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Actor Mickey Rooney tells Congress of abuse
MARCH 4TH - MARCH 11TH, 2011
Veteran actor Mickey Rooney on Wednesday urged elderly victims of abuse to speak up to anyone who will listen and described to a Senate panel his own suffering at the hands of a family member. "If elder abuse happened to me, Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anyone," the 90-year-old actor said in testimony to the Senate Special Committee on Aging. In court documents, Rooney accused his stepson Christopher Aber of intimidating and bullying him and blocking access to his mail. The documents also alleged Aber deprived Rooney of medications and food. "My money was taken and misused. When I asked for information, I was told that I couldn't have any of my own information," Rooney told the committee. "I was literally left powerless."
ENTERTAINMENT
TURKS AND CAICOS SUN
Mickey Rooney testified on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2 about elder abuse.
Rooney rose to fame as a child star in the 1930s and 1940s when he made more than a dozen Andy Hardy movies. He appeared frequently
alongside Judy Garland and, in his heyday, was one of Hollywood's biggest stars, receiving a junior Oscar in 1938. Rooney continued to work in movies and television into his late 80s, appearing in the 2006 film comedy "Night at the Museum," among other works. Rooney told the Senate committee he suffered in silence for years because "I couldn't muster the courage to seek the help I knew I needed." He urged elderly victims to speak out whenever they could. "Please, for yourself, end the cycle of abuse and do not allow yourself to be silenced any longer," he said. Rooney eventually won a court order handing control of his affairs over to a Los Angeles attorney and obtained a restraining order against
his stepson, who was ordered by the court to stay at least 100 yards from Rooney and his home. In testimony to the Senate panel, Rooney suggested Congress enact legislation strengthening the law enforcement response to allegations of elder abuse. A study by the Government Accountability Office released at the hearing estimated 14 percent of elderly Americans experienced some form of abuse in 2009. The abuse can range from financial exploitation to physical harm and neglect. The actual level of elder abuse may be far worse than estimated because many seniors become socially isolated or feel shame about their situation, Dr. Mark Lachs, who heads an elder abuse center in New York, said in testimony to the committee.
Bieber's hair clippings sell for more than $40K
"PURPLE RAIN" ARTIST PRINCE PROCEEDS FROM EBAY SALE WILL SUED BY FORMER GO TO NEGLECTED ANIMALS THAT LAWYERS HELP DISADVANTAGED KIDS
NEW YORK — Justin Bieber's hair is officially the stuff of legend: His hair clippings have sold for more than $40,000 on eBay. After the 17-year-old pop sensation chopped off some of his famous locks, he brought the clippings to the "Ellen"
show. Host Ellen DeGeneres put them on eBay. When the bidding ended, the clippings went for $40,668. The proceeds are being donated to The Gentle Barn, which rescues neglected and abused animals and uses them to help disadvantaged kids. Bieber's magic touch continues. He's got two albums in the top five on the U.S. album chart this week, and his movie, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (3-D)," has grossed almost $70 million at the box office since its release last month.
Judge bars Charlie Sheen from kids, ex-wife Musician Prince
Musician Prince is being sued by his former lawyers who say he owes them more than $700,000, according to court documents. The firm, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, said in documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday that Prince -- whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson -- paid only $125,000 for their legal services during Prince's divorce and three other court cases in California, New York and Ireland. "The Nelson Parties have failed to pay an additional $708,687.04 due to PBWT," court documents said. "PBWT has repeatedly but unsuccessfully requested payment from the Nelson Parties." Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler and Prince's Minnesota-based Paisley Park Studios were unavailable for comment. In 2006, Prince was sued by basketball player Carlos Boozer after Prince added, among other things, purple-colored stripes to the exterior of a home the musician was renting from Boozer for $70,000 a month
The firestorm around Charlie Sheen escalated on Wednesday when a judge ordered his two sons removed from the actor's home after his exwife obtained a stay-away order against Sheen, claiming he had threatened her. The "Two and a Half Men" star told reporters that he did not know where his nearly 2 year-old twin boys, Bob and Max, were taken late Tuesday night after ex-wife Brooke Mueller won a temporary restraining order against him. The embattled "Two and a Half Men" star appeared in control on morning chat show "Today" on Wednesday, a contrast to angry, public rants in recent days in which he accused the makers of his hit TV sitcom of wrongly suspending the show's production for the remainder of the current season. "I do not know where my children are, but I am not panicking. This is not about emotions, it is not about ego, it is just about getting very focused," Sheen said on "Today." The CBS television network and the show's producer Warner Bros Television stopped making "Two and a Half Men" last week when Sheen launched several public, expletivefilled rants against the show's creator, Chuck Lorre. His tirades followed more than a year of reports about his wild, partyfilled lifestyle, stints in rehab,
Actor Charlie Sheen talks to ABC News' Andrea Canning in Los Angeles, February 26, 2011.
hospitalizations and legal troubles. Late Tuesday, a California judge issued a stay-away order barring Sheen from coming closer than 100 yards to Mueller and their sons. In the order, a copy of which was posted on celebrity website TMZ.com, Mueller claims earlier this week Sheen told her "I will cut your head off, put it in a box and send it to your mom." Mueller also claims that last week Sheen threatened to stab her with a pen knife, spat on her feet and punched her arm, according to court documents. Sheen told "Today" that when his children were removed from his home, "I stayed very calm and focused. "I didn't push it because I am not
into resisting the law and had to surrender to it," he said. "If anyone thought my focus was directed in a radical capacity, that's going to seem like child's play." Mueller and Sheen have been separated since December 2009, when the actor was arrested in Aspen, Colorado, on charges of assaulting her during a Christmas Day argument. He pleaded guilty in August 2010 to assault and was ordered to serve 30 days in drug and alcohol rehab in California. Under terms of their divorce settlement, made public in February, Mueller will gain primary physical custody of the twins and Sheen will pay child support of $55,000 a month.