ENTERTAINMENT
US network faces $1m nudity fine
US
television network ABC may have to pay a fine of $1.4m for airing an
episode of NYPD Blue which depicted female nudity.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the 2003 show had "multiple, close-up views" of a woman's buttocks before the US watershed. The FCC deems "sexual or excretory activities" shown in an "offensive" way before 2200 as indecent. ABC has rejected the claims, saying the buttocks are not a sexual organ. The proposed penalty has been imposed on all 52 of ABC's stations who broadcast the episode.
Indecency battle
The scene in the police drama, which ran from
1993-2005, shows a boy surprising a naked woman as she prepared to take a
shower. The FCC said it received several complaints about the sequence,
which also showed one of the woman's breasts. An ABC spokeswoman said that
the program was broadcast with parental warnings and that "the realistic
nature of NYPD Blue's storylines was well-known to the viewing public".
The broadcaster has said it will appeal against the decision, which is the
second largest indecency fine imposed on a broadcaster. In 2006, the FCC
imposed a $3.6m (£1.8m) against CBS for an episode of Without A Trace,
which was settled for $300,000 (£152,000). The FCC has waged a battle
against TV indecency in recent years, with the US authorizing a huge
increase in fines. Janet Jackson's breast exposure during the 2004 Super
Bowl on live TV prompted the organization to impose a fine of $550,000
(£278,000) on 20 CBS-owned TV stations. The network has been embroiled in
a long-running court battle against the penalty.
A public memorial service for Australian star Heath Ledger will be held next week in Los Angeles, Australia's foreign minister has said.
Stephen Smith added the actor's family would be offered help to return his body to Perth in Australia, where he is expected to be laid to rest. Ledger's publicist said funeral arrangements "would continue to be kept private at the family's request". The 28-year-old was found dead in his New York flat on Tuesday. Mr. Smith also told reporters on a visit to the United Nations in New York that he understood that a private family memorial service had taken place in the city.
'Old soul'
He gave no details of the proposed memorial in Los Angeles, and said any tributes in Australia would be determined by Ledger's family. The actor's body was moved from a funeral home on Friday amid a crowd of reporters and photographers. A private viewing of Ledger's body had been scheduled at Frank E Campbell funeral home in Manhattan earlier in the day, which was barricaded by police. In death notices published in The West Australian newspaper, the Brokeback Mountain star's family remembered him as an "old soul". "You dreamed your dreams and lived them with passion and intelligent commitment," it said. In a separate tribute, his sister Kate said that the pair were "ultimate soulmates", adding she viewed him as "just my little brother. We have been privileged to accompany you on a ride through life that has simply been amazing and through it all we have loved each other beyond imagination. Our hearts are broken," the death notice read. In an additional tribute,
Ledger's father Kim wrote: "Heatho, Beef, my beautiful boy, so loving, so talented, so independent ... so no more chess games mate ... this is it, couldn't beat you anyway. We were one, in soul and commitment, just father and son."
Production halted
Meanwhile, the makers of Ledger's most recent film have suspended production. The star had recently completed filming in London on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed by Terry Gilliam. The $30m production had moved to Vancouver, Canada for interior and bluescreen scenes.
The film's makers issued a statement saying: "Terry and the producers will be assessing how best to proceed." The producers also paid tribute to the 28-year-old, calling him "a great actor, a great friend and a great spirit. We are still in a state of deep shock, saddened and numb with grief," the statement continued. A post mortem carried out on Ledger was inconclusive, with results from further tests expected to take more than a week.
A US judge has warned that singer Britney Spears will face trial on a charge of driving without a valid licence if proceedings are delayed.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge TK Herman granted an adjournment until 20 February, but told lawyers that no more delays would be allowed. He said a trial would be forced within 30 days if both sides failed to agree how to proceed in the case. The charge relates to an incident in August when Spears hit a parked car. The pop star faced hit-and-run charges after she left the scene, but they were dropped in October after she compensated the driver of the damaged vehicle. Spears' lawyer Michael Flanagan said the singer was driving with a Louisiana license at the time of the incident and applied for a California license one week after the charges were filed. He added that a camera to take a photograph for the license had not been available at the time. Mr. Flanagan said that Spears had been offered a plea bargain deal which would have resulted in her being put on probation for one year. But he said this was unnecessary because she had since obtained a valid California license. Spears is currently embroiled in a custody battle over her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, with the court recently making no changes to an order which denies her visitation rights.