from various sources

Celebrities paid to heat up Vegas clubs

LAS VEGAS - Three years ago, as Paris Hilton was about to turn 24, the celebutante got a sense of her worth to the nightclub industry in Las Vegas. She had celebrated her previous three birthdays at Light, the Bellagio hotel-casino nightclub run by the Light Group. But for her 24th, another company swooped in with an offer that trumped the standard private jet to and from L.A., a free stay at a luxury suite, a sumptuous dinner and, of course, free booze.

The hotel heiress would get a big paycheck - Light was told $200,000 - just to party, but it had to be at PURE, a rival nightclub at Caesars Palace run by the PURE Management Group.

Her people let the Light Group know that their former deal was off.

Film academy sues to stop sale of Oscars

LOS ANGELES - The Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences is suing to stop the public sale of two Academy Awards given to silent film star Mary Pickford.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the academy claims it has the right to buy the historic statuettes and one owned by her late husband for $10 each.

The academy contends an heir to the Oscars demanded $500,000 for one statuette alone in July - an offer the academy refused.

Pickford won the Academy Award for best actress in 1930 and was given an honorary Oscar in 1975.

Houston, Brown battle over child custody

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Bobby Brown went to court Friday to seek custody of his and Whitney Houston’s teenage daughter.

Brown and his attorney asked Orange County Superior Court to dismiss a default judgment issued in December that granted Houston sole custody of 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina.

Brown wasn’t given enough time to respond to Houston’s divorce filings, his attorney Stacy D. Phillips said: “He didn’t have his day in court.”

Judge Claudia Silbar ordered Brown and Houston to argue their case at an Oct. 22 hearing before she decides who will get custody.

‘Family Ties’ star gets probation

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 31 (UPI) — Brian Bonsall, a one-time “Family Ties” star, was sentenced to probation in a Colorado Court after pleading guilty to assaulting his girlfriend while drunk.

Before being sentenced, Bonsall told Boulder County District Judge Lael Montgomery he has gone to rehab, is sober and “happy as ever,” The Boulder Daily Camera reported Friday.

Bonsall, 25, played the younger son, Andy Keaton, on the series from 1986-89.