Free Republic

MADONNA today compared US President George Bush to deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The 45-year-old pop star said the two men were "alike" because they both behaved "in an irresponsible manner". Madonna made the comments during an interview in which she tried to draw a line under her wild days, vowing to be "part of the order, not the chaos, of the world". Madonna's current Re-Invention tour carries a strong anti-war message and her recent video for the song American Life was clear in its opposition to the Iraq conflict. In the final scene of the video, a President Bush...

<p>With "Saved!" having gone wide last week, the rest of America now has a chance to see Brian Dannelly's satire of life at an evangelical high school. Or, as the film's producer, Michael Stipe, put it: "Saved!" is "like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers."</p>

This has to be a bit of a vanity - the advocate website, which is cited as the source for Drudge, won't allow me access. However, it should come as no surprise that Rosie, best known for her lesbian activism, is planning to marry her significant other in good ol' San Francisco.

Oscar-nominated actress Charlize Theron has spoken out in favor of gay marriage, branding those like Arnold Schwarzenegger who oppose it "prehistoric". The Monster star, who grew up around a number of gay and bisexual people in her native South Africa, is appalled that gay marriage is still up for debate in this day and age. Theron, currently dating Irish actor Stuart Townsend, says, "I just don't understand that at all. It's so unbelievably frustrating. "I mean, I am surrounded by so many beautiful relationships just in my life, I can't tell you - just so inspirational. And the fact that...

David Gest, the estranged husband of Liza Minnelli, is reported to have got engaged to Diana Ross. The Daily Express says it understands the pair have become close despite Ross being a friend of Miss Minnelli's. The newspaper reports Gest and Ross are already planning a wedding as glamorous as his one with Minnelli. Ross apparently turned to Gest for comfort after being stopped for drink-driving in Tucson, Arizona, in 2002. She recently served two days in jail for the offence. Gest said recently that he would probably marry within two years and US Weekly magazine editor Janice Min said:...

The Federal Communications Commission will investigate CBS's sleazy halftime show, Chairman Michael Powell said today. "I am outraged at what I saw during the halftime show of the Super Bowl. Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt. Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better," Powell stated. "I have instructed the commission to open an immediate investigation into last night's broadcast," he said. A spokesman had earlier merely said the agency was launching a routine investigation because it had received...

Hollywood is in a huff that Americans are staying away from the movies in droves. It just can't seem to make the connection between the horrible quality of its recent releases and the disastrous box-office figures. Critics as well as Joe and Jane Sixpack have been holding their noses at such duds as "The Butterfly Effect," "Paycheck," "The Perfect Score," "Torque" and "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton." "The year got off to a frigid start as the national box office in January registered an anemic $628.8 million - the lowest gross in the past four years. And worse yet,...

"I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said in a statement. "It was not intentional and is regrettable." Developing...

NOMINATIONS for the 61ST ANNUAL Golden Globe Awards were announced in front of a huge gathering of media at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 18, in preparation for the awards presentation ceremony on January 25, 2004. The President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Lorenzo Soria and Dick Clark of dick clark productions introduced Kill Bill and Paycheck star Uma Thurman, Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer and the star of Miss Match, Alicia Silverstone, to announce nominations for - a total of 24 awards. Anthony Minghella’s Civil War epic Cold Mountain leads the nominations with a total of eight, followed...