Kiefer Sutherland, star of the TV series “24,” faces potential jail time after he was charged with drunken driving today.
The fortyish actor was charged with a pair of misdemeanor counts including driving under the influence, according to the LA city attorney.
If convicted, which appears somehwhat likely, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a minimum of 4 days in the slammer.
He remains on probation for a 2004 drunken driving offense which put him into a court-ordered alcohol treatment program.
If found guilty of violating the terms of his probation, he could face an additional 6 months, unfortunately for him.
At this particular time he remains free on a $25,000 bail.
Authorities have stated that they stopped him after 1 a.m. when they saw him make an illegal turn. He was then arrested after failing a sobriety test.
Kiefer, the son of veteran actor Donald Sutherland, is perhaps best known for his role as the terrorist-fighting agent Jack Bauer in the Fox TV show called “24″.
He has also starred in a number of feature films such as ‘A Few Good men’ which co-starred Jack Nicholson, ‘Young Guns’ which co-starred Emelio Estevez,
‘The Three Musketeers’ which co-starred Charlie Sheen and Chris O’Donnel and ‘The Lost Boys of 80’s brat pack vintage.
On Thursday, Forbes issued a list of the highest-paid television celebrities between June ‘06 and June ‘07 which put Sutherland at Number ten with a little more than twenty million dollars.
Will this episode force future episodes of his show to feature Jack Bauer bumming rides off friends next season, as one media outlet joked? I wonder if being in the shadow of his more famous father
has had an impact on him.
September 29, 2007
Kiefer Sutherland might do Jail Time
Uncle Kracker get’s One Year Probation for Assault charge
More sordid news from the rather disfunctional world of entertainment, lol……
According to several online entertainment news sources including the E! News network,
a Wake County judge today sentenced the entertainer known as Uncle Kracker to one year’s probation, fined him $1,500 and also ordered him to undergo an alcohol assessment.
Authorilyties claimed that Matthew Shafer (his real name), put his hand up a female patron’s skirt at a nightclub. She then slapped him, he slapped her back, and she later reported his behavior to an off-duty cop, apparently.
The Authorities then hunted him down to his hotel where they proceeded to arrest him.
He initial achieved fame working the turntables for childhood friend and Rocker Kid Rock. Then in 2000 he released his own album called Double Wide which had a hit and sold over two million copies.
His attorney fees should cut into a lot of those profits, I would imagine.
In any event, Kracker eventually left Rock’s group in 2002 and then released the country & blues tinged ‘No Stranger to Shame’, which was followed by ‘Seventy Two and Sunny’. In addition, he managed to score a country hit with “When the Sun Goes Down”.
That particular duet also featured singer Kenny Chesney.
September 27, 2007
Technician dies during Filming of ‘Batman Begins’ Sequel
Some bad news from the set of the much anticipated sequel of the successful
2005 release ‘Batman Begins’.
Just yesterday, an accident occurred on the filming of this Batman sequel, and was blamed for the unfortunate death of one of the technicians of the movie crew.According to the studio mouthpiece, the technician in question died after having hit a tree with his 4- wheel drive car. This source also stated that an investigation was taking place to determine the reasons of this most tragic event. Filming was taking place in London, England although uch of the movie was shot in Chicago, Illinois .”Batman: The Dark night”, is a sequel to the highly successful “Batman begins” to the same director and starring Christian Bale,
Michael Caine as his butler, Gary Oldman and also Morgan Freeman. A truly all-star cast….I know that I am looking foward to it. In other movie news, ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ led the North American box office over the weekend with twenty-three million in ticket sales.
Coming in seconf was the new comedy ‘Good Luck Chuck’ and the Viggo Mortenson Russian mafia epic ‘Eastern Promises’ also did well as it’s release starts to go wide after opening in selected cities last week. Mortenson’s acting in particular has been getting high marks and may recieve and oscar nomination.
September 26, 2007
The Pick Up Artist show
According to their ranking system, the VH1 reality TV show ‘The Pick Up Artist’
is among their top shows overall, somewhat surprisingly. The show stars the world’s greatest pick Artist named Mystery.
In the show his job is to train 8 guys who have a deficit in the love department. It is interesting to watch this guy
train these characters and eliminate their bad habits. They are AFC’s or Average Frustrated Chumps, the show explains.
Mystery himself is an interesting guy. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, he got good at clubbing after doing his magic performances.
This 6′5 master of the “Venusian Arts’ wears flamboyant clothes such a cape, goggles and top hat (being a unique dresser is apparently important).
This legendary PUA is highly respected by his peers. A few years ago he defeated another top Pick Up Artist named Tyler Durden
over several days in Los Angeles in a close pick up competition there. Other top master Pick Up Artists include Style, Juggler,
David Shade and Rasputin. Mystery has many accolades. When the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine writer Neil Strauss accompanied Mystery on a field
workshop in the clubs of LA, He reported that Mystery took a girl right off of celebrity Scott Baio. As Mystery signaled his wing to come over and engage Baio
in conversation to distract him, Mystery picked her up and Baio was heard telling the wing “Tell me he is not picking up my girlfriend right in front of me”.
