Meryl Streep may be considered one of the finest actresses around, yet she says she believed her career was over 20 years ago.

Streep, now 62, tells Vogue magazine she was offered three different roles to play a witch after turning 40. She believed it meant women in her age group were "grotesque on some level," and told her husband "It's over."

Karen Jackson and Kiki Stafford were moved to tears as they walked among the items that surrounded Michael Jackson in his final days: The Victorian baby grand piano, the wooden armoire where Jackson had written a note to himself on the mirror, the kitchen chalkboard where his children inscribed the message, "I love daddy."

Jackson, 57, and Stafford, 47, were among dozens of Michael Jackson fans who got an early look at items that will be sold at auction from the singer's final home — and left behind tributes to the King of Pop.

Bosnian war victims' associations on Friday hailed Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, a love story set in wartime Bosnia, as an objective and sincere portrayal of the inter-ethnic conflict.

"This movie is deeply moving for the victims who experienced all of these things," Murat Tahirovic, who heads an association of prisoners of war, told Agence France Presse after seeing it in a special screening in Sarajevo.

Lady Gaga was in the Christmas spirit at Z100's annual Jingle Ball concert, but her version of "White Christmas" would have made Bing Crosby blush.

Gaga performed a slightly naughty rendition of the holiday classic Friday night as part of her mini-concert at the radio station's event at Madison Square Garden. Gaga — sporting tight studded leather pants, matching top and a bare midriff — gyrated on a set that included antlers, Christmas trees and holiday lights as she performed "White Christmas."

A critic once said you couldn't step onto a London bus without thinking of a Mike Leigh film, yet the British filmmaker told Agence France Presse he never set out to capture the city on celluloid.

"I'm called the cinematic poet of London," smiled the 68-year-old director in an interview Friday, in Paris as guest of honor of a festival celebrating London in film, starting with a Mike Leigh master class and retrospective.

Playboy is to release its January/February issue early after nude pictures of troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan leaked online, boss Hugh Hefner said Friday.

The actress, who was reportedly paid nearly $1 million for the magazine spread, appears on the cover seated on a bright red Playboy bunny chair, only just protecting her modesty.

Jay-Z didn't graduate from high school, but he's encouraging others to value their education.

The rapper announced Thursday that he will perform two shows at New York's Carnegie Hall in February to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of New York City.

50 Cent has rapped about getting rich. Now he's focusing on getting fit.

The hip-hop star is putting out a fitness book that's set to be published in January 2013 by Avery Books. Titled "Formula 50: A 6-Week Total Body Transformation Plan," the book will tout metabolic resistance training as the key to getting in shape. It will also include a nutrition guide.

Adele dominated music this year, and iTunes was no exception.

The British songstress had iTunes' best-selling album and song, and she was named its top artist.

A Bangladeshi television channel said Thursday it was launching the country's first reality show for transgender people in an effort to break down widespread suspicion of the country's "hijra" community.

The ATN Bangla show, "Amra Tomadery" (We are for you), is now accepting applications to be one of around 40 contestants who will showcase their dancing and acting skills to win audience votes.