Tatum O’Neal is one lucky lady, at least legally. The actress comes from a long line of family members who have famously battled with addiction. The actress was busted for trying to buy crack and cocaine in early June. She subsequently claimed that she was still sober, but had almost relapsed. Oh and she thanked the cops for arresting her. And seemed to be in a fair amount of denial about the whole thing.

Instead of facing the original drug charges, O’Neal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, and will get off with a pretty lenient sentence.

Crime may not pay, but for Tatum O’Neal, it doesn’t exactly cost all that much, either. The former wild child actress has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct stemming from her June crack bust. Prosecutors in turn dropped more serious charges, including drug possession.

To atone for her misdoing, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Elisa Koenderman sentenced the youngest ever Oscar winner to spend two half-day sessions in a drug-treatment program and pay a $95 fee.

Should the 44-year-old Rescue Me star make good on both conditions of her sentence by Sept. 4, when she’s due back in court, the case against her will be dismissed. O’Neal turned down a nearly identical deal from prosecutors last month in which they offered her the chance to plead guilty to disorderly conduct and spend two days in a treatment. No word on what caused the change of heart.

[From E! News]

That’s one hell of an easy deal. $95 bucks and a total of one day in a treatment program? How is that even a consequence? Or if you don’t want to be retributive, then how is that even helpful? $95 isn’t a punishment, and a day in treatment isn’t helpful. Essentially the court is saying, “You can get away with breaking the law” and/or “We don’t care enough about you to try to get you some help.” The courts have failed from either angle you take in terms of how drug users should be treated.

Let’s hope Tatum cares enough about herself and her family to get herself into some serious and long lasting treatment.

Here’s Tatum O’Neal at the Season Three New York premiere Screening of ‘Rescue Me’ on May 24, 2006. Photographer: Doug Meszler. Images thanks to WENN.

Rageaholic Naomi Campbell got off with a pretty lenient sentence for her latest criminal-level temper tantrum. The Daily Mail has a super detailed rundown of exactly what happened when she freaked out on a flight and attacked the crew and police officers in April. She really sounds more like a rabid animal than a person. I cannot even begin to imagine what is wrong with her – but it sounds like more than just a crazy entitlement complex. She’s definitely certifiably batshit insane.

Naomi Campbell was sentenced to 200 hours community service and fined $4,500 on Friday after her guilty plea in court, where she admitted to assaulting two police officers in London’s Heathrow airport this April, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The supermodel, 38, admitted guilt to four of the six charges she was facing – two counts of assaulting a police officer; one of using threatening, abusive words or behavior to cabin crew; and one of using insulting, abusive, threatening behavior or disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to pursue the other two charges.

“Ms. Campbell was aggressive, hostile and violent to people who were simply trying to do their jobs,” C.P.S. director Nazir Afzal said in a statement. “Her behavior fell far short of what is acceptable.”

The magistrate told Campbell that her behavior aboard the British Airways plane was “reckless.”

[From People]

Several police reps criticized Campbell’s lenient sentence and said she should at least serve some jail time for assaulting two police officers. It seems to me that the court should also have considered her long history of assaulting innocent people during her fits of rage. What’s most odd to me is that these things always seem to happen over relatively minor problems: accusing her assistant of stealing a pair of jeans, a lost bag, etc. Clearly something is seriously, seriously wrong with the woman – and she’s a danger to others. At the very least, she should be ordered to undergo psychological counseling.

Here’s Naomi arriving at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court for her court appearance today. Doesn’t she look lovely? Images thanks to WENN.

A jailhouse snitch says he was offered £20,000 by Blake Fielder-Civil to beat up Pete Doherty – because Doherty was sleeping with Amy Winehouse. At least according to Civil. My first thought when reading this was “No freaking way, no one would ever touch Pete Doherty’s naked body.” But then I had to give pause, and realize that I can’t imagine the man that’d touch Amy Winehouse’s scabies-infected skin either. So really, they’re a match made in medical literature heaven – and I guess the odds are so vastly against it after all.

