Entertainment Today: Showbiz News

ACTORS' BABY SWALLOWS ECSTASY

The baby daughter of British film stars Jude Law ("Road to Perdition") and Sadie Frost ("Dracula") was hospitalized Saturday after swallowing part of an ecstasy tablet at a children's party.

The British media reported Monday the 34-year-old actress was able to wrench half of the pill out of her 2-year-old daughter Iris's mouth before paramedics arrived and took the child to the hospital, where doctors pumped her stomach.

Iris was kept overnight for observation, but allowed to go home the next morning.

The baby is believed to have picked the pill off the floor of London's Soho House Club where the party was held.

Police say they think it was left behind by revelers partying in the club the evening before. They say Frost is not suspected of any wrongdoing in the matter.

Frost and Law made headlines last month when they welcomed their third child, Rudy, into the world.

ACTORS LEAD ANTI-WAR PROTEST

Activist-actors Martin Sheen, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon led about 10,000 demonstrators this weekend in protesting any American-led military actions on Iraq and in criticizing the United States for responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with bombing strikes on Afghanistan.

Described by the New York Daily News as the largest anti-war protest in the city since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the event took place in Central Park's East Meadow Sunday and lasted about four hours.

The rally came on the anniversary of the start of the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan and featured some foul-mouthed tirades against the U.S. press, as well as Sheen's moving reading of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

"People are here to send a message to the planet that people in the U.S. stand with them, not against them," said rally organizer Mary Lou Greenberg. "George Bush does not speak or act for us in our name."

SNOOP DOG CUT FROM MUPPET MOVIE

Hard-core rapper Snoop Dogg's scenes in NBC's "A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" reportedly have ended up on the cutting-room floor.

According to E!, the Jim Henson Co. has confirmed the Snoop footage won't air, although the movie's producers, who have taken some heat for their casting choice, deny their decision to leave Snoop out in the doghouse means they caved to protests.

"Because of production reasons, about half an hour of footage originally planned for use ... including a brief appearance by Snoop Dogg will not be appearing in the final cut," a statement from the Henson Co. explained.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times quotes Henson "insiders" as saying executives had extra incentive to cut the Snoop footage when they realized he has a film due for release on video soon. "Diary of a Pimp," brought to you by the folks at Hustler, comes out this fall, while the Muppet flick is set to air on the Peacock network in December.

The Muppet film basically is a parody of Christmas movies like "A Christmas Carol" and "It's A Wonderful Life," performed by Henson's warm, fuzzy creatures, as well as a host of warm, fuzzy actors like Joan Cusack, David Arquette, Whoopi Goldberg, Carson Daly and Kelly Ripa.

Najee Ali, head of the Los Angeles-based Project Islamic Hope, has told E! he brought about the Snoop-Muppet edit by threatening an NBC boycott. Ali has described the rapper and flagrant drug abuser as unfit for family television fare.

"I grew up watching the Muppets. They are very precious to me -- those memories of watching (them) as a child," Ali said Friday. "Now I have children and want them to feel that way, too. There are plenty of other hip-hop artists that they could have chosen rather than this guy. He was the very worst choice."

SANDLER ON NEW ROLE

Adam Sandler doesn't like the way critics are calling his wonderful performance in "Punch Drunk Love" a departure from his usual comic fare.

"I think departure means I'm moving on from something," explains the star of "Mr. Deeds" and "The Wedding Singer."

"I did a movie with (Paul Thomas Anderson), a guy I think is an incredible filmmaker, and I played a role he wrote for me that I thought was a great part. And I thought it would be a challenge for me to do it," he says. "In no way do I want to say I'm giving up making a certain kind of movie I've done in the past, but also this experiment was incredible and I want to continue challenging myself. And I'd love to challenge myself with this man. We're planning on doing stuff down the line. I'm 36 years old, I made a movie when I was 26 'Billy Madison' and had a great time doing that. Every movie I've done since I've tried making it as good as it could be, but I want definitely want to test myself in anyway I could."

"Punch Drunk Love" opens Oct. 11.