According to a report in Australia's
Daily Telegraph, Ledger made the decision to move to the US – and specifically Brooklyn – after the apparently traumatic experience of having to introduce the gay cowboy flick "soaking wet." Says Kim Ledger, an automotive engineer, "He rang me [after the premiere] and said, 'Dad, that's it-sell the house.'"
The Daily Telegraph also reports that the elder Mr. Ledger bought his son's house for him in 2004 for $3.37 million US and sold it at a tidy profit in March for $5.2 million US.
La Streisand Returns
20 Show Tour to Begin in October
The original multi-hyphenate artist, Barbara Streisand, will be returning to the stage, just a few years after her last performances were billed as her "farewell tour."
The original multi-hyphenate artist, Barbara Streisand, will be returning to the stage, just a few years after her last performances were billed as her "farewell tour."
If previous Streisand tours are any indication, these charities will be lucky ones: Her last two public performances at New York's Madison Square Garden in September 2000 grossed $14.4 million, with ticket prices ranging from $150 to $2500.
Spielberg Wants to Do Low-Budget Fare
Planned to Make 'Geisha' for $10 Million
The father and king of the summer blockbuster film, Steven Spielberg, says he now wants to do cheaper, specialty pictures for DreamWorks, now that it's owned by Paramount Pictures.
The father and king of the summer blockbuster film, Steven Spielberg, says he now wants to do cheaper, specialty pictures for DreamWorks, now that it's owned by Paramount Pictures.
"No one wanted to make that movie," says Spielberg, "even with me."
Doherty Tries to Clean Up, Again
Kate Moss' Former Flame Flees to Portugal
Pete Doherty, the troubled rocker and a former boyfriend of model Kate Moss, has checked himself into a rehab clinic in Portugal. According to British music magazine
NME, the Babyshambles frontman decided to undergo treatment for his various drug problems on his own volition, unlike his several previous, and abortive, attempts to get clean, as he did last November in Arizona. Earlier this month, Doherty was arrested after a syringe was found on an Easyjet flight he took from London to Barcelona. Though he was released without charges, the singer was banned from flying on the airline.
NME says that Doherty will spend the next few weeks in detox, then receive "an opiate-suppressing implant."
Tommy Dropkicks Karl
Hilfiger Corp. Sheds Lagerfeld's Signature Label
Could another slap fight be brewing?
The New York Post reports this morning that the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation plans to discontinue Karl Lagerfeld's signature line, called Karl Lagerfeld, which was designed in New York and bought by Hilfiger in 2004 for $27.5 million. (Though the Hilfiger Corporation carries the fisticuffing designer's name, he is not actively involved with the company.)
Despite Lagerfeld's considerable success at Fendi and Chanel, his own line has struggled to succeed. Most large department stores have declined to carry the line, and most small boutiques that once carried it have decided to drop it.