LONDON -- George Michael might have expected some praise from adoring fans when he set up a chat room on his Web site.
Instead, contributors complained the 41-year-old looked old and overweight and criticized his recent music, prompting the pop singer to announce Thursday he is shutting down the forum.
In a message posted on his site, Michael said the negativity was bad for him, his fans and his music.
"Those of you that want to carry on the media's work will have to do it somewhere else I suppose," he wrote.
He signed off: "Sorry guys, but that's the way it goes. ... Peace and Love ... or nothing at all."
The decision prompted a flurry of postings, mostly from supportive fans asking Michael to reconsider.
However, a few deemed the decision unfair and Michael a "control freak."
"It's a fans' forum, it's freedom of speech and I don't think it's down to George to take his ball home and say, 'I'm not playing any more,"' one fan wrote.
On the Web:
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LONDON -- Ewan McGregor has won damages from newspapers that printed photos of him and his family on a vacation in Mauritius.
Details of the settlement with The Sun, the Daily Record and other newspapers weren't disclosed in court Monday, but The Guardian newspaper said it amounted to about $74,000.
McGregor, star of "Moulin Rouge" and several "Star Wars" films, won a court ruling in November that the pictures were a breach of confidence and violated data protection laws.
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NEW YORK -- Rapper Ja Rule appeared at a Queens courthouse to answer to a 1996 warrant that surfaced when he was arrested during a Manhattan traffic stop last week.
On Wednesday, Queens Criminal Court Judge Steven Paynter ordered Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, to pay a $100 fine and closed the case, which involved a charge of resisting arrest.
Ja Rule and his lawyer, Renee Hill, said they had not known about the old warrant until the rapper's recent brush with the law.
Ja Rule, 28, of Saddle River, N.J., was arrested last Thursday after he was pulled over by police who saw him changing lanes without signaling and found a small amount of marijuana in his possession.
He was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license, but the drug charge was apparently dropped the same day.
In that case, the rapper pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license and paid $550 in fines and court fees.
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LOS ANGELES -- Bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman is starring in a new reality series about his work.
Chapman, who tracked down convicted rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Mexico last year, will be featured in "Dog the Bounty Hunter," a 12-part series to air on the A&E network.
In a written statement, A&E promises to depict the "wild-and-woolly" life of Chapman and his wife and business partner, Beth Smith.
Chapman was hailed as a hero for capturing Luster, who had jumped bail before being convicted of drugging and raping three women.
A California judge later ruled that Chapman was not entitled to any of the $1 million bail that Luster had forfeited.
Many in the bail-recovery industry say Chapman's tactics create a bad-boy image that isn't representative of what they do.
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BOMBAY, India -- Richard Gere launched his new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in India's financial and entertainment capital, using Indian film and sports stars to convey a safe-sex message.
The Heroes Project is the latest initiative by Gere, who over the past year has become a vocal campaigner against HIV/AIDS in the region, identifying AIDS awareness and care projects that need more funds.
India has 5.1 million HIV-positive people, the world's second highest number of infections after South Africa, according to a report issued Tuesday by UNAIDS.
In the campaign's first TV spot broadcast Wednesday, India's star cricketer Rahul Dravid put on his helmet and warned: "Don't take chances with AIDS. Protect yourself and others."
Future ads will be more direct, Gere told The Associated Press.
Celebrities will "pick up a condom and talk about it," the 54-year-old actor said. "They'll say, 'Please use it. You gotta protect yourself, you know about this disease. Use a condom."' Anti-AIDS campaigns in India are rarely so candid.
The campaign's public service messages will run nationwide next month in newspapers, television, radio and on the Internet.
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KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Lionel Richie is one of the headliners for this year's Reggae Sumfest, which takes place July 18-24 in Montego Bay, organizers said Wednesday.
Johnny Gourzong of Summerfest Productions said he hopes Richie's appearance will attract a more mature audience to Sumfest's second international night, which closes the festival on July 24.
The festival opens with its traditional beach party in the northwestern resort town.
Richie, who first found fame in the 1970s as a member of The Commodores, was one of the most successful performers during the 1980s with hits such as "Say You, Say Me" and "Dancing on the Ceiling." He'll perform alongside local acts Beres Hammond and Wayne Wonder.
Ludacris and Kanye West will share top billing with dancehall star Sizzla on the first international night on July 23. Dancehall night on July 22 features Beenie Man, while Foundation Night on July 21 has older reggae acts including Marcia Griffiths and the Wailing Souls.
Reggae Sumfest was first held in 1994 to rival the established Reggae Sunsplash. Since its inception, the festival has showcased a mixed bill of dancehall, R&B and hip-hop acts.
The festival has been marred in recent years with artists violating the Caribbean island's profanity laws, thereby facing fines or community service. Sean Paul, Ja Rule and Snoop Dogg were among the offenders.
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- An impoverished South African family has filed a lawsuit against U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney, seeking royalties for its use of a song by a popular Zulu composer in "The Lion King."
