LAS VEGAS FIESTA: R&B singer R. Kelly picking up six trophies Tuesday at the Billboard Music Awards, including R&B/Hip-hop Artist of the Year, Albums Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Destiny's Child and country crooner Tim McGraw scored five trophies apiece.
LOGGING OFF: AOL Time Warner chief Gerald Levin stepping down as the head of the world's largest media company, he announced today. Levin says he made the decision after a year of discussions with the company's board and "much personal reflection." He will be replaced by co-chief operating officer Richard Parsons.
WAS IT SOMETHING THEY SAID? Incidentally, Levin is the target of an inside joke in the new Warner Bros. film Ocean's Eleven. In one scene, Andy Garcia's character is heard rejecting a request by a "Mr. Levin" to get tickets to a Lennox Lewis boxing match. "I'm sure he has HBO," Garcia sniffs.
CRUISE MISSILE: Tom Cruise making a personal visit to the Naval Air Station Join Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday to thank them for their contributions--and to promote his new movie, Vanilla Sky.
SERVED: A judge in Santa Monica ruling that Paula Poundstone has served her time for her no contest plea to child abuse and infliction of injury on a child.
SOMETHING IN THE WAY: Hare Krishna followers in India still awaiting the arrival of George Harrison's ashes, following reports that his family planned to scatter the remains on the holy Ganges River. But Olivia and son Dhani Harrison had not yet arrived in India as of Tuesday, and a spokesman for the family would not confirm any of the details. Harrison died last Thursday in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer.
ONE FIENNES CAST: Ralph Fiennes signing on to play the title role in the new Hannibal Lecter prequel Red Dragon, directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), according to the Hollywood Reporter. Anthony Hopkins is returning as Lecter, and Fiennes will play the serial killer Red Dragon, who's on the loose.
HURLING ACCUSATIONS: Elizabeth Hurley reacting angrily to claims by former lover Stephen Bing that he is not the father of her child. "This is the first I had heard of this and the implications are very painful, especially as I am shortly to give birth to his child," she said in a statement.
INDEPENDENT WOMAN, PART 2: Cameron Diaz nearing a deal to costar in the Charlie's Angels sequel--a role that could make her only the second actress (after Julia Roberts) to score a $20 million payday, Variety reports.
MOUSE HOUSE TRIBUTE: Tributes for the 100th birthday of the late Walt Disney planned for today at Disneyland and the motion picture academy in Beverly Hills.
BRIDGING THE RATINGS GAP: Beau Bridges joining the cast of CBS' Thursday spy drama The Agency. In an attempt to boost ratings and compete against NBC's ER, the actor will play the newly appointed head of the CIA, and his character will appear in mid-January.
SUNSHINE FOR HITLER? Mel Brooks telling the New York Daily News he'd like to have Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick appear in the Los Angeles version of The Producers when it heads to the Ahmanson Theater in April 2003. The stars are only signed for the Broadway production until April 2002.
PRACTICING: In an unusual test, ABC planning to swap time slots for The Practice and Alias next Sunday night in Los Angeles and San Diego. Execs are trying to find out if The Practice can perform at 9 p.m. and draw more viewers into the rookie series Alias at 10 p.m.
NOTHING ELSE MATTERS: Metallica guitarist-singer James Hetfield checking out of rehab after undergoing treatment earlier this year for alcoholism and other unspecified addictions. "My rough road has become smoother reading the show of support from the friends I've met through Metallica," he said on the band's Website.
QUE LASTIMA: Paxson Communications taking legal action against NBC, claiming the network violates FCC rules in its proposed acquisition of Spanish media giant Telemundo.
FEAR THIS: NBC dropping one of its weekly episodes of Weakest Link next month to make room for the return of Fear Factor. Fear will air Mondays at 8 p.m. starting January 7.
PRODUCING KUDOS: Oscar-nominated producer Lawrence Gordon slated to receive the Producers Guild of America's David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award, at the guild's awards ceremony March 3. Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, the producers behind The Cosby Show, Roseanne and That '70s Show, among others, will receive the guild's David Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award in Television.
MY WAY: A New Jersey woman who donated a Jaguar once owned by Frank Sinatra to an auction benefiting victims from September 11 says she now wants the car back and refuses to give it to the couple who placed the winning bid. Anna May Capelli says she expected her car to sell for at least twice as much as the $20,000 final bid.
TOUGH ROLE: Matt Dillon cast to play the title role in Tough Guy: The Eddie Maloney Story, a film based on the true story of a low-level hitman, Variety reports.
SONG OF COURAGE: Neil Young writing a tune called "Let's Roll" about the heroic passengers in hijacked Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. The song is due out next month and will be on Young's next album.
THE FORCE IS HELPING: George Lucas putting some props from his Star Wars movies up for auction, with proceeds going to September 11 victims. Items up for bid in the eBay auction include a stormtrooper helmet from The Empire Strikes Back and the two-bladed lightsaber carried by Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.