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Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy has been released from the hospital after collapsing yesterday and suffering a seizure during a luncheon for President Barack Obama.
The 76-year-old Massachusetts senator, who has been undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, left Washington Hospital Center Wednesday morning after remaining overnight for observation, a spokesman confirmed to ET. The spokesman added that Kennedy was in good spirits and doctors wanted him to get some rest.
After conducting tests, Kennedy's doctors concluded that the incident was brought on by fatigue. The prominent Democrat was diagnosed last May with a brain tumor that has been treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

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Matt Dillon claims he's no speed demon, despite evidence to the contrary.
The actor has entered a not guilty plea to a charge of careless and negligent operation of a vehicle stemming from his Dec. 30 speed-related bust in Vermont.
Dillon's attorney, Mark Kaplan, entered the plea on the absent actor's behalf during this morning's roughly two-minute hearing. The legal eagle said he hoped the case would be resolved without going to trial.
The 44-year-old was nailed with the speeding charge last month, after Newbury police clocked him driving 106-mph in a 65-mph zone.
A police report filed with the court said the actor was cooperative throughout the incident and quoted him as saying, "I screwed up, I know, I know." It also identified Dillon's passenger as fellow actor Fisher Stevens.
If convicted, Dillon could face up to one year behind bars and face a fine of $1,000.

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Peter Falk's wife and daughter have now squared off over who should be taking care of Columbo.

Falk's adopted daughter, Catherine Falk, filed legal papers last month claiming Falk has dementia and Alzheimer's and can't care for himself. She wants a court to appoint her conservator.

Now, in legal papers filed yesterday in L.A. County Superior Court, Falk's wife Shera expressed shock at Catherine's audacity. She claims Catherine has had a bad relationship with Peter and even sued him in 1992. She says Peter has never even met Catherine's children nor did he attend her wedding.

Shera, who's been married to Peter for 31 years, claims she provides constant care for Peter and that he's "happy and healthy under the current conditions at home..." Shera does not want a conservatorship because she claims it creates a "stigma."

And Shera included a sworn declaration from the late Johnny Carson's wife. Joanna Carson says Shera has always been there for Peter, adding, "Shera always made it a point to cook for Peter. Italian was his favorite so she always made sure to have a meal ready for him when he got home." She adds Peter liked her Italian cooking so much he wanted her to make the meal for their wedding at the Bev Hills Hotel. She did not.

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Beyonce sang Barack and Michelle Obama through their first inaugural dance as many of Hollywood's biggest stars celebrated the president and country's big day at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
"Everybody, we have nine more balls to go to," Barack announced to the crowd. "But, Michelle and I both want to say thanks. Thanks for this honor, thanks for this privilege, and remember what we said during this campaign: 'Yes we can. Yes we will.' As long as all of us are working together."
At the top of the ball, the Obamas slow danced to a rendition of Etta James' "At Last" as sung by Beyonce.

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Ty Pennington is on the hunt for a hit and run driver who left a man in extremely critical condition.

Daniel Seeck, a cousin of one of Pennington's managers, was riding his bike in Santa Monica last Saturday when he was struck by an SUV. Seeck, who is 33, is on life support at UCLA Medical Center.

Pennington is offering a $10,000 reward for any info that leads to the arrest of the person who was driving the SUV. The investigator -- Chris Dawson -- is waiting for calls at (310) 458-8427.

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Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards will be announced Thursday, which means time's ticking to finalize predictions. Here are some things you can keep in mind for the big reveal.

For almost a year, we've heard talk about The Dark Knight being a factor in the Oscar race. Their safest bet, of course, is a supporting actor nod for Heath Ledger. (Thursday, by the way, is also the one-year anniversary of his death.) Beyond that for the film, nothing's as certain, but thanks to a hat trick of precursor nominations from three of the Guilds (Producers, Writers and Directors), The Dark Knight is looking good to land on the best picture list.

Frontrunner Slumdog Millionaire, along with Milk, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Frost/Nixon, are likely to join Knight in the lineup. All were shortlisted by the DGA and PGA as well.

In the acting races, all eyes will be on double Golden Globe-winner Kate Winslet to see if she will double-up on nominations for Revolutionary Road (lead) and The Reader (supporting), or if she'll miss out completely. Vote-splitting and category confusion — many feel her role in The Reader is lead and could nominate her as such — could leave the five-time nominee out in the cold.

