Madonna defends adoption

London – Madonna said Tuesday that she had acted according to the law in taking custody of a 1-year-old Malawian boy, responding for the first time to the fierce debate about the legality and morality of the planned adoption.

The pop star’s statement came after she was united with David Banda at her London mansion. Madonna said she hopes to make the adoption permanent following an l8-month evaluation period, imposed by Malawi authorities.

“We have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law, like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate,” Madonna said in the statement, issued via e-mail.

Madonna said she and her husband, Guy Ritchie, began the adoption process “many months prior to our trip to Malawi,” but she had not disclosed their intentions because she wished to keep the matter private.

“After learning that there were over 1 million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family,” Madonna said.

“This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly,” she added.

Vaughn threatens to sue tabloids over kissing reports

London – Paging all tabloids: Be careful about what you write about Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston.

According to statement released by a London law firm, the 36-year-old actor would be filing a “legal complaint” against a tabloid trio – the New York Post and the Britain-based Daily Mirror and The Sun – that said he was seen kissing a “mystery blonde” at an Oct. 8 charity event in London and had called it quits with Aniston.

“Ms. Aniston and Mr. Vaughn had not ended their relationship either at the material time or since. … The suggestion that he was having a passionate embrace and kiss, or has ever been unfaithful to Ms. Aniston, are false,” the statement said.

Aniston also has gone public about their couplehood – albeit, in a kindler, gentler way.

On Monday’s “Oprah,” the 37-year-old actress revealed that she and Vaughn are still together.

When Oprah Winfrey asked if she and Vaughn were “broken up,” Aniston replied, “No, no.”

If no settlement is reached between Vaughn and the tabloids, the case “is expected to go to jury trial in London’s High Court” next year, the statement said.

Brown pays child support

Canton, Mass. – Bobby Brown has paid up $11,000 in delinquent child support, after being threatened with arrest if he stepped back into Massachusetts.

A family judge had issued an arrest warrant two weeks ago after Brown failed to show up at a hearing over two months’ worth of payments he owed to Kim Ward, of Stoughton, the mother of his two teenage children.

Brown’s attorney said then he was having a “very difficult” time as his tumultuous marriage to singer Whitney Houston was coming to an end with her filing for legal separation.

Patrick McDermott, the registrar of probate for the Norfolk Probate and Family Court, said Tuesday both sides have assured him Brown has since made his payments, though no paperwork had been filed with the court.

“I have at least been given the word that Kim Ward is satisfied that payment has been made and she’s good to go, for now,” he said.

Martha Stewart pledges $1 million to hospital

Mount Kisco, N.Y. – Martha Stewart has pledged to donate $1 million to the hospital where doctors stitched up her hand last December.

Stewart said she received excellent care and wants to “ensure that the region in which I live and the community, which has been so welcoming to me, has access to a superior medical facility,” according to a news release issued Tuesday by Northern Westchester Hospital.

The 65-year-old lifestyle guru visited the hospital’s emergency department after slicing her hand while carving a turkey in her home about four miles away.

Stewart’s pledge is conditional – other donors must give $2 million by the end of the year before the Stewart money kicks in. The donations would help the hospital nearly reach its $25 million fundraising goal for a new emergency department.

The $1 million is not the first gift from Stewart since she cut her hand. She sent two Christmas trees soon afterward, including one decorated with gingerbread cookies, the hospital said.