FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, March 7, 2006

Teri Hatcher's startling confession, Dana Reeve remembered, Shaft director dies, Crash coming back, more

By Josh Grossberg Mar 08, 2006 1:15 AMTags

COMING CLEAN: Teri Hatcher revealing to Vanity Fair that she was sexually molested by her uncle 35 years ago. The Desperate Housewives star says she first told authorities about the alleged molestation four years ago, after a 14-year-old victim of her uncle had committed suicide.

SUPER LADY: Dana Reeve, the widow of Superman star Christopher Reeve, died Monday night of lung cancer. She was 44.

IN MEMORIAM: Shaft director and noted photographer Gordon Parks has died. He was 93. His other credits include the autobiographical film The Learning Tree, which made him the first black director of a major studio project.

COLLISION COURSE: Fresh off its Best Picture Oscar win, Crash will be rereleased in about 150 theaters this Friday. The film, available on DVD since September, grossed $53.4 million during its initial run.

BEING BAD BOBBY BROWN: Bobby Brown arrested over the weekend on an outstanding warrant stemming from 1992 motor vehicle violations. Brown spent about an hour in custody before posting $40 bond.

WHO'S BAD? Two men pleading guilty in a plea agreement Monday to secretly videotaping Michael Jackson in November 2003 as he flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara to surrender on child molestation charges. They face up to five years in jail and heavy fines.

BUSTED! Yanni arrested at his home in Manalpan, Florida, for allegedly roughing up his girlfriend in a domestic dispute, according to police. The new age superstar faces a domestic battery charge. He has denied the allegations.

MURDER RAP: An Indiana woman being charged in the death of former Jackson 5 drummer Johnny Jackson, after she told police she stabbed him with a steak knife during a fight.

QUESTIONING THE KISS: Madonna telling Out magazine's April issue that daughter Lourdes asked if she was gay after she kissed Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "I am the mommy pop star and she is the baby pop star. And I am kissing her to pass my energy on to her," the Material Mom replied.

ON THE REBOUND: ABC anchorman Bob Woodruff, who suffered serious head and body injuries in an explosion in Iraq in January, remains hospitalized but can now speak a few words and is starting to walk, according to his family.

FOR THE TROOPS: Susan Sarandon, Margaret Cho, and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, Michael Stipe, Rufus Wainwright and Bright Eyes among the artists participating in Bring 'Em Home Now!, a concert set for Mar. 20 in New York City marking the third anniversary of the Iraq War. The event will benefit Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace and kick off a national peace tour.

GOING FOR THE GOLD: Ben Stiller inviting Olympic figure skater Sasha Cohen to appear in his upcoming comedy about figure skating.

IDOL ENCORE: Last season's American Idol runner-up Bo Bice returning to Fox's talent contest this Thursday to perform his hit "The Real Thing."

WHAT A SURPRISE: One week after picking Sarah Stone on the finale of ABC's The Bachelor in Paris, ER doc Travis Stork saying the two have already gone their separate ways.

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Arrested Development star Tony Hale and wife Martel Hale welcoming the arrival of daughter Loy Ann Hale on Feb. 24 in Los Angeles, according to People.

HELLO, HELLO: U2 topping Rolling Stone magazine's fifth annual list of the highest grossing musical acts of the year, raking in $154.2 million for 2005, followed by the Rolling Stones and the Eagles, with $92.5 million and $63.2 million, respectively.

COMING UP ROSES: Axl Rose responding to a lawsuit filed by former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan with a counterclaim of his own, asking a federal judge to confirm his "ownership of his own creative works."

PAYING TRIBUTE: Residents in the city of Bristol in southwest England lobbying to build a statue honoring Wallace and Gromit after hometown animator Nick Park and Aardman Animations won their fourth Oscar on Sunday.

FOR HIS NEXT PERFORMANCE: Newly minted Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman joining Laura Linney in The Savages, a comedy-drama following adult siblings who are forced to take care of their estranged father who never cared for them, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

AHOY THERE! Also in the Reporter, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes set to star in Stardust, based on the fantasy adventure novel by Neil Gaiman about a young man who sets out to win the love of his life by promising to fetch a falling star and faces off against a pirate and evil witch.

FIRE HER UP: Susan Sarandon agreeing to guest star in a three-episode arc on Denis Leary's FX drama Rescue Me, starting this summer.

ALSO ON THE TUBE: Mary Stuart Masterson signing on to costar with Joe Pantoliano in the CBS drama pilot Waterfront, following a charming but ethically challenged mayor in Providence, Rhode Island.

CODA: Two-time Grammy-winner Ali Farka Touré, a traditional African musician and one of the continent's most famous performers, died Tuesday in his native Mali after a long illness. He was in his late 60s.