Patrick Swayze has checked himself into the hospital for observation after contracting pneumonia, A&E President Abbe Raven announced on Friday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.
Swayze, who has pancreatic cancer, was scheduled to discuss his upcoming drama The Beast. Robert DeBitetto, A&E’s programming senior vice president, explained his absence.
“Patrick has asked that I tell you that this morning he checked himself into the hospital for observation,” said DeBitetto.
“Chemotherapy can take its toll on the immune system, and illnesses are a part of that. Patrick wishes me to tell you that he’s very sorry he cannot attend, but plans to get back to promoting The Beast soon.” Earlier this week, Swayze told ABC’s Barbara Walters that his yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer put him “through hell” while he pushed ahead on his new TV series.
The 56-year-old actor also owned up to his fear: “Yeah, I’m scared. Yeah, I’m angry. Yeah, I’m [asking], ‘Why me?”’
Will Ferrell says audiences should expect the unexpected from his upcoming one-man Broadway show and HBO special about US President George W. Bush.
Ferrell, known for his Bush impersonation on the TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, said on Friday there’s nothing derivative about the production. He says it will surprise people with its twists and turns and what it has to say about Bush.
Executive producer Adam McKay says the show aims to be funny but also hold the Bush administration’s feet to the fire.
Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush is set to begin previews on Jan. 20 and open on Feb. 5.
Can he type with those shades on? Bono is now a contributing columnist for the New York Times.
The Irish rocker’s first column, a lengthy meditation on Frank Sinatra, appeared yesterday. He also did a podcast for the column.
Bono called the gig “an honor,” and joked that he’s “never been great with the full stops or commas.”
The 48-year-old U2 rocker has been an advocate in the fight against AIDS and poverty in Africa.
R. Kelly can officially bump and grind with whomever he chooses: He has finalized his divorce from his wife.
Kelly and his former wife, Andrea, confirmed they were officially divorced after 11 years of marriage.
A joint statement on Thursday said they had reached an amicable resolution concerning all issues related to their marriage and will share joint custody of their three children.
The 41-year-old Kelly — known for the hits Bump N’ Grind, I’m a Flirt, Trapped in the Closet, I Believe I Can Fly and many others — was acquitted of child pornography charges last year.
A convicted pedophile, fugitive filmmaker Roman Polanski, on Friday lost his bid to disqualify the Los Angeles County court system from considering his motion to dismiss a 30-year-old charge of unlawful sex with a minor.
Lawyers for the Oscar-winning director behind such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown filed court papers this week requesting the case be referred to the California Judicial Council for “selection of an impartial, out-of-county” judge.
But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza ruled the defense motion “discloses no legal grounds for disqualification” and was therefore “ordered stricken.”
Polanski’s lawyers filed a separate motion last month seeking to dismiss the 30-year-old case altogether, citing “extraordinary new evidence” of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.
Polanski, 75, an Academy Award winner in 2003 for directing the Holocaust drama The Pianist, fled the US for France in 1978 as he was about to be sentenced for his guilty plea on charges of having unlawful sex with an underage girl.
His bid to dismiss the matter stems from claims that the now-dead Los Angeles judge in the case was improperly coached by a deputy district attorney, David Wells, since retired, ahead of sentencing.
Those allegations gained public attention a year ago in the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, in which Wells spoke of his contact with the judge.
Polanski originally was indicted on six charges, including rape, for having sex with a 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and drugs. The director insisted the sex was consensual but pleaded guilty to a single count of having sex with a minor, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Vilified in the US media at the time, the director has earned a measure of sympathy in Hollywood for the 1969 tragedy of the murder of his then-pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, by followers of Charles Manson.
The victim in the sex case against him, Samantha Geimer, now in her 40s and a mother of three living in Hawaii, has said she believes Polanski’s long exile from Hollywood has been punishment enough. A civil suit brought by her family years ago eventually was settled.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from