LOS ANGELES – The founder of a company that bought the Australian franchise for “Girls Gone Wild” was in jail Friday, accused in the hit-and-run death of a woman who was leaving a concert.
Ryan Bowman, 34, was booked for investigation of felony vehicular manslaughter Thursday, shortly after surrendering with his attorney at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station in West Hollywood.
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Attorney Blair Berk did not immediately return a call for comment.
Lauren Ann Freeman, 21, was thrown about 60 feet when she was struck in a crosswalk by a rented Bentley on the Sunset Strip about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Friday. The late-model Bentley was found abandoned about a mile away, Whitmore said.
Bowman, CEO of Zeal Entertainment, a Sydney-based company he founded in 2006, was initially booked on $100,000 bail, but that was increased to $2 million, Whitmore said. Bowman’s passport was confiscated.
Zeal’s West Hollywood office is located close to the crash site. Telephone calls to the company went unanswered Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said the case had not been given to it yet.
Bowman was due in court Monday.
Rappers on Jackson album
NEW YORK – Lenny Kravitz, Akon and 50 Cent will be featured on the upcoming posthumous album from Michael Jackson.
Epic Records and Jackson’s estate released more details about the record, simply called “Michael,” on Friday. The song “Hold My Hand” with Akon will be the first single and will debut on Jackson’s website Monday.
Akon said the song was leaked two years ago, before Jackson’s death, but it wasn’t complete. Now it’s finished, Akon said, and he’s proud to have worked with one of his idols.
“Michael,” featuring 10 songs, is due out Dec. 14. Some of his nephews say it’s not Jackson’s voice, but a former producer and manager insist it is.
Clots send Gabor to hospital
LOS ANGELES – A spokesman for actress Zsa Zsa Gabor says the actress has been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for treatment of painful swelling in her legs.
According to John Blanchette, Gabor was admitted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Friday after a doctor visited her at home and said she had massive blood clots in her legs, which could make her vulnerable to a heart attack.
The 93-year-old Gabor has been hospitalized several times this year, and she asked for a priest to read her last rites in August.
Since summer, Gabor has undergone surgery to remove clots from her upper body and has had hip replacement surgery.
Woman takes deal in slashing incident
LOS ANGELES – A woman accused of slashing Leonardo DiCaprio’s face with glass during a party five years ago has pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon.
Aretha Wilson entered the plea as part of a plea deal Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Wilson, 40, a former model, is expected to be sentenced to two years in prison Nov. 22.
The 36-year-old Academy Award-nominated actor required surgery to repair a gash on his face and neck from the 2005 attack.
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