Anna Nicole Smith's psychiatrist posts $20K bail

Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich surrendered Monday to face charges of excessively prescribing drugs to Anna Nicole Smith before the former model's overdose death at 39.

Eroshevich turned herself in at the Van Nuys police station, said police spokeswoman Rosario Herrera.

She was released several hours later after posting $20,000 bail, according to a statement from her attorney Adam Braun's office.

After a lengthy investigation by the attorney general and other state and federal agencies, Los Angeles County prosecutors charged Eroshevich last week with conspiring with another doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, and Smith's lawyer-turned-boyfriend Howard K. Stern to provide Smith with thousands of prescription pills.

Attorney General Jerry Brown said Friday that the doctors wrote prescriptions in fictitious names and prescribed unwarranted amounts of highly addictive medications to Smith, knowing that she was an addict.

Brown described Stern as the "principal enabler" in the alleged conspiracy.

Stern and Kapoor turned themselves in last week and were each freed on $20,000 bond.

Braun has said Eroshevich was only protecting Smith's privacy by writing prescriptions in false names and did not intend to commit fraud.

The psychiatrist, who had treated Smith since 2006, traveled several times over six months to the Bahamas, where the former Playboy playmate was living with Stern and wrote the prescriptions.

Smith died Feb. 8, 2007, in Florida after collapsing at a hotel. At the time, she was embroiled in a battle to inherit millions of dollars from her late billionaire husband's estate; her 20-year-old son Daniel had died of an overdose in the Bahamas just five months earlier in Smith's hospital room a few days after Smith gave birth to a girl, Dannielynn.

source :AP associated press

Is Rihanna redoing 'The Bodyguard'? Shades of Whitney Houston!

Rihanna made a quick trip to N.Y. this past weekend for project meetings, one of which was a remake of “The Bodyguard.”

Rihanna would do Whitney Houston’s role in the update.
“GI Joe” hottie Channing Tatum’s name has been mentioned as the bodyguard

We can almost hear Rihanna's version of "I Will Always Love Chris Brown!"

But that's not all. Rihanna is reportedly also considering a “Charlie's Angels” sequel, as well as possibly starring alongside Justin Timberlake, with whom she released her hit single “Rehab.” No confirmation on any of this, folks.

Hey, gots to get this career back on track, right, RiRi?

Her new album will be released by late 2009. Two new tracks have been cut -- “We Own the Night” and “Pretty Girl Blues.”

But don't look for Ne-Yo's credits on the new album.

“Ne-yo’s been talking about Ri and Chris, which has really hurt her feelings," says the Daily News source. "She thought they were cool with each other.”

Ne-Yo spoke to MTV about the alleged assault: “I spoke to Rihanna. She says she’s fine. She didn’t go into detail about what happened. ... I understand it’s a painful situation; I didn’t push.”

Rihanna also spent time with Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, at the Spotted Pig.

The following night, she dined in the West Village at Da Silvano. She wore sunglasses inside the restaurant for the late dinner with five friends and a security guard.

source:The Envelope

Britney Spears Live in Newark: All Eyes on Her

by Leah Greenblatt

It's been more than a decade since Britney Jean Spears first strode to the center of the big-top ring and became a pop superstar. Does she still have what it takes to hold that title in 2009 -- and make fans forget the tabloid shark-chum of her personal struggles? Her tour, which kicked off March 3 in New Orleans, has already had its share of NSFW scandal and video leaks, but at a stop March 13 in Newark, New Jersey, the 27-year-old star proved she is still, as she coos on the title track of her sixth No. 1 album, December '08's Circus, "a put-on-a-show type of girl."

Openers the Pussycat Dolls provided a maniacally energetic set with hits like "Buttons," "When I Grow Up," and "Stickwitchu," set to much bendy, knee-cap-to-ear choreography; leader Nicole Scherzinger can actually sing live, which is admirable, though when she referred to Britney gamely as "the original Pussycat Doll," PCD founder Robin Antin must have spit out her garter belt. And the near-capacity crowd seemed happy to see them, responding uproariously to Scherzinger's destination-tailored Jersey shoutouts.

After a lengthy set-up time filled by various circus-y sideshow acts -- you've got at least 45 minutes to take a snack- and pee-break, promise -- and a high-camp video intro starring gossipeure Perez Hilton as a sort of deranged, baby-head-chomping Queen Elizabeth, Brit finally hit the stage to near-hysterical applause. And you know what? She looked good. Granted, the mother of two is no longer the wriggling Lolita of yesteryear; she moves a little slower, and sometimes seemed to need a rest -- hence her frequent sit-downs on various stage props. In fact, the show often felt more like a Vegas revue in which Spears appears as the special guest star, disappearing frequently beneath the stage for extended periods (costume changes? Mani-pedi touch-ups? Time-outs for Jayden and Sean Preston? We know not!) while the circus carried on without its ringmistress.

