People in the news

Creed lead singer arrested day after getting married

Los Angeles – One day after reportedly getting married, former Creed lead singer Scott Stapp was arrested for investigation of being drunk at Los Angeles International Airport.

Stapp was taken into custody by airport police at 6 p.m. Saturday on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol, airport spokesman Tom Winfrey said Monday.

He was booked and released on $250 bail from an area jail the same day, Winfrey said.

Winfrey did not know what drew the attention of police to Stapp.

Stapp, 32, married former Miss New York Jaclyn Nesheiwat Friday night in Miami, with his 7-year-old son Jagger as best man, People magazine reported on its Web site.

A March 8 date was set for Stapp’s arraignment, according to the Los Angeles County sheriff’s jail information Web site.

Britney Spears to attend Mardi Gras festivities

New York – Britney Spears, a Louisiana native, will celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans later this month when the devastated city hopes to revive some its old partying ways.

“I am honored to be a part of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans this year,” Spears said in a statement Monday. “It is so important for this amazing city to continue its annual traditions and I am really looking forward to being involved.”

The 24-year-old pop star will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Feb. 28, when the morning show reports live from New Orleans. ABC announced that Spears will bring “surprises for a group of very deserving young residents.”

The Mardi Gras parade season will run from Saturday to Feb. 28; Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras Day, is Feb. 28.

Spears grew up in Kentwood, and has participated in fundraisers for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

‘Prairie Home Companion’ reflects truth, director says

Berlin – Robert Altman says his big screen adaptation of “A Prairie Home Companion” wasn’t intentionally political, but reflects “the truth of what is going on in ourselves.”

The film was in keeping with Garrison Keillor’s tradition of weaving politics into his radio show, but not overtly so, the 80-year-old director said.

“I don’t think that you can make a piece of art – or a song, or poem – all of these reflect the kinds of feelings that rub off on us; reflect the truth of what is going on in ourselves,” Altman said Sunday following a screening of the movie at the Berlin International Film Festival.

“A Prairie Home Companion,” a fictionalized account of the last broadcast of the 30-year-old radio show, tells the story of what happens when Keillor finds out that he’s been taken over by a big conglomerate.

Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson and Kevin Kline star alongside Keillor in the film, which was shot on location at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn., where the radio show is based.

International film festival to honor Catherine Deneuve

Bangkok, Thailand – Catherine Deneuve will attend a Bangkok film festival where she will be honored for her contributions to movies.

The fourth Bangkok International Film Festival will award Deneuve the 2006 Golden Kinnaree Career Achievement Award at a Feb. 24 gala event, festival organizers said.

Deneuve starred in Jacques Demy’s 1964 film, “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” which will be screened at the festival. Her screen credits also include roles in “Belle de Jour” and “Dancer in the Dark.”

Also scheduled appear at the festival, which runs from Friday to Feb. 27, are Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Willem Dafoe, Diane Ladd, Helen Mirren, Hayden Christensen and Tadanobu Asano.

Slater refiles divorce papers

Los Angeles – Christian Slater is seeking joint custody of his 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, according to refiled divorce papers.

The documents, filed Friday in Superior Court, also indicate the actor wants to divide property under terms of a written agreement between himself and estranged wife Ryan Haddon.

Those terms were not disclosed.

Slater, 36, first filed papers last February to end his marriage to the television producer, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple married in 2000. They separated on Jan. 1, 2004, according to the new papers.

The original papers said they separated on Jan. 5, 2005.