Alessandra Benedetti / Getty Images

Sorry, Kirstie Alley. It seems the Free Roman Polanski Brigade has won out. Or has it?

The Swiss Criminal Court today accepted the Oscar-winning filmmaker's $4.5 million cash bail deal that would allow him to leave a Zurich jail for house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Swiss chalet.

Naturally, Swiss authorities aren't so keen on the idea of letting their prize catch go, given his history of running from the law. Two previous requests by his attorneys were rejected outright.

This time, however, the price was right. While the justice minister says he won't appeal the bail decision, the 72-year-old The Pianist director will likely remain in lockup for a couple more days before being released.

Once out, he will be under close watch as officials continue weighing whether to extradite him back to California to face charges of having unlawful sex with a minor.

________

Read what Kirstie Alley has to say about Roman Polanski (and this reporter) here.

Kevin Mazur/AMA 2009/Getty Images; Barry King/Getty Images

Ojani Noa says he's moved on since his brief marriage to Jennifer Lopez more than a decade ago.

Minus the 12-year-old home movies he's peddling and his desire to make a feature-length comedy that touches on their courtship, that is.

Noa, 35, has admitted to trying to sell footage of himself and Lopez from back in the day, but, he added, there is no graphic sexual activity on the video—and therefore no one should be making such a big deal about it.

"They think I have a sex tape with her and that I'm trying to sell it," Noa says in an exclusive interview with E! News. "My tape is from our honeymoon, the wedding, us hanging out. There's no nudity—maybe one spanking.

"There's moments of her fighting with her mom...couples having fun and kissing. If someone has a sex tape, it's not me."

Keep Reading

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Moms can be embarrassing, even—or maybe especially—if you're Oprah Winfrey.

Luckily, the big O's mama is once again leaving the headline-grabbing to her daughter, thanks to the recent settlement of the lawsuit filed against her for failing to make good on a $155,547 debt at a Wisconsin clothing boutique.

Valentina Inc. filed suit against Vernita Lee in July 2008 after the Oprah-birther failed to make good on her minimum monthly payments. Attorneys for Lee played the blame game in their defense, saying the store was at fault for extending her a line of credit in the first place, what with her history of less than stellar repayment practices.

Still, the suit has now been settled and will remain sealed, giving some credence to the report that it was Oprah herself who stepped in to bail out her mother. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the store will receive a partial payment of what was owed.

"We're happy with what transpired," Valentina co-owner Tony Chirchirillo told the paper. "We can get on with our lives; they can get on with theirs."

A judge still needs to sign off on the secret settlement, and a hearing to do just that has been scheduled for Dec. 7.

________

Did you hear? Oprah's gonna be out of a job soon. And by soon, we mean in 22 months.

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

They fought the law and the law won some and lost some.

After about 12 hours of deliberations, a jury found Ohio lawman Barry Carpenter guilty of receiving stolen property, theft in office and tampering with evidence in connection with a break-in at the home of the surrogate who carried Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's twin daughters to term.

Carpenter, who's been suspended from his post as chief of the Martin Ferry Police Department, was acquitted of burglary and unauthorized used of property or services. He had been accused of breaking into Ross' place in May to rustle up some pregnancy info to sell to the tabloids.

Ross testified last week that she noticed that her belongings had been pawed through, plus ultrasound pictures and some tax documents were missing. A paparazzo ultimately informed her of the scheme, she said.

Carpenter admitted to being in Ross' home, but only because he saw a door open. While inside, he testified, he took photos of Ross' surrogacy file containing ultrasound pics and a plaster cast of a pregnant stomach and later showed them to paparazzi.

Keep Reading

John Shearer/Getty Images

The guy who allegedly went to great lengths to show the world what ESPN's Erin Andrews looks like naked ain't going away quietly.

No. 1 Fan Michael David Barrett pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles this morning to a federal charge of interstate stalking. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The trial is scheduled for Jan. 12 before United States District Judge Manuel Real, U.S. Attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek confirms to E! News.

Last week, evidence was submitted claiming that the 47-year-old Illinois man followed the sports announcer to Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee and Nashville, where he allegedly shot his peephole video.

________

Keep up with the story right here.

Scott Suchman / Getty Images

Well, that's one less legal headache Howard K. Stern has to worry about.

With a criminal trial looming on the question of whether he conspired to drug Anna Nicole Smith, the lawyer has settled a $60 million defamation suit he filed against former MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby over a tawdry tome she wrote.

A petition for dismissal was filed on Friday, Stern attorney Steve Sadow confirms to E! News, but he would not comment further "pursuant to the terms of the settlement."

That sound you're hearing is the husky-voiced journo clearing her throat in relief.

Stern was seeking big bucks for several blockbuster allegations in Cosby's Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death that he insisted were outright lies.

Cosby falsely claimed Stern engaged in sexual romps with Smith's baby daddy Larry Birkhead and also suggested the former paternity foes hatched a secret deal in which Stern agreed to support Birkhead's eventually successful bid to gain custody over Dannielynn in exchange for the celebrity photographer backing Stern to remain as executor of the late Playmate's estate.

