'Slumdog' team denies exploitation claim
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The director, producer and movie studio behind Mumbai-set "Slumdog Millionaire" are denying allegations they exploited two child actors.
The Daily Telegraph recently ran interviews with relatives of Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail -- two of the juvenile Indian co-stars of the award-winning drama -- who claim the filmmakers did not pay the children fairly or help improve their impoverished lives in real-life slums.
Variety.com said director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson quickly refuted the allegations in a statement explaining they not only paid the young actors well, but also helped the children enroll in school for the first time after filming, and set up a fund to pay for their education and basic living costs, healthcare and any emergencies. The children are to be further compensated if they stay in school until they are 18, Boyle and Colson said.
"Since putting these arrangements in place more than 12 months ago, we have never sought to publicize them, and we are doing so now only in response to the questions raised by the press," Variety.com quoted Colson and Boyle as saying.
The Los Angeles Times said the film's distributors Fox Searchlight and its India counterpart, Fox Star Studios, as well as the movie's sales agent Pathe International, said in a separate statement: "The welfare of Azhar and Rubina has always been a top priority for everyone involved in 'Slumdog Millionaire.' ... For 30 days' work, the children were paid three times the average local adult salary. ... We are extremely proud of this film, and proud of the way our child actors have been treated."
Rosenberg says he won't leave SAG post
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Alan Rosenberg said he doesn't intend to leave his position of president of the U.S. Screen Actors Guild, despite the replacement this week of Doug Allen.
"Why would I leave?" Rosenberg asked. "I'm not going to abandon the people who elected me."
Rosenberg made the comments during an exclusive interview with TheWrap.Com, a multi-platform news and information network that examines and comments on the entertainment industry.
The Web site debuted Monday and in its first week broke the news of SAG executive director Doug Allen's ouster due to failed contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. TheWrap.com then followed that story up with Rosenberg's response to the current state of SAG's affairs.
"We intend to bring a fresh, informed voice to coverage of the entertainment business," TheWrap.Com founder Sharon Waxman said in a statement. "The world of new media enables us to transmit information faster, and our team of seasoned journalists enables us to maintain accuracy and insight, while making use of a wide net of relationships. We were pleased to be able to offer Alan Rosenberg a platform for his viewpoint on a topic that's of major relevance to our business."
In addition to its online site, TheWrap.Com said it offers a daily email service called First Take and encourages response from bloggers and other voices within and outside the entertainment industry.
Madonna extends tour with dates in Europe
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Madonna announced she is extending her successful "Sticky & Sweet Tour" and will perform numerous concerts in Europe this summer.
The singer is scheduled to kick off the latest leg of her concert series in London July 4.
Scheduled stops include appearances in markets she has never played before such as Werchter, Belgium; Marseilles, France; Hamburg, Germany; Oslo, Norway; Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Ljubljana, Slovenia, as well as dates in Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria, it was confirmed Friday by Live Nation.
Madonna will make return visits after more than 15 years to Madrid, and Gothenburg and Munich, Germany.
"This is a first for me. I've never extended a tour before. I'm excited to be going back on the road, visiting places I've never been and returning to places I love," Madonna said in a statement.
"This new run of dates will further solidify Madonna's position as one of the top-selling touring artists of all time," added Live Nation's Arthur Fogel.
Hasselbeck pregnant with baby No. 3
NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Elisabeth Hasselbeck announced she is pregnant with her third child on Thursday's edition of the daytime U.S. television talk show "The View."
Hasselbeck, 31, and her husband, Tim, a sports analyst who played for the Arizona Cardinals, are already the parents of 3-year-old Grace and 1-year-old Taylor.
"I'm pregnant again!" Hasselbeck said on Thursday's show. "I'm due in August. ... We were thoroughly happy with the surprise of it. ... I didn't even know for two months."
She went on to say she thought the excitement surrounding the presidential election left her feeling exhausted.
"No. I was knocked up and didn't realize it," she added.
