Martin collects lifetime award
Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Too much praise can turn Steve Martin into a wild and insincere guy.
The star of "The Jerk" and "Bringing Down the House" accepted the American Cinematheque career achievement honor Friday with mock cynicism.
The former "Saturday Night Live" star played aloof with friends in the audience that included Robin Williams, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Martin Short, Dana Delany, Eugene Levy, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" filmmaker Carl Reiner and "Parenthood" director Ron Howard.
"There are so many familiar faces tonight, people I've worked with, people I haven't seen in years and I just thought, 'Why can't we wear name tags? What would be so wrong?"' Martin joked.
"But this evening is especially meaningful to me," Martin added, "because when I was a kid my friends and I used to meet after school and get all dressed up and play 'American Cinematheque awards show."'
A telecast of the evening was set for broadcast Jan. 23 on AMC, Sunflower Broadband Channel 71.
Photographers sue couple
Los Angeles -- Two photographers sued Cameron Diaz and her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, for assault and battery, claiming the celebrity couple taunted and attacked them outside a fancy hotel.
Saul Lazo and Jose Gonzalez said the "Charlie's Angels" star and the pop singer threatened them as they tried to photograph the couple near the famed Chateau Marmont on Nov. 6.
The lawsuit filed Friday said the photographers, on assignment for a photo agency, did nothing to harass the couple and stood more than 10 feet from them until Diaz ran at Lazo, hit him in the neck and tripped him, snatching his camera.
Timberlake then allegedly screamed at the photographer on the ground: "What ... are you going to do, man? I know you are not going to do anything."
Lohan, Valderrama break up
New York -- "Mean Girls" star Lindsay Lohan and her boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama, have ended their relationship.
"They have broken up, but are still friends," Valderrama's publicist, Heidi Slan, told The Associated Press Friday. She declined to provide details.
Lohan and Valderrama acknowledged being a couple in July, after Lohan turned 18.
The couple's breakup was reported Friday by People and Us Weekly magazines.
Lohan's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, didn't immediately return a call seeking a comment from the AP. Us Weekly quoted Zelnik as saying, "I can confirm that they have amicably split, but the two remain close friends and supportive of each other's busy careers."
Lawyer sues 'Law & Order'
New York -- A lawyer sued the producers of the television show "Law & Order" for $15 million Friday, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one "ripped from the headlines" episode.
Ravi Batra said the show titled "Floater" maliciously inflicted emotional, economic and professional injury on him.
The episode initially focuses on the husband of a woman whose decomposed body is found in the Hudson River. Detectives investigate the husband's alibi -- and find a corruption scandal at the courthouse where the wife worked. The scandal includes her divorce lawyer and a judge who has heard a suspiciously large number of the lawyer's cases.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, where Batra is well-known in legal and political circles, investigations by the Brooklyn district attorney's office have resulted in arrests for the alleged fixing of matrimonial cases by judges and lawyers, and for the alleged sale of consultancies and appointments to judgeships.
The lawsuit says the "Floater" episode featured an Indian-American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra.
Rapper O.D.B. found dead
New York -- The rap artist O.D.B., whose utterly unique rhymes, wild lifestyle and incessant legal troubles made him one of the most vivid characters in hip-hop, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday. He was 35.
O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, and was dead by the time paramedics arrived, said Gabe Tesoriero, a spokesman for O.D.B.'s record label, Roc-a-Fella.
The cause of death was not immediately clear, but O.D.B. had recently finished a prison sentence for drug possession and escaping a rehab clinic.
O.D.B. -- also known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or his legal name of Russell Jones -- was a founding member of the seminal rap group Wu-Tang Clan.
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