Amy Winehouse’s husband offered a fellow prisoner £20,000 to beat up Pete Doherty whom he accused of having an affair with his wife, the Old Bailey heard today… While in prison before trial he was said to have told Richard Lyttle that he had received threats that the 24-year-old millionaire singer would be abducted. The evidence emerged today during a trial of two men accused of taking part in a contract killing.

it was while he was in Pentonville that Mr Lyttle met Fielder-Civil, who he said had found out about his wife’s alleged affair “when he learned he [Doherty] had been around there in the early hours of the morning”. Questioned by defence barrister Sir Desmond de Silva QC, Mr Lyttle said Fielder-Civil had offered him £20,000 “to cause damage” to the 29-year-old Babyshambles front man.

“He said he would give £20,000 to anyone who done him - cause him injury - he was quite annoyed at the time.” Sir Desmond asked: “Because he believed there was an affair between Amy and Pet e Doherty?” Mr Lyttle replied: “Yeah.” Sir Desmond: “Did he say ‘smash him to pieces?’ “ Mr Lyttle: “That’s what he said.” Sir Desmond: “There are a lot of hard men in prison?” Mr Lyttle: “I would say so, yes.”

Sir Desmond: “But Mr Fielder-Civil seemed to have entrusted you with this business of carrying out this particular mission?” Mr Lyttle: “He seemed quite upset and annoyed.” He went on to say that he had felt sorry for Fielder-Civil who had treated him as a friend, but admitted that he later tried to obtain £5,000 from a newspaper about what he had been told.

[From the Daily Mail]

Richard Lyttle goes on to describe how several other men had threatened to kidnap Amy Winehouse, but didn’t say why they’d made the threat, or what Fielder-Civil did about it. Though the testimony of jailhouse snitches is always suspect, this man wasn’t testifying in Blake’s trial or in the trial of any of his associates. So I can’t imagine that they were offered any deal in exchange for their testimony regarding Fielder-Civil. Nonetheless, Richard Lyttle is on trial for taking part in a contract killing, so it’s not like he’s made up of the highest moral fiber.

Amy and Blake really do manage to bring a lot of drama into their lives. It seemed like it was more than enough with the alcoholic blackouts, the drug overdoses, and the wasted joint visits to rehab. But that all really pales in comparison to kidnapping, witness tampering, and sleeping with Pete Doherty. Which is far, far worse than offering a guy $40,000 to beat up Pete. I was wondering exactly what Doherty would look like if someone knocked him around a bit. And I’ve decided he’d look like… Pete Doherty.

Here’s Amy Winehouse greeting a fan at her house today, who broke down in tears after traveling all the way from Canada. Fans are forever showing up at Amy’s door, and it seems like she’s always remarkably kind and welcoming to them. Images thanks to WENN.

Details have finally been released in the criminal case of Amy Winehouse’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil. Blake has been on trial for assault and perverting the course of justice (akin to witness tampering here in the states). Last week he copped a plea, but it couldn’t be released until this week, due to some stipulations put on the media by the judge.

It’s now been learned that Blake Fielder-Civil and friend Michael Brown tried to bribe pub landlord James King with approximately $400,000 after they assaulted King. It appears they beat him up in June of 2006 due to something relating to a woman: Brown used to date one of King’s friends. Fielder-Civil and Brown attacked King around closing time at the bar, and kicked him repeatedly.

Using two middle men, they offered King £200,000 to withdraw the charges, refuse to testify, and leave the country so that he couldn’t be forced into court. One of the middle men and King brought the plan to the Daily Mirror, trying to sell their story (after they’d already extended the bribe, and King had accepted). The Daily Mirror – being remarkably scrupulous – reported what they’d learned to the police, which launched the investigation. King clearly isn’t that bright, since by going to the Daily Mirror, he alerted police to his illegal activities all on his own.

But the plot was exposed when King and Kelly contacted the Daily Mirror in an attempt to sell their story - and staff informed the police. Kelly claimed that Miss Winehouse, a Grammy Award winner, was effectively funding the bribe, the court heard.

