DIVORCE COURT: Nick Lachey filing response to Jessica Simpson's divorce petition. Lachey contests the ex-couple's separation date, he says Dec. 13, she says Nov. 23. A judge will decide which date, which will determine value of their community property. He is asking for half.

BERRY'S BALL: Halle Berry writing "I will not make Catwoman II" on a chalkboard four times and acting out scenes from Monster's Ball in order to receive her pudding pot trophy as Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year from Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theater. Richard Gere will be feted in the coming weeks.

ONE NIGHT WITH KID AND SCOTT: Red Light District, the company that distributed the Paris Hilton sex tape, putting a 40-second preview online of Kid Rock and Creed singer Scott Stapp engaging in sexual relations with four female fans on a tour bus six years ago.

WEDDING BELLS, AGAIN: Lisa Marie Presley marrying guitarist and music producer Michael Lockwood in a ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, her publicist said Thursday. It's the fourth marriage for Elvis' little girl.

BONDING EXPERIENCE: Mads Mikkelsen joining the cast of Casino Royale as James Bond's nemesis le Chiffre, while French actress Eva Green will play Daniel Craig's love interest, Vesper Lynd, producers announced Wednesday.

ROYAL COMPARISON: Britney Spears telling People magazine that she rarely takes her infant son outside because she fears the advances of aggressive paparazzi. "I mean, Princess Diana got killed by one of these people. They're crossing the line," the singer said.

ONE DAY MORE: In honor of Les Miserables becoming the longest-running musical in the world, producer Cameron Mackintosh announcing Les Miserables is returning to Broadway for a special six-month engagement kicking off Oct. 21. Tickets go on sale in June.

YA MON: Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee scoring 10 nominations to lead the list of nominees for the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards, followed by Mexican popster RBD and singer Shakira with nine and eight nods respectively.

JACKSON MAKES GOOD: Michael Jackson releasing at the end of the month his long-promised all-star charity single benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to the Bahrain Prince hosting him in the Gulf country. Guest artists on "I Have This Dream" include Snoop Dogg, R. Kelly, Ciara and Keyisha Cole.

PATERNAL WOES: Per the New York Post, rapper-actor Mos Def not keeping up with child support payments totaling $10,000 a month owed to ex-wife Maria Yepes-Smith to care for their seven and eight-year-old daughters.

BRANCHING OUT: Actor Kiefer Sutherland's very own indie record label, Ironworks Music, launching its first artist via the release of the debut album from Rocco DeLuca and The Burden on Mar. 21.

HITTING THE ROAD: R&B Diva Tony Braxton planning kick off her first tour in over a decade Mar. 10 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It wraps up July 3 in Houston.

BIDDING GOODBYE: Tom Cruise and pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes joining Russell Crowe in bidding farewell to Australian media mogul Kerry Packer in a memorial service at the Sydney Opera House.

CODA: Ray Barretto, famed Latin conga drummer who helped introduce the driving percussion beat to salsa and scored a hit in the 1960s with the song "El Watusi," died in a New Jersey hospital Friday after previously undergoing heart bypass surgery in January. He was 76.

HITTING BACK: Attorneys for Death Row Records mogul Suge Knight suing several lawyers and defendants for $106 million, claiming he and his label were the victims of a fraudulent lawsuit.

GETTING THE BOOT: Misty Giles, a 24-year-old engineer from Dallas, becoming the third contestant to have her torch snuffed as she was voted off Survivor: Panama--Exile Island Thursday.

BUSTED: Country singer John Michael Montgomery pleading not guilty Thursday to driving under the influence, possession of a controlled drug and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon after he was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: A Corona, California, man arrested for copyright infringement for attempting to upload a copy of the film Walk the Line to the Internet that was intended for an Academy Award voter. He faces up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine if convicted.

HOLY FIRE SALE! A Hollywood memorabilia collector believes he can get as much as $100,000 from selling George Clooney's nipple suit from Batman & Robin when that and other items go up for auction on Mar. 31.

THE MUSE: Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank signing a three-year contract to be the celebrity face of luxury purveyor Guerlain.

SKATING TO MICKEY: U.S. figure skating champion Michelle Kwan taking a new job with Disney to be a celeb spokesperson for the Mouse House after pulling out of the Torino Games due to a groin injury.

DEAD-EYE DICK: Vice President Dick Cheney's sit-down with Fox News' Brit Hume on Wednesday attracting 2.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media.

AMERICA THE BAD: A Turkish movie, Valley of the Wolves: Iraq, starring American actor Billy Zane as an evangelistic local U.S. commander in Iraq willing to commit multiple atrocities to keep the Iraq population in line, setting box-office records in Turkey and other European countries.

LOVE ON THE BIG SCREEN: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Javier Bardem signing on to star in a movie adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez's classic novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, to be directed by Mike Newell.

BACK TO THE TUBE? Alec Baldwin in talks to join Tina Fey in an untitled NBC comedy pilot following the behind-the-scenes of a sketch-comedy show. It would be the actor's first regular TV gig since doing Knots Landing in the mid-'80s.

FOR THE CRITTERS: DreamWorks; Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Miramax's An Unfinished Life among the flicks set to be feted at the 20th anniversary Genesis Awards, honoring positive treatment of animals in news and entertainment.

KUDOS! M. Night Shyamalan set to be honored as ShoWest Director of the Year on Mar. 16 at the closing night of the exhibitors' confab in Las Vegas.