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R. Kelly fan freed after 34 days in jail

CHICAGO, June 26 (UPI) -- A supportive fan of R. Kelly was released Wednesday after being jailed in Chicago for 34 days on a contempt of court charge.

Kelly, a Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, was acquitted earlier this month of child pornography charges.

The Chicago Tribune said Debra Triplett, a 48-year-old grandmother from Aurora, Ill., spent more than a month behind bars because she yelled, "Free R. Kelly!" as the jury stepped off a courthouse elevator during Kelly's trial.

Triplett remained in jail until Wednesday because she was unable to post the $5,000 cash bail imposed by Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan when he ordered her jailed May 22.

Moments after her release from the Cook County Jail, Triplett told the newspaper she thinks Kelly should have paid her bail.

"For sure he should have stepped up," Triplett said. "R. Kelly, you should have stepped up!"

As for the remark that landed her in jail, Triplett said, "I was just being a fan. I didn't know I was going to be locked up."

She added that she was surprised she wasn't released when Kelly was acquitted.

"I thought they were going to say, 'Pack it up, Triplett,'" she recalled. "But they didn't, and the days went on and on."

Jolie, Pitt give $1M to war-affected kids

LOS ANGELES, June 26 (UPI) -- A foundation started by Hollywood film stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has donated $1 million to children impacted by the war in Iraq.

Usmagazine.com said the Jolie-Pitt Foundation has pledged $500,000 for school supplies and education programs for refugee children in Iraq, as well as $500,000 for U.S. children who have either lost a parent deployed in Iraq or have a parent serving there.

The donations for U.S. children will go to a tutoring initiative at the Armed Services YMCA Operation Hero Program, the entertainment news Web site said.

Jolie, who is pregnant with her and Pitt's fifth and sixth children, is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Cage, Brosnan to appear in Polanski film

LOS ANGELES, June 26 (UPI) -- Nicolas Cage, Pierce Brosnan and Tilda Swinton reportedly are set to star in "The Ghost," a political thriller Roman Polanski plans to film soon in Europe.

Variety.com said production on the big-screen adaptation of Robert Harris' book is to begin in September.

Polanski decided to make the film last year after he dropped out of the $100 million epic "Pompeii," another adaptation of one of Harris' books, the entertainment industry trade paper said.

Polanski and Harris co-wrote the screenplay for "The Ghost," which is about a replacement ghostwriter hired to finish the memoirs of an ex-British prime minister after the first author mysteriously died.

Cage is to play the second ghostwriter, while Brosnan will play the former prime minister and Swinton will play his wife, Variety.com said.

Polanski's films include "Chinatown," "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Pianist."

Nicole Richie to guest star on 'Chuck'

BURBANK, Calif., June 26 (UPI) -- U.S. reality television personality and new mom Nicole Richie is set to guest-star on the comedy series "Chuck" this fall, NBC said Wednesday.

Richie is best known for her work on the reality show "The Simple Life," in which she co-starred with Paris Hilton. Richie recently gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Harlow.

"Nicole auditioned for the part and was very funny," executive producer Josh Schwartz said in a statement. "This role is a great opportunity for her to show off her comedic skills and be diabolically evil and kick some butt. It's going to be really fun."