NEWLN: Compiled by VALERIE KUKLENSKI UPI Entertainment Editor
SLATER SUED: The on-again, off-again relationship between actor Christian Slater and writer-producer Nina Huang Peterson appears to be in off-mode these days, and that apparently doesn't sit very well with Peterson. She filed a palimony lawsuit in Los Angeles against Slater earlier this week, claiming she recently found herself locked out of the home the two have shared periodically over the last five years. Slater's publicist, Susan Culley, confirms the couple have split but declined to comment further on Peterson's suit. 'It's just another unfortunate example of the price of fame,' said Culley. Slater was most recently seen alongside Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in 'Interview With the Vampire. ' Peterson, 32, claims Slater, 25, promised to give her half of all his earnings during the time they were together in the event the couple broke up. Peterson maintains she put her career on hold to devote her time to boosting Slater's rising star. After a yearlong separation, during which the handsome actor dated supermodel Christy Turlington, Slater and Peterson were engaged last Christmas, but now the only date looming in the couple's future will probably be in court.
VAN HALEN PLEADS: Rocker Eddie Van Halen has pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor weapons violation he was charged with earlier this month after the he tried to board an airplane with a loaded gun in his bag. Van Halen, the 40-year-old guitarist for the famed heavy metal group that bears his name, was fined $300 and placed on summary probation for one year. Van Halen was detained at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport just outside Los Angeles on April 7 after the gun was detected by an airport security X-ray machine. At the time, Van Halen said he simply forgot the gun was in the bag and also noted that he usually takes charter flights and has never been stopped for carrying a gun with him. Van Halen, who was heading to San Francisco to perform a concert at the time of the incident, and his bandmates are currently on the Midwestern swing of a North American tour.
A LITTLE VAN DAMME ON THE WAY: Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and his wife Darcy La Pier appear to have patched things up as the action movie hero has proudly announced they are expecting their first child in October. La Pier, Van Damme's fourth wife, filed for divorce last November, citing irreconcilable differences. But Van Damme painted a much rosier picture of the relationship for USA Today columnist Jeannie Williams. 'I'm excited to start a family with my beautiful wife Darcy,' he said. Van Damme, 34, is currently in Thailand directing his first film, 'The Quest.'
MADONNA UPDATE: For those who have been wondering about the tall, handsome, muscular man seen on Madonna's arm in recent weeks, wonder no more. USA Today reports he is Carlos Leon, a professional cyclist and personal trainer. Madonna and Leon have reportedly been an item for several months. Leon is a native New Yorker of Cuban heritage, the newspaper reports, but there's no word on just how the Material Girl met her latest Latin lover. In other Madonna news, Barbra Streisand has denied published reports that she and Madonna are battling each other over competing plans for a remake of the 1962 Anna Magnani movie 'Mamma Roma.'
ALLEY'S ALLIES: Like millions of people around the world, actress Kirstie Alley was moved to tears by the scenes of carnage and the senseless destruction wrought by this week's bomb attack in Oklahoma City. Alley took a few moments while working Thursday on the set of the upcoming ABC special, 'Peter and the Wolf,' to tape a public service announcement urging viewers to help the bombing victims through donations to the Red Cross. 'I think it was the most evil act against children that this country has ever experienced,' Alley said in a statement. 'Also, I am from Kansas. These people are my neighbors, and in the Midwest, you help your neighbors any way you can.' After the taping, Alley arranged for the 30-second spot to be beamed to dozens of TV stations using satellite time donated by the syndicated tabloid TV show 'Hard Copy,' which is not known for cultivating friendly relationships with celebrities. But 'Hard Copy' spokesman Gary Rosen said Alley told him she became a fan of the show after it aired what she termed a 'fair' segment on the controversial Church of Scientology, of which Alley is an active member.
NO BIG DEAL: Tony Curtis once said that kissing Marilyn Monroe during the filming of 'Some Like It Hot' in 1959 was 'like kissing Hitler.' Now the 69-year-old film star has come clean in an interview with the BBC in London, where he is hosting the British Academy of Film and Television Awards on Sunday. He not only kissed Monroe, he confessed they had an affair. 'There was nothing unique about it. She was just another girl,' he said matter-of-factly. 'We were mirror images -- both envious and loving, neither wanting the other to have more success.... I'm not putting her down, but why is Marilyn more important in my life than any other woman? I knew girls that made her look like a guy,' Curtis boasted.
