Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has had charges against him for trespassing in a discount store dropped. The 21-year-old actor, who plays Indiana Jones' sidekick in the upcoming Harrison Ford adventure film, was charged with public misdemeanor last month after refusing to leave a Chicago, Illinois Walgreens store at 2am while appearing inebriated. But the case was dropped at a Chicago court on Wednesday, meaning the actor will not be prosecuted over the incident, reports Tmz.com. Shia's attorney said his client was delighted with the news, adding: "He is happy to put this behind him and get back to work."

An illness prevented Britney Spears from attending a court-ordered deposition in her ongoing custody trial on Wednesday morning. The Toxic singer was expected to give her deposition under oath at the Los Angeles offices of her ex-husband Kevin Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan at 10am. When Spears failed to show up, the lawyer was forced to start without her, taking testimony from the singer's former assistant Alli Sims and ex-manager Larry Rudolph, among others. Kaplan says, "I was told of a general (medical) condition, and Spears felt she couldn't attend." A new date for Spears' deposition has been chosen, but not made public. Sims and Rudolph were both served subpoenas by Kaplan earlier this year. The attorney hopes to determine whether Spears drinks alcohol or uses drugs in front of her young children.

Rocker and bluesman Ike Turner has died at his San Marcos, California home, aged 76. The "Proud Mary" hitmaker was born Izear Luster Turner Jr. in Clarksdale, Mississippi - the son of a trader who was beaten to death in a racial attack. He began his music career as a Mississippi-area DJ and pianist and later became a tough-talking, demanding band leader, finding early success with the Kings Of Rhythm, who scored a hit with Rocket 88 in 1951. The song turned Turner and his band into favorites in Memphis, Tennessee, where they recorded the track, and the Kings Of Rhythm spent four years backing blues greats like Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James and Buddy Guy, often recording with them at Sun Studios. The hard-working act went on to conquer other parts of America as Turner adopted a revue format for live performances and used the band to try out talented performers. One such talent was a teenage singer called Anna Mae Bullock, who became a regular part of Turner's revue in the mid-1950s. Bullock moved into Turner's house after falling pregnant by a bandmate. While living together, the pair embarked on a torrid affair and Bullock wed Turner, becoming Tina Turner, in 1958. Ike Turner enjoyed massive chart success in the 1960s and 1970s with his then-wife, scoring hits with tracks like "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits" - and touring with The Rolling Stones. With international success came problems and Turner developed a cocaine addiction, which, in turn, transformed him into a violent control freak, who would often pick on his wife and accuse her of trying to destroy his act. In her autobiography, she accused Ike of beating her and deliberately burning her with cigarettes and coffee. Unable to cope with the abuse any more, Tina walked out on her husband in the middle of a 1975 tour. The couple divorced the following year. Ike Turner became a famous cocaine addict during the late 1970s - the drug drained his finances, and brought him many legal woes. He was arrested numerous times for drug-related crimes. As his ex-wife's solo career took off, Ike struggled to stay clean and when he and Tina were jointly inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1991, he was unable to attend the ceremony because he was serving prison time. Ike was vilified as a wife beater in the media and demonized in Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got To Do With It. During the 1990s, Turner remarried and turned his back on drugs. His autobiography, Takin' Back My Name, was a hit in 1999 and he released a comeback record in 2001, Here And Now, which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. He lost that prize but won his second Grammy earlier this year.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has slammed an American magazine for claiming he's on the verge of leaving DreamWorks Studios. U.S. magazine Radar reported on its website on Tuesday that the filmmaker is unhappy with his film studio's parent company - Viacom-owned corporation Paramount Pictures - and has plans to depart from the firm he helped found 13 years ago, citing sources within media conglomerate Viacom Inc. But a spokesman for Spielberg, 60, insists the publication's claims are unfounded, explaining, "Radar's radar kind of bounced off an incorrect source." DreamWorks was purchased by Paramount in 2005 for $1.6 billion under the condition that Spielberg and partner David Geffen would stay on with Viacom until the end of 2008.