The estate of Solomon Linda, a Zulu migrant worker turned songwriter who in 1939 wrote the tune that became the world hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," filed a lawsuit last week in the Pretoria High Court. The lawsuit seeks $1.6 million in compensation from Disney, lawyer Hanro Friedrich said Wednesday.
Disney denied liability in a statement released Tuesday.
Linda died penniless in 1962, having sold the rights to the song to a South African publisher. Originally titled "Mbube," the song generated some $15 million in royalties after it was adapted by other artists, including American songwriter George Weiss, whose version is featured in Disney's 1994 film "The Lion King."
Linda's three surviving daughters and 10 grandchildren, living in poverty in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, have received only a one-time payment of $15,000 from the present copyright holder, Friedrich said. The daughters decided to seek legal help after realizing they had lost out on millions of dollars in royalties.
Their lawyers are bringing a challenge on the basis of law in force in Commonwealth nations at the time the song was first recorded. Under its provisions, the rights to a song revert to the composer's heirs 25 years after his death.
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NEW YORK -- Jonny Podell, a veteran concert booker for acts ranging from Britney Spears to Van Halen, is selling his share of the Evolution Talent Agency to start his own company.
Podell told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Podell Talent Agency will be a boutique company handling 100 or fewer acts.
"Ironically, the first boutique talent agency I started way back when they were all major (agencies)," he said. "Now it's 25 years later, and in a sense, I'm doing it all again."
Podell, 57, got his start in the concert business decades ago with his own company, and later worked for the William Morris Agency and ICM, booking major tours for the likes of John Lennon, Blondie and George Harrison.
Evolution Talent Agency, which Podell co-owned with David Zedeck, staged tours for acts including 'N Sync, The Allman Brothers and Spears.
But Podell said he and Zedeck had differing visions of the company, so he sold him his share to start his own.
"I'm able to generate more focus, more energy, less dilution of my talents, if I have any," he joked.
Podell's new roster includes Van Halen, Peter Gabriel, Cyndi Lauper and Silvertide.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Greek pop star Sakis Rouvas and Sertab Erener, who won the Eurovision song contest last year for Turkey, teamed up for a concert in Istanbul aimed at promoting peace between the two neighboring nations.
Fans waved Greek and Turkish flags at Wednesday's concert in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district - home to the Hagia Sophia, an ancient Greek Orthodox church converted into a mosque by Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Rouvas, whose song "Shake It" came in third at this year's Eurovision contest in Istanbul, said the concert was supported by Greece's Premier Costas Caramanlis and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently visited Greece.
"Our goal is to bring a solution to conflicts through music," Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted Rouvas as saying before the concert.
Although NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have come to the verge of war three times since 1974. Ties have been improving in recent years and Greece supports this predominantly Muslim nation's bid to join the European Union.
The concert came a day after the Olympic flame traveled through Istanbul ahead of the Olympic games in Athens next month.
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COLOGNE, Germany -- A German court rejected a Harvard University professor's claim that the writer-director of "The Day After Tomorrow" plagiarized his book, ruling that the film and the novel told "entirely different stories."
Ubaldo DiBenedetto, 77, had alleged that Roland Emmerich's film stole parts of his 1993 novel, "Polar Day 9," written under the pseudonym, Kyle Donner. His lawyer wanted its German distributor, 20th Century Fox Deutschland, to put signs in theaters saying the movie is based on his book.
However, presiding Judge Margarete Reske told the Cologne state court that many of the similarities claimed by DiBenedetto "simply could not be found."
The author argued the book and movie feature similar scenes set in an Arctic research station, similar scenes of Americans fleeing over the Mexican border and similar characters.
At a hearing last month, 20th Century Fox lawyer Thomas Hertel said the German-born Emmerich was not familiar with DiBenedetto's book.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Cologne court found that the film and book "outline essentially entirely different stories against the background of an approaching Ice Age."
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NEW YORK -- Mario Cantone, best known as the acid-tongued Anthony Marentino on HBO's "Sex and the City," will arrive on Broadway this fall in a new one-man show, "Laugh [filtered word]."
The production, directed by Tony winner Joe Mantello, opens Oct. 17 at the Cort Theatre, with preview performances expected to start in late September, it was announced Wednesday. Cantone is a veteran standup comedian and will offer his acerbic views on current events, plus his take on celebrities, old and new.
Cantone is now appearing on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of "Assassins," the Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical. It closes July 18 at Studio 54.
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NEW YORK -- "Who loves ya, baby?" Ving Rhames does.
USA television network on Wednesday confirmed plans to produce a movie adaptation of "Kojak," the 1970s police drama that starred Telly Savalas as the stylish, crome-dome Lt. Theo Kojak.
Rhames, best known for his role as Marsellus Wallace in the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction," will star in the TV movie. Production is expected to begin this month.
Rhames, 43, also is to appear in "Mission: Impossible 3" and as Sonny Liston in "Night Train," both slated for release next year.
"Kojak" aired from 1973-78.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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