Britney Spears has found herself in the middle of a boozing controversy after being snapped downing what looks like a miniature bottle of whisky in the street. Spears and her fiance Kevin Federline were pictured leaving Joe's Liquor store in Malibu, California earlier this week - and photographers thought they'd caught the pop star drinking in public at noon when she tipped her head back to glug from a tiny green bottle. And after The New York Post and British tabloid newspapers ran the picture, suggesting Spears has a problem, even Joe's manager Jay came to the singer's defense. He says, "She didn't buy any alcohol." The bottle was in fact a ginseng herbal supplement. The photographer who snapped Britney in Malibu has apologized for any inconvenience.

Ocean's Twelve producer Jerry Weintraub has slammed media reports the Sicilian mafia attempted to extort members of the cast and crew on the upcoming movie sequel. On Wednesday a Trapani police spokesman said 19 people, including mob bosses Antonella Di Graziano and Rosa Fiordilillo had been arrested, after they were found hanging around the set of the Steven Soderbergh film in the hope of possibly extorting the production. Weintraub says, "We were never approached by any mafia for extortion money. It's ridiculous. It's total fabrication. They said I was worried about my stars. That was nonsense. No one ever threatened any of us. If anybody was going to get extorted it was me. All of Italy was great. We had nothing but a wonderful time. I hate for them to get a bum rap like this." Police official Giuseppe Linares said the Ocean's Twelve production team had been unaware of the investigation and that authorities had been monitoring the gangsters' behavior for two years. The follow-up to the 2001 hit Ocean's Eleven stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Troubled actor Robert Blake has won a two-month postponement on the start of his murder trial. The trial had been set to open on September 9, but a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge agreed to a defense request for more time to prepare for the case, ruling that jury selection should begin by November 1, says a spokeswoman for prosecutors. Former Baretta star Blake attended the Friday hearing and is due back in the courtroom on August 20 for a pretrial examination of a prosecution witness. The 70-year-old actor has pleaded innocent to charges of murdering his wife Bonny Lee Bakley and soliciting two other men to kill her. Bakley, 44, was shot to death on May 4, 2001, as she sat in Blake's car in an alley behind the Los Angeles-area restaurant where they had just dined. Blake, who is free on $1.5 million bail, is also a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bakley's four children.

Teen actress Lindsay Lohan's recent career success has given her an even greater reason to celebrate - she is now paid $7.5 million per movie. After topping the box office with such projects as Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, the 18-year-old redhead, currently dating Mandy Moore's ex Wilmer Valderrama, is now able to command an impressive salary. She says of the new deal, "We're working on it right now. It's kind of amazing. It's really weird. When my agents called me they were like, 'We have some great news for you.' I was like, 'Oh, what?' They're like, 'You're gonna get $7.5 million for your next movie!' and I was like, 'What? I don't need that - I really don't!'" The salary is the latest good news for Lohan. She recently landed a record deal with Mariah Carey's ex-husband Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records label and a modeling contract with fashion house Dooney & Bourke.

Singing superstar Jennifer Lopez is furious with American magazine In Style - after they claimed she had spoken to them about her recent wedding. The beauty is the cover girl for August's edition and the publication's editorial staff claim they have an exclusive story about J.Lo's shock marriage to Latin hunk Marc Anthony. However, Lopez - who has never discussed the romantic June ceremony in public - has fired back saying she never talked to In Style about her private life at all. And a source at the magazine says there is tension at the publication because the Lopez story seemed incomplete without mention of her third trip down the aisle. A source says, "In Style was freaking out because they interviewed Jennifer before anyone knew there was going to be a wedding. So they had an August cover story with nothing about the marriage, which is all anyone wants to know about." Although In Style claim they put a follow-up call in after speaking to Lopez prior to the news, her representative Leslie Sloan Zelnick says this is "not true". The source concludes, "Someone's head is going to roll over this, and it'll probably be at In Style."

The remake of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was thrown into chaos on Wednesday when a worker dropped a $540,000 camera lens in a vat of chocolate. The clumsy technician had failed to properly secure his wire-held camera, and watched aghast as it plunged into the three foot deep tank. According to insiders, the delay the incident caused could cost director Tim Burton's project up to $900,000. One source on the English set says, "When the camera fell it was like a slap-stick scene straight from the movie. A team of riggers had come in specially from the States to set it up over the vat of synthetic chocolate. But someone made a mistake and it wasn't secured properly. The production team didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The camera is probably beyond repair." A film spokesperson adds, "Technical tests were being carried out to see how close the camera could be moved to the chocolate. A camera did go into the liquid owing to a mechanical fault." Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is an adaptation of the best-selling Roald Dahl novel of the same name, which was first filmed in 1971 under the name Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

Rockers U2 are anxious their missing new album will turn up on the internet where the songs could be downloaded illegally, months before its release later this year. The Irish band called in police after a rough-cut of their new CD - containing songs from their forthcoming album - disappeared during a photo shoot in Nice, France. Guitarist The Edge said: "A large slice of two years' work lifted. It doesn't seem credible but that's what's just happened to us and it was my CD." The LP - provisionally titled Vertigo - will be the first new studio album from U2 since All That You Can't Leave Behind and has taken six months to complete. U2's management and record companies have expressed their concern at the possible theft.

Miss Congeniality star Sandra Bullock and her beau Jesse James have sparked speculation they're planning to wed, after they were spotted shopping for diamond rings. Eyewitnesses say the love birds were seen at the Neil Lane store in Los Angeles on June 26, lingering over "a very large cushion cut" diamond engagement ring. Both stars' representatives insist the two were at the diamond store shopping for "gifts". But pals tell America's Star magazine that as soon as James' divorce to porn star Janine Lindemulder is finalized the pair will wed. The marriage would mark the third trip down the aisle for TV tough guy James, while it would be the first for Bullock, who in the past has been romantically linked to Tate Donovan, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling.

Movie actress Minnie Driver's brand of "atmospheric pop" music has landed her a $1.8 million record contract with heavyweight label EMI. The Good Will Hunting star, who started singing at the age of 15, will release debut single "Everything I've Got In My Pocket" in September. An album will follow in October. An insider says, "Minnie is so happy with the album - it's like atmospheric pop with a hint of folk. She is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and even covers one of his songs. Singing has always been her first love and she is at a stage in her life where she feels she can have a serious stab at launching a pop career. A lot of people will mock her, but it's probably best to wait until you've heard how good it is before you knock it."

Ali star Jamie Foxx is planning to buy his neighbors gift baskets - to apologize for his friends playing a game of nude basketball. The comedian, notorious for his love of throwing parties at his California mansion, left his neighbors far from being impressed when they caught a glimpse of his pals shooting hoops naked. He says, "To all my neighbors, I just want to say that I'm sorry and I'm sending gift baskets to you for all the wrong I've done. We used to play nude basketball in the back - for clinical reasons, to release the soul. Part of my fence was down and I didn't know that the lady and her family was there. I wasn't there at the time...but what got me was how long they looked for. I've been watching you guys for hours back there. I want it to stop!'"