SETTLED: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have settled their defamation suit against the Star tabloid over a story that alleged the celeb twosome required a sex coach while filming Eyes Wide Shut
CRUISE-KIDMAN ADD: The Star will donate an undisclosed sum of money to charity and is running a full retraction in its current issue.
SMASHING EXPERIENCE: Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage unhurt after the chauffeured Bentley he was so elegantly riding in was struck by another car, Thursday in Burbank, California.
TAKE THAT! Legally plagued boy band 'N Sync bashing creator Louis Pearlman for his $150 million lawsuit, labeling it "artist exploitation."
BEAT IT: Suddenly single Michael Jackson canceling his doubleheader Y2K shows in Hawaii and Australia to finish a new album.
PITT STOP: Fight Club hunk Brad Pitt in talks to star as a novelist in the upcoming drama Urban Townies, Daily Variety says. See Dotted Line for more casting news.
RINGS TOSS: Just days after shooting begans, the highly anticipated Lord of the Rings trilogy losing actor Stuart Townsend, who was set to play the dual character(s), Strider/Aragorn.
RING ADD: No official word on the reason for the departure, but G.I. Jane's Viggo Mortensen in talks to replace him, Variety says.
TICKED OFF: Hollywood heavy-hitters Robert De Niro and Miramax's Bob and Harvey Weinstein blasting New York's mayor for allegedly reneging on a done deal for their new film studio in Brooklyn.
ULTIMATE SOUVENIR: The Oskar Schindler list--à la Schindler's List--found in a suitcase in Suttgart, Germany. The businessman's work order helped save Jews from the Holocast.
THE UN-MOVIE MOVIE: Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis to shoot his latest entirely with digital cameras. Called Time Code 2000, the thriller also will rely on improv acting.
HOT BLUE FANS: Following reports NYPD Blue may lose its longtime Tuesday night bearth, ABC's Internet message board flooded with complaints.
DAVE WAS A DOUZY: Farrah Fawcett's return to the Dave Letterman show Wednesday night was the highest rated show of its season.
HOMERUN! Post-season baseball ratings up a whopping 21 percent over 1998 for Wednesday's playoff matchup on Fox between bitter rivals the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
BEAM HIM UP: World Wrestling Federation champ The Rock to guest star on a February episode of UPN's Star Trek: Voyager.
I'LL HAVE A...RICKY! Popster Ricky Martin starring in Pepsi-Cola commercial for Hispanic television titled "Bottles."
STAIRWAY TO COURT? Lawyers for Led Zeppelin ordering the the owner of Website www.ledzeppelin.com to turn over the URL--or face a lawsuit.
RAGE AGAINST RAGE: A pro-life group urging a boycott of Rage Against the Machine on the grounds of the rappin' metal band is "anti-Christian."
OPERA GETS FOLKY: Classic Bob Dylan lyrics to be set to classical music and belted out by soprano diva Sylvia McNair in the upcoming opera The Ghosts of Versailles, USA Today says.
PAYBACK? A portion of the proceeds from a new Woodstock '99 double CD and home video to support Tori Amos' Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), a hotline for victims of rape.
MOM ALWAYS SAID DON'T SKYDIVE IN THE HOUSE: Erstwhile Greg Brady, aka actor Barry Williams, jumped out of a plane in North Carolina to promote his new CD, The Return of Johnny Bravo.
RIDE ON: Actor Peter Fonda celebrating the 30th anniversary of 1969 flick Easy Rider at The Big Easy Ride Festival in New Orleans, which kicks off today.
PINNED: The AFI Associates, a support group for the American Film Institute, awarding Henry Fonda's family for "creative contributions that have enhanced the entertainment community."
FIRE BREATHERS: Actor Woody Harrelson among a slew of celebs hitting the campus circuit with the spoken word "Spitfire Tour," starting Saturday at the University of Northern Iowa.
FIRE VICTIM: Tony-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley unharmed after a fire destroyed her New York City apartment Thursday.
ROAD TO RECOVERY: Price Is Right host Bob Barker returning to work October 25, following last month's health scare.
HONORED: Playwright Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for being a "moral beacon" of American literature.
SO LONG: Veteran character actor Richard B. Shull, who was appearing in Broadway's Epic Proportions, died Thursday of a heart attack. He was 70.
FAREWELL: Actor Lawrence McCoy Jr., who appeared in My So Called Life and Ill Gotten Gains, was shot to death in the Los Angeles area Monday. He was 25.