New York -- U.S. rapper 50 Cent should have said "no," instead of filing a lawsuit, if he didn't want to appear in a Taco Bell ad campaign, the U.S. fast-food chain says.
Taco Bell invited the hip-hop artist via an open letter last June to appear in its ad campaign in exchange for a $10,000 donation to his favorite charity.
However, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, filed a $4 million trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court in New York, claiming the restaurant franchise used his name without permission to generate publicity and that the stunt prompted his fans to accuse him of selling out.
"Jackson has used his colorful past to cultivate a public image of belligerence and arrogance and has a well-publicized track record of making threats, starting feuds and filing lawsuits," the New York Daily News quoted Taco Bell attorney Robert Lehrburger as writing in legal papers. "At the same time, Jackson holds himself out as a giver to charity and one who wants to give back to his community. This lawsuit is another of Jackson's attempts to burnish his gangsta rapper persona by distorting beyond all recognition a bona fide, good faith offer that Taco Bell made to Jackson."
Los Angeles -- Representatives for the Screen Actors Guild and a group of Hollywood TV and film producers met with a federal mediator Thursday to discuss a new contract.
SAG and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers negotiating committees had previously met for 44 days of formal negotiations, but didn't reach a successor agreement to the TV/theatrical pact that expired June 30.
AMPTP has repeatedly said a package it presented that day was its final offer and the two parties had not met since then, apart from one sidebar session during the summer.
SAG, which has been holding out for a better deal, last month asked that a federal mediator be used to help jump-start contract talks.
Both sides subsequently met with the mediator separately.
Chennai, India -- Tamil film actor M.N. Nambiar has died after a brief illness at age 92 at his home in Chennai, India, the Press Trust of India reported.
Nambiar began acting at age 13 as a stage player with the Navabrajamanikam theater group.
Frequently cast as a villain, Nambiar acted in more than 1,000 films during a career that spanned six decades.
Among his movie credits are "Bhaktha Ramadoss," "Raja Raja Cholan," "Nenjam marappadhillai," "En thambi," "Paasa malar," "Makkalai petra magaraasi," "Velaikari," "Kanjan," "Abhimanyu," "Manthrikumari" and "Vinnukum Mannukum," Wikipedia.org noted.
Nambiar is survived by his wife, son and daughter, PTI said.
Los Angeles -- Hundreds of Thursday midnight screenings of the vampire flick "Twilight" have been sold out in the United States, the ticket broker Fandango reported.
The company said theater owners are adding additional showtimes -- some as late as 2:45 a.m. Friday -- to meet the demand for tickets.
Based on the popular young-adult novel, "Twilight" has eclipsed both "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on Fandango's list of Top 10 Advance Ticket-Sellers -- taking the No. 3 spot and knocking "Goblet" down to No. 4 and "Phoenix" to No. 5.
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" is No. 1, followed by "The Dark Knight," Fandango.com said.
"Twilight" currently represents more than 94 percent of all weekly ticket sales on the Internet ticket broker's Web site.
Oak Brook, Ill. -- U.S. fast food giant McDonald's Corp. is appealing to moms to improve its image, but pitches on nutrition apparently are meeting with mixed results.
"You're not going to be able to sell me on fries," said Veronica Gilmore, from Edinburg, Va., after Debra DeMuth, McDonald's global nutrition director, told her to "look at the facts," The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The dialogue was part of the company's Quality Correspondents program, which includes tours of restaurants and production facilities.
Some moms are surprised to find real eggs in the kitchen. But, others are more skeptical about the company's pitch for points on nutrition.
"Why do the French fries have so many ingredients in them?" asked LaShawna Fitzpatrick of Encino, Calif., on the Quality Correspondents Web site.
London -- British radio and TV personality Jonathan Ross, suspended after a sexually explicit radio prank drew criticism, could face further penalties.
Ross, who earns about $9 million a year, is the BBC's highest-paid presenter.
He was suspended after he and comedian Russell Brand left lewd messages on the voice mail of 78-year-old "Fawlty Towers" star Andrew Sachs during Brand's BBC Radio 2 show last month.
Brand, Radio 2 head Lesley Douglas and David Barber, the executive who cleared the prank for broadcast, have resigned due to the subsequent scandal. Ross was suspended from his shows for three months.
The Daily Telegraph quoted Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, as saying it was "premature" of Radio 2 to announce Ross would be back on the air Jan. 24.
London -- Movie actress Winona Ryder fell ill during a flight from Los Angeles to London Wednesday and was taken to a hospital when the plane landed, her publicist said.
TMZ reported the actress complained she was sick on the flight, but felt better by the time the plane landed as scheduled.
Medics reportedly were waiting for Ryder when the flight was over and she was taken to a London hospital as a precaution.
Ryder's publicist told People magazine the actress spent about an hour at the hospital, then was "released in good health."
Ryder is best known for her roles in "Lucas," "Beetlejuice," "Heathers," "Little Women," "Edward Scissorhands," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "The Age of Innocence," "Reality Bites," "Girl, Interrupted" and "Mr. Deeds."
Los Angeles -- British pop singer Natasha Bedingfield will perform at the "2008 American Music Awards" ceremony in Los Angeles, ABC has announced.
The show is to air Sunday with music great Aretha Franklin presenting the first trophy of the evening and comedian Jimmy Kimmel acting as host, the network said.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith are to present the award for artist of the year.
"2008 American Music Awards" producer Larry Klein announced Wednesday that Bedingfield will join Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, New Kids On The Block, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and others in performing at this year's AMA event.
Presenters lined up for the show include Colbie Caillat, David Cook, The-Dream, Enrique Iglesias, LL Cool J, Jesse McCartney, Nickelback, Solange, Jordin Sparks, Scott Weiland and Shailene Woodley.
Los Angeles -- U.S. socialite and some-time actress Paris Hilton and her rocker beau Benji Madden have broken up, a source says.
Someone close to Hilton told People magazine the couple ended their 9-month-long romance a few days ago.
Madden, the guitarist for the band Good Charlotte, is the brother of Joel Madden, the father of Hilton friend Nicole Richie's young daughter, Harlow.
"She is saddened by the breakup but they're just too different and they wanted different things in life," a source close to Hilton told People. "He was loyal and sweet but it was time to take a break."
The magazine said the celebrities' respective publicists couldn't be reached for comment about the story.
Irvine, Calif. -- Honda's and Toyota's 2009 model year vehicles earned top honors in an annual projection of U.S. used car prices, Kelly Blue Book said Wednesday.
The annual Best Resale Value Awards picked the Toyota Tacoma as the compact pickup that would best retain its resale value five years from now. The best full-sized pickup was the Toyota Tundra. The 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid was picked as the best value among hybrid crossovers, based on its projected resale value, Kelly Blue Book said.
Best value in the crossover category went to Honda's CR-V. Honda was given top honors in the hybrid car category for the Honda Civic Hybrid and in the van category for the Honda Odyssey.
The annual award excludes cars with suggested retail prices above $60,000, except in luxury car categories.
