NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Valerie Harper joins ‘Dancing With Stars’

NEW YORK

Busy cancer patient Valerie Harper leads a class of 12 amateur hoofers in the upcoming 17th season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

The cast was revealed Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” For a show that’s reached an increasingly older audience, ABC added an injection of youth with reality stars Nicole “Snooki”SFlbPolizzi of “Jersey Shore” and Ozzy’s son Jack Osbourne.

Harper has defied odds with her survival since being diagnosed this year with brain cancer. She recently filmed a movie role and joined a Nick at Nite reunion of “The Mary Tyler Moore” cast.

Other contestants are Bill Nye, the “Science Guy”; “Pretty Little Liars” actor Brant Daugherty; former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson; singer and actress Christina Milian; actress Elizabeth Berkley; “High School Musical” actor Corbin Bleu; “Glee” actress Amber Riley; country comic Bill Engvall; and “King of Queens” actress Leah Remini.

Complaint: Porn filmed in Fla. lacks condoms

MIAMI

A health organization that successfully pushed for a Los Angeles County law mandating condom use in the adult-film industry has filed a complaint about a porn movie made in Florida after it says filmmakers started shifting production to other states to avoid the law.

The California-based organization, AIDS Health- care Foundation, formally requested an investigation in an Aug. 16 letter to Florida’s Department of Health. The complaint claims that a Florida production took health risks by making pornography without condoms.

Human-rights group dings Kanye for trip

NEW YORK

The Human Rights Foundation has criticized Kanye West for performing at a wedding in Kazakhstan, joining a chorus of detractors who say he legitimized the human-rights violations of the nation’s president.

The rapper performed at the wedding of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson Saturday. The human-rights group compared the appearance to a similar visit earlier this summer by Jennifer Lopez to Turkmenistan, another country with a history of human- rights violations.

HRF President Thor Hal vorssen said in Kazakhstan, entertainers such as West would be imprisoned for expressing their views.

A salute to Burnett

WASHINGTON

Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will honor Carol Burnett as she receives the nation’s top humor prize in Washington.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is awarding Burnett the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 20. The show will air on PBS stations Nov. 24.

The lineup of entertainers who will salute Burnett on stage also includes Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Tyler sings at tiny club

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler made a surprise appearance in Nashville and performed two songs before the audience was ushered out for the next show. Tyler was in the audience Tuesday at the Bluebird Cafe watching four Nashville songwriters perform in the round, including Mallary Hope, Phil Barton, Lindsey Lee and Marti Frederiksen.

Frederiksen invited Tyler to sing “Jaded,” which Frederiksen co-wrote. Tyler then jumped on Lee’s piano to belt out the band’s power ballad “Dream On.”

Vindicator wire services