Actor Tom Cruise is to go to court to prove he isn't gay. Cruise has long been dogged by rumours that he is homosexual even though he has been married to two impossibly sexy women. Yesterday, Cruise filed a $100 million (œ66million) defamation lawsuit against a gay porn star, who allegedly claimed in tabloid reports that he had an affair with the actor. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Chad Slater (an "erotic wrestler" who also uses the name Kyle Bradford) "concocted and spread the completely false story that he had a continuing homosexual affair with Tom Cruise and that this affair was discovered by Mr Cruise's wife, leading to their divorce". According to the suit, Cruise "had no relationship of any kind with Kyle Bradford and does not even know him". Bradford allegedly told international magazine Actustar that he had an ongoing affair with Cruise, and that Nicole Kidman walked in on them during a "romantic encounter, " prompting the couple to split up. Bradford's story was translated and later repeated in the Spanish-language magazine Tvynovelas. "It is absolutely 100 per cent false, " Cruise's attorney, Bert Fields, said. "[Cruise] is a great respecter of homosexual rights, but he's not gay, and he's ready to prove this in court. Tom is tired of it and it hurts his children. It's something that will be there forever. And damn it, he's going to stop it." Bradford, whose film credits include The Cockpit Club and Forced To Submit, is apparently known in America "for his porn movies where he likes to climb into a ring and have encounters with his partners, " according the Actustar article. The skin-flick thespian claimed to Actustar that he received a phone call while in Paris "from a Tom Finigham, who proposed to have a private encounter, specifically in a ring." Bradford claimed in the article that it was actually Cruise, and that they had an ongoing affair. Fields says Actustar has since published a retraction of the story. But Cruise is now prepared to target any other publications - domestic or foreign - that reprint the tale. "He's going to sue anybody who repeats this story, even as a rumor, " Fields said. He added that Cruise is willing to take the case as far as necessary. "We're very anxious to hear what this porn actor says under oath about this garbage story he's handing out."

Almost Famous starlet Kate Hudson has discovered the downside to movie stardom - other actors. The actress loves her career, but admitted to German magazine Amica that she does not always get on with her co-stars - because actors "create lots of fuss which is all put on". Hudson also says it is more important for her to be "true to myself" and not to be "dumbed down" - and she intends to make her own way rather than follow the crowd.

Hollywood actress Jennifer Love Hewitt refuses to do saucy nude scenes - even though she has one of Hollywood's most-talked about bodies. The Devil And Daniel Webster star is amused by critics' fascination with her 'silicone free' chest - but believes covering up is more tantalising. She says, "I think the imagination can do much sexier things. It's much sexier to allude to what's under the tight T-shirt than to show it, don't you think?" But the petite star has not ruled out nudity - she adds, "I don't like the word 'never', but I don't see it in my future. I can't get up on screen and do something I really don't believe in because it shows. I wouldn't be comfortable with it."

Catherine Zeta-Jones has allegedly had a costly operation to tighten the skin around her eyes. Zeta-Jones, 31, was supposedly driven to the clinic of eye specialist Dr Frank Kamer by her husband Michael Douglas at 7:30am on April 10th. Catherine will have recovered from the operation - which involves making incisions in the upper and lower eyelid to remove fat - by the end of May. A source says, "People were amazed she thought any work needed doing on her face because she is so beautiful. Other patients don't tend to have that sort of operation done until they are in their forties and fifties." Jones's publicist has denied the story.

Former stripper Anna Nicole Smith has turned down an offer of $1 million to pose nude for a new British magazine. Smith's agent, David Granoff, revealed that Smith was offered her choice of photographers as well as the enormous fee. He says, "I just relayed this publisher's letter to Anna. Julia Morrow, editorial director of an outfit in London called Title Publishing, wrote to me to the effect that they wanted Anna for the first issue of a new men's title they're about to launch there. "Although the photographs would be glamorous, we would require that Anna Nicole be nude, and for that reason suggest a fee of $1,000,000." Morrow asked Granoff to pick any photographer and promises that the layout will be beautifully executed and will bring out the "natural beauty" of Nicole. Granoff said that his client's response was: "No. Tell them WE don't do that anymore, " she said.

