Miss New Jersey: Nothing illegal in blackmail photos

New York – Miss New Jersey says she’s doing nothing illegal in the photos sent by someone trying to blackmail her into giving up her crown.

In an interview Monday on NBC’s “Today” show, Amy Polumbo said the photos show no nudity, pornography or underage drinking.

“I am not doing anything illegal” in the pictures, she said.

The 22-year-old college student said she has no idea who might have assembled two packages of private photos that were sent to Miss New Jersey and Miss America pageant officials last week.

“Whoever this is, I think they’re a very miserable person and I really feel bad for them,” Polumbo said.

The anonymous sender threatened in a letter to release the photos publicly if Polumbo doesn’t drop out of the Miss America pageant. She has refused to do so.

Bonham Carter relishes sadistic sorceress role

London – Some actors might balk at being cast as an evil witch. Not Helena Bonham Carter.

The British actress revels in the role of sadistic sorceress Bellatrix Lestrange – fanatical follower of evil Lord Voldemort – in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth film adapted from J.K. Rowling’s wizarding saga.

“I had about five lines and I think they cut about three of them,” said Bonham Carter, 41. “So I knew I had to be conspicuous.”

Like other Harry Potter fans worldwide, Bonham Carter is awaiting the July 21 publication of Rowling’s seventh and final Potter novel, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” to learn the characters’ fate. But she’s been given a hint that Bellatrix may play a part.

While she was considering whether to accept the relatively small role in “Order of the Phoenix,” she says, “J.K. Rowling sent a message saying she’s going to be very significant in the last one.”

Beyonce visits two injured by fireworks at concert

St. Louis – Two people injured when pyrotechnics went awry at Beyonce Knowles’ concert in St. Louis received a surprise emergency room visit from the singer.

The incident happened Sunday night, as the R&B star’s concert began. A spokeswoman for Scottrade Center didn’t return phone calls seeking comment, but broadcast reports said pyrotechnics meant for the stage accidentally spilled into the front row.

Two concertgoers were taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Spokeswoman Kathy Holleman wouldn’t release their names but said the injuries were minor. Both were expected to make a full recovery.

Soon after the concert, Knowles arrived at the hospital, said head nurse Darryl Williams.

Knowles, 25, met with the fans for about 45 minutes. “I just thought it was a great thing for someone of her stature to do,” Williams said.

Lavigne denies ‘Girlfriend’ is rip-off of ’70s song

New York – Avril Lavigne has denied a claim by a member of a 1970s rock band that her hit “Girlfriend” rips off one of his tunes.

Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer allege in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that Lavigne and her co-writers lifted their 1979 song, “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.”

The song was performed by The Rubinoos, which included Dunbar, on the group’s 1979 album, “Back to the Drawing Board.”

Terry McBride, Lavigne’s manager, said in a statement Monday that “upon the expert opinion of the country’s foremost musicologists, there is no basis” for the allegations.