People in the news

Judge throws out charges against rapper Eminem

Detroit – The bulk of a lawsuit claiming rap superstar Eminem reneged on a promise to pay two relatives $500,000 and buy them a new house if they moved to Michigan was thrown out Monday by a Macomb County judge.

However, Circuit Judge Mary A. Chrzanowski ruled that Jack and Betti Schmitt could, at least for now, pursue a claim that the rapper would unfairly profit from the improvements they made to a house in Clinton Township that was titled in his name.

She also left the door open for the family to amend the lawsuit in the next 14 days in an effort to reinstate the other claims, and ordered Eminem to give a deposition in the case in the next 45 days.

The parties and attorneys in the case are bound by a gag order and cannot comment. But the hearing Monday on a motion filed by Eminem’s attorney to throw out the case and court records frames the case as a question of whether Eminem broke promises, or if his family is using him.

In a lawsuit filed in August, the Schmitts claimed that Eminem, their nephew, asked them in 2001 to move from St. Joseph, Mo., to live near him and provide emotional support. For their trouble, they claim, he was to pay Betti Schmitt $100,000 a year for five years, buy them a house worth up to $350,000 and provide up to $25,000 worth of furniture.

In March 2003, they moved into a 3,000-square-foot brick colonial less than 2 miles from Eminem’s home in a gated community. Eminem’s legal name, Marshall Mathers III, was on the title. The Schmitts claim he promised to transfer it to them within a year.

The title was never transferred. Eminem sent them an eviction notice in July.

Tax records filed with the lawsuit showed that Eminem’s companies paid Betti Schmitt about $165,000 from 2002 to 2005, far less than the Schmitts say she was due.

Eminem has filed a countersuit against the Schmitts, accusing them of fraudulently signing that agreement while planning to exploit their connection to him. In the filing, his attorneys allege that the Schmitts have lined up a book deal and are trying to make money off his name.

Model selected to replace Kate Moss in H&M ads

Stockholm, Sweden – Italian model Mariacarla Boscono will replace Kate Moss in TV commercials to launch a collection by Stella McCartney for Swedish clothing chain Hennes & Mauritz.

Moss lost the contract after photos of her allegedly snorting cocaine in a London music studio were published last month in a British tabloid.

McCartney was personally involved in the selection of Boscono, who has previously worked with the designer, H&M spokeswoman Liv Asarnoj said Tuesday.

Posters and newspaper ads for McCartney’s collection will not feature any model, Asarnoj said. “We have chosen a graphical solution for those instead.”

Moss, 31, has issued an apology, saying she is addressing her problems and takes “full responsibility” for her actions. The British supermodel reportedly checked into a rehabilitation clinic in Arizona.

Tonya Harding has boyfriend arrested for alleged assault

Vancouver, Wash. – Tonya Harding tussled in her home with a man she described as her boyfriend, prompting an emergency call by the figure skater-turned-boxer and an arrest of the man.

Christopher Nolan was charged with assault and pleaded not guilty Monday. He told deputies Harding threw him down and bit his finger when he said she had too much to drink Sunday. The 27-year-old Nolan was ordered to stay away from Harding and to avoid alcohol.

Harding had a small cut over her right eye and an abrasion on her left cheek.

Initially, Harding called 911 and said she was attacked by two masked men who came to her home and assaulted her before she could escape.

Nolan said he and Harding were roommates.

The 34-year-old Harding was banned for life from competitive figure skating after her former husband hired a hit man to club rival Nancy Kerrigan with a baton as Kerrigan left the ice during practice at the 1994 U.S. championships in Detroit.

Lennon, Ono song lyrics to go on auction block

Montreal – The envelope on which John Lennon handwrote the lyrics of “Give Peace a Chance” is going on the auction block.

The words to the song, which Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded in a Montreal hotel room during a 1969 “bed-in” for peace, are on both sides of the envelope.

Bonhams auction house, which re-enacted the event Monday at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, said it hoped to fetch at least $250,000 for the envelope at an auction in London next month.

University to display Kubrick’s film archives

London – The archives of Stanley Kubrick – one of the most comprehensive collections of film production materials in the world – will be housed at a London arts school from the summer of 2006.

Boxes of scripts, research documents, correspondence, costumes, props, models and film equipment will be displayed at the University of the Arts’ London College of Communication for public viewing and student research, the college announced Monday.

The archives “have a depth and breadth that we wanted to make available so that future generations have an understanding of the way that Stanley worked,” Kubrick’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, said in a statement.

His family will own the archives but the school will be responsible for the upkeep.