…King, who is being tried for conspiring to pervert the course of justice, said he would ‘effectively throw the case and not turn up’, so that Fielder-Civil and Brown would not face prosecution, Snaresbrook Crown Court, in East London, heard.

When they met journalist Stephen Moyes, in October 2007, he asked if Amy Winehouse was involved in the plot. ‘He was told by Kelly, “Who do you think is paying for it? Of course she is”,’ Mr Larkin said.

But there was no evidence she was part of the conspiracy. King claimed that he was ‘hounded’ by people to stop the case from going to court and suggested money was coming from Amy Winehouse to ‘make this go away’, the jury was told.

[From the Daily Mail]

It’s hard to believe that Amy Winehouse wasn’t involved in this in some way. Where else would Blake Fielder-Civil possibly get money like that? I’m not saying it was Amy’s idea, but I doubt even she would hand over that amount of money without asking what is was for. Police did investigate her involvement, but for whatever reason decided not to charge her. But it sounds like it’s pretty clear that she had something to do with the witness tampering all along.

Here’s Amy Winehouse briefly leaving her London home to hand out ice pops to fans and photographers today. Images thanks to WENN.

Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend Raffaello Follieri seems like he may very well be a totally skeevy jerk. Rumors about his terrible money mismanagement have been circulating for years, and he was sued several years ago by L.A. billionaire Ron Burkle, who claimed Follieri mismanaged funds meant for his charitable foundation and instead used the money to finance his lavish lifestyle with Hathaway.

Follieri settled the lawsuit earlier this year, and was then arrested for writing a bad check – for $215,000. Now that he’s gotten that little issue taken care of, New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the children’s charity Follieri runs – for a plethora of financial misdeeds.

Cuomo’s investigators in recent weeks served subpoenas seeking financial documents from the Follieri Foundation, which is headed by Hathaway’s beau, 29-year-old Italian businessman Raffaello Follieri, the AG’s office confirmed yesterday. Cuomo’s office refused to reveal why it was eyeing the Manhattan-based charity, which says its programs include vaccinating Third World children.

Confirmation of the probe came after Cuomo’s office was asked whether it was aware that the foundation might have failed to file tax-disclosure forms required of nonprofit groups. A check of an online database that collects the “990″ IRS forms showed that the Follieri Foundation is required to file the form, yet has never done so.

Hathaway, who also starred in “The Princess Diaries,” served on the foundation’s board until at least last year, when she traveled to Central America with Follieri for a charity-funded vaccination program. “She was on the board, but is no longer,” Hathaway’s spokesman said. “I don’t remember exactly when she ceased to be a board member.” Asked whether Hathaway, 25, knew about the probe and its focus, he said, “Since she is no longer associated with the foundation, why would you expect her to be familiar with all of this?”

Follieri’s spokeswoman, Melanie Bonvicino, said, “Raffaello Follieri and his attorney, Cyrus Vance [Jr.], have been cooperating fully with the Attorney General’s Office to satisfy their routine inquiry. Furthermore, Mr. Follieri looks forward to concluding this matter in a timely and expeditious manner . . . so that he may continue to fulfill his ongoing philanthropic endeavors worldwide.”

[From the New York Post]

Given Follieri’s excessively long record of financial misdeeds, it seems perfectly likely that he’s done something illegal with his charitable foundation. He always manages to buy himself out of his troubles, which is odd because you’d think that if he had that money, he should have just done the right thing in the first place. Which makes it seem like he’s not simply bad at managing money and/or making some dumb financial choices or mistakes. It seems like he’s trying to swindle people. Follieri and Hathaway have been dating since 2004, and there are no signs that she’s wising up to this guy.

Here’s Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on March 13th. Images thanks to Splash.

Amy Winehouse’s useless husband Blake Fielder-Civil, plead guilty last week to assault and conspiring with the guy he assaulted. Fielder-Civil, 26, beat up Macbeth’s Pub owner James King – and then he tried to bribe King to withdraw his allegations and leave the country. While Fielder-Civil could have gotten about three years for the original assault, it’s the witness tampering – called perverting the course of justice in the U.K. – that’s the much bigger crime. That carries up to life in prison – though Fielder-Civil is unlikely to get such a harsh sentence.

