Britney Spears' dreams of becoming a mother have finally been realized - the pop superstar gave birth to a baby boy yesterday afternoon. According to American magazine Us Weekly, the 23-year-old singer welcomed her first offspring into the world shortly before 1pm on Wednesday at California's Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center. Spears and her dancer husband Kevin Federline, 27, arrived at the hospital with a police escort shortly before 6 am and medical staff whisked the star into a birthing suite, reports the publication. According to hospital sources, Spears, who reportedly started experiencing early labor contractions on Friday, was wheeled into a delivery room at about 12.15 pm and within minutes she had delivered via Caesarian section with Federline by her side. While the newlyweds - who will celebrate their first-year wedding anniversary on Sunday - have yet to announce the name of their offspring, sources say they had planned to call the child Preston Michael Spears Federline. The child is Federline's third - he's also the father of daughter Kori, three, and son Kaleb, one, with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson. In a recent interview with Elle magazine, Spears made very specific predictions about the arrival of her child, saying, "I have a feeling I'm going to have an operation. I don't know why. But I hope so. I don't want to go through the pain... I don't know the sex. I want to be surprised. But I have a feeling that it's going to be a boy. I've always wanted a boy and then two girls."

Hollywood hardman Russell Crowe has instructed his lawyers to seek a reduction of the assault charge he faces for allegedly throwing a phone at a New York City hotel employee. The Oscar-winning Gladiator actor was arrested and charged with felony assault when Nestor Estrada accused Crowe of assaulting him with the faulty handset during a heated argument in June. If convicted, the 41-year-old could face up to seven years in prison and lose his right to work in the US, so he desperately hopes the charge will be reduced to a less serious misdemeanor offence. Any conviction would cause Crowe immigration problems, but he is looking to soften the impact as much as possible. He says, "Every time I apply for a visa, it's like you need to bring a suitcase (containing the necessary documents) into the embassy. So to add this charge, even as a misdemeanor level ... basically stops me getting certain types of visa." If he is convicted on all charges, Crowe intends to remain in his native Australia where he lives with his wife Danielle and baby son Charlie. He says, "If I'm an international menace like the (prosecuting) attorney is suggesting, then fine. I'll just stay here." Crowe will appear in court in November.

Movie moguls Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein are forging ahead with plans to release a Louisiana-based horror film in America this week, as the devastated region continues to recover following Hurricane Katrina. Despite the unfortunate timing, the Weinsteins are obliged to release Venom before their split from production company Disney on September 30. But the movie, which features killings and chaos in the state, is only to be released in 800 US cinemas, a relatively low-key number, and the producers argue that the plot has nothing to do with the recent tragic events. A spokeswoman for Dimension Films, a division of Miramax, says, "Venom is a fictional horror film. The film's plot is completely unrelated to the disaster in New Orleans." Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations says, "It's sort of in the eye of the beholder in terms of how closely someone might associate this movie with the real-life events in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They'll put it out there, people will be able to decide whether it's something they want to see, it'll have its run and that'll be that."

Actress Portia De Rossi decided to go public with her sexuality after Ally McBeal castmate Greg Germann outed her in a New York bar. The Australian blonde was still struggling to come to terms with the fact she was a lesbian when perceptive Germann, who played her boss on the legal series, guessed that she was hiding her sexuality. She recalls, "I'd been on the show for about two months before we had to go to New York to do press, and Greg Germann and I were talking in the bar one night and he said, 'There's something about you I can't quite put my finger on... Are you gay?' Of course, I stammered and stuttered, and looked at the ground and went, 'Uh... uh... uh... maybe, I don't know. I think so. I'm not sure.' He looked at me and said, 'Have you struggled with it...?' That was so profound." A couple of years after her heart to heart with Germann, De Rossi went public with her romance with Ringo Starr's stepdaughter Francesca Gregorini after the couple were caught by the paparazzi in 2001. She recalls, "Every single family member, every person I worked with, everybody knew all at once. There was no turning back, and it was a relief."

Catwalk queen Heidi Klum has named her newborn son after her singer husband Seal and her father Guenther. The golden couple's first child together, who was born on Tuesday, boasts the impressive full name of Henry Guenther Ademola Dashtu Samuel, taking the middle name from his father's long moniker - Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Samuel. And the German beauty is thrilled the new arrival has already been accepted by his big sister 16-month-old Leni, her daughter from a previous relationship with Formula One manager Flavio Briatore. Klum enthuses, "One of our greatest moments so far was when Leni kissed her little brother many times on the head."

Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt is set to give his fans much to marvel at in his upcoming movie The Assassination Of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - by filming a nude scene. The 41-year-old actor, who bared flesh in his 2004 movie Troy, is reportedly planning to show off even more skin in the anticipated film, which he's currently shooting in Canada. A source tells Us Weekly, "(In the script) a fully nude Pitt baths himself with a washcloth while standing in a tub. This is a pretty long nude scene for any actor."

Martial arts legend Bruce Lee is to be immortalized in the Bosnian city Mostar after officials decided to erect a statue of him as a symbolic protest against ethnic division. The Enter The Dragon icon was chosen to be the subject for the life-sized bronze statue because he is seen as a hero people of all backgrounds. Mostar was reduced to rubble during the fierce fighting which took place in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995 as Croats, Bosnians and Serbs struggled for control of the city. When the statue is finished next year it will take pride of place in a city center park.

Hollywood actor Paul Giamatti was unsurprised when he failed to win an Oscar nomination for Sideways last year, because he doesn't rate his performance. Giamatti, who played Miles in the critically-acclaimed movie and recently appeared in Cinderella Man, is a seasoned comedy actor, but insists his performance wasn't worthy of the prestigious award. He says, "Really, honestly... I don't think I deserved one. I wasn't good enough, and that was at bottom why I didn't expect to get one. I was like, 'Not a guy like me. No.'"

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow made sure she wasn't too far away from baby Apple at the New York premiere of new film Proof on Tuesday - she carried her baby monitor with her. The actress told reporters she was feeling anxious because the evening marked only the second time in little Apple's life that she wasn't there to tuck her into bed. But she was planning to stay close to her sleeping child: "I've got my baby monitor in my bag."

Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter is hitting the London's West End to join the cast of hit musical Chicago later this month. The 54-year-old beauty is swapping her spandex shorts and lasso-wielding ways for the role of suit-clad criminal matriarch Mama Morton in the sexy show. Carter can be seen in Chicago at the city's Adelphi Theatre for a six week run which starts September 26.