MIAMI (Reuters) - Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and his sister and lawyer were indicted on Thursday on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States of taxes on $5.55 million of income, prosecutors said.
The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and his sister, Katiucia Castroneves, were also charged with six counts of income tax evasion for the years 1999 through 2004.
Castroneves won fame outside the auto racing world last year when he beat out English pop singer Melanie Brown to win "Dancing with the Stars," a hit ABC television show in which celebrities compete in ballroom dancing contests.
Castroneves, 33, lives in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables. He and his sister are both Brazilian citizens.
"Whether you make a living parking cars or racing them, paying taxes is a responsibility that everyone shares," U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta told a news conference.
Castroneves' attorney, Mark Seiden, called the charges disappointing and said the auto racer had done nothing wrong.
"Helio relied on the advice of competent professionals, accountants and tax lawyers, in preparing his returns. He followed their advice in good faith," Seiden said. "We believe that once the facts are presented to a jury he will be exonerated."
The indictment alleged the Castroneves siblings and attorney Alan Miller used a Panamanian shell corporation to fraudulently conceal from the Internal Revenue Service income that Castroneves earned as a racer.
Miller, 71, was charged with conspiracy and three counts of tax evasion.
The indictment said Castroneves received $6 million over three years under a driving and licensing agreement with Penske Racing, but only reported $1 million on his tax returns.
The driver, his sister and the lawyer allegedly schemed to divert the other $5 million from a Panamanian shell corporation called Seven Promotions to a "deferred royalty plan" that required Penske to send the payment to a company in the Netherlands.
Katiucia Castroneves allegedly helped prepare false income tax returns and transferred money to a Swiss bank account.
The indictment also alleged Castroneves collected $600,000 over three years from a sponsorship contract with the Brazilian import-export company Coimex Internacional SA, but reported only $50,000 on his tax returns.
All three defendants were to appear before a magistrate on Friday.
Prosecutors said Castroneves and his sister faced a statutory maximum of up to 35 years in prison if convicted on all charges, while Miller could face a maximum of 20 years. However, actual penalties were expected to be much less and were tied to the amount of unpaid tax.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Five months after he turned in his "Law & Order" badge, Jesse L. Martin is returning to NBC with a role in the drama series "The Philanthropist."
After a lengthy courtship by the network, Martin is in negotiations to co-star on the midseason show opposite James Purefoy.
"Philanthropist" centers on Teddy Rist (Purefoy), a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need around the world. Martin would play Philip Maidstone, Teddy's business partner and lifelong friend.
Production on the series will be based in London through NBC Universal's international TV production unit, with filming set for South Africa and the Czech Republic.
After a nine-year tenure as Detective Ed Green on "L&O," Martin recently wrapped the independent features "Peter and Vandy" and "Silent Rhythm" and narrated the Marvin Gaye documentary "What's Going On." He will play Gaye in the biopic "Sexual Healing."
Martin also co-stars in NBC's upcoming holiday special "Letters to Santa -- A Muppets Christmas."
LOS ANGELES - Who watched some of "Watchmen"?
Select members of the press. That's who.
Director Zack Snyder previewed and discussed three scenes from his upcoming graphic novel adaptation Wednesday. The film is based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' award-winning graphic novel of the same name about a group of subversive superheroes in hiding.
Snyder, who directed "300," said the movie was originally slated to be set in modern times and explained how he slowly persuaded studio Warner Bros. to stay true to the graphic novel's alternate 1985 setting, where Richard Nixon remains president and outlaws superheroes.
"I was like, 'What if we just set it back a little further, like 1990?'" said Snyder. "And then we just said that 1985 is cooler because then it would be more of a period movie. That was how, for me anyway, I got as much of the graphic novel back in."
Snyder began the preview — spoiler alert! — with the first 12 minutes of the film. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is watching TV when a shadowy figure breaks into his apartment, attacking and eventually throwing him through a window to a bloody death below.
The opening credit montage detailed the early history of "Watchmen" characters from the 1930s to the 1970s. The montage featured the original Minutemen characters including Silhouette (Apollonia Vanova), who was killed alongside her girlfriend in the 1940s.
Next, Snyder showed a sequence detailing the origin of Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), which began with the blue superhero standing on Mars recalling his love affair with a fellow physicist and the experiment that transformed him into a matter-bending superbeing.