Amy Winehouse’s husband has admitted assaulting a barman and then attempting to cover it up. Blake Fielder-Civil, 26, is standing trial in London on charges of attacking pub landlord James King, and then conspiring with him to withdraw as a witness at the trial. Fielder-Civil and three-co-defendants pleaded guilty last week, but a court order barred reporting the pleas because King is due to face a separate trial. Judge David Radford lifted that restriction Monday.

Soul diva Winehouse and Fielder-Civil married in Miami in May 2007. He was arrested in November and has been in jail awaiting trial ever since. Winehouse was at London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court last week for the opening legal arguments in her husband’s trial.

Fielder-Civil faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the assault charge. Perverting the course of justice carries a maximum sentence of life, though that is unlikely to be imposed in this case.

[From the Huffington Post]

I can’t even imagine what Winehouse is going to do as a result of this. Since the plea actually happened last week, it’s safe to assume she already knows about it. Fielder-Civil will be sentenced in about a month, once his co-defendants are finished with their other trials. I would imagine that if he ends up being sentenced for any significant amount of time, we’ll find Amy hallucinating on top of someone’s chimney or something. And that’d be a big improvement for her, behavior-wise.

Here’s Amy Winehouse with her dad Mitch at Guanabana restaurant in Camden, London last night. Amy then stopped at a newsstand for cigarettes and candy. Header of Blake and Amy in November, 2007. Images thanks to WENN.

I’m always a little hesitant to publish anything that shows up first on Perez Hilton’s site – but this story is getting picked up by several other media outlets and appears to be legit – if bizarre. According to Perez’s “exclusive” Karrine “Superhead” Steffans claims that she’s been physically attacked by her boyfriend, Darius McCrary – who played Eddie Winslow on Family Matters. The reason this story is odd – aside from the fact that anything related to Steffans is subject to speculation – is that she reported the news to Perez directly via text message at 4:47 in the morning.

“It’s Karrine. U have to help me. My boyfriend just tried to run over me with his car. [I] Just made a police report. In August, he placed me in a choke hold at a strip club on my birthday. There’s a report and photos of that. There was another choking I never reported but is now being investigated. I lied to the city attny to save his ass but I’m DONE. He’ll kill me if I go on with this. YES…Eddie Winslow from Family Matters! I have to give you this story. Pls!”

Wow. That is some very serious stuff.

Thankfully the police are looking into it and the allegations against Darius McCrary.

[From Perez Hilton]

McCrary, 32, is starring in the upcoming Transformers sequel.

It seems a little odd that the person Steffans would go to for “help” is Perez Hilton. That’s who you go to when you want everyone to hear your gossip. But you would THINK someone who’d just been beaten up would want to get far away to someplace quiet and safe. Probably staying with family or good friends.

I don’t ever want to doubt the validity of a potential domestic violence victim’s story. But drama seems to follow Superhead wherever she goes. And her phrasing seems very dramatic, for example not saying who the guy’s name is until the end, with the line, “YES…Eddie Winslow from Family Matters!” And the “I have to give you this story” line also seems a little odd to me. Nonetheless, we’ll keep you updated on the story.

Header of McCrary at the premiere of ‘Why Did I Get Married?’ on April 10, 2007; and Karrine Steffans at Niecy Nash’s Birthday Soiree on January 3rd. Images thanks to WENN.

Amy Winehouse sure knows how to keep it classy. After doing her best to clean herself up for her husband Blake Civil-Fielder’s pre-trial hearings on Monday (and by best, I mean her nicest beehive and too-tight skirt), but the attempt seems to be short-lived. Today she didn’t bother to show up until 3 in the afternoon, wearing a shirt with stains on it, and generally caused a scene throughout the ENTIRE half an hour she managed to stay in the courtroom.

