Spears’ pal served with restraining order

Los Angeles – After three weeks of trying, Britney Spears’ parents on Thursday finally got to order Sam Lutfi to stay away from their daughter – at least until today.

In court papers, Jeffrey Wexler, an attorney for her father, James Spears, wrote that “after three weeks of apparently evading service,” Lutfi was served at 11 a.m. outside his Los Angeles apartment.

The order expires today. It requires Lutfi to stay 250 yards away from Spears and her home.

Wexler asked for the order to be extended until the court can schedule a hearing on it.

On Feb. 7, Spears’ mother, Lynne, requested the temporary restraining order against the troubled singer’s frequent companion and sometime manager. She claimed Lutfi had held Spears hostage in her own home, drugged her and took over her finances.

Attorneys for James Spears, who was named co-conservator of his daughter’s estate, told a Superior Court commissioner that investigators spent more than 200 hours trying to locate Lutfi and serve him the restraining order.

Timberlake to star in film ‘The Open Road’

Corpus Christi, Texas – The new star of the Corpus Christi Hooks minor league baseball team wants some playing tips.

Justin Timberlake will portray fictional Hooks player Carlton Garrett in the upcoming movie “The Open Road.” The 27-year-old pop star tried to meet with players of the Houston Astros’ Double-A team in Austin recently, but schedules didn’t align.

“Justin wants to portray what it’s like playing for the Hooks, playing for an Astros minor league team and playing at Whataburger Field,” Hooks President J.J. Gottsch said.

“The Open Road” is the story of a young man trying to reconnect with his father – a legendary athlete played by Jeff Bridges – as he struggles to get home to his ailing mother. Mary Steenburgen and Kate Mara are also in the film.

Badu jokes about relationships with rappers

New York – Erykah Badu doesn’t want you to believe the gossip rags when it comes to her friends – but when it comes to the singer herself, that’s another story.

“Don’t believe the tabloids,” Badu told an audience as she performed Tuesday night for VH1 Soul.

But she said: “It is true what they say about me and men – (I) make them wear crocheted pants and chin guards!” She broke out into laughter, then added: “But they souljas, though.”

Badu has a child with eccentric dresser Andre 3000 from OutKast, and had a long relationship with another rapper, Common, who is still laughed at for wearing crocheted pants when they were dating.

Badu, 36, was serious though as she defended the honor of her friend, R&B singer Eric Benet, who took a beating in the media when ex-wife Halle Berry accused him of cheating on her.

Diddy says he wants to become a movie star

New York – Sean “Diddy” Combs says he wants to move to Hollywood and become a full-time movie star.

The East Coast-based entertainment mogul aims to get top billing on the big screen.

“Yeah, leading man kind of stuff; you know, jumping off of buildings,” Combs says in an appearance scheduled to air today on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman.”

Besides action-packed adventure, the rapper-producer’s ideal film roles would also include “making love to beautiful women” and “very emotional, heart-wrenching scenes.”

Letterman advises Combs to start out doing a smaller, independent movie rather than a big-budget picture that could bomb at the box office.

“Oh, no, no, no, I’m going to take my time with it,” said Combs, who has a clothing line, Sean John, and heads Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment and its record label.

Fonda to receive career achievement award

San Luis Obispo, Calif. – Peter Fonda, the king of cool in “Easy Rider,” will receive the 2008 King Vidor Career Achievement Award at next month’s San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

He will appear at the festival March 15 to accept the honor, Executive Director Wendy Eidson said Wednesday.

The King Vidor award, named after the director of the 1956 movie “War and Peace,” honors career achievement in filmmaking.

Fonda, who will turn 68 on Saturday, is best known for his role in the 1969 film “Easy Rider.”

Delta Burke opens up about depression

Los Angeles – For the first time since entering a psychiatric hospital in January, Delta Burke is speaking out about her depression, saying she remembered having anxiety as early as kindergarten.

In a two-part “Entertainment Tonight,” Burke said she needed “an adjustment under a physician’s care” after the five medications she was taking no longer worked. Now she’s on two medications, Burke said.

By coming forward, Burke hopes to help remove the stigma surrounding depression.

Burke’s depression has at times been debilitating. One of her lowest moments came while she was starring in the long-running series “Designing Women.”

“I was parked in the car in the hills with a gun and a bottle of Xanax beside me, trying to recover from harsh words said in the tabloids,” she said. “I just wanted the pain to go away.”

But she insisted she wasn’t going to commit suicide, saying: “I didn’t want to die. If I ever really wanted to be dead, I’d be dead.”