Polanski denies seduction

London – Roman Polanski testified on the first day of his libel lawsuit against the publishers of Vanity Fair that he was the victim of an “abominable lie.”

The Oscar-winning director is suing Conde Nast over a 2002 article that said he seduced a woman while on his way to the funeral of his wife, Sharon Tate. Tate, who was pregnant, was killed by followers of serial killer Charles Manson in Los Angeles in 1969.

The Vanity Fair article claimed Polanski went to Elaine’s restaurant in New York City and sat next to a woman, “inundating her with his Polish charm.”

Conde Nast, which is based in the United States, is contesting the lawsuit. Libel actions concerning the international media are often brought in British courts because they are considered friendlier to claimants than U.S. courts.

Polanski’s lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry, asked the 71-year-old filmmaker, who testified Monday by video link from France: “Is it true that you tried to pick up or seduce a girl by exploiting the name of your late wife, who had just been murdered?” The director replied: “It is an abominable lie.”

Kelsey-Fry said Polanski was seeking damages “sufficient to bring home the falsity” of the article, but did not mention a figure.

Amazon rocks on

Seattle – Amazon.com celebrated its 10th anniversary with an all-star lineup that included Bob Dylan and Norah Jones, and streamed the event live to its Web site.

“Dylan – live on your computer,” cracked comedian-host Bill Maher. “I remember it was a big deal when he went electric.”

The lineup made clear that Seattle-based Amazon is “finally making some money,” Maher told his audience Saturday, made up of 2,500 employees and guests of the Internet’s top retailer.

To mark Amazon’s beginnings as an online bookstore, authors James Patterson, Jim Collins and Daniel Handler also were on hand, along with screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan.

Dylan and Jones performed some of their best-known songs, then charmed the crowd with a duet of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.”

Will ‘Comeback’ continue?

San Francisco – After the hit series “Friends,” Lisa Kudrow has to sweat the TV business.

The 41-year-old actress, who played Phoebe Buffay on the NBC comedy, is still waiting to hear whether her new show, HBO’s “The Comeback,” will be renewed.

“I don’t know what the criteria are for HBO right now,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle in Sunday’s editions. “They usually don’t say anything for a little while. I’m hoping to hear soon.”

Kudrow, who plays a washed-up TV star hanging on to relevance in the HBO series, has raced to complete the last of the 13 episodes.

In her latest movie, “Happy Endings,” Kudrow plays a woman who gave up her baby for adoption and, years later, is approached by a crazed documentary filmmaker who claims to know her son’s whereabouts and wants to film the reunion.

“I don’t care about the big box office and I get to do things that come from me more,” she said. “If I only ever do ‘Happy Endings’ and movies like that, that’s fine. It’s really fulfilling.”