That one must have hurt the pride. Back to the show: Every week a student is eliminated, and now it is down to just 2 students, Brady and Kosmo.
Brady would seem to have some momentum since he just picked up an exotic dancer. The winner get’s $50,000 and get’s to travel the world with Mystery for a year. It should
be interesting to see how this one turns out.
September 25, 2007
‘Die Hard’ Director Sentenced to 4 Months in Jail
John McTiernan, the creative force of such big action/adventure Movies as “Die Hard” with Bruce Willis and “Predator” starring the ‘Governator’, was sentenced to 4 months in jail today because he allegedly lied to federal agents.All in all, he was 1 of 7 defendants who pleaded guilty to being involved in the conspiracy & racketeering case of fallen celebrity detective Tony Pellicano, who was himself charged with illegal wiretaps and illicit database searches to eavesdrop on many Hollywood stars and industry executives.
Wow, even John McClain would have lowered the boom on him for that one.
In any case, the Reuters report states that he previously pleaded guilty to making false statements to Federal agents investigating Pellicano when he stated that he never asked him to wiretap producer Charles Roven, with whom the director worked on the 2002 action film “Rollerball”,
which was a remake of the 70’s action movie that starred James Caan.
United States District Judge Dale Fischer rejected a motion by McTiernan to withdraw his guilty plea. In addition to his 4-month jail term, he got 2 years of supervised release and a one hundred thousand dollar fine as well.
Pellicano, who had previously worked for movie industry big shots like ‘Mission Impossible’ star Tom Cruise & ‘Be Cool’ star John Travolta, faces as many as twenty years in jail for every individual racketeering charge in his 110-count indictment when he goes to court.
September 24, 2007
Mike Tyson pleads guilty to drug and DUI charges
Former boxing champ Mike Tyson pleaded guilty today on charges of drug possession as well as driving under the influence. This came about due to a routine traffic stop in 2006 as he was leaving a club. According to the AP report out of Mesa, Arizona by top Journalist and author Chris Kahn, he acknowledged to a judge that he did in fact have cocaine on his person at that time
and was indeed impaired when he was stopped for driving wildly on on December 29, 2007.
All in all, the ex-champ pleaded guilty to one felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor Driving under the Influence count and faces as many as 4 years and 3 months in jail when he is sentenced on November 19.
A felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a 2nd misdemeanor DUI charge were dropped as per the terms of his plea agreement.
This mess all started when authorities pulled over the fallen boxer after he was at Scottsdale’s Pussycat Lounge. A traffic officer stated that he saw Tyson wiping a white substance off the dashboard of his vehicle.
In addition, his speech was reportedly slurred as well. They stated that they then discovered several bags of cocaine on his person and vehicle.
I don’t know about you guys, but nothing makes me feel safer than knowing that their is a convicted manic depressive felon (rapist) with a history of (alleged) road rage assault,
flying around our streets (allegedly) high as a kite. But at least he seemed to be taking some responsibility for his actions, so I have to give him respect for that.
In any case, according to the AP story, Tyson then told the authorities that he used coke “whenever I can get my hands on it,” and that his favorite way to use it was to smoke it in cigarettes
with the tobacco removed. He also admitted that was using marijuana earlier that day and was taking the antidepressant Zoloft, the court documents show. Again, at least he seemed to be trying to be honest and for that I give him credit.
May individuals in those same circumstances would have lied thru their teeth: ” No sir, I would never touch that bad stuff, it would be illegal”
In any event, since the incident, he checked into a treatment program for what his attorney described as “various addictions.”
Defense attorney David Chesnoff has stated in the past that he has tried to keep Tyson out of jail.
Meanwhile, County Attorney Andrew Thomas stated that he should be jailed if convicted, mentioning that Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland in 1999. “He has run out of second chances”.
That is nothing compared to how many second chances that Daryl Strawberry has run out of.
George Clooney injured in NJ motorcycle crash
George Clooney and his gal pal were injured yesterday when his motorcycle
collided with a vehicle on a road that cuts across from New York City to New Jersey state.
Clooney himself suffered a broken rib and some abrasions to his skin. Meanwhile, his passenger, Sarah Larson,
broke her foot in the late afternoon collision. They were both treated at Palisades Medical
Center in North Bergen and then released, according to the star’s spokesman.
Apparently, he and Larson were going north and then sped up to pass on the right of a Mazda Millenia car which was about
to make a right turn. Fortunately, both of them were wearing their helmets.
At this particular time it is not clear whether or not the car’s driver even used a turn signal. The accident is currently under investigation
but I suspect some more facts will be released very soon regarding the crash.
Apparently the Oscar Winner and former sexiest man alive was in the New York City area to film the movie “Burn After Reading,” which also stars his Brad Pitt,
a co-star of many of his movies, plus John Malkovich and actress Frances McDormand as well.
Evidentally this accident will not likely delay the movie’s production schedule.
Meanwhile his next film, “Michael Clayton,” will be released sometime in October. He and Larson have reportedly been spied together at a few film events in the last month or 2.
I hope George get’s better soon. My favorite movies by him are ‘3 Kings and ‘The Perfect Storm’.