If Winslet does double dip, she will become the 12th person to be nominated in both supporting and lead categories in the same year. The most recent was Cate Blanchett, who was nominated last year for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I'm Not There.

Brad Pitt (Button) and Angelina Jolie (Changeling) could nab his-and-hers lead nominations if all goes according to plan — which hasn't for Jolie in the past. Last year, she racked up a slew of precursor nominations for A Mighty Heart, but failed to show for the Oscars. She's having a similar run this year, but she may have some added Oscar luck with Changeling director Clint Eastwood.

If you're not aware, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loves Eastwood. Four years ago, with no precursor nominations under his belt, he memorably bumped Sideways' Paul Giamatti off the best actor lineup for his turn in Million Dollar Baby. He can very well knock out (no pun intended) someone this year with his sleeper hit Gran Torino, but only time will tell.

Nominations will be announced by Forest Whitaker and AMPAS president Sid Ganis at 8:30 am/ET.

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Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Finally.

After flubbing his oath during yesterday's inauguration -- thanks, Chief Justice John Roberts -- Obama retook the oath this afternoon at the White House. White House counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts again out of an "abundance of caution."

In Barack's defense, people retake the SATs all the time!

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Celeb designer Lisa Kline's husband died in a freak accident early this morning -- and sources say it may have been due to a sleepwalking incident.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Lisa was woken up around 1:30 AM when she heard a loud crashing sound outside of her house. When she got up to investigate, it appeared her husband, Robert Bryson, had fallen off the upper level balcony and struck a fence. Kline rushed down and tried to resuscitate him, but attempts were unsuccessful.

We're told the couple had gone to sleep in the same bed together several hours before the tragedy.

Kline's rep released the following statement:
"Lisa Kline and her family suffered a tremendous tragedy when her husband, Robert Bryson, accidentally fell to his death at the family's home on Thursday. Lisa and her family are thankful for the outpouring of support they have received, and ask for privacy at this difficult time."

UPDATE: Law enforcement sources say they're investigating whether alcohol could have played a part in his death.

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The star of TV's "The Beast" has a new literary project in the works.
ET has confirmed that Patrick Swayze plans to write a memoir with his wife Lisa. Details about the memoir or a release date are not yet known.
Just last week Swayze, who is battling stage-four pancreatic cancer, returned home from the hospital after receiving treatment for pneumonia.

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Batman Lives?! After The Dark Knight was shut out of the Best Picture race yesterday, we emailed an Academy voter for reaction. "The fact it and Chris Nolan weren't nominated is a shame," the voter replied. "And I plan on casting a write-in vote for it on the final ballot."

Write-In?! In the early days of the Oscars, write-in campaigns were common, the Academy's Teni Melidonian tells E! News. In 1936, a successful write-in campaign brought an award to the unnominated Hal Mohr for his cinematography on A Midsummer's Night Dream.
So, Maybe There's a Chance for The Dark Knight, After All?! Yes. In one of the eight categories it drew a nomination.

Best Picture, however, is a lost cause.

After Mohr's win, Melidonian says, the Academy nixed future write-in votes on the final ballot. So, if someone this month were to, say, ignore the bubbles beside the five Best Picture nominees, and scribble in "The Dark Knight" instead? "It does not count," she says.
Oh, Well, the Drinks Are Too Pricey Anyway: In an email posted today on Dark Campaign, Jonah (aka Jonathan) Nolan—Christopher's brother and Dark Knight cowriter—thanks the website for its Batman-boosting efforts and tells fans to look on the bright side: "Any nominations for a comic-book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it."
And while Jonah Nolan writes that he, too, was disappointed his brother didn't receive any recognition, he doesn't sound too sad he won't be going to the big show, either. "Did you know it’s not even an open bar once the show starts?" asks the one-time nominee for Memento. "At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing."
It's Not Just the Academy: The Dark Knight isn't up for Best Picture, or its equivalent, Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, either. One SAG voter, who served on the awards' nominating committee, uses a gardening term—taproots, as in the stubborn roots that keep a plant planted—to explain why The Dark Knight didn't take hold. "There's a lot of taproots," the voter says, "and they just won't shift, and they think it should be more like a movie like Doubt." Doubt, up for five Oscars, is up for five SAGs, including Motion Picture Cast.

