Boy George admits restraining escort

Boy George admits restraining escort

LONDON — Singer Boy George admits in a recording played in court that he restrained a male escort with handcuffs.

But the former Culture Club singer says he had no intention of hurting the man. He also denies he tried to assault the escort or that he swung a chain at him.

The singer with the real name of George O’Dowd is on trial in London for the false imprisonment of 29-year-old Audun Carlsen.

O’Dowd says in a police recording played Monday that he asked Carlsen to come to his apartment. O’Dowd says he wanted to ask Carlsen if he had tampered with his laptop.

The ’80s pop icon has a history of drug abuse and served a community service sentence in 2006 in the United States after falsely reporting a burglary.

WKRP is back on air but this time for real

CINCINNATI — WKRP is back on the air in Cincinnati — but this time it’s for real.

A low-power TV station has changed its call letters to WKRP, the same as the fictional radio station in the 1970s hit series “WKRP in Cincinnati.”

The station changed its call letters to promote its new digital TV signal. It formerly went by WBQC-TV.

General Manager Elliott Block says the new call letters give the station recognition because so many people remember the television sitcom.

Mario Lopez will host Miss America pageant

LOS ANGELES — Mario Lopez will again host the Miss America pageant.

TLC and the Miss America Organization announced Monday that the 35-year-old “Extra” host will serve as master of ceremonies for the live Jan. 24 ceremony in Las Vegas.

He previously hosted the pageant in 2007.

TLC’s programming vice president, Brent Zacky, said: “Mario and the Miss America Organization’s past relationship has proven beneficial, and we look forward to having him in Vegas again this year.”

Tina Fey’s husband explains scar on cheek

NEW YORK — Tina Fey’s husband is talking about something the “30 Rock” actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek.In an interview in Vanity Fair, Jeff Richmond says a stranger slashed Fey’s face when she was 5 years old. He says the incident occurred in the front yard of her house.

Says Richmond: “That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life.”

Fey says talking about the attack would seem like exploiting it.

Says Fey: “It’s really almost like I’m able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of ‘Oh, I guess we should use this side’ or whatever. Everybody’s got a better side.”

Rush salutes Obama for picking Hillary

NEW YORK — Rush Limbaugh has seldom been a fan of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the conservative radio pundit has given his blessing to her selection as the next secretary of state.

He calls it “a brilliant stroke” by President-elect Barack Obama, who opposed Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

Limbaugh weighs in on the new administration as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2008,” which airs Thursday on ABC.

Says Limbaugh: “You know the old phrase, ‘You keep your friends close and your enemies closer?’ How can she run for president in 2012? She’d have to run against the incumbent and be critical of him — the one who made her secretary of state.”

On Monday, Obama announced Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state.

Ivana Trump files for legal separation

NEW YORK — Ivana Trump has issued a statement confirming reports of marital discord with Italian entrepreneur Rossano Rubicondi.

Trump, who married Rubicondi in April, says she filed a legal separation agreement three months ago. Trump says she kept quiet about it because she didn’t want to ruin Rubicondi’s chances as a contestant on the Italian edition of the reality TV show “Survivor.”

Rubicondi is Trump’s fourth husband. After about six years of dating, they tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at her ex-husband Donald Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Says Trump: “Rossano wants to live in Miami and work in Milan. ... But, I am a New Yorker, and my family, friends and businesses are here. As the beautiful song says, ‘Que sera sera!’ ”

Today’s birthdays

Actress Julie Harris is 83. Actress Cathy Lee Crosby is 64. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 58. Actor Dan Butler (“Frasier”) is 54. News anchor Stone Phillips is 54. Actor Dennis Christopher (“Breaking Away,” “Chariots of Fire”) is 53. Actor Steven Bauer is 52. Bassist Rick Savage of Def Leppard is 48. Actress Lucy Liu is 40. Bassist Nate Mendel of Foo Fighters is 40. Actress Rena Sofer (“Just Shoot Me”) is 40. Rapper Treach of Naughty By Nature is 38. Singer Nelly Furtado is 30. Singer Britney Spears is 27.

Rocker sets first gig since plane crash

LOS ANGELES — Punk musician Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM will perform together for the first time since the duo survived a fiery plane crash in South Carolina.

The former Blink-182 drummer and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, will headline New Year’s Nation’s Los Angeles New Year’s Eve Party at The Lot in West Hollywood.

“I’m ready to get back on stage with AM and continue to rock the house,” Barker said in a statement. “I’m very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A.”

The performance will be streamed on the Internet and broadcast at other New Year’s Nation parties across the U.S. It will mark the first concert for the pair — who go by TRVSDJAM — since they performed at a free concert for about 10,000 people in Columbia, S.C., before boarding a private plane Sept. 19 for Los Angeles that crashed and killed four people.