Sideshow | Stern has had it with rumors

Howard K. Stern

is fed up with media reports that he believes implicate him in the deaths of former companion

Anna Nicole Smith

and her son,

Daniel

, says Stern's lawyer. And the lawyer says Stern may sue.

"The nightly television, tabloid and Internet trial of Mr. Stern in the court of public opinion based on sensational lies, speculation, rumor and gossip is over," Atlanta attorney Lin Wood said in a news release yesterday.

Smith died Feb. 8. A Florida medical examiner ruled she died of an accidental overdose of sleeping medication and prescription drugs, most of them in Stern's name. Daniel Smith, 20, died Sept. 10 as he visited his mother three days after she gave birth in a Bahamian hospital to her daughter, Dannielynn. Daniel Smith's death was ruled an overdose, but an inquest into whether it was accidental has been put on hold.

- Associated Press

For Tobey Maguire, star of Spider-Man 3, is there another webslinger movie in this future?

"I appreciate movies from a standpoint of entertainment and distraction, and I also love when people make movies that help raise awareness," says the 31-year-old actor, whose films also include The Cider House Rules and Seabiscuit.

"I don't really have a lot of formed ideas. It's more just thoughts," he tells Men's Journal in its May issue, on newsstands today. "I might do another Spider-Man movie - I don't know."

Maguire says "Spider-Man 3" has a "fresh story" for his character.

"The public is adoring him, and it goes to his head. He's behaving arrogantly and is self-involved, which changes the feeling of the character for me. And it just gets darker from there," he says.

- Associated Press

Sonny Bono's

sidewalk star, dug up years ago for a construction project, was relocated on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, Calif., and dedicated Saturday in front of the '60s pop-star-turned- politician's bronze statue.

"It's unbelievably beautiful," said his wife, U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, who took part in the downtown ceremony with her children, Chianna and Chesare Bono.

"The kids and I come down here often or drive by the statue. I think of this place as the heart of downtown. We're honored," the congresswoman said.

Bono died Jan. 5, 1998, when he struck a tree while skiing in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. He was 62.

During Saturday's ceremonies, he was remembered as half of the Sonny & Cher singing duo, as mayor of Palm Springs 1988 to 1992, and as a congressman until his death.

- Associated Press

Kevin James

, star of

The King of Queens

, thinks the sitcom owes its long tenure to a simplicity more befitting a commoner than a king.

"It may have worked for us because people kind of left us alone," the 41-year-old actor said in a recent conference call. "You know, when they tapped us on the shoulder and we looked up, it was nine years later. We never really were that shiny show, but we're a simple show - and that's something that I'm proud of."

The 200th episode of the blue-collar comedy, which stars James as deliveryman Doug Heffernan and Leah Remini as his secretary-wife, Carrie, was to air last night on CBS. The series ends next month.

"It didn't really hit me until shooting the last episode, I've got to be be honest," James said. "It was a nice milestone, the 200th episode, but it doesn't really affect you until you realize that you're not going to be seeing these people on a regular basis."

- Associated Press

Oscar nominee

Imelda Staunton

wasn't thrilled at the prospect of playing Harry Potter's first female nemesis, Dolores Umbridge, in the next film installment of the Harry Potter series.

"I read the book, and Umbridge is described as a short, ugly, toadlike woman," Staunton told Newsweek. "I thought, 'Oh, thanks very much.' "

So, reports the magazine, Staunton - in fine witch fashion - turned the toad into an "apple-cheeked schoolmarm" for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie based on the J.K. Rowling series. The new Umbridge is swathed in "pink angora." Just shows you never know where evil lurks. The film will be released July 13.

Staunton, who was nominated for a best-actress Academy Award for playing Vera Drake in the eponymous 2004 movie, says the Potter role is no joke.

"You may think that it's just a bunch of hand-waving, but there's a lot of proper acting going on," she said.

Emma Watson, who plays Hermoine, has decided to continue that acting in the final two films, Newsweek said.

- Associated Press