Charlie Sheen says reports of his impending death are greatly exaggerated

Over the past few days since the whole hotel fiasco, rumors have been flying that Charlie Sheen has been on a fast track to self-destruction, snorting half the coke in North America and romping around with hookers and porn stars.  However, it seems like those stories have been blown just a teensy bit out of proportion, as Sheen’s manager went to check up on him after hearing the rumors, and found Sheen relaxing alone at home, engaging in such reckless activities as “sitting on the sofa” and “eating a sandwich.”

Sheen apparently stayed in for Halloween and gave candy to trick-or-treaters, and is impatiently looking forward to making the next episode of Two and a Half Men on Tuesday.

Lindsay Lohan turning rehab into an attention-fest

Not that this should be surprising, but instead of spending her time in rehab concentrating on, oh, I don’t know, recovering from her addictions, Lindsay Lohan has decided to focus on her financial woes, and is staging photo shoots inside the facility so that she can sell the snaps to the highest bidder.  Pictures of LiLo fetch a pretty penny these days, and since she can’t seem to stay working long enough to complete an entire movie, peddling pictures of herself has taken the place of almost all her other income. Friends are said to be concerned that, as usual, Lindsay is not thinking about the long-term implications of her actions.  If she really wants to sort her finances out for more than just the next couple of weeks, she’d be better off taking rehab seriously and getting herself well enough that she can go back to working full-time as an actress, instead of grasping at straws while she continues alternating between jail and court.

Add another lawsuit to the Michael Jackson debacle

In latest chapter of the ever-continuing Michael Jackson blame game drama, Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson is now suing AEG Live, Michael Jackson’s promotor, for not holding up their contract obligations to look after the health and well-being of the King of Pop, whose death by overdose was ruled a homicide.  Mrs. Jackson says that if AEG had properly vetted the doctors that were assigned to Michael’s care, someone might have gotten him proper medical treatment instead of just patching him up with enough drugs so that he could make it to the next rehearsal.

To me it’s crazy just how much finger-pointing is going on, especially considering that none of it is going to bring Michael Jackson back.  The demise of Jackson was not something that happened overnight – his life was micromanaged from the time he was a small boy, and no one did anything to alleviate the immense stress of superstardom.  Then when Jackson was old enough and wealthy enough, he made sure he was constantly surrounded by yes-men who would continue to enable the self-destructive behaviors he developed as a response to the pressure he could never escape from.  This went on unimpeded for five decades, and it’s a bit late to be fighting about it now.  Nonetheless, where there’s money to be had, let there be lawsuits

Kid Rock in court over smackdown at Waffle House

This is as sad as it is funny – semi-talented musician Kid Rock appeared in court this week to defend himself against claims that he was seen taking a beating up and attacking a customer in an Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta.  While Kid Rock does not deny these allegations, he claims that the fight was actually between two other people, and that he became part of it only when he stepped in to break it up, at which point one of the brawlers attacked him, forcing him to defend himself.

Kid Rock has a history of public fighting, so there’s no reason for a judge to believe his story of self-defense, but for some reason this time his version of events rings true for me.  The man on the other side of the battle, Harlen Akins, is suing for an unspecified amount of money, and I think that says a lot.  Kid Rock is not the richest man in show business, but he’s certainly better off than most of us, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was some opportunistic lawsuit action going on here.