Michael Jackson's accuser in the singer's child molestation case took the witness stand yesterday, facing the star in court for the first time. The boy, 15, followed his 14-year-old brother, who testified he saw Jackson grope his sibling in early 2003. The teen accuser, who was a cancer patient when he met Jackson, talked about attending a Los Angeles comedy camp hosted by Jamie Masada, the comedy club owner who would eventually bring him and Jackson together. The boy said his favorite comedian was Tonight Show host Jay Leno and that he often asked Masada if Leno would attend the camp, but Leno never did. The defense contends Leno is one of several comedians the boy's family tried to bilk out of money. Jackson's accuser also testified about his father hitting him, his sister and mother, and talked about what it was like to have cancer. He said, "I felt like there was a knife in my stomach," adding that he would hold a pillow to his stomach as he slept to quell the pain.

The actress who was famously smashed in the face by a volleyball in the Meet The Parents comedy died last month after two medics misdiagnosed her pneumonia. Nicole DeHuff, who played Teri Polo's sister in the hilarious 2000 movie, checked into three Los Angeles hospitals, but only when her problems became inoperable did doctors realize what was wrong with her. The actress' mother Patsie says, "By the time she reached the third hospital, it was too late. She was unconscious." The grieving mother reveals her daughter was rushed to hospital on February 12 but was sent home by medics and told to take painkiller Tylenol. Patsie DeHuff recalls, "The next day my daughter was worse." Again, the actress went to hospital, but this time medics prescribed antibiotics for bronchitis. Two days later, paramedics rushed to her home after she collapsed, gasping for breath. The tragic actress died on February 16.

Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason star Renee Zellweger has settled down with Irish singer Damien Rice. The couple have been secretly dating for a while, but their romance hit the public eye when Zellweger asked the shy singer to accompany her to the Oscars last month. Instead, Rice preferred to keep a low profile and stayed in Zellweger's Los Angeles mansion watching the event on TV as she took to the red carpet. And Rice, whose ballads feature in hit movie Closer, hasn't left the Texan beauty's side since. A source tells British newspaper the Daily Mirror, "He's been staying with her since February, but it's all very low key. They have been totally avoiding the whole LA party scene, keeping themselves to themselves." A friend adds, "It definitely looks serious." Zellweger split from her previous beau, White Stripes singer Jack White, last year.

Actress Julia Stiles is suing her former production partners for allegedly conspiring to rob her of a role in a film adaptation of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. The Mona Lisa Smile star had hoped the role of Esther Greenwood - the fictionalized Plath in the story - would land her her first Oscar nomination, and propel her to the ranks of other serious actresses. But she lost the part, and now claims her dreams of co-producing and starring in the project were dashed when her film partners sealed a secret deal and conspired with the film's director to "fire Ms. Stiles and hire another actress to play the lead role". Meanwhile, Stiles is preparing to graduate from New York's Columbia University, where she has been studying English literature, this May.

The Canadian woman who accused comedian Bill Cosby of drugging and molesting her, has filed a civil lawsuit against the comedian. The 31-year-old, who failed in her attempt to bring criminal charges against Cosby last month, filed a civil suit in Pennsylvania Tuesday. The woman, who lives in Ontario, Canada, initially reported the alleged incident in January to local police, claiming Cosby gave her some medication that made her feel dizzy and then fondled her at his home near Philadelphia in January, 2004. Cosby, 67, insists all the accusations are untrue.

The aspiring actress briefly blamed for ending Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's marriage is now in a relationship crisis of her own - she and her husband have split. April Florio, 22, hit the headlines earlier last month when her former agent Mike Esterman confirmed she was the woman spotted with a bearded Pitt lookalike in Greece last year. The scandal then grew as Florio was reported confessing she did enjoy a brief fling with Pitt while he was still with Aniston, but she later claimed her ex-agent spoke to the media without asking her first, and that she never admitted to spending more than five minutes with the movie star at a Hollywood party. And following her revelation that the scandal erupted just before her mother suffered a heart attack, the Maxim model has now split from 23-year-old Florida fireman Thomas Bieler. She says, "My attention was toward the whole Brad Pitt thing, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Tom's an insecure guy and needs a lot of attention." Bieler says he hopes to patch things up.

Producers of hit French film Les Choristes (The Chorus) are facing a possible legal battle after a young chorist's father claims she wasn't paid for singing on the soundtrack. Father Francis Hartmann claims his daughter Lucile, from the Lyon, France-based Saint-Marc Choir was "exploited" by the Galatee Films company. While Lucile's voice was included on the soundtrack, Francis claims she wasn't paid and did not appear in the movie. A lawyer for the studio said the parents of the children decided the choir should keep the $27,740 payment from Galatee "for its own activities". Francis fumes, "Seeing that the film generated more than $132 million in revenue, I do not see why our children, who've worked like animals, should not receive their proper share. There's been a shameless exploitation of the children. The film has destroyed the soul, the essence of the choir... It has become totally taken over by show business and money."

A bus driver for the Dave Matthews Band has pleaded guilty to dumping 800 pounds of human waste onto a sightseeing boat on Illinois' Chicago River. Earlier Thursday, Stefan Wohl was sentenced to 18 months probation and 150 hours of community service. He was also fined the maximum of $10,000, which will be paid to Friends Of The Chicago River, a conservation group. Wohl, 42, was charged with reckless conduct and discharging contaminates to cause water pollution. Authorities said that on August 8, when Wohl was alone in a bus used by band violinist Boyd Tinsley, he emptied the septic tank while driving across the open grating deck of the Kinzie Street bridge. The waste poured onto the open deck of the Chicago's Little Lady tour boat, which was passing below with more than 100 passengers. Prosecutors said Wohl had denied discharging waste on the bridge, but surveillance tapes from buildings in the area were used to zero in on the bus. The band's members, who cooperated with authorities during the investigation, since donated $50,000 to the Friends of the Chicago River and $50,000 to the Chicago Park District.

US chat show legend Johnny Carson's beloved sidekick Ed McMahon was released from hospital Monday where he had been treated for mild concussion and fall injuries. The TV personality spent his 82nd birthday in a Beverly Hills, California hospital over the weekend where he received several stitches for a head lesion after he fell over on Friday afternoon. He has planned a belated birthday barbecue to compensate for spending his big day in bed. He says, "I feel great and now I'm going to celebrate my 82nd birthday properly."

Jennifer Lopez's singer husband Marc Anthony has painted the superstar in the nude. Lopez is reportedly delighted with the oil painting which, according to sources, "depicts Jennifer from her backside." A friend tells In Touch Weekly magazine, "J.Lo was so flattered by the beautiful portrait Marc painted of her that she hung it in her dressing room at home. It's very artistic and tasteful."