Will Smith, Jada Pinkett, all smiles in public

LOS ANGELES | Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:15pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One day after a magazine claimed that their marriage was in trouble, Hollywood super couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith appeared together in public Wednesday, smiling broadly for cameras and fans.

Their brief walk down a sidewalk outside a restaurant in the wealthy enclave of Malibu followed a story published online Tuesday by In Touch Weekly magazine saying the pair, who have two superstar children, were headed for a separation.

That story was attributed to an unnamed "insider" and was followed by a public denial in a statement issued on behalf of the Smiths.

"Although we are reluctant to respond to these types of press reports, the rumors circulating about our relationship are completely false. We are still together, and our marriage is intact," the pair said in the joint statement.

But the rumors persisted Wednesday with singer Marc Anthony, who co-stars with Jada Pinkett Smith on TV show "Hawthorne" and who recently split up with singer Jennifer Lopez, surfacing in reports as a possible suitor to his TV co-star.

In Malibu, Will Smith was asked by a reporter for celebrity news website TMZ.com to comment on the "ridiculous rumors" in the media, and Smith answered, "you just did."

(Reporting and Writing by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Toxicology leaves Winehouse death riddle unsolved

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON | Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:44pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Toxicology results released to the family of singer Amy Winehouse this week raised almost as many questions as they answered, experts said Wednesday, keeping the cause of the "Rehab" singer's death a mystery.

The Winehouse family issued a statement Tuesday saying no illegal substances were found in the 27-year-old's system following her death at her north London home on July 23.

The absence of banned drugs may come as a relief to her father Mitch, given Winehouse's history of drug and alcohol addiction and rampant speculation about the role narcotics may have played in her shock passing.

"This doesn't make me feel the loss of my daughter any less, but we are pleased to be able to set the record straight to a certain extent," he told British tabloid, The Sun.

Yet the statement did not specify whether there were any legal drugs found and said "alcohol was present, but it cannot be determined as yet if it played a role in her death."

Adding to the confusion was the fact that the toxicology results were given to the family and not made public in their entirety, allowing them to protect her legacy.

Addiction experts and toxicologists said the information released Tuesday did little to solve the riddle of Winehouse's death. While the cause could become clearer at a full inquest to be held on October 26, even then it could be assessed as "undetermined."

"Combinations of perfectly legal substances can be lethal," said Jeremy Clitherow, a community pharmacist based in Liverpool, northern England, who specializes in addiction.

"You would have to look at the wording (of the toxicology report). You'd have to see the report rather than the paraphrased version. We can't speculate."

DEATH BY WITHDRAWAL NOT NORMAL

Mitch said during his funeral address that he believed Winehouse had conquered her drug addiction three years ago but was trying to deal with a drinking problem.

One early report, quoting unnamed family sources, suggested the singer's relatives suspected alcohol withdrawal was the cause. Rather than quitting drinking gradually, it said, Winehouse suddenly stopped.

However, the presence of alcohol in her system when she died, coupled with stories in both the Sun and Mirror tabloids that she had been drinking in the days before her death, have led to doubts that she died from quitting.

Clitherow believed that while possible, the "cold turkey" theory was improbable based on his experience.

"It is very unusual for people to die from alcohol withdrawal," he said. "You can get delirium tremens (DTs), but normally you survive."

Moreover, the Winehouse family statement did not specify how much alcohol was in her system and what sort of impact it may have had on her overall health at the time she died.

"It seems unusual to say that alcohol was present but not be able to say what sort of effect that quantity may have had," toxicology expert Graham Mold said, adding that the confusion may be caused by different levels of alcohol at different "sites" in the body.

Adding to the uncertainty, Winehouse had suffered health scares in the past which could have worsened her condition.

Mitch said in 2008 that his daughter had developed the lung condition emphysema "in its early stages," and that Winehouse had been warned she would die if she continued to smoke drugs.

"If she doesn't go back to drugs, then she can lead this magnificent life," he said at the time, when Winehouse was 24. "We are praying that that's what Amy really wants. She seems resolute."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Jackson concert organizers reach out to unhappy fans

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:47am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The organizers of a controversial Michael Jackson Tribute concert said on Tuesday they were going ahead with the event, but they offered disgruntled fans the chance to air their concerns in a global conference call.

"We are 100 percent going ahead. We will continue to announce names for the line-up. We are moving forward and now we will try to address issues that have been raised by fans," Juliette Harris, a spokeswoman for Global Events Live told Reuters.

Harris said members of verified Jackson fan clubs will be invited to take part in a conference call on Tuesday, August 30, in which promoters of the October 8 tribute in Wales will try to allay their concerns.

