who "attacked [her] for a period of one to five minutes to intentionally create a dramatic emotional response ... while [they] recorded her humiliation and embarrassment," legal documents said.
She subsequently passed out and hit her head, causing internal bleeding that has left her confined to a wheelchair and walker ever since.
It is unknown whether the footage will be used in Cohen's upcoming Bruno film which is due out later this summer.
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Hirsch and Hardwicke head for Hamlet
Los Angeles - Actor Emile Hirsch is to play Hamlet in a modern take on the Shakespeare play to be directed by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The pair previously worked together on skateboard movie Lords of Dogtown. The reworking of Hamlet will be penned by Ron Nyswaner, best known for writing the Oscar winner Philadelphia.
Like the classic Shakespeare work it will centre on a young man who must decide whether to kill his uncle to avenge the death of his father, but this version will be set in contemporary America.
It will be produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (Milk) who said their "goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller. We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today."
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McCartney to rock Shea stadium replacement
New York - Former Beatle Paul McCartney is to perform the debut concerts at the arena replacing New York's historic Shea Stadium, where The Beatles catapulted to superstardom in their US debut in August 1965.
The concerts will take place on July 17 and 18 at Citi Field, some 44 years after The Beatles performed in the first rock concert staged in a stadium. The event drew some 55,000 fans and grossed 304,000 dollars, the highest ever take in box-office history to that point.
"I'm really looking forward to it," said McCartney, 66. "It feels right. It was great to open Shea, and if anyone had to close it, I wanted to be there. So now I got the offer to open Citi Field, and it's like, oh, yeah, got to do it. That's my venue."
Citi Field opened earlier this year to replace the since demolished Shea Stadium as home of the New York Mets baseball team. ********************************************************************
Heiress Paris Hilton heading to Dubai
Los Angeles - Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton is set to film a new series of her friend-finding reality show in Dubai.
The project could present problems for the notoriously hard- partying celebrity, but producers promise she will be on her best behaviour during the 17-day shoot of Paris Hilton's My New BFF, which begins later this month.
"We are very aware we are not making the same show we would make in Los Angeles," said producer founder Michael Hirschorn, who added that alcohol may be banned from the programme out of respect to the city's Islamic inhabitants. The plan is for the show to air in Arab countries and possibly in the US on cable channel MTV.
The show revolves around a group of contestants trying to win Hilton's affection and the title of her "best friend forever," or "BFF" to use a common text-messaging abbreviation.
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Cher sues over hit albums
Los Angeles - Cher is suing Universal Music Group for 5 million dollars claiming the record company engaged in deceitful accounting practices to cheat her out of the revenues of two greatest hit albums in 1999 and 2002.
The 22-page lawsuit alleged that the company improperly deducted television advertising and a service fee, and also funneled the receipts from the albums through a subsidiary in order to hide profits from the two records.
Universal Music Group has denied the allegations.
