LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles woman who accused pop singer Celine Dion's husband of sexual assault has been arrested on suspicion of writing $500,000 in bad checks to Las Vegas casinos, a Nevada prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Yun Kyeong Sung Kwon was taken into custody last Thursday in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena by police acting on information from the Clark County district attorney's office, said Dan Ahlstrom, who heads the office's bad check unit.
Kwon, who sued Dion's husband Rene Angelil last month for sexual assault, is accused of writing nine bad checks for a combined total of $500,000 in 1999 and 2001, Ahlstrom said. The largest of the checks was for $200,000.
The checks were made out to Harrah's casino, owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and the Flamingo, owned by Park Place Entertainment Corp. .
Kwon has been charged with nine counts of writing a check with insufficient funds, and could face up to 36 years in prison if convicted, Ahlstrom said.
Kwon made headlines last month when she filed a lawsuit accusing Angelil of fondling her in the elevator of a Las Vegas casino two years ago and then sexually assaulting her in her hotel room.
A spokesman for Angelil said he had paid a "a lot of money" in a confidential monetary settlement to keep the allegations from becoming public, but was now ready to fight a lawsuit he considered "an absurd fabrication."
Kwon's suit sought unspecified damages for assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment, according to court papers.
Best known for her song "My Heart Will Go On," the Canadian-born Dion is one of the world's best-selling pop singers. She recently returned to the music scene with her album "A New Day Has Come," following a two-year break after the birth of her first child, a boy.
Posted by Jen on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 @ 10:15 p.m.
Wednesday April 24, 2002 @ 04:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
With its alleged hard rock sound, Led Zeppelin influences, DVD extras and layers and layers of hype, Eminem's new album, The Eminem Show, is bound to be a dandy. Not that we'd know, because we haven't heard it. And as much as we'd like to give you a review, just like you, we won't be able to hear it until June 4.
See, the thing is, usually journalists get preview copies of new albums, so we have a chance to let our readers know what a CD sounds like before it hits the stores — that way you, fair consumer, can avoid wasting your money on a stinky album. With The Eminem Show, however, no promo copies will be sent out before the June 4 release date. Not even to "key" journalists like the guys at the top hip-hop magazines. No, Em isn't holding back because he's afraid of the crap reviews (bad press has never stopped him before). He's afraid of Internet piracy.
You see, in recent weeks electronic copies of new albums by the likes of Oasis and Rush have cropped up illegally on various websites. Naturally, those bands were pretty displeased and the illicit music files were taken down immediately.
Eminem isn't willing to risk it.
According to NME, The Eminem Show is being held under "the tightest security of any album ever made." Apparently, only a few people in the world have even heard the record. The British music magazine is reporting that the U.K. branch of Universal Records, who take care of Eminem's own label Shady Records, don't even have a single copy of the album in their office. Of course, taking into account the, um, enthusiasm of the British press, Universal probably wouldn't fess up to having a copy even if they did have one — but the point is clear: The Eminem Show is not to see the light of day until its proper release date.
Except the single of course. Em's new song "Without Me" will be out on May 20.
Eminem is also planning to tour in support of the new album. MTV has reported that the rapper will resurrect his Anger Management Tour this July. He's reportedly recruited Papa Roach, Xzibit, Ludacris and X-ecutioners to back him up. No dates or cities have been given yet, but we'll let you know if Eminem announces any plans to visit Canada.
Posted by Jen on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 @ 07:43 p.m.
Wednesday April 24, 2002 @ 04:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Between preparing Her Royal Majesty’s troops for the New Music West Festival, moving her record label forward with the upcoming release of albums Gabezra & The Way Out’s new album and LiveOnRelease, and anticipating the prospect of Purge hitting the international shelves, Bif Naked is going to have it rough finding the time to channel her inner villain.
The Canadian rock siren says that she’s keeping her touring close to home because she has two parts in movies coming up. One of those roles is cloaked in mystery, but Naked does say that she will be playing a villain. She is thrilled at this prospect, but admits that she will have to work on being fiendish, because no matter what impression people might get from this strong, lean image of ink and piercings, Bif Naked is no bitch.
"You know, when I was 18, I badly wanted to be mean," Naked says. "But, I was never any good at it so I got my yayas out on stage. I was able to be a real tomboy and get all that stuff out of my system."