September 23, 2007
O.J. Simpson’s Attorney Fast becoming a famous name
According to a Yahoo news report,
O.J.’s attorney Yale Galanter has yet to review the facts surrounding the recent armed robbery charges against him, he maintains that he is in fact innocent. “My gut feeling is that you’ve got two basic accusers,” he states.
”One of them is in the hospital and one is in jail. Obviously, I do not think Simpson is guilty of any of these charges. I do think O.J. gets treated differently because he’s O.J.”
At the beginning of the road rage trial against him in 2001, Simpson evidentally had so much faith in Galanter that he entered the Dade County courtroom singing, “If I Only Had a Brain.” That faith turned out to be well-founded: he had faced up to sixteen some odd years in prison. Yet Galanter presented
a facinating and smart defense. It seems that the Florida authorities had his thumbprint on the pair of glasses worn by the man that Simpson allegedly cut off while driving his Sport Utility Vehicle in a Dade County neihborhood. But
since the print was actually on the outside of the lens in question, he simply argued that Simpson had not actually snatched the glasses off the man’s face, but instead touched the lens when he put his hands up to keep the other man from coming after him.
While that seems rather unlikely to me, this reasoning might very well have assisted Simpson in avoiding a potential prison sentence.
In addition, it propeled him to a major figure very quickly. Whenever he gets himself into problems with the law – which is quite often – Galanter is there. That included a DEA raid on Simpson’s house in the same year, a ticket for speeding in a manatee zone the year after that, a domestic violence call to his house
the year after that, and his 2006 involvement in the penning of a made up account of the murders of his former wife Nicole and her friend which some people claimed was really confessional.
Man, this guy is an attorney’s dream, he keeps them working non-stop.
In his early days, Galanter cut his teeth at the Dade State Attorney’s Office under one Janet Reno. Furthermore that is the place that he met his better half, Elyse. She was a court reporter and that is
where Galanter had been assigned as well. They have been together some twenty-one odd years, married for 8 of them.
Marcia Clark Reporting on the new O.J. Trial
Marcia Clark, who was made famous as one of the prosecutors (along with Christopher Darden) 12 years ago
as the opposite numb er of the “dream team: during the O.J. Simpson murder trial, isin yet another courtroom with the former Buffalo Bills football running back.
Only this time, Clark was part of the media army which was covering Simpson’s Las Vegas arrest for Armed robbery. As a legal analysist for “Entertainment Tonight” as well as “The Insider,” she had the
opportunity to tell everyone what she thought of Simpson.
”He skated on 2 murder charges, and he managed to get out of other charges of much lesser gravity since then. How did he manage to get himself back in trouble again?
“How stupid do you have to be?”, she was reported as saying by the AP. Well, I guess getting away away with murder, if he did indeed do that, will give you a lot of confidence
about little things like armed robbery, I suppose. But Clark did not stop short at simply calling Simpson and idiot.
During the interview she was also quoted as saying:
(The Simpson Book) “If I Did It,” (was) “hideous” and “all a lie.” Indirectly addressing his girlfriend Christine Prody, a Nicole Brown-lookalike who stood by him in court, she said said: “It made me sick to my stomach. Do you not realize you could be next?”
A Los Angeles jury found Simpson innocent of murdering his ex-wife and her apparent boyfriend friend Ronald Goldman. In the civil case, however, he was found liable for their deaths and ordered to pay $33.5 million.
According to Ronald Goldman’s father, Simpson has dragged his feet and generally avoided actually paying that money, as he was supposed to do.
Clark, who was a defense attorney before being a prosecutor and is now back to representing defendants in California appellate cases, stated that her legal training permits her to view any case with an open mind without a personal bias.
In addition to the Simpson case,
she has covered other celebrity cases for “Entertainment Tonight,” such as Robert Blake’s unsuccessful prosecution for his wife’s shooting.
Regarding the earlier case, She had no doubt about what the verdict should have been. But in the newer one, she is not quite so certain.
“The tape is very damning,” she stated, regarding the audiotape of Simpson’s confrontation with those he is charged with robbing. She then adds, “My attitude is, `Let’s see what else you’ve got.’”
September 20, 2007
O.J. faces charges related to an armed robbery, makes bail
Simpson was arrested just after 11 o’clock and is currently being brought to a police office, Capt. James Dillon said. Police are still determining charges against Simpson.
In addition, bail had been denied to the suspect, but was granted as of yesterday.It is unclear why it was denied and then granted. He had spent three days in jail before being released awaiting trial and it appears he will plead not-guilty in the case.
A few police officers were sighted entering the hotel where Simpson is currently staying; security reported that the authorities took Simpson out a side door shortly thereafter.
At least 1 other individual has been arrested and authorities said earlier today that as many as 6 suspects could be arrested involving the possible armed robbery which apparently happened in a room inside the Palace Station hotel & casino several days.
The sixty year old former NFL has previously stated that said he and other individuals who were with him were retrieving merchandise which belonged to him. He has stated to the authorities that no weapons were involved in the incident.
Authorities have stated that 2 firearms plus other evidence were taken at a private residence early today.