Late night talk show host Conan O’Brien is reportedly close to signing a deal with NBC that would pay him $8 million a year, doubling his current salary. The contract would be the biggest paycheck ever for a host in the 12:35 a.m. time slot.
R. Kelly is under investigation for a video tape that has allegedly surfaced, showing the 35-year-old R&B signer in a sexual act with a minor. The video was sent anonymously to the Illinois State Attorney’s office and Chicago Sun-Times. Kelly, whose short marriage to a 15-year old Aaliyah avoided widespread press, is currently facing a slew of similar lawsuits.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new action film Collateral Damage grossed $15.2 million last weekend, enough to power its way to the number one spot at the North American box office. The movie spent more than four months on the shelf for a terrorist plot line that was deemed untimely after the Sept. 11 attacks. It is the 54-year- old actor’s first number one film since 1997’s Batman and Robin. Big Fat Liar starring Frankie Muniz, of Malcolm in the Middle fame, arrived at number two, followed by the mega-flop Rollerball starring Ladies Love Cool James.
Proving many TV analysts wrong, the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics last Friday night attracted almost a quarter of the nation, giving it the highest debut for a Winter and even Summer Games broadcast in history.
Nineteen-year-old actor Brad Renfro was sentenced to 90 days of rehab by a Florida judge, after he violated a probation agreement and turned himself in for drinking and driving. Renfro, the star of the recent and acclaimed indie films Ghost World and Bully, has been involved with numerous run-ins with the law, the most serious being an attempt to steal a luxury yacht from a Fort Lauderdale dock two years ago.