The NBA fined Kobe Bryant $100,000 on Wednesday for using a derogatory gay term in frustration over a referee's call. NBA Commissioner David Stern delivered the  disciplinary ruling after Kobe

Just hours later...
Kobe Bryant is going to appeal the $100,000 fine issued by the basketball league for dropping a homophobic slur to a ref during Tuesday night's game.  In a press conference, Kobe said he knew what he said was wrong and realizes that kids look up to him... .. but he  never squarely apologized for calling the ref a "f**king f**got."

Season 7 American Idol winner, David Cook will return to the Fox stage on April 21st where he will premiere his new single "The Last Goodbye."

Actress , Catherine Zeta-Jones has checked herself into a mental health facility to treat her Bipolar  disorder. In a released statement,  the star relays that she's been under a lot of stress while her husband, Michael Douglas battled throat cancer and felt that now was the time to deal with her bipolar disorder.   Evidently, she won't be hospitalized for long...her rep says she starts two new movies this week...

Charlie Sheen did a radio interview Tuesday, where he hinted at a possible return to "Two and a Half Men."  Charlie says there are discussions, but he's been asked not to say anything about it yet.   "Had they told me toward the end of Season 8 that suddenly that (his behavior) wasn't going to be cool, I would have adjusted my behavior," he says. "They forgot to mention that." Sheen says that Warner Bros. TV, which produces his show has been withholding his syndication payments since he sued the studio after being fired.  However, TMZ is reporting that sources inside Warner Brothers say they are closing the book on Charlie Sheen and they will never welcome him back.  As for the show, CBS has until May 18th to decide.  That's the date they will be announcing which shows are coming or going....

Jennifer Lopez is on the cover of People Magazine's Most Beautiful people issue that will be on the store shelves this Friday. Lopez says she's speechless, but feels honored to be on the cover.  She has also been chosen as People's 2011 Most Beautiful Woman. In her interview for the magazine Lopez says her daughter Emme, is a real girly-girl and lays out her clothes and checks with her stylist every day.  Her son, Max, she admits, likes to wear toe nail polish, and adds, "but for him, it's just paint...blue paint".

For those of you who dream at night of kissing Robert Pattison, Reese Witherspoon has some sad news to report.  In an interview with "In Touch" about her love scenes with "Water For Elephants" co-star Robert Pattinson, she says Rob had a horrible cold and that he was literally snorting and snotting through every second of their love scene...green, infectious, disgusting snot.  "I'm going to say it's a little bit of a downer. I was a little disappointed. It wasn't sexy."

Outdoor advertising giant, Clear Channel, evidently wasn't paying attention when they put up a large poster for the AMC zombie series, "The Walking Dead" on the wall of a funeral parlor.  According to the Daily Mail, several residents of the Northern England town of Consett got a little upset. The company has since swapped the ad for something non-zombie-related and apologized.   

A pair of boxing gloves said to be worn by Sylvester Stallone in the original "Rocky" movie have just been pulled from a Hollywood auction because Stallone, himself, says that gloves are fake.  The gloves were supposed to hit the auction block next month.  Stallone's legal eagle wrote a letter stating that not only are the items fake, but if they weren't pulled the auction, the actor would be forced to sue the auction house.

William Shatner, 80, is planning to release a new album called, "Searching for Major Tom." The album consists of songs all having to deal with the theme of space.  Unlike his other album where he just spoke the songs, this time he's enlisted some big time help. Bootsy Collins lends a hand on Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science." Brad Paisley sings along on Steve Miller's "Space Cowboy," Peter Frampton sits in on "Spirit in the Sky," and even Toots of Toots and the Maytals is adding his vocals to The Police's "Walking on the Moon."

The full track listing:

"Space Trucking" (Deep Purple)
"She Blinded Me With Science" (Thomas Dolby)
"In a Little While" (U2)
"Empty Glass" (The Tea Party)
"Lost in the Stars" (Frank Sinatra)
"Twilight Zone" (Golden Earring)
"Space Cowboy" (Steve Miller)
"Rocket Man" (Elton John)
"Space Oddity" (David Bowie)
"Spirit in the Sky" (Norman Greenbaum)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen)
"Silver Machine" (Hawkwind)
"Major Tom" (Peter Shilling)
"Learning to Fly" (Pink Floyd)
"Mr. Spaceman" (The Byrds)
"Iron Man" (Black Sabbath)
"Planet Earth" (Duran Duran)
"Walking on the Moon" (The Police)
"Mrs. Major Tom" (?)


Billboard released the names of the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards Wednesday at a press conference in Las Vegas.  The winners will be announced on an ABC broadcast on May 22nd.  Rihanna was the artist who really came out on top, scoring as a finalist in 18 award categories including Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top 100 Artist and Top R&B Artist among others. Her collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie" was nominated in six song categories.  Eminem, himself brought in 16 award nominations including Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Streaming Artist Top Digital Media Artist and Top Rap Artist.

Lady Gaga follows with 12 categories
Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber each earned a spot 11 categories

Some of the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards are:

ARTIST AWARDS:

Top Artist:
Justin Bieber
Eminem
Lady Gaga
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Top New Artist:
Justin Bieber
Taio Cruz
Ke$ha
Bruno Mars
Nicki Minaj

Top Male Artist:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Eminem
Bruno Mars
Usher

Top Female Artist:
Ke$ha
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Top Duo/Group:
The Black Eyed Peas
Bon Jovi
Lady Antebellum
Linkin Park
U2