The final scene previewed focused on the second incarnations of Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) breaking into a prison to rescue fellow superhero Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) immediately after the duo had sex in Nite Owl's ship.
"Watchmen" is scheduled to tick into movie theaters March 6, 2009, but the film's release could be in jeopardy because of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Twentieth Century Fox, which claims to have the rights to distribute a film based on the graphic novel.
"We're just working on the movie," Snyder said of the lawsuit. "I'm not a lawyer, so it's hard for me to comment on that. I probably shouldn't, I guess. We've just been forging ahead. If they wanted to come and stop us, I guess they would, but they haven't yet."
Snyder was also adamant that since no more "Watchmen" source material exists from the graphic novel, a sequel or prequel to his "Watchman" — currently clocking in at a beefy 2-hour-and-43-minute running time — could never be created. At least not one he'd direct.
"There can't be a sequel," said Snyder when asked about rumored sequel clauses in actors' contracts. "There won't be prequel. Not with me involved in it, anyway. They might be able to find someone to do it, but it won't be me. That's crazy talk."
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After an eight-year hiatus, Tina Turner brought her famous voice and energy back to the stage Wednesday, opening her 36-date North American tour with a hit-filled concert at the Sprint Center.
The 68-year-old singer said it was the right time to hit the road.
"It has to be now," she said. "I can still do it. (I'm) still in shape enough physically, mentally and I think this was about the best time to do it."
Turner performed fan favorites such as "Typical Male," "What's Love Got to Do With It?" and "Private Dancer."
An entertainer for 50 years, Turner said she can "still give a great show," adding that her longevity inspires fans of all ages.
"Why I dance at such a pace is because it feels good with the dance and I'm known for that kind of energy," she said. "Young kids can really relate to that as well. So I think that my (fans') age group ranges from young to old, to my age, because of the energy projected from the stage."
Paris - One fashion house that seems poised to ride out the current financial crisis is surely Stella McCartney, the London-based designer who staged a wittily tailored spring 2009 collection in Paris Thursday, Oct. 2, that was all about women raiding their boyfriends' wardrobe for clothes and inspiration.
Silk jackets came long and loosely cut with mannish lapels, boyish shantung shirts appeared in combo with just knickers, as if each model had grabbed what they wanted out of their main squeeze's closet as they headed out to a gallery opening.
And though the cut was large and roomy, Stella is also no slouch when it comes to tailoring, as one splendidly designed boiler suit meets men's tuxedo amply underlined. But in a show brimming with Stella's own brand of pop insouciance, the best looks were McCartney's dresses - either a series of mesh cocktails where summer scenes were applied with huge stencils or a flurry of nattily draped mini dresses with front petal folds.
"I love what my little girl does, especially the dresses. They were so cool," opined Sir Paul McCartney, who sat front row, one block down from L'Wren Scott, stylist and gal pal of Mick Jagger, who was wearing her own clobber.
Ironically, though the show was staged before a mammoth, 12,000 square-foot children's comic cloth backdrop by artist twins Jake and Dino Chapman, the collection was almost completely mono-color. But its flesh, sand and dusty blush hues were just right.
The slick show came two weeks after Stella's latest savvy and commercially excellent exercise collection for adidas was unveiled to acclaim in London. And retailers, scores of whom packed into the Carreau du Temple exhibition space for McCartney's show, raved about her sell-through, her Russian agent bragging that he did $6 million wholesale volume last year.
NEW YORK - Janet Jackson was released from a Montreal hospital just two hours after she arrived, a spokeswoman for the facility said Tuesday, but it was still not clear why she was admitted.
The 42-year-old singer became "suddenly ill" and was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital on Monday night shortly before her scheduled concert in Montreal, which was canceled, according to a statement released by W&W Public Relations.
Jackson was at Royal Victoria but was released two hours later, said Rebecca Burns, representative for McGill University Health Centre, which runs the hospital. Representaives for Jackson would not elaborate on her condition Tuesday, simply saying that she was ill and was "recuperating."
Meanwhile, Jackson's shows in Boston and Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday were postponed and she was due to resume her tour in Greensboro, N.C. on Saturday. There was no information on when those shows would be rescheduled.
