Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have announced plans to remain business partners, following their shock split earlier this month. The future of the former couple's production company Plan B Entertainment was thrown into doubt when company co-founder Brad Grey announced just days before their split he would become head of Paramount Pictures. But publicists for the stars tell USA Today that their company has more than a dozen movies in the works which they plan to press ahead with - including this summer's anticipated Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp. Several of the projects are high profile - such as the crime thriller The Departed, which is scheduled to start shooting in the spring directed by Martin Scorsese and with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon starring. At one point, it was speculated that Pitt and Aniston would co-star in at least two Plan B projects - the romantic fantasy The Time Traveler's Wife and A Mighty Heart, about slain journalist Daniel Pearl and wife Mariane - but they're no longer expected to take on the roles.

Paris Hilton's plans to promote the third season of her reality show The Simple Life were put on hold last night, as chat show bosses paid tribute to TV legend Johnny Carson. The hotel heiress and British actor Ian McShane were scheduled to appear on Jay Leno's Tonight Show last night, but following the Sunday death of Carson, producers of the show recruited Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles and Drew Carey to honor the beloved star. In between clips of Carson's 30-year run as host of the Tonight Show - which he handed over to Leno in 1992 - the late star's old pals remembered the Iowa native. KD Lang, who became a personal favorite of Carson's after appearing on his show in 1987, performed "Simple" at the end of the hour-long tribute. Also last night, Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson abandoned his usual monologue to pay tribute to Carson, whom he became a fan of during his first visit to America in 1976.

Six Degrees of Separation actress Stockard Channing has been arrested for drunk driving. The Emmy Award-winning The West Wing star was stopped by California police driving on the hard shoulder of Los Angeles' Hollywood Freeway on December 14. A breathe test confirmed she was under the influence of alcohol. Channing, 60, is due to be arraigned on February 9 in California Superior Court for "unlawfully driving a vehicle while being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug".

Robert De Niro has angered fans by making a rare TV commercial appearance in a controversial new American Express advert directed by pal Martin Scorsese. The movie legend is shot by the director walking around his beloved New York explaining why the Big Apple is so important to him in the grainy black and white ad. The emotive commercial also montage footage of policemen, fireman, old- timers and basketball players. But shots of Ground Zero and De Niro's comment "My heartbreak" in the 30-second commercial have upset many fans, who deem the images inappropriate for an American Express commercial. One angry New York fan on the Digital Spy Internet chat site has blasted the actor and Scorsese for their insensitivity. He fumes, "For a guy who's supposed to love the city, you'd think he'd show a bit more class... Using a tragedy to sell a product stinks." But De Niro's decision to shoot the commercial was an easy one - American Express largely funds his annual Tribeca Film Festival.

Christian Slater has hit out at reports he was attacked outside a London theatre at the weekend - insisting he was nowhere near when the incident happened. British newspapers claimed on Sunday Slater was set upon by a knife-wielding maniac outside the West End's Gielgud Theatre - where he is performing in a production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - and save d by a security guard who leaped to his rescue. But the actor's representative has blasted the story, telling Pagesix.Com Slater wasn't even in the building at the time.

Jon Voight has explained to his fellow actors why he won't be attending next month's Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in a full-page advertisement. Voight was given the nod in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries category for his role in TV show The Five People You Meet In Heaven - but was also informed he won't be getting an invite to the February 5 ceremony in Los Angeles, because he had previously resigned from the guild and is currently classified as a fee-paying non-member. Resigning from the union is often referred to as seeking "financial core" status, which gives union members an opportunity to resign from full membership but continue to pay the portion of dues which go to contract-related jobs. When members take such steps, they're no longer eligible to participate in a number of guild activities - including attending awards shows. In a letter which appeared in trade publication Variety, Voight says he initially considered financial core status to work on a pal's financially-strapped movie, and went ahead with his plans after SAG used "scare tactics" to shut down his friend's film. He writes, "The SAG board chose to bring me once again what they think is shame, and apparently to warn other actors off joining financial core, by announcing to the press that I was not invited to the ceremony to which my fellow actors nominated me for a union film. All this because of my willingness to uphold the right to our personal pursuit of freedom and liberty... My sorrow comes only for a union that can be a great force, that can accomplish much good, and protect, promote, and nourish the actor in his individual pursuits, but does not yet understand that there will be come that will be happy to follow the union in all its rules and regulations, but there many be some that will differ, and follow a destiny of their own choosing, and that is their right, and that is our country's Constitution. I congratulate all my fellow nominees, and wish everyone the best."

Nicole Kidman's dad has appeared on Australian TV begging the paparazzi and reporters who hound her to leave her alone. The actress' dad was appalled when security guards discovered a bugging device they believed was installed across the road from Kidman's Sydney, Australia, home to capture conversations between the movie star and her bodyguards. Angry Tony Kidman told reporters on Australian TV yesterday, "She's almost a prisoner in her own house as a result of the people that pursue her for pictures and so on. I would be very pleased if people would just let her get on with her life."

Santa Barbara authorities has denied leaking sensitive information relating to Michael Jackson's upcoming child molestation court case - and have launched an investigation to uncover the perpetrator. A source has been releasing confidential transcripts, documents and reports covered by Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville's gagging order - and media commentators have hinted that the Sheriff's office was responsible. A spokesperson for the Santa Barbara Sheriff's department says, "We consider the release of these materials to be a violation of the law. Some media commentators have alleged that we are responsible for these leaks. We are not. These accusations are irresponsible, unfounded and untrue." This response follows a recent ABC news report which quoted transcripts detailing the Bad singer's alleged crimes - the TV network refused to reveal how it came into possession of the 1,900 page document. Jackson's trial starts on January 31, he has pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent to his alleged victim.

Mariah Carey's comeback plans have been put back a month after Island Def Jam bosses decided they needed more time to promote her new album. The Emancipation Of Mimi was scheduled to hit shelves in March but the album, which features collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Jermaine Dupri among others, will now be released on April 12. Carey's chart comeback is already making waves in America - her new single "It's Like That" became her highest singles chart entry for five years when it debuted at 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week. Red Dragon and Rush Hour director Brett Ratner will shoot the video for the single next week.

Pop superstar Kylie Minogue been accused of having lip enhancement surgery after appearing at yesterday's Chanel fashion show with a swollen mouth. Leading London surgeon Alex Karidis is convinced the Spinning Around beauty has had injections in her lower lip, which have caused her exaggerated new pout. He explains, "Kylie is displaying the tell-tale signs of a recent procedure, which is when the mouth turns up slightly at the edges." A guest at the catwalk show in Paris adds, "Kylie has never had thin lips, but her pout seems to have got considerably bigger in recent weeks. Her bottom lip in particular looked out of proportion with the rest of her face. It seemed likely that she had undergone some sort of work on her mouth." Minogue's spokesman has refused to comment on the allegations.