Regis Philbin has hip replacement surgery
NEW YORK (AP) - Regis Philbin had successful hip replacement surgery Tuesday, and plans to return to his syndicated daytime talk show early next month.
An e-mail from "Live! With Regis and Kelly" says: "Word from the hospital is that everything went perfectly this morning during Regis' hip replacement surgery, and his doctor said that Regis couldn't be in better shape."
The show says the typical recovery period is four to six weeks, and the 78-year-old Philbin expects to return soon after the first of the year.
No other details were available.
Philbin had triple heart bypass surgery in 2007.
Judge keeps ban on release of Lopez video
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Home videos featuring Jennifer Lopez and a movie project based on them won't be coming to a screen near you because a judge blocked their distribution Tuesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant issued the preliminary injunction against Lopez's ex-husband, Ojani Noa, and manager, Ed Meyer, who have sought to distribute the footage.
Lopez sued the pair for $10 million last month, claiming Noa was trying to violate the terms of the couple's divorce and a confidentiality agreement by releasing 11 hours of footage. The injunction also covers a film project that Meyer and Noa have called a "mockumentary" about Noa's escape from Cuba and his life since then.
The injunction issued Tuesday will remain in effect until the case is resolved. Lopez's attorney, Jay Lavely, said it will now go into arbitration.
Lopez wed Noa in 1997, but their marriage lasted just 11 months.
An attorney for the singer-actress said the footage doesn't contain sexual situations.
Noa agrees, saying after Tuesday's hearing that the footage was shot when he and Lopez traveled to Cuba. He vowed to fight the case, although he didn't speak during Tuesday's hearing and wasn't represented by an attorney.
"This thing is not going to end here," Noa said, clutching an upcoming calendar of his modeling photos. "I'm not going to let them or her step all over me again."
He and Meyer said they plan to file a cross-complaint against Lopez. "We could sue her for the sky is the limit," Meyer said.
Lopez, 40, did not attend the hearing.
In 2007, she won $545,000 in damages and attorney fees in another lawsuit that blocked Noa from publishing a ghostwritten tell-all book.
In issuing the injunction, Chalfant noted that Meyer's attorney hadn't filed any opposition papers or shown why his client hadn't provided information the judge ordered to be turned over to Lopez's attorney.
Meyer had threatened in recent days to file the footage in the court case, allowing the public and reporters access to it, even if it meant time behind bars.
"If he wants to go to jail, he can go to jail," Chalfant said, noting that Meyer was "threatening to commit essentially an act of contempt of court."
James Woods settles suit over brother's death
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) - Oscar-nominated actor James Woods on Tuesday settled a lawsuit against a hospital in Rhode Island where his younger brother Michael died in 2006.
Woods claimed Kent Hospital was negligent in the death of his 49-year-old brother, who had a heart attack and died in its emergency room after going there with a sore throat and vomiting.
The hospital's chief executive, Sandra Coletta, acknowledged at a news conference with Woods outside court that mistakes were made.
She said the hospital is creating an institute in Michael Woods' honor and investing $1.25 million over next two years to study redesigning health care and reducing errors.
James Woods said his brother's children will be provided for.
Judge Daniel Procaccini announced the settlement Tuesday after days of testimony in Kent County Superior Court.
Further details were not disclosed.
Jewison earns lifetime honor from Directors Guild
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Filmmaker Norman Jewison is receiving a lifetime-achievement award from his peers at the Directors Guild of America.
The director, whose films include "In the Heat of the Night," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Moonstruck," will receive the honor at the guild's annual awards Jan. 30.
Directors Guild President Taylor Hackford says Jewison is a rare filmmaker able to move easily among such genres as musicals, romantic comedy and political thrillers.
The 83-year-old Jewison has been nominated three times for guild honors and received three directing nominations at the Academy Awards.
Past recipients of the Directors Guild lifetime-achievement honor include Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.
Mellencamp to kick habit if Facebook group hits 1M
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - John Mellencamp's 14-year-old son has started a social networking campaign on Facebook that he hopes will get his rocker dad to quit smoking.
The 58-year-old Mellencamp has said many times since his 1994 heart attack that he's failed in trying to kick his decades-old habit. Mellencamp's youngest son, Speck, says his dad has promised to quit if he gets 1 million people to join the Facebook group. More than 7,000 people had joined the group as of Tuesday afternoon.
Mellencamp publicist Bob Merlis told The Associated Press that the challenge is legitimate.
The Facebook group is called: "1,000,000 to join, my dad john mellencamp will quit smoking."