Naked admits that because she is a strong woman with a fiercely honest attitude and a less than conservative appearance, people will assume that she is a bitch.
"(It happens) every single time, and it’s always funny ‘cause then if you’re not, they assume you’re either a suck up or a slut if you’re being nice to anyone," she says. "I don’t know. It’s kind of funny."
But, as a woman in the music industry, Naked has learned how to cope with misconceptions. She had to if she was going to continue to do what she loves. Her eyes were opened early on when she was fronting the band Gorilla Gorilla, and they opened for an L.A. ska band they admired.
"We were polite little Canadian kids, like I still am today. ‘Hey man, I’m Bif. How are you? It’s going to be a cool gig’. And these guys are like, ‘Oh yeah. So, which one of us are you here to fuck tonight?’ I was like, ‘No, no dude…oh, HA HA’. You know, oh ha ha, you funny, ‘cause you gotta be a good tomboy. And I said, ‘No. I’m in the band. I’m in the opening band’. And they’re, ‘Oh, I see. So which one of your band members do you fuck?’"
Though, as a young, sensitive punk rock girl, Naked was hurt and astonished by the incident, she took it the way she tries to take most things, as a lesson she needed to learn at that precise moment. Naked says that it made her extremely conscious of her own behaviour, forcing her to be cautious not to send the wrong messages to people. She is quick to point out that she holds no grudges against the band that taught her that lesson. She has toured with them since without ever mentioning the situation, but she says that the memory of it is still fresh in her mind.
Naked takes life lessons very seriously, and she values the experiences she has. She also values her fans. In the early days when she was drinking and living a generally wilder life, she put a stop to it all when she realized that so many of her fans were young.
"I’m really glad that I’m not a piss-up ‘cause I was never really good at drinking," Naked says. "I always threw up on myself and I would really hate to be out of control like that."
She says that somehow, that kind of behaviour would diminish the strength and honesty of her songs. As a musician, she had no choice, she had become a role model to her young fans, and Naked was determined not to be a bad one. Now Naked is straightedge, and the image of the strong independent woman who is also simply a good person, comes out with as much honesty and purity as in the words she sings. If people still want to believe that Naked is a bitch, the artist won’t be losing any sleep over it.
Bif Naked is not someone who can be wrapped in a neat package, labeled and dismissed. She has worked too hard to get where she is today, constantly evolving, running her own label, writing and playing her own music, acting, living. But, at the end of the day, when Naked goes home to her soft spoken boyfriend and her dogs Nicholas and Anastasia, what does she ultimately what for herself?
"Enlightenment. I want to be enlightened about everything. I want to finally get it".
—April Labine
Posted by Jen on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 @ 07:32 p.m.
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - Country singer Wynonna got fellow entertainers such as Madonna (news - web sites), Britney Spears and Shania Twain to make donations for an Internet charity auction to benefit disaster relief.
Airline tickets and a seat for a taping of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"; a guitar autographed by Twain; and a Seventeen magazine signed by Spears are among the items that became available for bidding on eBay on Monday. The auction continues through May 9.
Proceeds will go to the Red Cross.
"I was delightfully surprised at the generosity of my fellow artists who committed to this cause," Wynonna said. "As amazed as I am by the talents of Madonna, Dolly (Parton), Rosie (O'Donnell), Garth (Brooks) and Oprah, and all of the others who donated, I am forever changed by the size of their hearts."
Wynonna, 37, first gained fame with her mother, Naomi Judd, as half of The Judds. Her solo hits include "No One Else on Earth."
Posted by Jen on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 @ 07:27 p.m.
Early fashion predictions for the MTV Movie Awards: There's going to be a lot of Rings. And, just maybe, Britney Spears' midriff.
Just like at the Oscars, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings led all comers as nominations were announced Tuesday for the 2002 MTV Movie Awards.
Unlike at the Oscars (news - web sites), Britney Spears was singled out with a nomination for what MTV viewers decided was a Breakthrough Female performance in the coming-of-age comedy, Crossroads.
Rings, the epic, furry-footed fantasy flick, conjured up a total of six nods (seven less than its Oscar haul, but still...), including Best Movie and Best Hobbit Elijah Wood (who, technically, was honored in the Best Male Performance category).