Jackson, who is on her first North American tour in seven years, dropped out of her scheduled "Saturday Night Live" performance in March because she had the flu, and her publicist said at the time that she went to the hospital for treatment but was not admitted.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MTV Networks will track second-by-second viewing of Web commercials and videos, and link viewer online communities built around its TV programs, the network's digital chief said in an interview focused on the company's new advertising strategy.
Viacom Inc's 26-year old cable TV network is striving to remain relevant in a digital age by learning more about fans of some of its top shows like "The Hills" or "Real World" through the shows' websites, said Mika Salmi, MTV president of global digital media in an interview with Reuters.
MTV will provide advertiser partners second-by-second data on how the videos and ads on its site are watched by users online. On Monday, MTV said it had signed an agreement with Visible Measures, an independent third-party measurement firm to provide the data.
"We want the advertisers to know exactly what's happening on our websites and how big we really are in online video, said Salmi. "Internally, we want to understand user behavior so we can tweak the videos to give a better experience," he added.
The move mirrors a similar push for second-by-second data by the TV industry's audience measurement sector led by Nielsen and TiVo Inc.
The new service will also be able to measure video usage of MTV-owned videos that have been shared or embedded on other social networks like News Corp's MySpace or blogs.
In the last few years MTV has been working on transforming itself for the 21st Century by building or buying a collection of digital brands across music, programing, virtual worlds and gaming. Salmi's company Atom Films, was bought in 2006.
The cable TV network is striving to remain relevant as more of its core audience of 12-to-34-year-olds spend an increasing amount of their time surfing the Web than they do watching TV.
Bernstein Research said advertising on MTV-branded networks grew slower than the overall cable industry from 2004 to 2007.
COMMUNITY WORK
MTV is building communities across its hundreds of websites like VH-1, Pimp My Ride and Jackass through a service called Flux. Once a user is logged on the Flux network they can move on to other MTV sites without having to log in again.
Like other popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, users on MTV's Flux, built with Social Project, can share videos, personal photos and blogs. MTV bought social networking company Social Project earlier this month for an undisclosed sum..
But it remains to be seen whether social networking in itself can make money from advertising in the long term. MTV is betting its long running relationships with advertisers on cable television and the popularity of its shows will put it in a unique position to develop in-depth relationships with fans across its hundreds of websites.
"If we wanted to have any kind of 'network effect' or cross-traffic sharing, the sites have to connect together so we had to get them on similar platforms," said Salmi.
The so called 'network effect' could help users discover more programing by seeing what other community friends have watched on MTV's various sites thereby driving more advertising traffic.
Salmi said since members of social networks on its websites have provided basic personal data, that will help advertising partners more easily track users anonymously and target appropriate advertising campaigns at such users.
Ever been to one of those weddings that just will not end?
Rachel Getting Married" is the cinematic equivalent, a movie with a powerful performance from Anne Hathaway but a story undone by the self-indulgence of director Jonathan Demme, who loiters interminably on some scenes.
Demme's detours into documentaries ("Neil Young: Heart of Gold," "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains") actually serve him well as he crafts a loose, docudrama style that infuses great authenticity into this anguished reunion tale of family and friends.
But Demme did the reflect-real-life thing almost too well. Many moments are genuine to the point where you feel trapped in a room with someone else's relations in a marathon session of picking and clawing at old wounds.
As good as Hathaway and her co-stars are, a little of their characters' recriminations and reproaches would have gone a long way. A lot of recriminations and reproaches is what Demme gives us, and "Rachel Getting Married" collapses under the weight of the family's shared distress.
Stripping away her Disney-fied "Princess Diaries" persona for good, Hathaway delivers a harsh, uncompromising turn that should put her on the best-actress short list for the Academy Awards nominations.
Hathaway's Kym Buchman is a user and abuser, a woman who became a hopeless addict in her teens then sank even lower after her drug habit led to a family tragedy.
Out of rehab for the wedding of her upright sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), Kym returns to the family homestead and immediately tries to make the hustle and bustle of preparations all about her.
The movie shares unfortunate thematic similarities to Nicole Kidman's dreary sister tale "Margot at the Wedding" from last year, but since hardly anybody saw that one, "Rachel Getting Married" at least will be a fresh sort of dreariness for most viewers.
