Uncle Kracker released on bond after arrest

Raleigh, N.C. – Uncle Kracker, a former disc jockey for Kid Rock, was released on $75,000 bond following his arrest early Friday on a second-degree sex offense charge.

Authorities said Kracker was arrested after a 26-year-old woman alleged that a man had committed a sexual act against her at the Ess Lounge, a downtown nightclub.

Police in suburban Cary detained Kracker, 33, at an Embassy Suites hotel until Raleigh officers arrived and took him to the Wake County Jail, said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue.

Authorities had obtained a warrant charging Kracker with a second-degree forcible sex offense, Sughrue said.

Kracker, whose real name is Matthew Shafer, was released early Friday afternoon after a district court judge reduced his bond from $5 million to $75,000.

Kracker’s attorneys didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

Foxx to play musical genius in true-life story

Los Angeles – Jamie Foxx will play a brilliant but mentally troubled musician in a movie based on the true-life friendship between Skid Row prodigy Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez.

The DreamWorks SKG movie, directed by Joe Wright, is scheduled to begin filming in January.

“Erin Brockovich” writer Susannah Grant has completed the screenplay, said Gary Foster, who is producing the movie with Russ Krasnoff. Lopez’s role hasn’t been cast yet.

Ayers was attending New York’s famed Juilliard School on a music scholarship when he suffered a mental breakdown at age 20. A schizophrenic, he lived on the streets of Cleveland and Los Angeles for 35 years until Lopez saw him playing the violin one day near a statue of his musical idol, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Lopez did a series of columns on Ayers, and readers immediately responded, giving him musical instruments and inviting him to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Hawke: Spouse’s success can hurt ego, marriage

New York – Ethan Hawke, whose split from Uma Thurman caused a tabloid frenzy, says being part of a celebrity couple can be hard on the ego.

“It’s unfair when one person’s career is taking off and the other is really suffering,” the 36-year-old actor tells AMC’s “Shootout” in an interview slated to air Sunday.

“What happens – it’s not that they’re jealous of each other; it’s that the person you share your life with isn’t in the mood to support,” Hawke says. “You want to have a pity party for yourself, but they’re off to the Golden Globes and you don’t want to go because everyone is going to think you are jealous.”

Hawke and Thurman were married in 1998. She filed for divorce in 2004. The couple have two children.

“There’s a certain geometry to life – that life has a certain math equation to it and if you’re never together, you can’t build a home,” Hawke says. “Joanne Woodward put her career on the back burner for that marriage (to Paul Newman) to last. And something’s got to give.”

‘American Idol’ Sparks signs with Jive Records

New York – Jordin Sparks has signed the record contract that comes with winning “American Idol.”

The bubbly 17-year-old inked a deal with Jive Records in conjunction with 19Recordings, the label managed by “Idol” creator Simon Fuller, it was announced Friday.

Her debut album is slated for release in November. She’ll offer a taste of the disc with her new single, “Tattoo,” to be released to radio stations Aug. 27.

“‘American Idol’ has truly been a life-altering experience,” Sparks said in a statement. “I can’t wait to share this next chapter of my story with all the fans that have supported me so far.”

Victoria Beckham’s writing fashion book

New York – Victoria Beckham has fashion ideas to share.

HarperCollins announced Thursday that the former Spice Girl and wife of soccer star David Beckham will have a book out in November, “That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between.”

“I’ve always been a girl’s girl,” Beckham said in a statement. “And I know from experience that making the very best of yourself is something any woman can do.

“I was never the 6-foot-tall pinup. I’ve always been the girl-next-door who got lucky. I’ve come a long way in the last ten years, but this book isn’t my attempt to tell you what or what not to do. It’s just to share some of what I’ve learned.”

According to HarperCollins, “That Extra Half an Inch” will offer guidance on everything from how to dress on special occasions to “how to feel confident and look great every time you leave the house.”

Lohan’s parents settle divorce, custody dispute

Mineola, N.Y. – Lindsay Lohan’s estranged parents settled their long-simmering divorce and custody dispute Friday, winning praise from the judge who presided over their case.

“You have both demonstrated to me extraordinarily good judgment in resolving this matter as you did,” state Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Ross told Michael and Dina Lohan.

Terms of the divorce agreement, which will become official within 60 days, weren’t disclosed. Dina Lohan has custody of the couple’s two minor children, Aliana, 13, and Dakota, 10.

Neither Lindsay, 21, nor her brother Michael, 19, were involved in the divorce proceedings because they are no longer minors.

Dina Lohan said Lindsay, who was arrested last month in Santa Monica, Calif., on suspicion of driving under the influence and cocaine possession, is doing “fantastic.”

The “Mean Girls” star faces an Aug. 24 court date in connection with that arrest.