Prosecutor decides not to charge Bieber
Citing insufficient evidence, prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will not pursue criminal charges in connection with an altercation last May in Calabasas, Calif., in which pop star Justin Bieber allegedly punched and kicked a photographer.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives investigated allegations by a photographer that Bieber struck him after he snapped photographs of the singer and his then-girlfriend, actress Selena Gomez, at the Commons at Calabasas Shopping Center.
But officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said no evidence, including videos and photographs, showed that the physical altercation included the alleged instances in which Bieber punched and kicked the paparazzo.
‘Price is Right’ owes ex-model $8.5m
The producers of “The Price is Right” owe a former model on the show more than $7.7 million in punitive damages for discriminating against her after a pregnancy, a jury determined Wednesday.
The judgment came one day after the panel determined the game show’s producers discriminated against Brandi Cochran. They awarded her nearly $777,000 in actual damages.
Cochran, 41, said she was rejected when she tried to return to work in early 2010 after taking maternity leave. The jury agreed and determined that FremantleMedia North America and The Price is Right Productions owed her more than $8.5 million in all.
FremantleMedia said it expected to be “fully vindicated” after an appeal.
Chevy Chase leaving ‘Community’
The NBC series “Community” will finish the season without Chevy Chase.
Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers. His immediate departure means he won’t be included in the last episode or two of the show’s 13-episode season, which is still in production.
Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who enrolls in community college. The actor publicly expressed unhappiness at working on a sitcom and feuded last year with the show’s creator and former executive producer, Dan Harmon.
The birthday bunch
Actor Robert Vaughn is 80. Actor Michael Callan is 77. Actor Allen Garfield is 73. Animator and movie director Terry Gilliam is 72. Actor Tom Conti is 71. Singer Jesse Colin Young is 71. Rock musician-actor Steve Van Zandt is 62. Rock musician Tina Weymouth is 62. Actor Richard Kind is 56. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is 54. Actress Mariel Hemingway is 51. Actor Mark Ruffalo is 45. Actress Scarlett Johansson is 28. Actor Jamie Campbell Bower is 24.