Judd receives bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky

Lexington, Ky. – Ashley Judd is now a graduate of the University of Kentucky.

The 39-year-old actress received a bachelor’s degree in French, but it wasn’t clear whether she attended any of Sunday’s graduation ceremonies, UK spokesman Jay Blanton told the Lexington Herald-Leader for a story on its Web site.

Judd attended the university from 1986 to 1990, but left one course shy of graduation.

Blanton said student confidentiality laws prevented him from saying how she finally received her degree.

In an interview last year, Judd told the newspaper that she would probably take a correspondence course to finish the one class necessary to get a degree. When she left in 1990, online and correspondence courses weren’t allowed to count toward graduation.

Her screen credits include “Kiss the Girls” and “De-Lovely.”

Ty Pennington charged with driving under the influence

Los Angeles – Ty Pennington, host of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” has been charged with driving under the influence.

Two misdemeanor counts were filed against Pennington on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be arraigned June 4. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Pennington, 42, was arrested shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday and released after posting $5,000 bail.

He apologized to fans and co-workers Monday.

“I could have jeopardized the lives of others and I am grateful there was no accident or harm done to anyone,” he said.

Akon apologizes for doing dirty dance with teen onstage

New York – Akon, under fire for doing a sexually explicit dance onstage with a 14-year-old girl, has offered an apology to the teen and anyone else who was offended by the display.

Akon, whose hits include “Don’t Matter,” “I Wanna Love You” with Snoop Dogg and “Smack That” with Eminem, was videotaped simulating sex with a girl invited onstage as part of his act during an April 12 concert in Trinidad. After the video was circulated widely on the Internet, it was revealed that she was 14.

Since the incident, Verizon has pulled out as a sponsor of his tour with Gwen Stefani.

In a statement released Wednesday to The Associated Press, Akon, 34, said he was sorry for the incident but also said he didn’t know the girl was underage.

“I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I’ve caused to the young woman who joined me onstage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert,” Akon said.

Tough week of Barry Gibb performances claims LaKisha

New York – A kiss from Simon Cowell turned out to be a kiss goodbye.

A week after so impressing the cantankerous Cowell that he kissed her, LaKisha Jones was eliminated Wednesday on “American Idol.” The Fox talent show is down to its final three contestants.

A nervous Jones seemed to have an ominous feeling Wednesday. Host Ryan Seacrest noticed she was talking to herself during one of the commercial breaks, and she admitted to overanalyzing things.

Performances of Barry Gibb songs the night before led to a particularly brutal week of Cowell criticism. “No kiss tonight, baby,” Cowell had said to Jones.

He was even tougher on Blake Lewis, calling one of his takes “absolutely terrible.” But asked to choose whether Lewis or Jones would be going home Wednesday, Cowell correctly predicted the results from the 45 million votes.

Jones, 27, grew up in Flint, Mich., and is the mother of a toddler. She began singing at age 5, has a passion for gospel but was formally trained in classical music. Tears streamed down her face as she said goodbye – but she stayed long enough to get a career kick-start from “American Idol.”