Earlier this year, Stern dropped similar defamation claims against former Smith bodyguard Mark Speer, whom Stern claimed was Cosby's main source. Stern is still seeking punitive damages against defendant Elizabeth "Jackie" Hatten, a sister of one of Smith's ex-beaus.

After all, he's got his own legal bills to pay.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller

________

See little Dannielynn in her own gallery, Growing Up in Anna Nicole's Shadow.

Brad Barket/Getty Images

Jon Gosselin came bearing gifts. He left one giant step closer to losing a wife.

The artists otherwise known as Jon & Kate met face to face at a Pennsylvania law office on Saturday for a daylong arbitration meeting to essentially put a stake in their marriage.

Sources close to TLC's former fun couple say that the Gosselins closed in on finalizing custody arrangements for the eight and the division of assets. Jon even showed up with a bouquet of roses at the start of the meeting as a symbol of his newfound commitment to make things right.

But while Kate seemed amenable to the terms of their divorce, she left sans flowers.

The final episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (at least as we know it) airs Monday. Their marriage could be over before the new year.

(Originally published Nov. 21, 2009, at 8:33 p.m. PT)

________

Revisit the demise of a reality-TV marriage in our Gory Gosselin Gossip gallery.

AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Pool Photographer

Whoever said "everything leaves a paper trail" was damn right.

Dr. Conrad Murray has admitted to giving Michael Jackson the surgical anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, and police say they know where he got it.

According to additional search warrant documents released Friday, investigators found receipts in Murray's Nevada office showing that the cardiologist purchased five bottles the drug from a Las Vegas pharmacy on May 12 and had it mailed to the L.A. mansion Jackson was living in when he died a month later.

All of which should come as no shock to anyone, according to Murray's attorney.

Keep Reading

RIV/Fame Pictures

When Miley Cyrus' infamous slant-eyed photo leaked online, we knew there was going to be trouble. When a Los Angeles woman filed a class-action suit against the Disney star on behalf of her Asian brothers and sisters, we knew it was going to be a lengthy battle. But when it turned out she was seeking roughly $4 billion—yes, billion—in damages from the teen, we knew what outcome was inevitable.

In a win for common sense everywhere, an L.A. judge today threw out Lucie Kim's lawsuit, saying that while the photo may have been offensive, it didn't break any state laws.

Especially not the one Kim claimed it did.

In her complaint, Kim accused Cyrus of violating a statute that prohibits businesses from discriminating against minorities, specifically in terms of offering equal access to public accommodations.

And while Miley's clearly a budding empire, she's not, strictly speaking, a business. Or, so far as we know, offering shelter.

Keep Reading

Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

Not paying your taxes for five years? Understandable. Going to prison for three years as a result? Totally unreasonable. At least according to Wesley Snipes' crack (but not that crack) defense team.

Attorneys for the Uncle Sam-dodging Blade star have filed an appeal against the actor's would-be imprisonment, calling the sentence "unreasonable" and claiming that his tax-evasion trial—which came to a close last February after Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a return—should have taken place in New York and not Florida.

Nevermind that the 47-year-old actor's housing records showed that he lived in both states or that his legal team had ample time prior to the years-in-the-making trial to seek the location swap.

Keep Reading

Fame Pictures Inc

A blast from Britney Spears' past is going away for a while.

Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo who dated Spears at the height of her public meltdown two years ago, has been sentenced to 45 days in the slammer today stemming from a hit-and-run incident.

The 37-year-old shutterbug agreed to a plea deal to avoid deportation for running over a process server trying to deliver a restraining order on behalf of Spears' conservatorship. He ultimately wound up being permanently barred from further contact with the "Toxic" songbird.

Ghalib was immediately taken from the courtroom today to begin his jail time. After he gets out, he must complete 45 days of roadside trash pickup and 52 weeks of anger-management classes, as well as pay various fines and fees. And then he still has to deal with a civil suit from the run-in.

To paraphrase his former squeeze: Oops!

________

Adnan's not the only one facing legal problems. Check out E! Online's Court Appearances photo gallery.

Flynet

Eddie Cibrian is a one-woman guy, and he's got the lawyers to prove it.

The soon-to-be divorced actor has followed through with his promise to sue Life & Style, filing a defamation suit against the magazine today for reporting that he's been two-timing girlfriend LeAnn Rimes.

"Since the separation from his wife, Eddie Cibrian has not had a romantic or sexual relationship with any woman other than Ms. Rimes," the lawsuit states.

Citing an online article from Nov. 4 ("Eddie's Cheating on LeAnn Already!") and a story in the Nov. 16 issue (a more detailed version of the same), Cibrian's camp accuses L&S of doing nothing to verify its story, which turned out to be "rife with demonstrably false accusations."

And that article, in turn, led to "hundreds of articles" alleging rampant infidelity on Cibrian's part, the suit alleges.

Sure, it was that article...

Keep Reading