Still, the 90-minute spectacle was tightly choreographed and loaded with sensory effects: dancers dropping from the ceiling like spandexed spiders, elaborate Moulin Rouge-style sets, and flashy, flesh-baring costumes, including a Bollywood-ized take on "Me Against the Music." The symbolism of placing the singer inside a golden cage for the press-excoriating "Piece of Me" was not lost on the audience, though frequent forays into S&M style theatrics a la Sex-era Madonna seemed a little dark for a largely young, female crowd (cue the extended video clip of La Spears, seemingly in the midst of an Eyes Wide Shut-style orgy, writhing to Marilyn Manson's dark-side cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"). The material itself drew heavily from her last two albums ("Radar," "Womanizer," "Freakshow") with a few forays into olden times ("Everytime," "...Baby One More Time") and the JumboTron pulsed out a constant stream of visuals in place of a closeup on the singer herself, likely because she appeared to be lip-synching to a pre-recorded "live" track throughout. Still, is anyone genuinely shocked and dismayed at that revelation? Apparently not; as one satisfied young show-goer put it, "You don't go to hear her sing. You go to see Britney, period."

You've got until May 2 to catch her on tour in the U.S., Music Mixers. Will you go see her? Have you already? Or does the whole idea just sound toxic?

source :EW.com

Models May Lack Height but Not Drive

More seriously, Cutrone, founder of fashion public relations firm People's Revolution and a regular on MTV's "The Hills" and "The City," told ABCNews.com that the show's producers may have underestimated the desperation some women feel to act out a fantasy they get from watching a reality television show.

"It's sad when people get hurt trying to get a deal, whether at Wal-mart [where a security guard was trampled to death in a Long Island store at the start of the Black Friday Christmas sale] or to be on a TV show," Cutrone said. "It's like a gladiator sport."

Kiara McCarthy, a 19-year-old sophomore at Long Island University, said, "I was sad, truly upset. I don't want to give up, but this definitely set me back a little."

McCarthy has dreamed of being a model since she was 12 but was turned away from many auditions because of her slight stature -- she's just shy of 5-feet-4. She arrived at the auditions around 7 a.m. and stood in line for 10 hours, while her mother and younger sister waited across the street.

From the start, she said the crowd was edgy. Some women had camped out the night before and as the numbers swelled, police and organizers seemed unprepared for the turnout, she added.

With little organization to the lines and women unable to leave their spot to get food or go to the bathroom, tempers flared and scuffles broke out, McCarthy said. When an overheated car began to smoke and backfire on the street next to the line of women, several women yelled "Bomb!" Panic ensued.

McCarthy was standing at the front of the line, next to go in, when "all of a sudden I hear a roar behind me," she said. "All of a sudden people started coming toward me."

She and the young woman standing next to her in line ran just before a barricade toppled over under a sea of women. "I literally got pressed up against the doors," she said.


source :ABC news

Top Model Hopefuls Feel Short-Shrifted

Melee Interrupted Auditions for Short Model Hopefuls, Crushing Their Dreams
By LUCHINA FISHER

For a brief time, it seemed Tyra Banks, the model-turned-host of the popular CW show "America's Next Top Model," had become the savior for every short woman who ever dreamed of becoming a model. Last month, Banks announced for the first time that her show, in its 12th season, would be open only to women under 5-feet-7, considered the starting height for a model.

"When she [Banks] said, 'Calling all short girls,' I started screaming. This is my shot, this is my chance. I've been waiting for this show to come out since they started the show," 21-year-old aspiring model Jessica Paravati told ABCNews.com.

She was one of thousands of contestant hopefuls who lined up Saturday outside the Park Central Hotel in midtown Manhattan for an open casting call.

After an overheated car triggered a stampede, six women were injured and three people were arrested for disorderly conduct and inciting to riot, organizers abruptly shut down the auditions, leaving the 5-feet-5 Paravati and hundreds of other undersized women out in the cold.
"I'm disappointed, sad, angry, frustrated," she said. "There are no words to describe how I feel. I was just standing there trying to go inside and grasp this dream of mine. I didn't even get to touch it. Something needs to be done to fix it. It's not right."

The publicist for the show said there has been no word on whether the New York auditions will, if ever, be rescheduled.

In a statement to ABCNews, Banks and her producer Ken Mok said: "We are concerned by the events that occurred Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of the New York City casting call for the next cycle of 'America's Next Top Model.' At this time, we still don't know all the details of what happened or what triggered the incident. We appreciate the efforts of the NYPD and will assist them in any way possible in this matter."

Late Monday, Banks issued a separate statement through her publicist:

"To all the Top Model hopefuls who were affected by the New York casting, we are doing everything we can to make sure that ALL the girls who weren't seen, get an opportunity to audition -- we'll update you on our plans very soon. It is so important to me to redefine beauty, and make sure that everyone gets a fair chance to pursue their dream. I am beyond excited for Cycle 13; for the first time ever, young women 5'7" and under have a shot at becoming America's Next Top Model! I encourage each girl to come out ready to rock the runway and show off their fiercest pose. I'm rooting for all of you!"

source : ABC news