Kym and Rachel's dad and stepmom, ably played by Bill Irwin and Anna Deavere Smith, try to make the black-sheep daughter feel welcome and wanted through a succession of awkward, often angry exchanges among Kym and her kin.
Much of the tension is deliberately initiated by Kym, who's as much an addict of drama-queen histrionics as she is of chemical substances. Kym has interpreted the stages of her 12-step recovery program in a way that is horribly hurtful to her family, threatening the shaky peace that everyone hopes will prevail through Rachel's wedding to musician Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe).
It's a testament to Hathaway that despite the unpleasant depths she explores, Kym never comes off merely as the prodigal come home to douse a joyous weekend with her emotional baggage.
There are times you wish the family might show Kym the door (and some of her relations oblige, particularly her mom, played with intriguing remoteness by Debra Winger).
Kym dredges up unspoken guilt and blame that everyone else would prefer to leave buried. Against their will, the Buchmans undergo some kind of catharsis that may lay the foundation for better relations in the future.
Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet, has created the broad arc of what could have been a thoroughly satisfying and perceptive study of how families deny, confront and regroup in the face of the worst adversity.
Where "Rachel Getting Married" strays is in the details — an endless and often boring sequence of toasts at a rehearsal dinner, repetitive bickering between maid of honor Kym and a bridesmaid, a bizarre mini-drama surrounding a competition over who can load a dishwasher the fastest.
Writer Lumet says she once witnessed her dad and Bob Fosse engage in such a dishwasher contest — an interesting bit of trivia that does nothing to make Demme's re-enactment interesting to watch.
Demme weaves his love of music into the movie, orchestrating an organic musical score created out of live performances taking place throughout the household as the family's many musical friends rehearse and jam.
Palestinian musician Zafer Tawil and jazz saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. composed the score and perform throughout the movie. Among a dozen or so others providing music are Robyn Hitchcock, the subject of Demme's documentary "Storefront Hitchcock," and the director's son, Brooklyn Demme.
"Rachel Getting Married" is overrun with Demme's friends, and perhaps that contributes to the movie's bloat. No doubt it was fun assembling so many close associates, but like Kym, Demme doesn't know when enough is enough for those who aren't part of the family circle.
"Rachel Getting Married," a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated R for language and brief sexuality. Running time: 113 minutes. Two stars out of four.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Leave it to Paris Hilton to ratchet up the hype for her new TV show's debut, releasing a new single, "My BFF," on the same day the reality TV program "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" first airs on MTV.
The show -- a search for a new "best friend forever" who is hot, loyal and has the energy to keep up with Hilton's hectic lifestyle -- inspired the techno song Hilton said she co-wrote with her boyfriend Benji Madden of rock band Good Charlotte.
"Could you be the one I want? Could you be the one I need?" the millionaire socialite croons on "My BFF." "All of my life, don't you know I've been waiting ... for my best friend."
The tune will become the show's theme song.
Sixteen women and two men -- both gay -- were selected from some 300,000 applicants to compete for the honor of being Hilton's best buddy, accompanying her to red carpet events and simultaneously dodging and courting the paparazzi.
They enter a predominantly pink and sparkly world of challenges ranging from make-overs -- resisted at their own peril -- to dealing with lost luggage, private jets and looking hot on a rollercoaster.
At the end of each of the 10 episodes, one contestant is dismissed by a wand-waving Hilton with a catch phrase borrowed from instant messaging culture -- TTYN (Talk To You Never).
Hilton, 27, said loyalty was key to her friendships -- both in real life and in the series. "I am looking for someone I can trust, someone who is friends with me for the right reason," she told Reuters.
"A lot of girls want to be photographed with me. They get so excited when the paparazzi are around and put their arms around me. I don't like friends who try to use friends like that," she said.
Hilton says she has struck up a real, off screen friendship with the winner of the reality show but the name is being kept secret until the series ends in December.
Already, Hilton is working on a second series of "My New BFF," this time set in London.
The new single is the first off her second album which is due out later this year. It will extend the business empire of perfumes, clothing, shoes, dog clothes, movies and TV series that she has built in the past 10 years by trading on her fame for being herself.
