Brown enters not guilty plea in beating case

Los Angeles — Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Monday to threatening and assaulting his girlfriend, fellow music star Rihanna.

The 19-year-old R&B singer entered his plea, speaking in a soft voice, while standing alongside his lawyer, Mark Geragos. His mother sat in the first row, red-eyed.

Within moments of the hearing, a lawyer for Rihanna said the singer was hoping a plea deal could be reached before the case goes to trial. “She would be pleased if this was over quickly,” attorney Donald Etra said. He reiterated that Rihanna would testify if required.

Brown was charged in March by Los Angeles County prosecutors with felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats. He was arrested nearly a month earlier after police said he was involved in an early morning altercation with a woman who identified the “Run It!” singer as her attacker.

If convicted, Brown could be sentenced to probation or nearly five years in prison.

Neither side has publicly addressed Brown and Rihanna’s relationship since the incident.

Fawcett treated for cancer’s spread to liver

New York — Farrah Fawcett is being treated for anal cancer that has spread to her liver and has been hospitalized for a complication from a routine treatment, a producer who worked with the actress and her doctor said Monday.

In separate phone interviews with The Associated Press, Fawcett’s producer and her doctor said that Fawcett is in a Los Angeles hospital, recovering from complications from a medical procedure in Germany, and is “not on death’s door,” as the producer put it.

However, confirmation that the cancer had spread to such a distant site was dire news. The 62-year-old “Charlie’s Angels” star was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and originally was treated with chemotherapy and radiation, said her producer, Craig Nevius.

She was declared in remission Feb 2, 2007, but three months later, scans showed “not only had it recurred, it metastasized to her liver,” Nevius said.

Toby Keith livid about article by Ethan Hawke

Las Vegas — Ethan Hawke might want to avoid crossing paths with Toby Keith in the near future.

The country star lit into the actor for an article Hawke wrote in the new issue of Rolling Stone about Kris Kristofferson. In it, Hawke refers to a blowup Kristofferson had with an unnamed country star back in 2003 that sounds a lot like Toby Keith.

But a furious Keith, speaking backstage at the Academy of Country Music Awards, said it wasn’t true, and added that Hawke did not name him in the story because he did not want to face him later.

In the story, Hawke claimed he witnessed the confrontation backstage at Willie Nelson’s tribute concert for his 70th birthday at the Beacon Theatre in New York.

Hawke said the argument began with the “Star” telling Kristofferson: “None of that lefty (expletive) out there tonight, Kris.”

Hawke said Kristofferson then angrily confronted and asked him if he had ever served in the military.

“Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not, so shut the (expletive) up,” Hawke recounted Kristofferson as saying. “You don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”

A spokeswoman for Hawke did not immediately return a message seeking comment. A Rolling Stone spokeswoman said that the magazine fully stands by the story and Hawke’s reporting.

Kristofferson, in a statement, said he did not recall the incident and tried to be diplomatic to all sides.

Report: Lohan, Ronson ‘taking a brief break’

Los Angeles — Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson have split — for now.

Lohan says that she and the 31-year-old Ronson, who announced they were a couple in September, are “taking a brief break so I can focus on myself.”

Lohan, 22, made the comments to E! News Monday after a tumultuous weekend that saw the troubled pop star barred from a Ronson family party. The two have been dogged by rumors of arguments and breakups for months and are often photographed fighting.

NBC anchor Williams wins Cronkite Award

Phoenix — NBC anchorman Brian Williams has been named this year’s recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award.

Williams will be honored by Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at a luncheon Nov. 18 in Phoenix.

The “NBC Nightly News” anchor says he grew up idolizing Cronkite and that there is no greater name in broadcast journalism.

In 2004, Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of “NBC Nightly News.”

Britney Spears tour may head to Australia

Los Angeles — Britney Spears may take her “Circus” act down under.

Attorneys for the pop singer and Spears’ father and conservator, James Spears, discussed the idea of expanding her current “Circus” tour to include dates in Australia and Europe during a Wednesday hearing. Nothing was decided in court, and another hearing was scheduled for April 14.

Spears is touring the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The tour is currently scheduled to end in Manchester, England, on June 17.