Once upon a time a major U.S. animation studio crowned a character who was billed its first Latina princess. Then out came the big bad critics, and Disney ran away.

Some fans were pleased that "Sofia the First" could have a Latina lead -- after all, the European, African American, Arab, Asian, Native American and Mermaid communities already have Disney princesses to call their own.

Actor-singer Justin Timberlake apologized Friday for a "distasteful" video produced by a friend as a joke that critics blasted for making fun of homeless people.

The heartthrob actor posted an open letter on his website about the video, in which a string of homeless, transgender and other people wished him best wishes for his wedding to actress Jessica Biel, in southern Italy.

The iconic Hollywood sign overlooking Tinseltown is getting its biggest renovation for 35 years, ahead of its 90th birthday next year.

Workers are using window-cleaner style platforms as they strip down the 50-foot (15-meter) tall letters, powerwash the corrugated iron and apply nearly 400 gallons of fresh paint, organizers said.

Witnesses to the aftermath of a fatal auto accident involving a former "Melrose Place" actress say she was babbling and wasn't aware someone had died.

An emergency medical technician and an ER nurse testified Thursday at the aggravated manslaughter trial of Amy Locane-Bovenizer.

Police at Los Angeles International Airport say actor Jack Scalia has been arrested after security screeners found an unloaded handgun in his carry-on bag.

Sgt. Belinda Nettles says the 61-year-old Scalia, who had recurring roles on "All My Children," ''Remington Steele" and "Dallas," was arrested Thursday afternoon in Terminal 7.

Katy Perry's doing her best get-out-the vote effort: At a rally for President Barack Obama, she wore a tight white dress imprinted like a ballot, and a square box on her right hip filled in the names of Obama and Joe Biden.

Perry gave a free concert at a park in a historically minority neighborhood just northwest of downtown Las Vegas to screaming fans at about 9 p.m., the same time Air Force One landed at McCarran International Airport across town.

Three years ago two Spanish designers launched a clothing label based in Rwanda. At this week's Africa fashion week they unveiled their creations and in doing so, broke the tradition of African fashion being made only by Africans.

"We are kind of doing it the other way round because we are European designers based in Africa and creating for Africa. We are pretty much doing the opposite," said Ines Cuatrecasas Barcelo, co-founder of the Kigali-based Mille Collines (a thousand hills) label, which is showcased at African Fashion International week which runs until Sunday in Johannesburg.

Troubled Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is suing the publishers of U.S. magazine Life and Style for $50 million over a cover claiming he had abandoned his daughter Suri, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The weekly's July 30 issue splashed with the headline "Suri in tears, abandoned by her dad," over a picture of the sobbing 6-year-old, living with her mother Katie Holmes since her shock divorce announcement weeks earlier.

Four years after a private eye went to prison for wiretapping phones of the rich and famous on behalf of celebrities and Hollywood heavyweights, his clients are facing hefty bills for his skullduggery.

In the first of more than a dozen lawsuits against Anthony Pellicano's well-heeled clients, a jury last week ruled against the ex-wife of a billionaire philanthropist, awarding $4 million to his three adult children and former personal assistant after she violated their privacy.

Sean "Diddy" Combs was a passenger in an SUV that was hit by another car in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, but the hip-hop and fashion mogul was not taken to a hospital.

Beverly Hills police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said Combs was riding in a Cadillac Escalade on Sunset Boulevard Wednesday when a Lexus sedan turned left in front of it, and the vehicles collided.