From 'Idol' to active: Studdard joins 'Biggest Loser'
An "American Idol" star is going to try to go from winner to "Loser." Ruben Studdard, will try to croon away the calories this fall as a contestant on "The Biggest Loser."
AN "AMERICAN IDOL" star is going to try to go from winner to "Loser."
Ruben Studdard, the "AI" contestant who beat Clay Aiken, will try to croon away the calories this fall as a contestant on "The Biggest Loser."
Who's going to kick off the "Velvet Teddy Bear"?
Elmo off the hook
Three lawsuits brought by men who said longtime former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage were tossed out by a judge who said in a decision published yesterday that the men waited too long to sue.
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl said the claims must be barred because they came more than six years after the men reasonably should have realized that the physical and emotional injuries they're suing over were caused by the alleged encounters. The judge also noted that each man had been over the age of 18 for more than three years before the lawsuits were filed.
Attorneys for the men promised an appeal while Clash said through his lawyer that he hoped the ruling would help him recover personally and professionally.
One other lawsuit is pending in Pennsylvania.
Clash resigned from "Sesame Street" in November after college student Cecil Singleton sued him for more than $5 million, accusing Clash of having sex with him when he was 15.
In the ruling, the judge said that the time in which someone must bring a lawsuit accumulates after the victimization rather than when the individual realizes subsequent psychological harm.
Otherwise, he said, plaintiffs could make claims decades later. He also said the plaintiffs cannot retroactively benefit from a change in law in March that extends the statute of limitations to 10 years.
"While the plaintiffs may not have recognized the extent of their injuries, they were aware of the defendant's conduct toward them and could have brought claims," Koeltl wrote.
* Puppeteers from the Israeli version of "Sesame Street" are protesting Israel's closure of a Palestinian puppet festival.
Ariel Doron, who plays Elmo on the Israeli version of the children's television show, created a Facebook group named Puppets4All, calling on Israel to permit the festival.
He said yesterday that his initiative was private and not coordinated with "Sesame Street."
Other puppeteers from Israeli "Sesame Street" and fellow Israeli actors have uploaded photos to the Facebook group, holding puppets and signs protesting the closure.
Israeli police shut down the Palestinian national theater in Jerusalem last week and canceled the festival, saying the theater illegally took funds from the Palestinian government in the West Bank.
TATTBITS
* "Teen Mom" Farrah Abraham has checked into the Lukens Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for outpatient alcohol-abuse rehab.
"At this time in my life, I need to stay focused on the positive to get through all of the negative that a DUI has caused in my life," she told Radaronline.com.
"I'm 22 and I want to make better choices and ensure I can recognize when I am putting myself in a bad situation next time," she said.
Better choices?
Why just this year she made the sex tape "Backdoor Teen Mom" and was arrested for the DUI, blowing nearly twice the legal limit.
Early last month, in perhaps her best choice (hey, it's a low bar), Farrah spent more than $7,000 to have her breasts bumped up from a C to a D.
Us Weekly says she unveiled her larger knockers in Paterson, N.J., when she judged a pole-dancing competition.
* Former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien will be contributing reports to the new Al Jazeera America network when it debuts in August.
The network said yesterday that O'Brien will report for the network's prime-time magazine series "America Tonight." Al Jazeera has also made a deal with O'Brien's production company to produce hourlong documentaries.
O'Brien is pioneering a new model since leaving CNN this spring. She's actively building up her company, Starfish Media Group, by making deals with different media outlets, including HBO's "Real Sports" and CNN.
* Now we'll see how super he really is.
People mag says "Man of Steel" Henry Cavill is dating Kaley Cuoco of "The Big Bang Theory."
Cameo, anyone?
We can barely contain Sheldon's excitement.
* Remember yesterday's item about Jennifer Lopez being paid by the China National Petroleum Co. to sing in Turkmenistan - and serenade the country's leader with a birthday song.
"Happy birthday, Mr. Dictator . . ."
Yesterday, no one was saying how much Jennifer got paid for the gig, but Tattle wagered it was a lot.
Us Weekly says it was $1.5 million.
We realize that Lopez is more talented than the median American household - and she certainly has a better butt - but the median household income in the U.S. is in the not-so-posh neighborhood of $46,000.
That means Lopez made more money in one night singing for one of the world's worst human-rights violators than the median American household would make in more than 32 years.
Jenny may be from the block, but now she owns the block.
- Daily News wire services
contributed to this report.
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