Fantasia denies she is a homewrecker

New York — Fantasia said she was so upset about allegations that she broke up a marriage she was ready to die.

“I felt like if that would have happened, I would have been fine with that — I would have been OK with that,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday afternoon, nearly two weeks after she attempted suicide.

The former “American Idol” champ took a mixture of aspirin and sleeping pills after she was named in divorce papers as the cause of a couple’s breakup. The 26-year-old said she was so devastated and upset about lies being spread about her that she couldn’t function anymore.

As for the accusations that she knowingly dated Antwaun Cook even though he was married with kids, she said he was already separated when they started dating: “I don’t think I would stand for going in and breaking up somebody’s home.”

While she called Cook a good guy and a “great friend,” she said they are no longer together, and haven’t been for a while.

Fantasia shares some of her story on VH1’s “Behind the Music,” airing today, and a new season of her reality show “Fantasia for Real” debuts in September.

Her album, “Back to Me,” is out today.

Lady Gaga latest ‘Twitter queen’

New York — Lady Gaga has surpassed Britney Spears as the most followed person on Twitter — for now.

She has more than 5.7 million followers. She overtook Spears over the weekend and posted a video late Saturday on YouTube.

Gaga called her fans her “little monsters” as she thanked them for beginning “my reign as Twitter queen.”

Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Ellen DeGeneres and an account run by President Barack Obama’s political organization, Organizing for America, all have more than 5 million followers.

The most followed title often shifts rapidly, and fans frequently organize to boost their favorite’s tally.

Hearing set for doctor in Jackson case

Los Angeles — A judge says a preliminary hearing for the doctor charged in Michael Jackson’s death will begin Jan. 4.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor scheduled the hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray during a brief court session Monday, with Murray in attendance.

Prosecutors will lay out some of their evidence at the hearing, with Pastor then deciding whether to send Murray to trial.

The 57-year-old cardiologist has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Also present were several members of Jackson’s family, including his mother Katherine and father Joseph.

Johnston files letter of intent to run for office

Anchorage, Alaska — Levi Johnston, the father of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s grandson, has filed papers to run for office in his hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, next year.

Johnston filed his letter of intent Friday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, a first step needed to begin campaigning.

The letter doesn’t specify an office though Johnston’s manager, Tank Jones, has said Johnston’s interested in a run for mayor or City Council. He did not immediately return a message Monday.

Wasilla is where Palin got her political start, first as a council member and then as mayor.

Earlier this month, Jones confirmed that Johnston planned to run for office as part of a reality TV show.

Johnston and Palin’s daughter Bristol were thrust into the national spotlight in 2008, when Palin was making her vice presidential run and the two were unwed expectant teens.

Johnston, 20, has had a prickly relationship with the Palin family since the birth of son Tripp and has sought to capitalize on his notoriety, posing for Playgirl and hitting the Hollywood circuit. He and Bristol Palin recently broke off a short-lived engagement.

The filing was first reported by TMZ.com.

Court: Perry didn’t copy ‘Mad Black Woman’

Houston — A federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s verdict that actor-screenwriter Tyler Perry didn’t steal material for his 2005 movie “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”

Two years ago, jurors in East Texas found actress and writer Donna West failed to support her copyright infringement claim.

West appealed the verdict. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday there was nothing improper in the way the trial was conducted.

West wrote a play titled “Fantasy of a Black Woman” that was performed three times in 1991 in Dallas. She claimed Perry could have seen the script when he presented his plays at the Dallas Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998.

Perry testified his screenplay was an original work. The $5 million film grossed more than $50 million.

Grunberg: I starred in Abrams’ home movies

New York — “Heroes” actor Greg Grunberg says his acting bug started when he starred in the home movies of his childhood friend, director J.J. Abrams.

Grunberg has known Abrams since they were 4. He says Abrams began making movies during playdates when they were 10, using friends and family as cast members.

Grunberg has appeared in most of Abrams’ professional films and TV shows, including “Star Trek,” “Felicity” and “Lost.” Grunberg says he does not know yet whether he has a role in “Super 8,” a film that Abrams is now making with Steven Spielberg.

Grunberg next appears in the TV movie “Bond of Silence,” which premieres at 8 p.m. CDT Monday on Lifetime. He also stars in the new NBC midseason show “Love Bites.” His film “Group Sex” comes out today on DVD.