Department of Bad Timing: The Dark Knight, out on DVD since Dec. 9, and in only six theaters last weekend, is rolling back into 350 theaters today to cash in on that ground-breaking Best Picture nomination.

Department of Worse Timing: Revolutionary Road, which earned three nods, but none for its big-name stars, much less one for Best Picture, is bulking up by more than 1,000 theaters.
When a Plan Comes Together: One day after their respective marquee nominations, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler are all going wide.
Why Hugh Jackman Shouldn't Be Too Worried: Last year, Oscar host Jon Stewart not only had to make do with five indie-skewing Best Picture nominees, he had to make do with only three marquee stars among the 19 nominated actors: George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Cate Blanchett. Four, if you count Daniel Day-Lewis. (By the way, usually, there are 20 nominated actors, but Blanchett was nominated twice.)

This year, even disregarding The Dark Knight-less Best Picture race, Jackman will have nine brand-name acting nominees as ratings draws: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Heath Ledger, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr., Kate Winslet and Anne Hathaway. Ten, if you count Penélope Cruz.
And if you count Pitt and Jolie twice each, and count the Ledger storyline 10 times, then Jackman will have more nominee draws than there are nominees.
In the end, however, Jackman is still probably going to wish one less Slumdog Millionaire song was nominated and one more Miley Cyrus-penned Bolt song was.

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TMZ has learned Bahamian police have recordings of conversations in the alleged plot to extort millions from John Travolta.

We've learned Bahamian police are using the recordings in the investigation of Obie Wilchcombe, Pleasant Bridgewater and Tarino Lightbourne. As we first reported, the plotters haggled with Travolta's reps -- initially demanding $25 mil and then reducing their demand to the mid-teens. Some of those conversations were recorded.

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No paparazzi-avoiding deed goes unpunished, it seems.
David Beckham has been sued by a disgruntled photographer who was roughed up last month by one of the soccer star's bodyguards after Beckham confronted the shutterbug in an attempt to get him off his famous back.
Emicles Da Mata claims he suffered serious injury at the hands of Beckham's right-hand man, stating in court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that on Dec. 7 the bodyguard beat him repeatedly, grabbed his camera and threw it in a trash can.
An eyewitness told E! News at the time that Da Mata had been trailing Beckham and wife Victoria when the Brit got out of his car and approached the paparazzo's vehicle, enticing him to come out. Per our source,when Da Mata refused to budge, Beckham's muscle went around to the passenger side and started throwing punches.
"They just can't do this," Da Mata said. "They put me on the floor, they got my camera and they threw it in the trash can. They can't do this to us."
A police report was taken at the scene, but no criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.
Da Mata is claiming assault, battery and emotional distress, and is asking for unspecified damages, per TMZ.com, which first reported the suit. Beckham's bodyguard has also been named as a defendant.

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Anna Faris has found herself a house honey.
The 32-year-old actress got engaged late last year to Bride Wars actor Chris Pratt, 29, Faris' rep confirmed Thursday to E! News.
This will be the second set of "I dos" for the Scary Movie heroine. She was married to actor Ben Indra for nearly four years before the two split for good last February.
"He's awesome," Faris told People of Pratt in August. "He's a great, great guy. I feel really lucky."
The House Bunny star will next share screen time with Seth Rogen in the mall-cop comedy Observe and Report. Pratt, one of the stars of the late WB show Everwood, is currently in theaters as Anne Hathaway's put-upon fiancé in Bride Wars.

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The bitter dispute over Heath Ledger's $10 million life insurance policy has settled.

In legal papers filed in L.A. County Superior Court, a deal has been struck between ReliaStar Life Insurance Company and the lawyer representing Matilda Rose, Heath's daughter and the beneficiary of the policy.

TMZ broke the story that the insurance company was stalling because it had questions as to whether Ledger's death might have been a suicide, even though it was ruled accidental. ReliaStar also maintained Ledger may have lied on his insurance application when he said he never used illegal drugs. The company felt both issues could void the policy.

Matilda's lawyer filed a lawsuit claiming ReliaStar was acting in bad faith.

Terms of the settlement are confidential.