WWF muscleman The Rock is reassuring fans he has no intentions of ditching the wrestling ring for a career in the movies - despite enjoying film success. The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, stars in the new flick The Mummy Returns alongside Brendan Fraser, but is adamant he'll remain with the sport that made him famous. He says, "It's a question of growth. The WWF and The Rock fans are very passionate and loyal. They're behind me, and I appreciate that. "The bottom line is, whether they see The Rock in the ring or on the screen, as always, my sole purpose is entertainment, and that's what they'll get." The Rock is currently in the middle of shooting The Scorpion King with Michael Clarke Duncan and Kelly Hu.

Charlie Sheen first realised his hellraising lifestyle was out of control when he was told to clean up his act - by notoriously wild Guns 'N Roses rocker Slash. Sheen, who has always been open about his years of excess drugs, drink and promiscuous sex, admits in an interview in the current issue of Playboy the advice he got from his rocker pal came as something of a surprise. He says, "One of my fondest memories is when Slash from Guns 'N Roses sat me down at his house and said, 'You've got to clean up your act.' You know you've gone too far when Slash is saying, 'Look, you've got to get into rehab, you have to shut it down. You're going to die.' He's a terrific guy and I love him - he's a buddy of mine - but I had to step back from that situation and go, 'Yeah, but you're Slash. Whaddya mean?'" But Sheen, who says he was on drugs at the time, recalls the conversation managed to serve as a wake-up call to change his destructive lifestyle. He recalls, "We'd been up for about four days. But I still heard him because a part of me was saying, 'This isn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be. Something's missing.'" Sheen, who finally got sober after he came close to death in May 1998 after injecting two full syringes of cocaine, says, at one point, he was so convinced the drugs were going to kill him, he start to increase his intake just to get it over with. He says, "I thought, All right, if I can't stop, I'm going to take this thing as far as I can. Let's get on a horse and drive this f***ing circus completely out of town."

Hollywood actor Ray Liotta is worried that his bad boy image is frightening people away. And the Goodfellas star is stunned that the public believe he is like his film characters. He says, "When I was in New York recently, I was shocked at how many people were coming up with fear on their faces - maybe it was because Hannibal had just been released. But I'm not intimidating as a person. I'm nothing like anything I play. I'm not a violent person, I've never been arrested. I don't beat people up. I'm not an alcoholic or a drug addict."

The Mummy Returns actress Rachel Weisz is being tipped to star as Mae West in a new stage comedy. The British beauty is in line to star in Dirty Blonde, the tale of screen legend West - known as much for her wit as for her looks. The comedy is due to transfer to London's West End from New York's Broadway later this year or early next year. And Weisz can't wait for the chance - because, as she proves in the sequel to her hit flick The Mummy, she likes variety in her work. She says, "It's important to me not to be seen as just a pretty young thing. I was this feisty librarian in the original, but for the sequel I have to get very physical and get myself into fighting shape for Egyptian hand-to-hand combat. I spent five months learning Japanese martial arts. It was a real challenge but I am proud of the result."

Sean Penn's new movie plans are facing a problem before they've even started - the author's daughter doesn't trust him. The Sweet And Lowdown actor wants to direct and star in a movie version of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, a black comedy set in the 1920s. Penn has been trying to talk his daughter Jill Faulkner-Summers into releasing the screen rights. Faulkner himself had a less-than-happy association with Hollywood, where he worked as a screenwriter on classic titles such as The Big Sleep. A friend of Penn's says, "Faulkner's daughter is still suspicious of Hollywood people. Her father was scared that the money he took from the studios would rot his soul and his work. She feels she owes it to him to make sure his work isn't damaged in any way."