Soul diva Diana Ross, director Martin Scorsese and comedian Steve Martin were among the stars to receive Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday for their contributions to American culture. Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson and pianist Leon Fleisher were also among the celebrities to be presented with the honor - the highest accolade for an American performer or artist - by president George W. Bush at the White House this weekend. Ross, 63, was praised for spreading "romance and joy throughout the world" with her voice; Wilson was hailed for his "era-defining transformation of the sound of music", and Fleisher was celebrated for a career that is a "moving testament to the life-affirming power of art." Goodfellas filmmaker Scorsese was honored for being a "fearless artist" and a "visionary," while funnyman Martin was branded a "renaissance comic whose talents wipe out the boundaries between artistic disciplines." The presentations will be followed by a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Sunday evening.

Walk The Line star Reese Witherspoon is officially the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. The 31-year-old Oscar winner has beaten the likes of Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman to claim the number one spot in the Hollywood Reporter's annual female rich list - receiving a staggering $15-$20 million paycheck per picture. Tomb Raider star Jolie, 32, comes in second, though her salary for the current Beowulf picture was said to be a "mere" $8 million. Diaz, 35, is placed third, with a $15 million-per-movie salary demand, though her take-home earnings from the recent Shrek The Third are pegged at a very healthy $30 million. Last year's number two, Nicole Kidman, 40, fell to fourth place, with an asking price of $10 million to $15 million a film. Also in the $10 million to $15 million club are Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts, despite an absence from the screen since 2004. The full list is: 1. Reese Witherspoon - $15 million-$20 million; 2. Angelina Jolie - $15 million-$20 million; 3. Cameron Diaz - $15+ million; 4. Nicole Kidman - $10 million-$15 million; 5. Renee Zellweger - $10 million-$15 million; 6. Sandra Bullock - $10 million-$15 million; 7. Julia Roberts - $10 million-$15 million; 8. Drew Barrymore - $10 million-$12 million; 9. Jodie Foster - $10 million-$12 million; 10. Halle Berry - $10 million.

Legendary stuntman Evel Knievel has died just two days after settling an ongoing legal dispute with rapper Kanye West. He was 69. The motorcycling icon, who appeared as himself in the film Viva Knievel! and whose glittering white suit and risky bus and canyon jumping feats turned him into a household name around the world in the 1970s, has been in poor health for years following a liver transplant in 1999. He spent the last decade battling diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. Knievel's bike-jumping successes were overshadowed by his failures - he hit the headlines after failing to clear Snake River Canyon in Wyoming on a rocket-powered cycle in 1974, and broke 40 bones when he spectacularly crashed during a stunt at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The stuntman, real name Robert Craig Knievel, retired in 1980 but continued to make a good living protecting his image and endorsing a range of products. He also maintained an annual Evel Knievel Days festival in Montana, which attracted thousands of fans from around the world. He recently hit the headlines again after launching a lawsuit against rapper West, claiming the hitmaker had infringed upon his trademarked image by posing as a white-suited stuntman, called Evel Kanyevel in his 2005 music video "Touch The Sky." The late stuntman and the rapper settled their legal dispute out of court earlier this week.

Talk show host Jay Leno faces a backlash from laid-off members of his The Tonight Show staff - after failing to pay them a regular salary amid the ongoing writers' strikes. Unlike colleagues David Letterman and Conan O'Bbrien, Leno - who makes an estimated $27 million a year - has refused to offer staff of his late night show their normal paychecks after they were laid off on Friday, according to the New York Daily News. TV network NBC stopped paying all non-striking show members - just under 100 of them - who have not been able to work for almost a month since the action began. As a result, Late Night host Conan O'Brien was prompted to step up and pay staff out of his own pocket to avoid backlash. And David Letterman did the same - agreeing to pay his staff regular salaries until the end of the year. While a spokesman for Leno confirmed he had not offered to pay worker's salaries, he was keen to point out the comic has distributed "substantial" bonuses this week that amounted to just under $500,000 combined. The layoffs at The Tonight Show are the latest casualties in the ongoing battle between the Writers Guild of America and show producers. The strike immediately shut down the late-night comedy shows and has gradually shut down the production of network-produced prime-time series.