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The dog days of two summers ago—make that the mistreating dog days—have resulted in a dark day for DMX.
The rapper today was sentenced to 90 days in a Phoenix jail, stemming from his guilty plea last month to one count each of animal cruelty, theft, marijuana possession and possession of a narcotic.
In addition to his three-month lockup, the minimum he could have faced as a result of last month's plea deal, the arrest-prone artist, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was placed on 18 months probation for his misdeeds.
But if you think he received any special treatment, think again.
"I'm not sentencing DMX today, I'm sentencing Earl Simmons," Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Phemonia Miller said during the hearing. "I don't know DMX. Mr. Simmons, it's time to do something different. What you have been doing is not working."
To further drive the point home, Miller said she would not give the rapper any credit for the nearly two months he's already spent in police custody.
While he originally faced more than a dozen possible charges as a result of an August 2007 raid on his Arizona home, prosecutors opted not to slap the excess charges on the rapper as a result of his guilty plea.
The sentence is the result of a months-long investigation into reports of pit bull abuse that culminated in a search of his property, during which officials found 12 extremely malnourished pit bulls, three dead dogs, guns and ammunition and a significant amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
As it is, the 38-year-old has been held since Dec. 9, when he was arrested in Miami after failing to appear at a court hearing in his Phoenix case. It remains unclear where, exactly, the rapper will be locked up, as the commissioner agreed to let him apply to serve his sentence in Florida rather than his resident state.

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Judge Larry Seidlin, the Broward County, Fla., Circuit Court jurist who weepily presided over the battle pitting Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead against Anna Nicole Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, for custody of Smith's remains, met Smith's 2-year-old daughter for the first time Friday when she and her dad surprised him during a visit to Larry King Live.
"She's a beautiful little girl and I'm glad everything is working out," Seidlin told E! News about being approached by Birkhead on the CNN talk show's set. "Larry is a great father."
Turns out Birkhead, who appeared about 20 minutes into Seidlin's interview, was King's "surprise guest" on the episode taped today, which is scheduled to air Monday night, a week before the second anniversary of Smith's death on Feb. 8.
"On walks Larry with Dannylynn running next to him," Seidlin said. "When they said 'surprise guest,' I thought maybe it was [former Yankees manager] Joe Torre or someone. I was not expecting to see her!"
Seidlin never met the child during the six-day trial nearly two years ago, which concluded with him granting Dannielynn's court-appointed guardian custody of Smith's body—a decision that paved the way for her to be buried in the Bahamas alongside her son Daniel, who had died barely five months before.
"I want you to understand that I reviewed absolutely everything," an emotional Seidlin said upon handing down his ruling. "I have struggled with this. I have shed tears.
"Justice is not perfect, it's what is reasonable."

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Britney Spears has acquired a restraining order against three individuals from her recent past.
The Associated Press says court records indicate that the restraining order is against Britney's former acquaintance Sam Lutfi, her ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, and a lawyer, Jon Eardley.
In the court documents, attorneys for Britney and father Jamie Spears (her legal conservator) contend that the three men have been a disruptive force in Britney's life.
The AP says the documents state: "On the first anniversary of the establishment of the conservatorship, the co-conservators are informed and believe that these three figures are working in concert to disrupt the conservatorship, with an utter disregard for Ms. Spears' health and well being."
The temporary restraining order against the three men forbids them from contacting Britney, her parents and her two little boys. A hearing next month will determine whether the order is extended.

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The lovely Carmen Electra is weighing in on Jessica Simpson's curvy controversy!
"She's a gorgeous girl," Carmen tells People.com of Jessica. "A lot of women would die to look as good as she looks."
Carmen tells the mag she thinks the controversy stems from the outfit Jessica was wearing when she was photographed on stage in Pembroke Pines, FL.
"There's going to be moments where people don't necessarily like your look or what you're wearing, and that's okay," Carmen says. "Next week, she'll rock some outfit that will blow everyone away."

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President Obama's half-brother has been arrested on a drug charge.
Kenyan police tell the Associated Press they arrested George Obama for possession of marijuana on Saturday. Authorities say they discovered one joint of the drug on George, who is in police custody.
Barack and George share the same father but they hardly know one another, says the AP.

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Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps has acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after he was depicted in a photo using a bong.
In a statement released to ET, the swimmer -- who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games -- conceded the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World. The photo depicted Phelps smoking from a water pipe, commonly referred to as a bong, which is frequently used to smoke marijuana.
Phelps said: "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."