newsmakers

newsmakers

Crystal helps improve Oscar viewership

NEW YORK

The return of Billy Crystal helped boost viewership for the Academy Awards but not enough to prevent a cultural oddity: The Oscars weren’t even the most-watched awards show on television this month.

The Nielsen Co. estimated Monday that 39.3 million people watched the Oscars on ABC on Sunday night, up from the 37.9 million viewers during the much-panned 2011 show where James Franco and Anne Hathaway shared hosting duties.

Crystal was called in after original host Eddie Murphy pulled out. It was the ninth time Crystal has done that job, and he delivered, despite worries that best-picture winner, “The Artist,” would not be much of an audience draw.

Nielsen said 39.9 million people watched the Grammy Awards on CBS on Feb. 12. That huge audience likely was due to the popularity of big winner Adele and curiosity about how Grammy producers would address the death of singer Whitney Houston the day before the show.

It was only the second time since the two events were televised that the Grammys earned a bigger audience than the Oscars. After the Super Bowl, the Oscars frequently are the second-most-watched TV event of the year.

Actress Lawless arrested in protest

WELLINGTON, New Zealand

Police arrested actress Lucy Lawless and five Greenpeace activists Monday, four days after they climbed onto an oil- drilling ship to prevent it from leaving a New Zealand dock.

Police removed the protesters from their perch atop a 174-foot drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki. Chartered by oil company Shell, the ship had been due to leave over the weekend to drill five exploratory wells in the Arctic.

Lawless and six activists climbed the tower early Friday to stop the ship’s departure and raise awareness about Arctic oil drilling.

One of the activists left the tower Saturday and initially was charged with unlawfully boarding a ship. All seven have been charged with burglary, a more-serious crime. All have been released and are due to appear in a New Zealand court Thursday.

Lawless, 43, a native New Zealander, is best known for her title role in the TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess,” and more recently for starring in the Starz cable-television series “Spartacus.”

Actress Sean Young arrested after Oscars

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles police say actress Sean Young was placed under citizen’s arrest after a fight at the official post-Oscars party.

The 52-year-old star of “Blade Runner” and “Stripes” was arrested at the Governor’s Ball at 9:25 p.m. Sunday and was booked at the Hollywood police station for investigation of misdemeanor battery. City News Service says she posted $20,000 bail and was released at 2:55 a.m. Monday.

Associated Press