Movies

The dude caught in the middle is Alfons Haider -- he's proud to be gay, he's into fashion, and (just like Bruno) he's also been known to compare himself to Zac Efron.

Want more evidence? -- Alfons is the highest-paid presenter on Austrian state broadcaster ORF. In the film, Bruno works for a channel called OJRF. Coincidence?

The controversy has been raging in Austria for a while, but Haider just told The Telegraph newspaper, "I never understood the comparison to myself at all. The only comparisons I can think of is that I'm Austrian, I'm gay, and I work for television, but the rest is completely fiction."

Anyone really buyin' that?

It's a he said/he said story -- the photog claims he happened upon the film set on Sunday and decided to snap a few pics. That's when he says he was grabbed by the arm, led to the sidewalk, and tossed into the bushes by some guys from the crew. Once he dusted himself off, he claims Kevin Spacey himself told him, "Don't ever take my picture and fight with the crew."

The film crew has a different story. They told the Ontario Provincial Police the photog was anything but an amateur and when he was asked to leave, pushed one of the production assistants away and "struck him in the neck with something." As for the photog falling down -- the P.A. claims the photog stumbled while he was walking backwards up the steps.

The cops took statements from both sides -- there were no injuries and neither side was looking to press charges.

Here she is at the German premiere of "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen."

Fear not Lakers faithful -- Kobe Bryant and his boys have the perfect motivational tool before game four of the NBA finals: movie night (a shiver runs down the Magic's collective spines).

We're told the Lakers had three options for tonight's team bonding outing -- "The Hangover," "Angels & Demons" and "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3."

We would have recommended "The Hangover" (HYSTERICAL!!!), but coach Phil Jackson chose "Pelham" because the team wanted "to support [their] season ticket holder," Denzel Washington.

Police say Robert De Niro was the victim of a drunken hit-and-walk yesterday, when an overly inebriated woman happened to stumble on the set of his new movie.

Police says Carlyn Campbell was able to walk a semi-straight line directly into the actor, after she bypassed security that had shut down the sidewalk.

De Niro was fine, but according to the police report, the lady was as drunk as Gary Collins driving a motor home -- meaning she blew a .29 when cops made her take a Breathalyzer.

The suits over at NBC Universal are calling BS on the lady who claims she suffered "life-altering" injuries during a Bruno stunt at a bingo hall in 2007 -- and the company says there's video evidence to prove it.

A rep for NBC Universal just released this statement:

"Filmed footage of the full encounter, which took place more than two years ago, clearly shows that Ms. Olson was never touched or in any way assaulted by Sacha Baron Cohen or any member of the production and suffered no injury.

They say "The show must go on" -- and in the case of the movie David Carradine was shooting in Bangkok, producers have already started to rewrite the script.

TMZ just spoke with Charles Gillibert, a producer on "Stretch," who told us David still had a few critical scenes left to shoot when he passed away Thursday morning.

Gillibert says everyone on the set is devastated by David's death, but producers still have a job to do -- and are working hard to change the storyline to accommodate David's absence.

Gillibert wanted us to know David was in wonderful spirits before his death, was in great shape and had been joking around with everyone working on the film.

There is only one day left of shooting -- which Gillibert says everyone is very eager to complete and put behind them.

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zac Galifinakis have all been asked for a hangover cure here, here, here and in the video above -- but they're losing some serious style points because they keep dropping the exact same answer.

But does anyone know if beets really help though? Seriously, it's the weekend, we gotta know.

One of them likes to ride the Staten Island ferry to the office wearing Reeboks.

It's all fun and games until someone gets confined to a wheelchair -- which is exactly what one woman is claiming after she was allegedly attacked and left "crippled" by Sacha Baron Cohen (as Bruno) at a Bingo hall in 2007.

Richelle Olson has sued Cohen, NBC Universal and others claiming they told her Bruno was a celeb and would appear and call numbers at the charity bingo game she ran for the elderly in Palmdale, CA. Olson was none too happy when she saw Bruno, whom she describes as an "extreme, outrageous, offensive caricature of a gay man dressed in sexually revealing clothing with an Austrian accent..."

Olson alleges Bruno used "vulgar and offensive language" and when she tried taking the mic from him, a "physical struggle ensued" and Cohen "offensively touched, pushed and battered" her, causing her to fall to the ground.

She then claims three cameramen and others rushed the stage ... "where defendants attacked [her] for a period of one to five minutes to intentionally create a dramatic emotional response ... while [they] recorded her humiliation and embarrassment."

After the alleged assault was over, the suit says Olson went into another room where she was "sobbing uncontrollably" ... then was rendered unconscious ... "falling forward onto the thinly covered concrete slab, passing out and causing her to hit her head."

The suit says Olson was rushed to the hospital with a "diagnosis of two brain bleeds" -- and that she has been confined to a wheelchair and walker ever since.

Olson -- the Executive Director of Desert Valley Charities -- and her husband are suing for unspecified damages, including loss of marital relations.

Cohen's rep had no comment.