National Newsmakers

newsmakers

KISS dropped from Jackson concert

LOS ANGELES

The organizers of a Michael Jackson tribute concert have rescinded an offer to have KISS perform at the troubled show planned in Wales later this year.

Global Live Events announced Tuesday the band no longer would perform after fans, media and the singer’s estate noted bassist Gene Simmons has said in recent years that he was convinced Jackson molested children.

Jackson was acquitted of molestation charges after a 2005 trial in California.

It is the latest stumble for a show that is endorsed by Jackson’s mother and several siblings but is opposed by brothers Jermaine and Randy. Fans have protested ticket prices, the lineup and the show’s location since the show was announced last month.

KISS’ departure leaves Smokey Robinson, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green as the show’s superstars.

Suit against author of ‘The Help’ tossed

JACKSON, Miss.

Did Kathryn Stockett use her brother’s African- American maid as the basis for a character in the bestselling novel-turned-movie “The Help?”

For now, that question may go unanswered, by a court anyway.

A Mississippi judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday in which Ablene Cooper alleged Stockett used her likeness without permission in a book about relationships between white families and their black maids in the segregated South of the 1960s.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green granted a motion for summary judgment, dismissing the case because a one-year statute of limitations elapsed between the time when Stockett gave Cooper a copy of the book and when the lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit sought $75,000 in damages.

Stockett was not in court in Jackson, the same city where the book is set.

Cooper wiped away tears leaving the courtroom and went on an emotional rant outside the courthouse.

“She’s a liar. She did it. She knows she did it,” Cooper screamed.

The judge did not make any determination on whether Cooper was the basis for the character, Aibileen, saying the statute of limitations trumped those matters.

Rembrandt drawing is recovered

LOS ANGELES

It wasn’t some bold theft carried out by burglars breaking into a heavily fortified museum with high-tech alarms to swipe a masterpiece. It was a low-tech caper involving a distraction, an accomplice or two and a small sketch — an 11-by 6-inch drawing.

What was remarkable was the signature on the artwork: Rembrandt.

Authorities said Tuesday they had recovered the Dutch master’s 17th-century sketch, which was snatched over the weekend from a private art display at a luxury California hotel while a curator was momentarily distracted by someone who seemed interested in buying another piece.

The Rembrandt drawing, swiped Saturday night, was valued at $250,000 and was being exhibited as part of a private display in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the upmarket seaside community of Marina del Rey.

‘Housewives’ star’s husband dies

LOS ANGELES

The estranged husband of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Taylor Armstrong has been found dead in his Los Angeles home.

Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter says 47-year-old Russell Armstrong was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m. Monday in a home on Mulholland Drive.

Death was caused by hanging, and Winter says a suicide note hasn’t been found.

Vindicator wire services