Campbell blames medicin
Glen Campbell blamed his drunken-driving arrest this week on the accidental mixing of alcohol and a prescription anti-anxiety drug. "I'm taking Lexapro and you can't have alcohol with it, and I did. I forgot. That's just it in a nutshell really," the country music star said.
Campbell, 67, said he's been taking the drug to treat anxiety for seven or eight months. He was arrested Monday at his home after a collision at a Phoenix intersection in which nobody was injured. A witness had followed the car and called police. While in custody, Campbell became angry and kneed an officer, police said. He was freed on $2,000 US bail on charges of extreme drunken driving and hit and run. He was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer, but did not have to post bond on that count. The singer said he "fell off the wagon" Monday. "I think that old wagon, if I fall off it again, it'll run me right over."
Ballerina wins lawsuit
A Moscow court yesterday ordered the Bolshoi Theatre to reinstate fired ballerina Anastasia Volochkova. But the order, which the Bolshoi intends to appeal, doesn't ensure she will get back on the stage. Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi said her rehiring is no guarantee she will be cast in performances. "I certainly realize there is not much I can count on now in the Bolshoi," Volochkova said on NTV television. The court also ordered the theatre to pay her back wages since her dismissal in September. Russian television reports said those wages amount to about $6,300 US. A lawyer for the theatre, Dmitry Lobachev, said the theatre would appeal. The famed Bolshoi had fired the 27-year-old dance after a contract dispute, alleging that her weight made it hard for dance partners to lift her. The ballerina, who weighs about 110 pounds and is five feet six inches tall, has called talk of her weight "humiliating and absurd for Russian ballet."
Topless Diaz photos barred
A California judge has barred a photographer from selling topless photographs of actor Cameron Diaz taken in 1992. Judge Alan Haber granted a permanent injunction against sale of the photos and also banned photographer John Rutter from either having or publicizing them. Rutter, 41, faces trial on charges he tried to extort $3.3 million from the Charlie's Angels actor by threatening to sell the pictures to a magazine group in Europe. Rutter's apartment was raided and authorities seized the photos, which are being kept in a safe-deposit box. Rutter, free on $250,000 bail, is to be arraigned Dec. 8 on felony charges of attempted extortion, attempted grand theft, forgery and perjury.
Mob rushes Jay-Z concert
A mob of fans tried to force their way into a sold-out New York concert by rapper Jay-Z, resulting in six arrests. No one was injured in the crush, which began around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday outside Madison Square Garden. Police arrested four for disorderly conduct and two for obstructing governmental administration. It was unclear what sparked the crush or how many of the fans had tickets.
