Wrestler gets star

Wrestler gets star

LOS ANGELES — It was a smackdown — Hollywood-style.

Vince McMahon, the promoter who helped turn professional wrestling into prime-time TV entertainment, got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday.

He humbly thanked wrestlers and fans before shifting into the cocky, evil Mr. McMahon persona he uses on World Wrestling Entertainment telecasts.

“I already know I’m a star,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “I’m the biggest star of all time.”

McMahon, WWE’s owner, was honored in the television category.

He has often appeared in the ring himself and helped wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and The Rock become mainstream show business stars.

Charges against Gere dropped in India

NEW DELHI — Richard Gere is free to go back to India — and he may have a new reason to book a trip. India’s top court suspended an arrest warrant Friday against Gere, wanted for allegedly breaking public obscenity laws by kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at a public AIDS awareness event last year.

“Gere is allowed to come and leave. He can’t be arrested,” said Anil Grover, an attorney for Shetty, after attending the Supreme Court proceedings.

Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice R. V. Raveendran indefinitely stayed the arrest warrant issued against the actor last year by a court in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Grover told The Associated Press.

Options on Neverland

LOS ANGELES — There could be a new owner riding the merry-go-round at Michael Jackson’s fabled Neverland Ranch this summer.

A public auction of the 2,500-acre spread in central California’s wine country had been scheduled for next week after Jackson went into default on the $24.5 million he owes on the property. However, the auction was postponed until May 14 by “mutual agreement” of Jackson and his creditors, said Julie Wagner of Financial Title Co. of San Francisco, the firm that filed the default papers.

“That allows us to refinance or sell the property,” Jackson’s attorney, L. Londell McMillan, told The Associated on Friday. He added that Jackson is looking at both options. “We expect to have this matter resolved well before May 14,” McMillan said. The extended date was first reported on Foxnews.com.

Today’s Birthdays

The former national chairwoman of the NAACP, Myrlie Evers-Williams, is 75. Rock musician Paul Kantner is 67. Singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly is 65. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful) is 64. Rock musician Harold Brown (War; Lowrider Band) is 62. Actor Patrick Duffy is 59. Actor Kurt Russell is 57. Country singer Susie Allanson is 56. Actress Lesley-Anne Down is 54. Country singer Paul Overstreet is 53. Actor Gary Sinise is 53. Actress Vicki Lewis is 48. Actor Casey Siem.