Bono's charity event raises $42 million
NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Singer Bono's (RED) charity reportedly raised more than $42 million through an art auction in New York to help battle AIDS in Africa.
Bono is the frontman for the Irish rock band U2.
Proceeds from the event at Sotheby's auction house Thursday night go to the Global Fund of the United Nations Foundation, People.com said.
"Tonight we're taking it to a whole new level," Bono told the magazine. "We have people giving all of their work away. … This is a pretty big night."
Martha Stewart, Russell Simmons, Ed Burn for the event.
Among the items sold was a medicine cabinet-themed work titled "Where There's a Will There's a Way" by British artist Damien Hirst. It went for $7.15 million, People.com said.
"Damien Hirst's medicine cabinet is so striking because he's made pills a centerpiece of his work for years. And now the idea that these pills have gone from being a work of art to providing real pills for people who will die without them is very poetic to me," Bono said.
Report: Spears not in control of own money
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Britney Spears is no longer in control of a significant portion of her estimated $100 million fortune, a report said.
People magazine said court documents released this week showed a trust containing a sizable portion of the "Toxic" singer's assets is now under the control of Spears' brother and a lawyer.
Britney reportedly lost her trustee powers in relation to her SJB revocable trust after being labeled "legally disabled" by the court. That ruling came in the wake of the 26-year-old's recent stay at a Los Angeles psychiatric ward.
Spears' brother, Bryan, said his sister willingly relinquished her trustee powers long before the court ruled on the matter.
"This is nothing new," Bryan Spears said. "This was a decision made some time ago and signed off on by Britney, before she was married to Kevin, before she had kids."
People said the legal move means Bryan Spears and attorney Ivan Taback are now in charge of the troubled star's basic expenses, but must still obtain a court order to make any significant financial moves.
Portman kisses Johansson on red carpet
BERLIN, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Natalie Portman kissed fellow movie actress Scarlett Johansson during a recent red carpet appearance in Berlin for their film "The Other Boleyn Girl."
The impromptu red carpet smooch by the two starlets Friday follows an interview in which Portman identified herself as "boring," the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
"The only thing that's a little bit annoying is that I feel that I come off kind of boring sometimes," the 26-year-old actress had told W magazine.
Johansson, 23, opposed Portman's "boring" stance during that interview, telling her "Boleyn Girl" co-star she didn't consider her boring.
Super Bowl XLII boosts digital music sales
GLENDALE, Ariz., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Digital sales for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers music skyrocketed after the band's Super Bowl XLII halftime performance, a report said.
With Petty and his band taking the lead, artists who appeared in TV ads or performed during the game showed increased sales, Billboard reported Friday.
Super bowl XLII reportedly pulled in 97 million viewers, which made it the most watched Super Bowl in history.
"A huge part of our marketing was online-based. With big television events, the online aspect is so important because people can see (the performance) happen onscreen and then immediately react and buy it online," Universal Music Enterprises Executive Mike Davis said.
The week following the game, sales for the Heartbreakers' "Greatest Hits" went up 196 percent, with 33,000 units, and took the Billboard's Top Pop Catalog No. 1 spot, Nielsen SoundScan reported.
