We are shocked indeed to learn that a celebrity rag would print a fabricated and libelous story.
"Yet again, a tabloid has been caught lying," said Ken Sunshine, spokesman for singer Justin Timberlake.
The British tabloid News of the World ran a story in July 2004 saying Timberlake cheated on sweetheart Cameron Diaz by having an affair with British model Lucy Clarkson. Clarkson, who sold the story to the News, now admits it was a lie and promises to refund her fee.
The News admitted its wrongdoing yesterday, apologized in court, pledged to run a prominent public apology in its paper, and agreed to pay "substantial" but undisclosed damages.
Meanwhile, Diaz is suing another British tabloid, the Sun, over a story in May that she cheated on Timberlake by having an affair with a married television producer.
"Thankfully the judicial process worked" this time, an outraged Sunshine said. "But how many cases like this will it take before these tabloids feel obligated to print the truth? Have they no shame?"
Krause rises from the dead
* Actor Peter Krause, who died in July as Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under, will resurrect his career on the big screen with an indie feature, Civic Duty, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Krause will executive-produce as well as star in the story - the tale of an accountant who gets wrapped up in news stories of terrorist plots and who is further shaken when an Islamic graduate student moves in next to him.
Jeff Renfroe directs the script written by Andrew Joiner.
At the movies
* Acclaimed Czech director Milos Forman will direct Goya's Ghosts - the story of the last years of the Spanish Inquisition, as told by the painter Francisco de Goya.
Javier Bardem plays a sinister monk and the beautiful and talented Natalie Portman plays Goya's muse Ines, who is falsely accused of heresy. (Who wasn't? That's why they called it an inquisition.)
Sweden's Stellan Skarsgard will play Goya, whom you will recall as one of the fathers of modern art. Skarsgard's movie credits include Good Will Hunting and Amistad. Filming is expected to start next month.
At the movies, part two
* Keanu Reeves and Catherine Zeta-Jones (an unlikely duo, don'tcha think?) are reportedly in talks to star in a biopic about Johnny Stompanato, a Los Angeles hoodlum who ran with the city's most successful women and most dangerous men, but was ultimately murdered by a 14-year-old girl.