Lindsay Lohan and her snowboarder boyfriend Riley Giles have split, according to U.S. reports. The couple met and fell in love while they were both seeking treatment at Utah's Cirque Lodge rehab retreat this summer. Sources tell People magazine the pair decided to end the romance at the beginning of this week. A friend of the actress tells the publication, "(Lindsay) is concentrating on her life and her career." Recent reports suggest the Mean Girls star is keen to return to the recording studio to work on her third album over Christmas, and she's rumored to be making a guest appearance on TV hit Ugly Betty when the Hollywood writers strike is resolved.

Actress Ellen Barkin has branded her ex-husband Ron Perelman's lawsuit against her "a cynical abuse of the legal system". The Revlon cosmetics boss launched legal action against Barkin and her brother George on Wednesday, claiming they stole money from a production company he financed. But Michelle Benson, Barkin's spokeswoman, has issued a statement, calling Perelman's lawsuit "frivolous" and "without merit." Perelman alleges the Barkins formed Applehead II to compete with Applehead I - which he had formed with them - and then stole money from the original company to pay for their new one. He also claims she used his money to pay for a lawsuit she filed against him, and pay George Barkin a $250,000-a-year salary. He is seeking unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages and the return of misappropriated assets. Perelman and Barkin, 54, divorced in 2006.

Hairspray star Brittany Snow, Ashlee Simpson and Fergie are among the stars who have signed a new Seventeen magazine Body Peace Project Treaty aimed at changing the way young girls view their bodies. The trio want teenagers to stop obsessing about the shape of their bodies. Editor in Chief Ann Shoket launches the year-long project to help girls with unhealthy body image issues in the new issue of the U.S. teen magazine. She says, "So many girls feel awful about themselves." Snow, who recently revealed she suffered from anorexia and bulimia, is desperate to help young girls who are struggling with the same issues she struggled with as her acting career took off when she was 16. She tells U.S. news show Entertainment Tonight, "I got help when I was 17. It was a process and still is a process, but I am 21 years old now, and I have done a lot of hard work." Snow says, "It is a daily thing, but I am 100 percent better than where I was in just little things, like not hating myself in the morning and wearing jeans, and even if they are tight, being OK with myself." Seventeen magazine is hoping to get one million girls to sign the treaty, but Snow, who reveals she lost two pals to anorexia, just wants to reach one girl: "So many people are going through this. Celebrities included. There is a way to get help and feel better."

Broadway stars David Hyde Pierce and Vincent Pastore are thrilled to be back onstage after the 19-day stagehands strike ended on Wednesday. Major shows returned to New York on Thursday, after a deal was agreed - and the performers forced to spend nearly three weeks on picket lines, are ecstatic. Former Frasier star Hyde Pierce - appearing in stage musical Curtains - says, "I've been completely morose, depressed and withdrawn for 19 days. We could have Thanksgiving today because we're so grateful." Pastore, starring in Chicago, adds, "I was itching, man. I was like, 'What's gonna go on?' I've been waiting for this for a while... We've got sold out audience tonight. I'm just looking forward to my first cocktail tonight."

Singer/actress Mary-Kate Olsen has been spotted partying - just a week after undergoing emergency surgery for a kidney infection. The 21-year-old - who was hospitalized last week - surprised onlookers with her apparently speedy recovery, after she was seen dancing until 3am at New York City's Beatrice Inn on Wednesday. A club-goer tells New York gossip column PageSix, "She looked fine to me." The former child star has had a number of health scares. In 2004 she spent time in Utah's Cirque Lodge to treat an eating disorder.

Actress Laura Linney is heading back to Broadway to take on the historical villain played on the big screen by Glenn Close and Annette Bening. The Love Actually star will play scheming La Marquise de Merteuil, opposite Broadway newcomer Ben Daniels, in Roundabout Theatre Company's Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Linney was last on the Broadway stage in 2005, when she won a Tony nomination for her role in Sight Unseen. Previews of Les Liaisons Dangereuses will begin next spring.