Amy Winehouse gave her verdict on court Wednesday, announcing aloud as pretrial arguments were going on in her husband’s case: “It’s like Disneyland.”

Fielder-Civil, who spent the first part of the afternoon with his face buried in his right hand, appeared to come to life as his wife arrived. As they did on Monday, (Winehouse did not appear in court Tuesday) the pair beamed at each other across the courtroom, raising their eyebrows, winking and blowing each other kisses.

At one point, Fielder-Civil motioned to his lawyer, who brought him paper and pen, apparently to write Winehouse a note. After the court usher shook his head no, the lawyer only whispered to Winehouse, but did not pass her the note.

The singer got up and left after about a half hour. She was unsteady on her feet and whispered “f— you” as she left.

[From People]

Ahh, the traditional “F-you.” I find few things are more likely to turn a biased judge’s favor towards your husband than uttering one of the more offensive curses. Whispered or not, it clearly was audible. But you know, let’s be fair here. If Winehouse didn’t do that, she might have just brought too much elegance and grace to the court proceedings. Really, such sophistication would have caused a major distraction in court. Amy Winehouse behaving herself is much bigger news than Amy Winehouse uttering obscenities and eyeball flirting with her husband. Yeah I know that was oddly specific, but I keep thinking of this picture for some reason.

Can’t you just imagine Winehouse and Civil-Fielder exchanging googly eyes like this at each other throughout court proceedings? I don’t even want to guess what was on the note Blake tried to pass Amy, but I’m guessing that anyone passing notes at 24-years-old is probably making fun of the judge’s wig… and then trying to get some drugs. We all know what Amy keeps in the beehive.

Here’s Amy returning home in London today after her grueling half-hour at Blake’s trial. WENN notes: “Amy Winehouse arriving home from court clutching her arm after reportedly hurting it during a clash with photographers earlier in the day. She is also carrying a bottle of Malibu.” Images thanks to WENN.

The R. Kelly child pornography trial just gets weirder and weirder. And a good deal of it is downright disgusting. In testimony yesterday, the prosecution’s star witness (and three-way sex tape participator) Lisa Van Allen said Kelly carried around a duffel bag filled with his homemade sex tapes. She said wherever Kelly went, the bag went. Not necessarily for safekeeping, but for easy access. Van Allen had a relationship with Kelly from early 1998 to 2001.

R&B superstar R. Kelly carried a duffel bag filled with homemade sex videotapes wherever he went, a woman testified Monday. While making one such tape, Kelly cut off the filming when the woman — Lisa Van Allen — started crying during three-way sex with an underage girl, Van Allen testified.

“He got upset and said he couldn’t watch that. He couldn’t do anything with that, with me crying. He stopped the camera,” Van Allen said. The tapes Kelly liked went with him to his recording studio, to his favorite basketball gym — Hoops on the near West Side — and to video shoots, she said.

“Wherever he was at, the [duffel] bag would follow,” Van Allen said.

[From the Chicago Sun-Times]

Van Allen also described her relationship with Kelly and how many times they made sex tapes.

Van Allen’s testimony — covering her relationship with Kelly and how she ultimately became a witness against him — came under fierce attack by the defense, which contended she wanted money from Kelly. After Van Allen spent most of the day on the stand, the prosecution rested.

Van Allen said Kelly told her the girl was 16, though prosecutors contend she was as young as 13. Van Allen testified that Kelly videotaped the threesome — a tape separate from the one at the heart of the current case.

A year later, the trio had sex again — this time on Kelly’s indoor basketball court, she testified. Van Allen wept as she described how Kelly put a futon mattress on the court. It was during that three-way encounter that she cried, Van Allen said, prompting Kelly to stop the videotaping.

The three had sex again in 2000 inside Kelly’s trailer at a video shoot in Chicago, Van Allen said.

[From the Chicago Sun-Times]

Van Allen was 18 at the time she made the first sex tape with R. Kelly, which the prosecution points out makes the other girl in the video 14 at the time. Which is utterly disgusting. The defense managed to paint Van Allen as a thief and a liar – getting her to admit that she stole a Rolex from Kelly. They’ve also managed to really cloud the prosecution’s case in terms of the identity of the man on the tape, who they claim is not R. Kelly and was digitally manipulated to look like him. Unfortunately for the defense, an F.B.I. expert testified that the tape had not been digitally altered.

