The 9 0'Clock News – Fri 25 Apr

Posted by heatworld on Friday 25 Apr 2008

Filed under: Amy Winehouse, Caroline Aherne, Corinne Bailey Rae, Denzel Washington, Klaxons, Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, Rhys Ifans, Sienna Miller, The Killers, Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Brush with the law

Wesley Snipe jailed for THREE YEARS. Yikes.
Hollywood actor Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion. The 45-year-old star of films such as Blade and Demolition Man was given the maximum term, despite pleas from some of his famous friends. It is reported that Wesley dodged more than £7.5million in income tax back in the height of his career – and now the IRS have caught up with him. He was officially convicted of not filing tax returns from 1999 to 2001, but he was cleared of felony fraud and conspiracy. Fellow actor and long time friend Denzel Washington had appealed to the court, saying, “Wesley is like a mighty oak tree. I have been protected by his presence,” while Woody Harrelson added, “It’s an honour to call him my brother.” Their pleas, however, fell on deaf ears and Wesley has been told he must report to a jail near his New Jersey home at a later date.

Amy joins young rich-list
She prefers her local north London boozer to the posh clubs and she only seems to own one pair of (very dirty) shoes, but it’s not because Amy Winehouse can’t afford it – she’s reported to have amassed a fortune of £10million. The beehived singer has made it on to the Sunday Times Young Music Millionaires list for the first time, and they have ranked her as the 10th richest musician under 30 who’s living in Britain. Another new entry into the list was the mega successful Leona Lewis, who is ranked 14th with a personal fortune of £6million while Corinne Bailey Rae and Natasha Bedingfield also feature. Riding high at the very top of the list is Dhani Harrison – the son of late Beatle George Harrison – who inherited a whopping £160million from his famous dad. We don’t know about you lot, but if we had £10million lounging in the bank we wouldn’t be hanging out in smelly Camden pubs. Come on, Amy, treat yourself to a new pair of ballet slippers at least!

US Comedian takes piss out of Sienna at award bash
The Klaxons ended up being the talk of the NME Awards USA, but not on account of all the prizes they won. The cheeky lads decided to storm the stage and nab the Arctic Monkeys award for Best Album, even though the Sheffield lads had recorded a video message to say thank you. The Klaxons were clearly taking full advantage of the complimentary booze, and they weren’t the only ones – apparently tasty Mr Mark Ronson had a bit of trouble engineering the steps up to the stage, bless his cottons. Another funny moment of the night came when actress Sienna Miller presented a special inspiration award to Mick Jones of The Clash. Comedian host Tim Jeffries quipped, “Sienna, I think you should be given the inspiration award. The man you’re having sex with is so ugly it’s an inspiration to all ugly men.” Ahhh, but we think Rhys Ifans is so sweet. But it was quite a funny observation... The big winners of the night were The Killers, who took home gongs for Best Band and Best Track *claps*

Caroline Aherne makes TV comeback. Yay!
Still sadly watching those Royle Family repeats on UKTVGold? Well, you’ll be happy to hear that Caroline Aherne will soon be back on your screens in a brand new role. The actress’ best friend and former Royle Family co-star Craig Cash has written a new show for the BBC called Sunshine, and he’s cast Caroline in the role as a barmaid. A TV source revealed, “It’s a fantastic coup for the team behind Sunshine to have signed up Caroline. She is Sunshine’s answer to Rovers Return legend Bet Lynch, but without the beehive hairdo.” The show will also star funnyman Steve Coogan as a gambling binman called “Bing” Crosby and is set in Liverpool during the Thatcher years. Caroline, who hasn’t been on TV since the Royle Family Finale in 2006, is doing the part at “mate’s rates” to help her pal Craig’s production company Jellylegs get off to a good start. We SO can’t wait for this!