Britney Spears hospitalized
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Troubled pop singer Britney Spears reportedly has been transported by ambulance from her Studio City, Calif., home to UCLA Medical Center.
"Spears was escorted by police and is on her way to get help," a Los Angeles Police Department source told People.com.
"She was driving around her neighborhood like a mad woman," a Spears family insider told the magazine. "Britney has been prescribed medication, which she refuses to take. This is just another sad, sad evening."
Spears' mother Lynne, her friend Alli Sims and her manager Sam Lutfi were in the singer's home when police and the fire department arrived.
Sims and Lufti told People.com that reports that Britney Spears tried to take her own life are untrue.
Lufti contacted TV talk-show host Barbara Walters earlier this week and said Spears was suffering from mental issues that are treatable.
Police were called and Spears was hospitalized a few weeks ago in a separate incident when she refused to return her toddler sons to their father, Kevin Federline, at the end of a visit.
She was stripped of her visitation rights shortly after.
Both times Spears was hospitalized, she was placed on a 72-hour emergency psychiatric hold known as a 5150, People.com said
Jeremy Beadle dead at 59
LONDON , Jan. 31 (UPI) -- British television personality Jeremy Beadle, who battled kidney cancer and leukemia, has died in London of pneumonia. He was 59.
The former editor of "Time Out" magazine, and star of TV's "Beadle's About" and "You've Been Framed" released three new books last fall and was working on new television formats before he became ill, the Times of London said.
"Jeremy and I were firm friends for nearly 30 years," Henry Kelly, Beadle's co-presenter on "Game for a Laugh," told the newspaper. "I loved and admired him and I shall miss him desperately. Not only was he a terrific colleague in our 'Game for a Laugh' days and beyond, but he was a most wonderful friend to have and the most entertaining company you could possibly imagine."
Beadle was also known for his charitable work helping children with Poland syndrome, from which he also suffered, as well as raising money for children with leukemia.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 for his services to charity.
In a statement issued to the Guardian, Beadle's manager, Michael P. Cohen, said: "Our heartfelt condolences go to his wife Sue, his two daughters, Cassie and Bonnie and his stepchildren Leo and Claire. He will be greatly missed."
Heath Ledger's rep refutes rehab reports
NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A publicist for Heath Ledger insisted reports stating the late Australian actor refused to enter rehab in 2006 to treat his addiction to drugs were fabricated.
Us Weekly and People have both reported Ledger and actress Michelle Williams, the mother of his 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, split up last year because Ledger was abusing drugs and wouldn't get professional help.
However, Ledger's representative Mara Buxbaum told the New York Daily News that Us Weekly's account of how Williams drove Ledger to a Malibu rehab to be treated for his addiction to cocaine and heroin -- but Ledger refused to get out of the car -- was "fabricated ... just one lie among many."
While one source told the Daily News, "I only saw him smoke pot," another insider painted a different picture.
"It was evident Heath liked to be down. Naomi Campbell threw a party a few years back where he stayed in her closet the whole night and only allowed certain guests to enter," a second source said.
"The speculation is heinous," Buxbaum told the Daily News.
However, a video allegedly showing Ledger at a 2006 party talking about how he smoked marijuana for years has been making the rounds, the Daily News said in a separate story.
Two U.S. tabloid TV shows -- "Entertainment Tonight" and its sister show "The Insider" -- have said they will not air the video as planned out of respect for Ledger's grieving family, E! Online said.
Madonna tops richest female singer list
NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Madonna is No. 1 on Forbes' inaugural "Cash Queens of Music" list, having earned an estimated $72 million from June 2006 to June 2007.
Rolling Stone magazine said the ranking doesn't take into account a contract Madonna signed with Live Nation last fall, which reportedly pays the singer $120 million.
To compile the roster, Forbes said it looked at concert grosses, merchandising revenue, album sales and additional revenue garnered from secondary businesses, such as clothing or perfume lines, during a specific period of time.
Coming in at No. 2 on the list is Barbra Streisand, who made $60 million, followed by Celine Dion at No. 3 with $45 million, Shakira at No. 4 with $38 million and Beyonce at No. 5 with $27 million.