The prosecution rested today, and did a good job, given their resources. The defense’s whole strategy is to muddy the waters, blame the victim, and give ridiculous explanations – basically do anything and everything, no matter how extreme, to get Kelly off. It seems pretty clear to most people following the case that he’s guilty as sin – but if I were the betting type, I’d still put all my money on R. Kelly getting off.

Here are older file photos of R. Kelly. Images thanks to WENN.

After her drug bust this past weekend actress Tatum O’Neal called up the New York Post to give a media-quote-friendly, upbeat, positive interview. A little too much so, in my opinion. I tend to be ridiculously optimistic, but by the end of reading O’Neal’s interview – in which she repeats every addiction cliché in the book – I was left feeling like she was reading from a script. She was just way too bubbly, everything considered. She even went so far as to say New York was “cool” for not giving her any special treatment, implying that she would have gotten it somewhere else. I doubt she thought it was cool while her ass was in jail.

Tatum also claims that she’s still sober, because she was buying drugs for the first time. So Tatum says she’s thankful she was arrested and didn’t actually relapse.

“I’m still sober!” she announced to me, two hours after being sprung from a night in jail, rumpled but far more rested and relaxed than I might look after a warm shower and heavy doses of caffeine. “Just when I was about to change that and wreck my life, the cops came and saved me!” Tatum crowed. “I was saved by the bell, by the guys in the Seventh Precinct.”

[From the New York Post]

Tatum once again blames her almost-relapse on the death of her 16-year-old Scottish terrier. She claims she was doing everything she was supposed to – visiting her psychiatrist, going to AA meetings daily – but that she just couldn’t handle the extreme grief she felt. She said she was wandering around aimlessly this weekend, without even intending to buy drugs, and then she did.

“One day, I’m walking aimlessly. I found myself doing the wrong thing.” Tatum, 44, told me how, in a funk, she met Alan Garcia, 33, “a drug addict who was panhandling,” and bought coke. I told her she was charged with buying crack, too.

“It’s both?” she asked, surprised. “I didn’t even know what I was buying!”

Tatum wants to reach out to the dealer, who was charged with a felony, while she faces a misdemeanor drug-possession charge. “I’m going to try to see if I can help him. He’s not a drug dealer. He’s a panhandler who sold drugs. I’m going to talk to my lawyer.”

[From the New York Post]

“It’s both?” Oh I love that. How naive and precious you are, Tatum O’Neal. I think that was the point in the article when I no longer bought it. Up until then I was still trying to go with the whole “the death of my dog made me want to use crack,” thing, even though I couldn’t imagine going there myself. But everyone has a right to their own emotions, and I’m sure some people are that attached to their pets. And I even tried to go with the whole, “I’m just wandering around, thinking about buying a soda, and I bought some crack instead,” idea. But to pretend to not even know what she was buying or know what she was charged with is utterly ridiculous. Come on, you had to find out from a Post reporter? Too far.

Get this. Tatum, who’s never been in jail before, is glad she was busted. “It was a shock to me, and a huge wakeup call. I’m eternally grateful, as sort of grim as the situation was, that I didn’t get to do what my disease was telling me to do. I’m still going to get my year on July 10!”

How can you not love her?

Eighteen hours behind bars wasn’t so bad. “I slept on a mattress with a couple of ladies because I was tired,” she giggled. “And they were nice! And I thought the thing that was cool about New York, no special treatment. No special cell.

[From the New York Post]

I really hope Tatum gets better, and does whatever it takes to keep her addiction under control. I’m guessing part of that will involve getting real with herself, which I don’t think she’s done yet.

Here’s Tatum O’Neal at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25th. PR Photos doesn’t list the people with her, but they look like her three kids with ex-husband John McEnroe. Images thanks to PR Photos.