Singing voice silenced

New York – Talk about bad timing. At the start of a media blitz to support her new album, “A Public Affair,” Jessica Simpson is on vocal rest.

“It is true that she has indeed lost her voice,” Simpson’s publicist, Rob Shuter, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “She’s been ordered to rest. … She can talk, she can croak out a few sentences. She sounds a little off, but, you know, she can’t sing.”

Simpson, 26, fell ill Friday and has “a strain, a bruise on her vocal cord,” Shuter told the AP.

The singer canceled an appearance on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” this week but dropped by MTV’s “Total Request Live” on Tuesday to promote the album. Simpson, speaking in a hoarse voice, introduced music videos. She also signed CDs for fans.

Simpson hopes her condition improves by Friday, when she is scheduled to perform on NBC’s “Today” show, he said.

Arnold files for divorce

Los Angeles – Tom Arnold has filed for legal separation from his third wife, Shelby Roos, after four years of marriage, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Documents were filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, said Staci Wolfe. The 47-year-old actor-comedian, whose screen credits include “True Lies,” and Roos, 34, have no children. They were married in 2002 in Beverly Hills.

Arnold was previously married to comic actress Roseanne Barr. They divorced in 1994 after nearly four years of marriage. He was married to Julie Lynne Champnella from 1995 to 1999.

Beware of bogus Babs tickets

Los Angeles – Ticketmaster said Tuesday it had invalidated more than 1,000 tickets to concerts in Barbra Streisand’s upcoming national tour after discovering they were bought with a stolen credit card and then resold on the Internet.

In a posting on its Web site, the company warned fans they might have one of the canceled tickets if they did not buy directly from Ticketmaster or a venue box office.

The company said it would send notices to e-mail addresses connected to the voided tickets.

Cities hosting shows with canceled tickets include Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C., Sunrise, Fla., Auburn Hills, Mich., Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.

“It is a serious violation of the law to try to buy concert tickets using stolen credit card information and, when successful, to resell those tickets to unknowing consumer victims through resale Web sites,” Sean Moriarty, Ticketmaster’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.