A photographer who took topless pictures of Cameron Diaz before she hit fame has been convicted on all three counts leveled against him following a bitter court battle. John Rutter, 42, faces up to six years in prison after a jury convicted him of forgery, attempted grand theft and perjury this morning for a scheme to sell the images back to the actress 11 years later for millions of dollars. Rutter is due to be sentenced on September 15. Diaz was not present in Los Angeles Superior Court when the verdict Was read. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for more than two hours on Friday and announced they had verdicts less than two hours After returning today. During the trial, which began on July 13, Rutter told the jury that while a model release form giving him ownership of the photographs was forged, he didn't do it. But under cross-examination, Rutter acknowledged lying to Diaz and in a court declaration. He also admitted to asking Diaz to pay him $3.5 million in two days or he would sell the snapshots around the world to coincide with the 2003 release of her movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Rutter said he believed he had a right to do so and was simply giving the actress "right of first refusal". Diaz testified that Rutter warned her buyers of the snaps were "going to use this against you" by portraying her as a "bad angel" in a huge magazine spread and bus and billboard ad campaign. When he wouldn't identify the purported buyers, Diaz suspected blackmail and contacted the police.

Colin Farrell and his ex-lover Nicol Narain have secretly spoken about their sex tape which has become the subject of a scandalous lawsuit - because the Playboy Playmate wanted the actor to know she never leaked it. Sexy Narain is appalled by press reports connecting her to the leak, which she filmed with Farrell's permission when they were a couple, but she wanted to speak to the Irishman before firing back. Now she insists that, like Farrell, she has no idea how the 15-minute tape got into the wrong hands and she's joining forces with her ex to keep it from going public. She says, "I don't want it out there any more than Colin does. It was something that was made privately between me and him and it's just unfortunate that the situation is the way it is right now. We're both in the same boat... It's very unexpected. We both feel the same way - neither one of us want it out there." Farrell has slapped a restraining order on sex tape broker David Hans Schmidt, who plans to release the saucy film as a DVD.

The controversial Church of Scientology has slammed reports one its rituals was responsible for the sores on Katie Holmes' mouth in May. Only a week after Tom Cruise and Holmes confirmed they had been dating for "a couple of weeks" in late April, the former Dawson's Creek star was photographed with several cold sores and a red rash around her mouth. While most critics believed Holmes had acquired the sores from her public kissing sessions with Cruise, several gossip columnists claimed the 26-year-old actress developed the sores after enduring a Scientology process, known as purification. Holmes has been studying the religion since she began dating her now-fiance Cruise. The alleged client of the purification is given vitamin B3 (niacin), which helps to decrease cholesterol and boost circulation. However, a spokesman for the church says, "Whatever is on Katie's face has nothing to do with us. It's insulting that you would ask such a thing."

New movie Wedding Crashers is under fire for making a mockery of prestigious military award the Purple Heart - it quips that the award guarantees adoration from the opposite sex. The comedy features two party-loving lotharios, played by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, who pretend to be Purple Heart recipients in a bid to bed bridesmaids. Now movie website New Line Cinema has been attacked by military veterans and law enforcement officials for capitalizing on the joke - the site boasts a fake cut-out version of the honor, flanked by the words: "Carrying a Purple Heart in your jacket guarantees you attention, admiration and plenty of free booze." FBI agent Thomas Cottone Jr. fumes, "I challenge the producer of that movie to go to Walter Reed Hospital and walk through the ward and see if he still wants to print out a fake Purple Heart. Talk to some of these people who don't have legs anymore and see how funny they think that movie is."

Movie star and peace activist Jane Fonda is set to get political again in a bid to urge American President George W. Bush to pull US troops out of Iraq. The Monster-in-Law actress, who was dubbed Hanoi Jane for her vehement opposition to the Vietnam War, is planning to join forces with military families whose loved ones have served in Iraq for a US peace tour. The anti-war bus tour is expected to kick off next spring. Fonda recently blasted the Iraq war as "wrong", saying, "I think it's a mistake and I think that we should get out.."

