DA meets with actress claiming Polanski abuse
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County prosecutors have met with a British actress who claims she was sexually abused by director Roman Polanski in his Paris apartment when she was 16 — years before she appeared in one of his movies.
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Charlotte Lewis, 42, said Friday that the filmmaker, now 76, abused her “in the worst possible way” sometime in the 1980s.
Lewis provided no evidence to support her claims, and her attorney, Gloria Allred, did not permit her to answer questions during a news conference in her office.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office confirmed that Lewis met with prosecutors Thursday but declined to comment further.
It was unclear what year the alleged assault took place.
Allred said that, to her knowledge, no criminal complaint or lawsuit was made in France over the alleged assault. The duty officer for the French Justice Ministry said late Friday that he was not aware whether the British actress had filed a complaint in France about her allegation.
A statement released by Polanski’s U.S. legal team said his attorneys had no information about the allegations that were made at the press conference, “but we do know that our district attorney continues to refuse to provide the Swiss government with accurate and complete information relevant to the extradition issue.”
Los Angeles prosecutors want Polanski to be extradited from Switzerland to California to face sentencing for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl more than three decades ago.
Lewis said she came forward because she heard that Polanski was fighting extradition and “that his legal team is portraying his previous offense against a minor as an isolated instance.”
Teen singing sensation single and dating
LOS ANGELES — Millions of girls love him, but Justin Bieber is definitely single.
The Canadian-born, 16-year-old heartthrob told The Associated Press he doesn’t have a girlfriend and is just “hanging out” with a few girls.
The globe-trotting pop sensation said none of the relationships are serious.
Bieber is set to tour nationwide this summer to promote his new album, “My World 2.0.”
He said that he travels too much to take things too seriously, so for now, he’s just “being a teen, having fun.”
Rocker plans return to stage
NEW YORK — Bret Michaels is set to return to the stage a little more than a month after having a brain hemorrhage.
His representative announced Friday that the rocker and reality star would perform at the Hard Rock Live in Biloxi, Miss., on May 28.
Michaels has been sidelined since April. On April 12, he had an emergency appendectomy. Ten days later, he suffered the hemorrhage that left him in intensive care for two weeks in Phoenix.
Many of his concert dates were postponed, but they are being rescheduled. Michaels also is set to begin a tour with Lynyrd Skynrd on June 10 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Michaels – who has been in rehabilitation since the hemorrhage – is hoping to return to New York to compete on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” He will appear on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Wednesday.
Philbin to have clot removed
NEW YORK — Talk-show host Regis Philbin will have a blood clot in his calf removed Tuesday, but he anticipates a speedy recovery.
The 78-year-old co-host of “Live! With Regis and Kelly” said on Friday’s show: “It’s no big deal. It’s really nothing.” He says he expects to return the next day.
Philbin first mentioned his upcoming procedure on Thursday’s show. He had hip replacement surgery in December and triple heart bypass surgery in 2007.
He says leg pain has made it difficult to walk and that “one of the things you’ve got to do when you get a new hip is continue to walk.”
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