Paris - No self-respecting gal would ever need a backstage pass if she donned most of the looks in the Christian Dior spring 2009 collection so naughtily chic and suggestively racy were the clothes in the latest collection by John Galliano presented Monday, Sept. 29.
We got another, sassy yet not shocking, dose of two mega trends in the current season at Dior - Eighties silhouettes and a yearn for the symmetry of Ancient Egypt.
Galliano to his credit is never a literal designer, so his jaunt down the Nile was a cool, clever take on all things African, from tribal necklaces to the best series of heels seen on Paris runways in eons. To wit, fetishistic primitive statues of naked women used as four-inch heels that added oomph and humor to some great python, glitter or animal print shoes.
An impressive casting emoted in flirty chiffon minis worn with waxy bomber jackets or taught wee boleros, and a series of great see-through boudoir vampish cocktails and columns looks.
John's other charming idea was his broken mosaic moment featured in the shoes and in some great half-moon bags. Both were strong commercial winners.
The collection was curiously understated for a Galliano designed collection, but then again, given the current financial moroseness, John's sentiments might be right. With many nervous buyers, several lamenting that "we have no open to buy," creating a tightly focused Dior collection seemed to make sense. So steering away from his more avant garde fantasies, and creating a little dose of Dior Light seemed a subtle enough response.
LOS ANGELES - Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds did a little rushing into it after all.
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The couple married this weekend, according to publicist Meredith O'Sullivan. She did not provide details.
Us Weekly reported on its Web site Sunday that the small wedding took place at a resort outside Vancouver, British Columbia. Guests included Scarlett's mother, Melanie Sloan, and her brother, Adrian Johansson, the magazine said.
The couple announced their engagement in May.
"We're just enjoying our time," the actress said last month. "We're just recently — very recently — engaged. So, you know, we're just taking it easy. And no big plan yet. But it's a good time and we're just ... enjoying our time to be young and engaged.
"I mean, I'm 23. There's no reason to rush into it. Everything feels very natural and relaxed."
Johansson most recently starred in the Woody Allen film "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Reynolds starred on the TV show "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" and the romantic comedy "Definitely, Maybe."
NEW YORK - Tina Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live," again appearing as the Republican vice presidential candidate in an opening sketch.
Saturday night's show — the third of the season for the NBC comedy program — brought back the season premiere tandem of Fey and Amy Poehler, who opened the season with a memorable sketch featuring Fey as Palin and Poehler as Hillary Clinton.
This time around, Poehler played CBS's Katie Couric, parodying the interview with Palin earlier this week. Poehler, though, mostly played straight man to Fey, who ratcheted up her performance of Sen. John McCain's running mate by satirizing her foreign affairs experience.
When Poehler's Couric pushed Fey's Palin to specifically discuss how she would help facilitate democracy abroad, Fey gave in: "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines. ... I want to phone a friend."
When a confused Poehler informed her that that wasn't how the interview worked, Fey's Palin responded — alluding to one of the governor's most quoted lines from the interview — "Well, in that case, I'm just gonna have to get back to ya."
Fey, a former cast member and head writer of "SNL," has seemingly been thrust back into regular appearances on the program despite her full-time gig with NBC's "30 Rock."
She is widely considered to look like Palin, and "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels persuaded her to ride the show's hot hand. Her first appearance as the Alaskan governor two weeks ago was a huge hit, helping boost the premiere's ratings and garnering attention online.
Fey wasn't the only former cast member who returned Saturday night. Chris Parnell came back to play presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer in a sketch that parodied Friday night's contest between McCain and Democratic rival Barack Obama — which occurred less than 27 hours earlier than the live "SNL" broadcast.
The sketch mainly played up McCain's attempts to shake up the debate process, as Darrell Hammond's McCain urged his opponent to join him in "nude or seminude" town hall meetings.
At the outset, Parnell announced: "Throughout the debate, I will urge you both to look at one another up to and beyond the point it becomes uncomfortable."
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thriller "Eagle Eye" soared to the top of North American box offices, taking in $29 million in its first weekend in theaters on the wings of rising star Shia LaBeouf, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The strong opening for "Eagle Eye," about two people in a race against time to prove they are not fugitives from the law, pushed the overall box office up by 12.3 percent from the same weekend last year, a rare rise in the past two months.