At the Oscars, Rings converted four of its nominations into wins. Its competition doesn't get any lighter at the MTVs, because even though it's not going up against A Beautiful Mind (with the exception of one race), it is going up against The Fast and the Furious.
And at the populace-minded, popcorn-munching MTV Movie Awards, The Fast and the Furious is very much considered to be the product of beautiful minds. (This also explains the Britney Spears thing.)
Furious, the car-chase flick that clicked with audiences (and skidded out with critics), sped away with five nominations, including one for the vaunted Best Movie title.
If you always thought you'd see Fast and the Furious go head-to-head against the likes of Rings or dead-serious war film Black Hawk Down (another Best Movie nominee), then you probably also saw this one coming, too: Rush Hour 2, five nominations. (For stuff like Best Fight, but still...)
The other top multiple nominees were the full-throttle musical Moulin Rouge and the snarky 'toon Shrek with four apiece.
Like Rings, both of those films were well-represented during the just-completed Hollywood award season, which further underscores the split personality of the fan-determined MTV Movie Awards: They're nothing like the Oscars...except when they are.
Indeed, Oscar vets Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Will Smith are all 2002 MTV honorees, too--albeit, Training Day's Washington, named Best Actor at the Academy Awards (news - web sites), will compete for Best Villain honors at the MTVs.
Leave it to MTV viewers to correctly I.D. Washington as the bad guy in that film--a poll of MTV and MTV2 fans determined the nominations. They'll determine the winners, too, via phone and online balloting.
The 2002 MTV Movie Awards, now in its 11th year, are scheduled to be presented June 1 at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium (up until this year, a frequent Oscar hang). The show is set to be broadcast on June 6.
Here's a complete list of all the nominees:
Best Movie:
Black Hawk Down
The Fast and the Furious
Legally Blonde
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Shrek
Best Male Performance:
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Vin Diesel, The Fast and the Furious
Josh Hartnett, Pearl Harbor
Will Smith, Ali
Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Female Performance:
Kate Beckinsale, Pearl Harbor
Halle Berry, Monster's Ball
Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde
Best On-Screen Team:
Vin Diesel/Paul Walker, The Fast and the Furious
Casey Affleck/Scott Caan/Don Cheadle/George Clooney/Matt Damon/Elliott Gould/Eddie Jemison/Bernie Mac/Brad Pitt/Shaobo Qin/Carl Reiner, Ocean's Eleven
Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 2
Cameron Diaz/Eddie Murphy/Mike Myers, Shrek
Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson, Zoolander
Best Comedic Performance:
Eddie Murphy, Shrek
Mike Myers, Shrek
Seann William Scott, American Pie 2
Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 2
Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde
Best Villain:
Aaliyah, The Queen of the Damned
Christopher Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Tim Roth, Planet of the Apes
Denzel Washington, Training Day
Zhang Ziyi, Rush Hour 2
Breakthrough Male:
Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
DMX, Exit Wounds
Colin Hanks, Orange County
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Sorcerer's Stone
Paul Walker, The Fast and the Furious
Breakthrough Female :
Penélope Cruz, Blow
Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries
Mandy Moore, A Walk to Remember
Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale
Britney Spears, Crossroads
Best Kiss:
Heath Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale
Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott, American Pie 2
Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth, Bridget Jones's Diary
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge
Mia Kirshner and Beverly Polcyn, Not Another Teen Movie
Best Action Sequence:
Black Hawk Down, first helicopter crash
The Fast and the Furious, final race
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring, cave tomb battle
Pearl Harbor, attack scene
Best Fight:
Angelina Jolie vs. the robot, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Christopher Lee vs. Ian McKellen, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Jet Li vs. himself, The One
Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan vs. the Hong Kong Gang, Rush Hour 2
Best Musical Sequence:
Heath Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 2
Posted by Jen on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 @ 07:19 p.m.
In The News is a site devoted to Entertainment news found from various
sources on the Internet. In The News will mostly focus on Top-40 music news (mostly pop music
news) and news on the hottest celebrities. In The News cannot
guarantee the credibility of the articles found within the site. We are
only as credible as our sources make us. If an article has been found to
be false, we will make sure it is known as soon as possible.
In The News is archived daily, so to view news from past days updates, check the Archives.