Anti Gay Slur

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday: Taylor Swift is named the entertainer of the year at the Country Music Awards. Other honorees include newcomers Jason Aldean and the Band Perry. ( Los Angeles Times ) Calle 13 is up for a record 10 Latin Grammys at tonight's awards show. ( Los Angeles Times ) Brian Grazer has been tapped to produce the Oscars following Brett Ratner's resignation after he made an anti-gay slur. ( Los Angeles Times ) Eddie Murphy stepped down as Oscars host.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Rapper and actor Heavy D, who helped shape rap music, has died at 44. ( Los Angeles Times ) Heavy D is reported to have seen a doctor about a cough just days before his death. ( Los Angeles Times ) Brett Ratner quits his Oscars producer gig after using an anti-gay slur. The academy is scrambling to find a replacement for the telecast. ( Los Angeles Times ) Michael Jackson's household items, including his deathbed, are going up for auction.

A Calabasas man convicted of the 1985 murder of a high school classmate who had revealed the killer's homosexuality is expected to be paroled this week after 21 years in custody. Robert Rosenkrantz was sentenced as an 18-year-old to an indefinite term of 17 years to life. He was told that he would be eligible for parole after nine years, and he conducted himself as what courts called a model prisoner.

Tom Sherak never would have been elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if it weren't for the late Frank Pierson and a verbal spat that almost turned physical. It was early 2009, and Pierson and Sherak were at loggerheads at a Board of Governors meeting over a financing issue. The talk was getting contentious, so much so that Sherak said he thought the octogenarian screenwriter "could have beaten the crap out of me. " Then-academy President Sid Ganis threw the discussion to committee to avoid more arguing.

A pleased, shy grin spreads over Christine's face as she talks about her first few days at the EAGLES Center. "I was flattered," she says. "They were very warm. They thought I was cute. . . . This is the best situation I've ever been in." Certainly it was a change for the 16-year-old, who says she left Theodore Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights after hearing rumors that someone had compiled a list of gay students "who were going to get bashed. . . . I didn't like that school no more.

OMAHA -- No one prodded the crowd. The public address announcer said nothing. The flames did not shoot up around the pool. The lights did not dance. Yet the crowd saluted the arrival of one of the most decorated swimmers in American history, cheering on Janet Evans before she swam a one-and-done race in the women's 400 freestyle on Tuesday morning. Evans won gold in that event at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, one of her four career gold medals. She pursued an improbable comeback for this year's Olympic trials, and she finished 80th among 113 swimmers in the event.

Victor Ortiz will seek to exercise a rematch clause in his deal with Josesito Lopez, the Ventura fighter's manager reported Monday. Lopez, of Riverside, defeated Ortiz by a surprising technical knockout Saturday night at Staples Center when Ortiz declined to answer the bell for the 10 th round after suffering a broken jaw. The stunning development came after Lopez stepped in to replace world welterweight champion Andre Berto for the...

Writers from around Tribune Co. are discussing whether Roger Clemens will make baseball's Hall of Fame in light of the recent not guilty verdict against him. Check back throughout the day to see their responses, and leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject. Juan C. Rodriguez, South Florida Sun Sentinel If Roger Clemens does make the Hall of Fame, it won't be any time soon. Clemens' acquittal probably sways some voters on the fence about his candidacy. It won't put a big enough dent into the broader cross section of writers that aren't prepared to induct anyone with strong links, circumstantial or otherwise, to the steroid era. The government did not fail to prove Clemens took steroids or human growth hormone.

The trouble-plagued Debra Winger film "Peggy Sue Got Married" has been hit yet again. Winger is in traction with a herniated disc after aggravating a back injury suffered when she fell off a truck as a teen-ager. The latest diagnosis places her out of commission for "six weeks to six months," according to her publicist. Francis Coppola was to begin shooting "Peggy Sue" in mid-March with an eye toward Christmas release.

Jason Collins had long been keeping a secret. As a standout high school player at Harvard-Westlake School, as a star at Stanford and through a 12-year NBA career, he had hidden something fundamental about himself from his family, friends and teammates. On Monday Collins came out, becoming the first active male athlete in a major U.S. professional team sport to acknowledge he was gay. The reaction was swift. President Obama, who just last year gave his support for gay marriage, called Collins to say "he was impressed by his courage," according to a White House Twitter post.