Fargo star William H. Macy thought he was being tricked when prop managers on the set of new low-budget movie Edmond appeared to lose the key to his handcuffs during an embarrassing nude scene. The actor was left standing wearing nothing but a "sock" to cover his genitals during a prison scene in the new David Mamet film. He says, "They marched me down this long hallway... I'm buck naked. I'm manacled behind my back and my feet are manacled. I do the scene four times and the property guy comes up and says, 'OK, we got it.' He says to the actor, who is playing the cop, 'Gimme the key,' who says, 'I don't have the key.' There's no key. They've lost the key. I'm buck naked... I said, 'Oh, that's really funny, you've lost the key.' The prop guy said, 'No, it isn't funny, this is really serious.' (Eventually) they found the key. I tell ya, low-budget is not for sissies."

Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez's music company Sony BMG has agreed to pay $10 million to settle probe into the illegal practice of paying radio stations to air its stars' songs. The settlement was announced yesterday following a "pay for play" investigation spearheaded by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer which discovered the illegal practice was rife. The probe uncovered massive corruption and even reported cases of Sony BMG buying holidays for radio employees. Emails between top officials showed that bribes were accepted and commonplace. A 1960 US law makes it illegal for record companies to offer radio stations financial incentives. Mr. Spitzer says, "Air time is often determined by undisclosed payoffs. This agreement is a model for breaking the pervasive influence of bribes in the industry. Instead of airing music based on the quality, artistic competition, aesthetic judgments or other judgments, radio stations are airing music because they are paid to do so in a way that hasn't been disclosed to the public." Sony spokesman John McKay condemned the practice as "wrong and improper". The money will go to a New York state not-for-profit entities involved in music education and appreciation. Sony BMG owns over 20 record labels, including J Records, Jive, Arista, Epic and Rca Records.

Courtney Love has reignited her war of words with rocker David Grohl by branding him "one of the biggest jerks" she knows. Love, widow of Kurt Cobain, was locked in a long-running legal dispute with Grohl and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic over the timing of the famed grunge band's box set, With The Lights Out. They settled their legal issues in September 2002 and the CDs were released last year. Love, whose late husband was the frontman for Nirvana, says in the latest issue of Spin magazine, "Dave gets to walk away unscathed and be the happy guy in rock, when he's one of the biggest jerks. He's been taking money from my child (Frances Bean) for years." Grohl has to refused to comment on Love's remarks.

Jessica Simpson has fired back at Christian critics who have blasted her raunchy new video "These Boots Are Made For Walking" for being too sexy, insisting they should be more accepting. Members of Christian group The Resistance have publicly blasted pastors daughter Simpson for appearing like "a stripper" in the video wearing the skimpiest of bikinis and washing the Dukes Of Hazzard's famous General Lee car. But the singer-turned-actress has hit back, stating the narrow-minded comments are exactly the reason why she gave up a career as a Christian singer when she was making her big break. She says, "It didn't really surprise me because I grew up with a lot of that backlash. That's why I didn't end up going into the Christian music industry. I think that if they're really good Christians the judgment wouldn't be there."

Puerto Rican pop hunk Ricky Martin has vowed to make an effort to change the negative perception of Arabs in the Western world. As part of his trip to Jordan - his first ever visit to the Middle East - Martin met with a group of teenagers who expressed concern about being labelled "terrorists" by other cultures. The singer assured them at the conference yesterday, "I promise I will become a spokesperson, if you allow me to, a spokesperson on your behalf. I will defend you and try to get rid of any stereotypes. I have been a victim of stereotypes. I come from Latin America and to some countries, we are considered 'losers', drug traffickers, and that is not fair because that is generalizing. Those comments are made out of ignorance and we have to sometimes ignore the ignorant, but we also have to educate the ignorant. You have me here as a friend." Martin, who is a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador, also announced plans to do a concert tour of the Middle East and North Africa, tentatively scheduled for May.