Witness: Woman in crash Freeman’s friend

The woman who was injured along with Morgan Freeman in a weekend car accident apparently is a friend of the Oscar-winning actor who had offered him a ride home, a crash witness says.

Freeman, 71, was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima that authorities said belongs to Demaris Meyer, 48, of Memphis, Tenn., when the car veered off a rural road Sunday night a few miles from Freeman’s home in the Mississippi Delta.

Bill Rogers, a retired police officer who was the first person to arrive at the scene, said a dazed Freeman told him that he and Meyer were headed to his home in Charleston, a small town some 90 miles south of Memphis.

Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Wednesday that Freeman was still listed in serious condition.

The actor had surgery Monday to reconnect nerves and repair damage to his left arm and hand, according to his publicist, Donna Lee. Lee said Freeman will make a full recovery.

Barker removed from termination suit

A judge has dismissed allegations against Bob Barker in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a “Price is Right” employee, saying the game-show’s longtime host was not her boss.

Deborah Curling, a former production assistant, sued Barker, CBS and production company FremantleMedia North America in October, claiming she faced retaliation after testifying against Barker in another wrongful termination lawsuit.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm H. Mackey tentatively dismissed several claims against Barker on Wednesday, saying he could not be sued for wrongful termination because he was not her employer.

Curling’s attorney, Nick Alden, can amend the complaint to try to prove that Barker inflicted emotional distress, but Mackey dismissed that allegation for now.

Barker retired last year after hosting “The Price is Right” for 35 years.

Hilton’s presidential ad used strategy, memory

Paris Hilton didn’t need cue cards for her presidential campaign ad.

The 24-year-old heiress memorized her entire monologue, which included Hilton outlining her energy plan, in an online video spoof posted on Funny or Die, the comedy Web site’s content director said.

Co-founder Adam McKay came up with the concept for a mock ad starring Hilton, which has received more than 3 million views since it was posted Tuesday.

“Adam thought it would be really funny to get Paris to respond to the John McCain ad that featured her,” Funny or Die content director Amy Rhodes told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

In the online video, Hilton – clad in a leopard-print swimsuit and heels while lounging poolside – announces her candidacy for president and suggests an energy plan. She also suggests a running mate: R&B singer Rihanna.

“I want America to know,” she says in the video, “that I’m, like, totally ready to lead.”

Wahlberg to appear on ‘Entourage’ series

Fall is full for Mark Wahlberg.

The 37-year-old actor-producer has upcoming productions in film, television – and his own family.

Wahlberg will make a rare cameo appearance on “Entourage,” the hit HBO series of which he is executive producer, when the fifth season begins next month.

And his third child with fiancee Rhea Durham is due in September.

In October, Wahlberg returns to his action-star roots with “Max Payne,” a crime-thriller based on a gritty video game.

Meanwhile, he’ll start training for his role in “The Fighter,” playing boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward.

“I’m thrilled,” Wahlberg told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “Life couldn’t be better.”

He followed up his Oscar-nominated performance in “The Departed” with a pair of gun-toting parts, plus softer roles in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” and Peter Jackson’s anticipated interpretation of the best-seller “The Lovely Bones,” due out next year.

But “Max Payne” spoke directly to Wahlberg’s “guy mentality,” he said.

Lisa Marie Presley expects twins in fall

Lisa Marie Presley is expecting twins, her spokeswoman, Cindy Guagenti, said Wednesday.

The babies are expected to arrive in the fall.

Presley – daughter of Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley – announced her pregnancy on her MySpace page in March, saying she was forced to go public with the news after photos of her looking heavier were ridiculed in the media.

The 40-year-old singer has two children from her marriage to musician Danny Keough, which ended in 1994. She was briefly married to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

Presley married music producer Michael Lockwood in January 2006.

“It’s her time to celebrate with her husband,” Priscilla Presley said Tuesday in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight.” “My daughter is a very family girl. She loves children, and I know that she and Michael have been hoping for this for a long time.”