The promoters of Michael Jackson's doomed last tour slammed as "absurd" Wednesday a massive claim by his family for damages over the star's 2009 death, at the climax of a five-month trial.

Making his closing argument, a lawyer for AEG Live said the promoter would never have funded the "This Is It" tour if it knew the star was playing "Russian roulette" with his own life by abusing drugs.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's final studio album, and fans aren't just able to buy a new "super deluxe" box set to celebrate the occasion. They can also buy the childhood home of late frontman Kurt Cobain, complete with his mattress.

Cobain's mother, Wendy O'Connor, is putting the tired, 1.5-story bungalow two hours southwest of Seattle on the market this week.

The promoters of Michael Jackson's doomed last tour should pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to the late pop icon's family over his 2009 death, a lawyer said in closing arguments Tuesday.

In a heartstrings-tugging final presentation wrapping up a five-month trial, attorney Brian Panish urged jurors to award $85 million to each of the star's three children and $35 million to his mother in so-called non-economic damages, such as the loss of love and comfort.

Miss Piggy is finally joining her love, Kermit the Frog, in the Smithsonian Institution's collection of Jim Henson's Muppets, and Bert and Ernie will have a place in history, too.

Henson's family, including his daughter, Cheryl Henson, donated more than 20 puppets and props Tuesday to the National Museum of American History to accompany the earlier donations of Kermit, Oscar the Grouch and early Henson creations.

The Las Vegas Strip's newest concert space will open its doors just before the new year with a performance by pop star Bruno Mars

Mars will play shows on Dec. 29 and 31 at a new Eastern European glass factory-themed venue at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, and then return six more times during 2014, casino management announced on Tuesday.

NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will be paying tribute to its ripped-from-the-headlines heritage this season, the drama's executive producer said.

The show returns for its 15th year at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday, picking up on last season's cliffhanger finale that had New York City police Detective Olivia Benson (series star Mariska Hargitay) held at gunpoint by a rapist.

Paris fashion week on Tuesday got off to a charmingly chaotic start with a rooftop catwalk show at which fashionistas played 'spot the model'.

Fashion watchers who trekked up the eight flights to the top of Paris's famed Galeries Lafayette department store were rewarded with clear views of the Eiffel Tower on a sunny September day.

French diva Catherine Deneuve and Spanish Oscar-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodovar will pick up honorary prizes at the European Film Awards in December in Berlin, organizers said Tuesday.

Deneuve, 69, the icy blonde actress from classics such as "Belle de Jour" by Luis Bunuel and Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" will receive a lifetime achievement award for her work in more than 100 pictures, the European Film Academy said on its website.

It may be one of the most boring lines ever — "Leave a message after the beep." But what if you managed to jazz up your phone's outgoing message with a celebrity?

The advocacy group Autism Speaks is offering just that: custom-recorded messages from "Batman" star Adam West, "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston, singer Cher, actors Jack Black, Peter Dinklage, Jim Parsons, "Star Wars" star Mark Hamill, "Star Trek" actors Michael Dorn and Zachary Quinto, and broadcaster Vin Scully.

A legal battle over profits from the only two known photographs of legendary Delta bluesman Robert Johnson — who is said to have sold his soul to the devil for prowess on the guitar — now rests with the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Johnson, whose songs have influenced a host of famous musicians, was destitute when he died in Mississippi in 1938 at age 27. His estate is valuable, partly because of a collection of his recordings that won a Grammy in 1990.