Filed under: Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy

- I recently posted about Richard Gere inspiring burning effigies in India when he dipped and kissed Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty while promoting AIDS awareness. Now Guardian Unlimited reports that an Indian judge has issued arrest warrants for the actors, citing the country's public obscenity laws. Considering the fact that the UN AIDS agency says that India has the largest number of HIV/AIDS cases (5.7 million), perhaps it's time to focus on education, and not putting an actor up for a possible three months in prison, and/or a fine, for a cheek kiss. If the matter is not resolved, this could interfere with Gere's causes -- he has often visited Tibetan exiles in Dharmsala to offer support.
- If there is any truth to the rumor that Kate Beckinsale could be the next Barbarella, I bet she will be cast. According to IGN, they've talked with the actress, who has confirmed that no one has approached her about the film. However, she doesn't seem to be averse to the idea: "It's thrilling! I've never heard anything about it before today." She continued on to joke about a name change: "Beckinsale-arella! It's gotta happen!" With her positive reaction to the idea, we might just have Beck-Barb confirmation in no time.
- Alec Baldwin has been all over the news lately. If you haven't been following -- his ex-marital woes recently fueled him to leave a nasty message for his daughter, calling her a "rude, thoughtless little pig." Now CNN has reported on Baldwin's disdain for his business, which obviously stems from the never-ending custody suit with Kim Basinger over their daughter Ireland. He's tried to get out of his contract for NBC's 30 Rock, which was refused, and in a pre-taped interview for The View, he said: "If I never acted again, I couldn't care less." He continues: "I've had enough of this quite frankly to last me a lifetime, especially in the modern tabloid world." Whether these are words uttered in the heat of his distress, or firm feelings, remains to be seen.