Film lobbyist Jack Valenti has died. He was 85. The former US presidential advisor passed away at his home in Washington, D.C., yesterday after suffering complications from a stroke last month. Valenti, who has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is widely credited as introducing the modern day film ratings system to the industry, and guiding Hollywood into the digital age. His close friend, director Steven Spielberg, paid tribute to the star for his contribution to the film industry, praising him as a "giant voice of reason" and hailing him as "the greatest ambassador Hollywood has ever known." Valenti served as an aide to former US president Lyndon B. Johnson for three years from 1963, before beginning a career as a film industry chief with the help of movie moguls Lew Wasserman and Arthur Krim. He is survived by his wife Mary, and their three children, Courtenay, John and Alexandra.

Rapper/actress Eve has been arrested on suspicion of drunk-driving after crashing her car in Los Angeles in the early hours of Thursday morning. Police say the incident occurred at around 2:45am on Hollywood Boulevard and that the 28-year-old, real name Eve Jeffers, has since had her blood alcohol level tested. Eve posted $30,000 bail and is due in court on May 17, when she'll face misdemeanor drunk driving charges. Movie star Sean Penn, who is believed to have been with Eve shortly before the accident, visited the hip-hop star in the police station where she was being held, before leaving in a taxi. A source tells website Tmz.com, "He came to see how Eve was doing."

Actor Alec Baldwin has again apologized to his daughter Ireland for leaving an "improper" answer machine message for the 11-year-old. The award-winning 30 Rock star has divided public opinion after the voicemail, in which he verbally chastises Ireland and calls his ex-wife Kim Basinger "a thoughtless pain in the ass," was leaked on the internet last week. Baldwin insists this is the first time he has ever spoken to his daughter in such a manner. In a pre-taped appearance on TV show The View, which is scheduled to air Friday, a tearful Baldwin says, "In my own case, with this message, I had never done this before in my life. Obviously, calling your child a pig or anything else is improper and inappropriate and I apologize to my daughter for that. There's nothing wrong with being frustrated or angry about the situation. It's the way you do it, and, as people often do in this world, I took it out on the wrong person."

Hollywood star Richard Gere is a wanted man - an Indian court has issued a warrant for his arrest following his recent public display of affection with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Gere and Shetty were speaking at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi earlier this month, when the Chicago actor swept the beauty into his arms and kissed her several times. Public displays of affection are taboo in India and Gere's actions resulted in crowds burning effigies of the 57-year-old actor in Mumbai, Varanasi and New Delhi. New Delhi Judge Dinesh Gupta issued arrest warrants for both Gere and Shetty earlier Thursday after a citizen filed a complaint, accusing the couple of committing an "obscene act." Under Indian law, a conviction of public obscenity means a potential three months behind bars or a fine. Last week, Shetty defended the kiss and accused her critics of steering media attention from the real issue - of HIV and AIDS. She said, "I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner."

Nicolas Cage held his breath for two minutes on David Letterman's talk show Wednesday night - for the first time in more than 30 years. The 43-year-old actor, whose new movie Next opens Friday in America, last went without air for 120 seconds when he was 12 and decided to give it another go. Before taking a deep breath, Cage said, "We were talking about the fact my character (in Next) can see two minutes into his own future and I said I can't do that. But I do recall when I was 12 I could hold my breath for two minutes. When I was 12. I don't know if I can do it again, but I will try." While he held his breath, television viewers were treated to the trailer for Next. And when a successful Cage finally emerged for air, he quipped, "I'd like to see Spider-Man do that!"

Sandra Bullock was the victim of a terrifying attack at her home in California on Sunday when a woman obsessed with the actress attempted to run over her husband Jesse James. In a police report, obtained by Tmz.com, authorities in Orange County claim James had to dodge Marcia Valentine's Mercedes as she "attempted three or four times" to hit the TV motor mechanic. Cops also claim Valentine "laid in the driveway and wouldn't move." Neither Bullock nor her husband were hurt in the attack. Valentine allegedly drove off before sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene. Police tracked her down on Monday and took her into custody. Valentine is being held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Bullock's representative Cheryl Maisel has confirmed the incident took place, adding, "Both Jesse James and Sandra Bullock are fine and it is now in the hands of the authorities."

Former Vice President Al Gore opened the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York Wednesday night, where he helped raise awareness about the connection between filmmakers and the issues of global warming. The festival was founded by actor Robert De Niro in 2002 following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center to promote the city as a center for filmmaking. The event now includes a mission to raise awareness about climate change and opened with an array of global warming-themed films. Gore, who narrated the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, thinks artists play a role in getting climate change messages across. He says, "Art, music, film, dance, poetry - all the arts - have long been our greatest tools to explore the regions of imagination that defy our efforts to think rationally about subjects that our emotions tell us are too painful to contemplate. Somehow, we do have to penetrate that shell of denial."

Superstar Beyonce Knowles is so impressed with the digital imagery on the video for her duet with Shakira, sometimes even she can't tell the two of them apart. The sexy Dreamgirls singer teams up with Shakira for her latest hit "Beautiful Liar," and admits they did such a good job synchronizing their dance moves in the video that she has trouble distinguishing between the pair herself. She says, "For the video, they put us in a room together for about two hours and we just came up with the choreography and played off the fact we look similar. It was really cool because I don't even know who is who sometimes - even I get confused!"

Britney Spears has fans guessing about when she'll make her big comeback performance after reportedly pulling the plug on a show in Los Angeles late on Wednesday night. The singer was expected to take the stage with her band at hip Los Angeles club Forty Deuce, where she swapped costumes with dancers in December, but failed to show. On the club's website, boss Ivan Kane says, "She came on stage during rehearsals, looking very hot, with four back-up dancers and sang three songs. They ran through the set several times, the choreography was smokin', and she sounded great." But Spears decided that she needed more time to rehearse for her comeback performance, and left devotees disappointed. A handful of semi-secret shows are lined up for Los Angeles next week.

The release date of Meryl Streep's latest movie Dark Matter has reportedly been put back by film bosses because its plot eerily resembles the events of last week's Virginia Tech massacre. Dark feature documentary The Killer Within has also been shelved after filmmakers became cautious of releasing movies that closely echo the worst mass shooting in American history. A source told British newspaper The Times: "These films are too close to the knuckle."