People in the news

‘Cocaine’ – the anti-drug

St. Paul, Minn. – Eric Clapton is playing “Cocaine” in concert again.

The recovering drug addict and alcoholic, who founded the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery center on the Caribbean island of Antigua, stopped performing the song written by J.J. Cale when he first got sober.

“I thought that it might be giving the wrong message to people who were in the same boat as me,” Clapton recently told The Associated Press.

“But further investigation proved … the song, if anything, if it’s not even ambivalent, it’s an anti-drug song. And so I thought that might be a better way to do it, to approach it from a more positive point of view. And carry on performing it as not a pro-drug song, but just as a reality check about what it does.

“It very clearly says in the opening verse, ‘If you wanna get down, down on the ground,’ I mean, that’s, I think, the focal point of the song. That’s what the song’s about, is that, you know, there’s a price.”

Clapton, 61, also said he missed playing “Cocaine,” with its signature guitar riff, “just purely from a musical point of view.”

Spit happens

New York – Avril Lavigne has agreed that spitting at the paparazzi is probably not a good thing to do.

Lavigne issued a statement apologizing after she and her husband, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, clashed with some of the pesky photographers in Los Angeles.

According to reports, Lavigne spat in two separate incidents last week. Lavigne apologized for her “behavior with the paparazzi.”

However, her apology, posted on her Web site, indicated she “meant no offense” to her fans – not the paparazzi. She said she will always go out of her way for fans.

She also said her behavior was “a reaction to the persistent attack from the paparazzi” and she said “it’s trying at best dealing with their insistent intrusions.”

Lavigne and Whibley married in July after having dated since early 2004

Impaired driving

London – George Michael was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana after police found him slumped over the steering wheel of his car in London, authorities said Monday.

Michael was arrested after police responded to complaints that a car was blocking an intersection in North London at 3:22 a.m. Sunday. He received a caution for possession of cannabis and was released on bail on a charge of being unfit to drive. He has a November court date.

Just a week earlier, Michael gave his first solo concert in 15 years. The Spain show kicked off his new tour, “25 Live,” which is scheduled for 28 European cities this fall.

Michael rose to fame in the 1980s as half of the duo Wham! before starting his solo career.

Police had earlier warned Michael for possession of cannabis in February. In April, he hit three parked cars. He later acknowledged in an interview that he was a “terrible driver” and said he was trying to maneuver out of a parking spot.

A hero in armor, not tights

Los Angeles – Robert Downey Jr. will star as the latest Marvel Comics superhero to hit the big screen.

Downey will play the title character in “Iron Man,” a film directed by Jon Favreau. Filming is scheduled to begin in February, with the movie due in theaters in May 2008.

“Iron Man” is the story of billionaire industrialist and inventor Tony Stark, who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, he builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes, vowing to protect the world as a superhero.

Arrest warrant ordered

Canton, Mass. – Being Bobby Brown ain’t easy these days.

A family judge ordered the singer arrested if he steps foot in Massachusetts after Brown failed to show for a hearing Monday over delinquent child support payments.

Brown’s attorney said it’s a “very difficult time” for Brown, 37, whose marriage to Whitney Houston is coming to an end. She filed for a legal separation last month.

“Whether or not he’s going through a divorce doesn’t negate the fact that he still owes child support relative to his two children that he had prior to his marriage,” said Norfolk Probate and Family Court Judge Paula Carey.

Kim Ward, of Stoughton, the mother of two of Brown’s children, says Brown owes two months’ support, or $11,000.

Brown’s attorney, Phaedra Parks, would not say where Brown, a Boston native, is currently living.