The Golden Globe Awards in January could be star-less if the Hollywood writers' strike is not resolved by then. On the eve of the nominations, which will be announced early on Thursday morning, many of the stars in consideration for a Globe have threatened to boycott the event if the strike is still on. And actress Katherine Heigl, who joined Grey's Anatomy cast mates on picket lines outside Paramount Studios in Hollywood on Wednesday, insists she won't attend the Globes if the strike isn't resolved. She says, "I'm not crossing the picket line, not unless I'm contractually obliged to do, which, for the Golden Globes, I'm not."

The real life subjects of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts' new movie Charlie Wilson's War won a last ditch battle for the script to be changed, after claiming it blamed them for the September 11 terrorist attacks. The movie focuses on the roles of former congressman Charlie Wilson and his ex-fiancee Joanne Herring in helping to arm Afghanistani troops during the country's conflict with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Herring, played by Roberts in the film, claims she was stunned when she first read Aaron Sorkin's script for the movie, because it implied weapons sold to Afghanistan were used by Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda. Changes were demanded and granted ahead of the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Monday. The 78-year-old tells the New York Daily News, "Can you ever predict a war? The shelf life of a stinger missile is five years. There's no weapon we got them that can be used today." Herring also opposed to the way her character was represented as foul-mouthed, religious and sex-obsessed: "I didn't like the cursing, the drinking and the blatant sex. They turned me into a kooky hypocritical tart."

Troubled TV star David Hasselhoff was taken to hospital suffering alcohol poisoning twice in three days, according to reports. The 55-year-old former Baywatch star, who has battled alcoholism for years, checked himself into Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Medical Center on December 3 and again on December 5, following drinking binges - his fourth hospitalization in two months. The National Enquirer claims he was diagnosed with severe alcohol poisoning on both occasions. The tabloid claims Hasselhoff's two daughters with ex-wife Pamela Bach were devastated by his "slip," and even more so when he refused to let them visit him in hospital. The actor has full custody of both girls. Just six months ago, a video his eldest daughter shot of him drunk in a Las Vegas hotel room was leaked on the Internet. Now they fear his addiction will kill him. A source tells the Enquirer, "David was a total mess. He'd urinated on himself. He was drooling and slurring so badly you couldn't understand a word he said. He goes into the hospital with alcohol poisoning, comes out and says he's cured, then does it again. Taylor and Hayley fear their nightmare will end with a call from cops saying: 'We've found your father dead.'"

Madonna's representatives are baffled by reports the singer ordered a yoga class to evacuate a room at a New York gym, so she 'could practice her moves alone'. The Evita star was told to stop talking by an instructor at the Reebok Sports Club session, prompting the unimpressed star to shout out, "I want you all to leave," according to New York gossip column PageSix. After the 25 students and teacher abandoned the studio, Madonna allegedly launched into a private routine - and didn't bother to stop when another class turned up for a session. A representative for the singer has laughed off the reports, insisting, "That sounds unlikely."

The Sopranos creator David Chase is in court in New Jersey today fighting plagiarism claims he stole plot ideas from a judge. The retired lawman, Robert Baer, alleges Chase owes him a cut of the fortune he made from the series, which ended earlier this year. The writer confirms the judge had a limited role in the show's development but they never discussed a deal. Baer claims he proposed the idea about basing Chase's show around the New Jersey Mafia in meetings with the writer/director in the mid-to-late 1990s. The lawsuit claims Chase made phone calls to Baer at his home to ask for his advice. Chase admits he sent Baer a draft of the first episode, but it took Baer 14 months to respond and he didn't make any suggestions.

Radio talk show host Howard Stern has slammed his New York neighbors Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck - insisting they are making his life a misery. The couple are renting an apartment in New York in the same building as Stern while Garner completes a Broadway run of Cyrano De Bergerac. But Stern is furious after finding members of the paparazzi swarming outside the luxury block on the Upper West Side, and can't wait for them to move out. He tells New York gossip column PageSix, "It's unbelievable. Now I know why co-ops block famous people from getting into buildings."