"'Eagle Eye' jumpstarted the fall box office, and we couldn't be happier," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan, adding the movie drew men and women in roughly equal numbers.
Romance "Nights in Rodanthe," starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, opened in the No. 2 spot with $13.6 million while suspenseful "Lakeview Terrace" landed at No. 3 with $7 million, dropping 53 percent from last week when it topped the chart. Its cumulative total now stands at $25.7 million.
A third new release, "Fireproof," starring Kirk Cameron as a man trying to save his marriage, opened well for independent distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films by reaching No. 4 with $6.5 million for an average of $7,700 in just 839 theaters.
By contrast, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures' "Eagle Eye" pulled in an average of $8,300 per theater in 3,500 locations, and "Rodanthe" was at $5,000 per venue in 2700 theaters.
Rounding out the top five was Coen Bros. comedy "Burn After Reading" with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. It collected $6.2 million bringing its total to $45 million after three weeks.
BOX OFFICE RELIEF
Overall ticket sales rose to $102 million from $90.8 million on the same weekend last year, as "Eagle Eye" brought some relief to studio executives who have seen the collective box office down from last year in eight of the past 11 weeks.
"We've had a tough go of it in comparison to last year's lineup," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office watcher Media By Numbers. "'Eagle Eye' was a perfect antidote to this fall malaise we've seen. It was a summer-style thriller."
The fourth new wide release was director Spike Lee's World War Two drama "Miracle at St. Anna." But it failed to spark moviegoers' imagination and landed in the No. 9 position with $3.5 million in ticket sales. It earned an average of just under $3 million per theater in nearly 1,200 venues.
Elsewhere, the top 10 weekend movies were marked by holdovers from previous weeks. Animated "Igor" claimed the No. 6 spot, dropping only 30 percent from last week to $5.5 million for the weekend and $14.3 million overall after two weeks.
It was followed in the No. 7 slot by crime thriller "Righteous Kill" with $3.8 million and comedy "My Best Friend's Girl," also with $3.8 million. Their cumulative totals stand at $34.8 million and $14.5 million, respectively.
Finishing off was No. 10 film, Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys," which earned $3.2 million to pull its three-week total to $32.8 million.
DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures are units of Viacom Inc. "Rodanthe" was distributed by Warner Bros., part of Time Warner Inc, and "Lakeview Terrace" by Screen Gems, part of the film and TV wing of Sony Corp.
"Burn After Reading," was distributed by Focus Features, a division of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. "Righteous Kill" was released by Overture Films, a unit of Liberty Media Corp's Starz Media.
"My Best Friend's Girl" and "The Family That Preys" were released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. "Miracle at St. Anna" was put out by the film distribution wing of The Walt Disney Co..
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
LONDON - American rapper Busta Rhymes has performed at a charity concert after overcoming his problems with British immigration.
Rhymes — whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr. — performed at London's Royal Albert Hall Friday night after winning a court order allowing him to stay in the country.
High Court judge Nicholas Stadlen gave the go-ahead, saying he did not want to disappoint 4,000 young people who won their tickets by performing community work.
Immigration officials stopped Rhymes on Thursday at London City Airport, with his promoters saying they cited previous legal trouble in the United States. In March a New York judge sentenced Rhymes to three years' probation for assaulting his former driver and a fan.
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MILAN (Reuters) - Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his eccentric character Borat, burst onto the catwalk at Agatha Ruiz de la Prada's show in Milan on Friday, bringing the playful show to a halt as security guards stepped in.
Baron Cohen is in Milan making a new film about fashion centered on his character Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian fashionista.
He bowled onto the start of the catwalk rolled up in what turned out to be a long, black caped outfit with eccentric accessories.
After a few minutes of darkness while Baron Cohen, or Bruno, was escorted off the catwalk, the show started again. Models had kept their cool but the designer was visibly upset when she appeared at the end of the show.
Baron Cohen's film is titled "Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male."
Agatha Ruiz de la Prada's show restarted after the actor left. The designer said her show was inspired by Spanish painter Diego Velazquez and the headdresses were based on typical Spanish pińˇ´ˇs.
But the dresses with their bold shapes were more reminiscent of another famous Spanish painter -- Joan Miro.
(Reporting by Jo Winterbottom)