Some 35 Jackson fans clubs have called for the tribute concert to the "Thriller" singer to be called off, saying it is "doomed to fail." They are unhappy with confusion over charitable donations from ticket revenue, the timing of the concert during the involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles of Jackson's doctor, and the invitation (now withdrawn) to rock band Kiss.

Kiss frontman Gene Simmons has in the past called Jackson a child molester. The pop singer, who died in Los Angeles in June 2009 at age 50, was acquitted of all charges in a 2005 child sex abuse trial.

Attorneys for Jackson's estate have also expressed concerns about the tribute, which is supported by the singer's mother Katherine and several of her children, but not by Jackson brothers Jermaine and Randy Jackson.

Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Smokey Robinson, as well as several British acts will perform Jackson songs along with their own material at the tribute. Beyonce will also beam in a cover version of one Jackson hit by satellite.

Harris said many more performers would be announced shortly. She said she had not seen the open letter from the fan clubs but organizers want to respond in next week's conference call to some of the issues that have surfaced.

Tickets for the show at the 75,000-seat Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, range from 55 pounds to 240 pounds (about $90-$390) and go on general sale on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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A Minute With: Katie Holmes on "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"

By Iain Blair

LOS ANGELES | Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:30am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It sounds like a latter-day version of "The Odd Couple" -- petite, American actress Katie Holmes (Mrs. Tom Cruise) paired with portly Mexican writer/director Guillermo del Toro, a gothic horror film devotee known for "Hellboy" and "Blade" franchises.

But their new film together, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" which hits theaters on Friday, is anything but a comedy in the vein of "The Odd Couple."

Rather it is a serious scare-fest that also stars Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison and an army of evil little creatures who invade an old house and terrorize its occupants.

Holmes and del Toro recently sat down with Reuters to talk about the film, what scares them (and Tom), and why people get a kick from being afraid in movie theaters.

Q: Katie, are you a big horror fan?

Holmes: "Yes, I like classic horror films. But I'm not a big slasher, gory type of horror film fan."

Q: So I assume if this was full of slashing, you would have been be a little less eager.

Holmes: "Right, and I don't think it would have Guillermo's name on it."

Del Toro: "No. The movies I've tried to produce, write and direct, I'm very proud to say as far as I can remember I've never written a female victim, a scream queen or a part like that. I always try to create very strong female characters, in many cases stronger than the guys. Certainly in 'Don't Be Afraid.'"

Q: What's the secret to a really effective horror film?

Del Toro: "I think characters, good characters. The scares of course are necessary but it's the human characters."

Holmes: "I agree. You have to be able to relate to the people and relate to the world and be invested in them. And then, suddenly as an audience member, you are those people going through it -- and what would you do?"

Q: So what scares you?

Holmes: "People who like to take the wind out of your sail because there's a lot more they're doing. If they're doing that to your face then they're doing more. So that scares me more than, like, a monster."

Del Toro: (laughs) "Politicians -- a lot. They are so deranged, especially these days. And human pettiness. Oh my God that's scary. It's so horrifying. I've seen a UFO, and I've heard ghosts twice -- once in New Zealand and once in Mexico, but those are not the scariest things. The scary things are real things like every day."

Q: Katie, has Tom seen this?

Holmes: "Oh yes. He saw it before I did, like a year before."

Q: So what did he think?

Holmes: (laughs) "Well, he had to watch another movie afterwards in order to go to sleep because he was so scared. I'm not sure what he watched. (laughs) Maybe 'The Sound of Music'?"

Del Toro: "I think it was that Adam Sandler comedy, '(You)Don't Mess With The Zohan'."

Q: You have to protect your character's daughter in the movie. Does having your own daughter affect the way you approach a role like this?

Holmes: "I think being a mom myself, when I read my character and I saw the journey she takes and how we see her make sacrifices for her child -- I think I didn't understand that until I became a mom.

"Just how much you love this person. You will do anything for that person, and you have strength you didn't know that you had, which is what I like about my character. So I think that being a mom definitely gave me much more insight to this character."

Q: But you might not feel that way about sacrifice when Suri becomes a teenager.

Holmes: (Laughs) "I don't know. I think she's pretty special."

Q: Why is it that people loved to be scared so much? Do you like to be scared at movies?

Holmes: "I do and I like to be affected when I watch a film. And when you watch a scary movie and it's well done it does take you on that roller coaster and you do feel exhausted after but in a great way. I think it's more than entertainment. It's a relief and it's a release, and it's what entertainment and performance is and screenwriting and storytelling is supposed to do. We're supposed to identify and feel something from it."

Del Toro: "I think we live in a regimented world where we don't experience a lot of the emotions we need almost at a mammalian level, and you need a release for this thing. So a horror movie or a roller coaster, you scream and you get the thrill of that in a regular situation."

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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