A photographer who allegedly ruined a family day out for the actress Reese Witherspoon at a California theme park has been charged with offences including child endangerment and battery. Paparazzo Todd Wallace was arrested by police last month after he reportedly attacked staff at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim as they tried to keep him away from Witherspoon and stop him from taking pictures of her daughter Ava. Wallace, 44, was charged with child endangerment, interfering with a person's liberty and multiple counts of child battery on Friday. Police claim Wallace's over-zealous efforts to get pictures of Witherspoon and her party left some children in the group in tears, while one five-year-old was among those involved in the fracas. The photographer, who spent four years in jail in the mid-1990s on burglary charges, is due in court on Wednesday. The decision to charge Wallace is a major victory for Witherspoon, who, in August, failed in her attempt to bring charges against another photographer, who she claimed followed her home from a gym visit and trapped her outside the gated community, so he could take snapshots of her.

Pregnant actress Katie Holmes has fired her publicist Leslie Sloane-Zelnick after nine years together, and has hired her fiance Tom Cruise's sister as her new spokesperson. The Batman Begins star and Cruise announced her pregnancy last week, which comes only six months after the couple began dating. Since Holmes began her controversial relationship with Cruise, she has parted ways with her management company, agents and now Sloane-Zelnick. Holmes will now be represented by Cruise's sister and fellow Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, who became the actor's spokesperson last year after he left his longtime publicist Pat Kingsley. Sloane-Zelnick tells the New York Daily News, "We were with her for nine years. We wish her the best. She has chosen to work with her future sister-in-law. We wish her well, and congratulate her on her happy news."

Ex-Culture Club front man Boy George has denied cocaine found at his New York City apartment belonged to him. The flamboyant British singer-turned-DJ was arrested on Friday morning, after calling police to report his Little Italy property had been robbed. He was later charged with falsely reporting a burglary and drug possession, after cops allegedly found 3.5 grams of cocaine next to a computer. Former drug addict George - real name George O'Dowd - appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday after spending the night in a prison cell. His lawyer, Lou Freeman, says, "He does not know where it came from. He's had a lot of people in his house. A man who has something to hide does not call the police." George, who flew into his native London yesterday, is due to return to court in New York on December 19. If found guilty he faces up to 15 years imprisonment.

Actor Wesley Snipes has been cleared of fathering the child of a mystery woman after authorities dropped a claim against him. The Blade star stood accused of impregnating a woman in Chicago, Illinois, three years ago - but maintained the pair had never even met before the legal proceedings. The case was dropped by the New York City Law Department when another man took a paternity test establishing him as the child's biological father. It was also revealed the woman had a history of fabricating stories about celebrities. Snipes, who had refused to undergo a paternity investigation, said outside court, "The good Lord says 'Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor'. These are the tenets I live by." The movie star plans to sue the woman next month over the false claims. His lawyer Robert Bernhoft says, "What we have here is factual vindication, legal vindication is still to come."

Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson is turning his favorite video game Halo into a feature-length film. The Lord Of The Rings movie-maker grew addicted to Halo while shooting his latest film King Kong - so he jumped at the chance to snap up the movie rights and take it to the big screen. Jackson will produce the sci-fi film in his native New Zealand. A cast has yet to be announced and it's unknown if he will direct as well. Halo follows hot on the heels of a string of computer games which have been adapted for the big screen, including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Doom. The game has sold over five million copies around the world and charts the adventures of futuristic super-soldier Master Chief in his quest to save mankind from aliens. Bungie, the Microsoft-owned business which developed Halo, says, "We're delighted to have someone who's as committed to the Halo universe as Peter Jackson was to Tolkien's Middle-Earth".

Hollywood star Renee Zellweger was so angry with a newspaper's claims she is dating another man, just weeks after her split from husband Kenny Chesney, she stormed into its office to berate the guilty reporter. The New York Post linked Zellweger with former boyfriend, Irish singer Damien Rice, in a report in its PageSix column. The actress was so angry she called the columnist from the reception of the paper's Manhattan office and asked to see him. Zellweger then denied the claims she was planning a trip to visit Rice, telling the journalist, "(It was) hurtful. It wasn't true, it made me look slutty." Zellweger split from Chesney last month, just four months after their whirlwind marriage.

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has been hailed a heroine after helping to trap a repeat child sex offender by posting a photo of the man on her daily TV program. As part of a hard-hitting show about America's sex offenders, which aired last Tuesday, Winfrey urged viewers to call the authorities if they recognized the photo of William C. Davis. Winfrey offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the wanted sex offender's arrest. A Minnesota viewer, Jean Rosenthal, recognized the convicted child molester as 'Mark', the neighbor of a friend, and called police. Davis, 33, who faces felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys in 2004 and failing to register as a sex offender, was arrested by FBI officials on Thursday. Rosenthal admits she was shocked when she discovered the true identity of her friend's neighbor because she had been helping to look after him following a car accident this summer, which left Davis with a broken leg. She says, "I've been cooking for him and doing his laundry." Winfrey hopes to score similar victories by posting pictures of a number of wanted sex offenders on her website, Oprah.com, and offering rewards for their capture.

Star Wars movie mogul George Lucas is at the centre of a union dispute after filing an unfair labor practices complaint against stewards in charge of sound editors who work for him. Lucas and producers at his LucasFilm company in northern California claim union representatives stalled talks to negotiate a new contract by canceling meetings and failing to respond to requests for information. Lucas' right-hand man Howard Roffman says, "We have spent four very frustrating months and have been unable to get the union to the bargaining table to negotiate. We've got a business to run here." Roffman, LucasFilm's vice-president of business affairs, admits he's baffled that anyone has any union grievances with the movie mogul, because he's a great boss. He adds, "This is a guy who has taken care of his employees like very few employers on this planet."

Napoleon Dynamite star John Heder was forced to correct internet reports that suggested he had died in a car crash when relatives started calling him to make sure he was alive. Heder was stunned when he saw pictures on the web depicting his spirit leaving the scene of a car wreck, but never for one moment thought people would think the image was anything but a prank. He says, "It just spread and I got a call from my younger brother, saying, 'I was getting a little worried when you didn't answer your phone for a while and friends are telling me (you died) and I figured I'd know before they would... I'm your brother.'"

Former Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon has signed up to make a guest appearance in Hugh Laurie's hit medical drama House. The sexy redhead will play a patient who suffers a seizure and matches wits with Dr. House, played by Laurie. The episode is scheduled to air in America this December.