Police arrest The Game on suspicion of making threats

Los Angeles – The Game was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats after police searched his home for more than three hours, authorities said.

The arrest Friday was related to an incident that occurred in February, said Officer Martha Garcia, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. She declined to elaborate.

KABC-TV captured the 27-year-old rapper being driven off in the back of a patrol car as a bystander yelled, “We love you Game, we love you.”

The Game stuck his tongue out at the camera and said, “I want to say that I’m not guilty, and I love California.”

The rapper, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, was booked at the police station, and bail was set at $50,000, according to the county sheriff’s department.

McGregor returns to act in Shakespeare play for little pay

London – Ewan McGregor may earn millions making movies, but the actor has decided to perform Shakespeare on the London stage for minimum wage.

The 36-year-old star, known for Hollywood roles such as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films, will earn $790 a week – standard minimum wage for actors in Britain – playing Shakespeare’s arch villain Iago in “Othello,” Donmar Warehouse spokeswoman Kate Morley said Saturday.

McGregor was recruited for the role by Donmar Warehouse artistic director Michael Grandage, who worked with the actor on the musical “Guys and Dolls.” The production marks Grandage’s fifth anniversary as the acclaimed theater’s artistic director.

It opens on Dec. 4 with Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor starring as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona.

Director doubtful about future after bout with depression

Copenhagen, Denmark – The Danish director Lars Von Trier said a period of depression has left him unable to work and he has doubts about when he will return to filmmaking.

In an interview published Saturday in the Politiken newspaper, Von Trier said the aftermath of his depression has left him “like a blank sheet of paper.”

“It’s very strange for me, because I’ve always had at least three projects in my head at one time,” he said.

The filmmaker was admitted to a Danish hospital around the beginning of the year to be treated for depression. Since then, he said, he has lost focus and takes no pleasure in his work.

“You can’t make a film and be depressed at the same time,” he was quoted as saying. “They say that it can take a couple of years to recover after a depression. But let us see.”

Von Trier, who has worked alongside actors such as Emily Watson in “Breaking the Waves” and Icelandic singer Bjork in “Dancer in the Dark,” said his best and most original movie is “Dogville,” which stars Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman.

Von Trier said he is unsure whether he will be able to begin work on a horror movie called “Antichrist” that he planned to start filming toward the middle of this year. The movie depicts Satan, rather than God, as the world’s creator.

‘Live 8’ organizer takes swipe at Gore’s ‘Live Earth’

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid and Live 8 benefit concerts, criticized the Live Earth music events Al Gore is putting together this summer, saying they lack a specific goal, according to a Dutch newspaper report Saturday.

The Live Earth concerts will be held in cities around the world on July 7, with proceeds funding a yet-to-be-named foundation to combat climate change, under Gore’s direction.

The shows will take place in London; New York; Tokyo; Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Organizers have also promised an event in Antarctica.

“I hope they’re a success,” De Volkskrant newspaper quoted Geldof as saying in an interview.

“But why is (Gore) actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody’s known about that problem for years. We are all (expletive) conscious of global warming,” he said.

Geldof, former frontman of The Boomtown Rats, organized the mammoth Live Aid concerts in 1985 to benefit victims of famine in Ethiopia and the Live 8 concerts in 2005 for African debt relief. He has dedicated much of his career to advocating on behalf of humanitarian causes.

“I would only organize (Live Earth) if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations,” he told the newspaper. “They haven’t got those guarantees, so it’s just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage.”

Winfrey calls on graduates to live their dreams, not sell out

Washington – Oprah Winfrey, whose show has remained the top-rated TV talk show for 20 consecutive seasons, says her success comes from maintaining her principles and serving others.

“My integrity is not for sale, and neither is yours,” Winfrey said at graduation ceremonies Saturday for Howard University, recalling times when she was under pressure to change course or avoid topics to boost ratings or appease advertisers. “Do not be a slave to any form of selling out.”

Winfrey recalled how early in her career at a TV station in Baltimore, executives told her she was “too black” and “too emotional.” She said they tried to have her TV name changed to something more recognizable, but she refused.

Finally, Winfrey was put on a talk show, she said, to run out her contract.

“And that was the beginning,” she told 30,000 people who crowded onto the Howard campus.

Winfrey drew repeated big cheers from the moment she took the stage. She called on the graduates to maintain their integrity and to “go forth and serve.”