People : Didn’t wake up so he could go-go
While the rest of the world was focused on poor Paris Hilton, pop star George Michael got his comeuppance Friday in a British courtroom.
A judge sentenced Michael to 100 hours of community service and banned him from driving for two years for driving under the influence of drugs.
Police said the 43-year-old singer was found slumped over the wheel of his car last October, blocking an intersection in north London.
Tests showed he had taken an antidepressant as well as gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB – often called the “date-rape drug” because it leaves people groggy and powerless.
Michael, whose real name is George Panayiotou, said he was ashamed that “I had done something really wrong in putting other people at risk.
“In reality I have been sentenced today on the basis of unfit driving through tiredness and prescription medicines, which I fully accept responsibility for,” he continued.
“I am glad to put this behind me, and now I’m off to do the biggest show of my life.”
He stars tonight and Sunday in the first concerts at London’s rebuilt Wembley stadium.
Hey, it’s just a …
The Game has pleaded not guilty to threatening to shoot a man during a pickup basketball game in South Los Angeles.
Prosecutors contend that during the Feb. 24 incident, the rapper (real name Jayceon Terrell Taylor) punched an opposing player, then pulled a gun from his red Cadillac Escalade and threatened to shoot him.
He’s charged with making a criminal threat, possessing a firearm in a school zone and exhibiting a gun in the presence of an officer.
More Akon pains
Police are looking into a clash between R&B star Akon and a concertgoer that ended with a teen being tossed off the stage and onto another spectator who said she suffered a concussion.
After someone threw something at Akon during a concert Sunday in Fishkill, N.Y., a security guard sent a 15-year-old boy onstage, where Akon hoisted him onto his shoulders and flung him back into the audience.
Earlier this year, Akon came under fire for a sexually explicit onstage dance with a girl from the audience who was later revealed to be 14.
String of troubles
Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora has entered a treatment facility in Los Angeles for an undisclosed problem.
Sambora and actress Denise Richards broke up several months ago after dating for about a year. In April, the 47-year-old musician’s divorce from actress Heather Locklear was finalized and his father died of lung cancer.
Presenting Paulifer
Jennifer Aniston, the former Mrs. Brad Pitt, has found a new man: Paul Sculfor, a 36-year-old British model who’s a former boxer and construction worker.
“He’s a lovely guy,” says Sculfor’s former girlfriend, London socialite Lady Victoria Hervey. “A gentleman. Simple things, like opening doors, he does all that.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Michael J. Fox is 46. Actor Johnny Depp is 44. Actress Natalie Portman is 26. Actress Mae Whitman (“Arrested Development”) is 19.