It seems Kathleen Turner has finally smartened up a bit. Turner infamously accused actor Nicolas Cage of some crazy stuff back in the day – everything from saying he was arrested twice for DUIs to stealing a Chihuahua. Most of this was mentioned in the context of their working relationship while filming “Peggy Sue Got Married” in 1986. Imagine if one of your old coworkers from twenty years ago publicly accused you of stealing tiny purse dogs. It’d be hard to know how to react. Cage filed a libel lawsuit against Turner in the UK, and today she and her publisher apologized to the actor.

Cage’s UK solicitor Simon Smith said the Oscar-winning actor was “extremely pleased” with the outcome of the case “since he has never been arrested for drink driving, dog theft or anything else. As an actor who stars in many family-friendly films and who has a young child and teenager of his own, Mr Cage was understandably upset at having been wrongly depicted as condoning that sort of reckless, dangerous and criminal behaviour.” The actor, he continued, was “gratified that the defendants have done the right thing by acknowledging their errors and making amends”.

The actress, UK publisher Headline and Associated Newspapers, which extracted the book in the Daily Mail, have also made a substantial donation to charity. The donation will be made to the National Adult Protective Services Foundation, a US charity which benefits vulnerable adults. The Daily Mail has agreed to publish an apology and remove the article from its website. Headline [UK publisher] has also agreed to insert a correction and apology into copies of Turner’s book.

[From the BBC]

So we know that Kathleen Turner has officially apologized to Nicolas Cage in the UK, as have her UK publishers. I wonder if Cage will seek similar amends here, or if Turner’s general apology is enough. I’m still shocked that Turner’s publishers agreed to let her write that. Obviously they got a lot of press for it and increased sales, but I can’t imagine that would outweigh the cost of potential litigation. On the one hand, I can’t imagine a relatively sane adult thinking it’s a good idea to just make up random stories. On the other… why in the world would Nicolas Cage steal a Chihuahua? Turner has struggled with some drinking issues of her own; perhaps her memory of the time is a bit shaky. No matter what, it’s good that Cage has cleared his name, though I’m not sure many people gave the accusations much credence.

Matt Lauer interviewed Kathleen Turner on “The Today Show” this morning and the 53 year-old actress looked less than sober. She licked her lips repeatedly and slurred her words, bobbing her head and gesturing with her hands.

Turner was on the show to promote her upcoming biography, “Send Yourself Roses” in which she talks about her life and loves and dishes on her leading men including Burt Reynolds, Anthony Perkins, and Nicholas Cage. Cage is suing her for her claims she made about him in the book. She says he was difficult on the set of their film Peggy Sue Got Married, and that he stole a chihuahua and was arrested twice for drunk driving. Cage says he’s never been arrested nor has he ever dog napped, and that his former co-star’s claims are damaging to his reputation.

In her biography Turner talks about her battle with alcoholism and says that she turned to vodka to cope with the pain from rheumatoid arthritis. She said that she preferred that people thought that her problem was drinking and not a disease, because auto-immune disorders were still largely misunderstood and kept secret. From the looks of her in this video, she’s still having some issues with either alcoholism or prescription medication. Get well soon, Kathleen. You’re sounding and behaving like Paula Abdul.

Update: Many commentors have pointed out that Turner could be showing signs of her debilitating rheumatoid arthritis or the medication she legitimately takes for it and that it is unfair to judge her based on this. Others says she does look drunk and they recognize the signs. Whatever is going on with her, she is awesome for writing this book and promoting it.

It looks like Kathleen Turner’s tell-all memoir, Send Yourself Roses, is ruffling a few feathers in Hollywood, especially those of her former co-star, Nicolas Cage. In the book, Kathleen says that Cage was deliberately difficult during the filming of their hit movie, “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and that the actor drank excessively and stole a chihuahua.
Nicolas Cage caught wind of Kathleen’s story. I am sure someone told him about it rather than him, you know, actually reading the book. First, he denied the story by telling TMZ, “I have never been arrested for anything in my life, nor have I stolen a dog. I am reaching out to my fans — many of whom are children — so they know that I do not condone drunk driving or theft. The reason why you’ve never seen a mug shot of me is because it does not exist.” Wait, his fans are children? They must have really enjoyed his work in “Leaving Las Vegas” and “8mm.”

Apparently, a simple denial wasn’t enough for the action star. Now, Cage is fighting back– Hollywood style– with a libel lawsuit.

Nicolas Cage is suing Kathleen Turner over comments she made about him in her autobiography Send Yourself Roses.

The actress accused Cage of causing problems on the set of 1986 comedy Peggy Sue Got Married in a bid to prove that he had not won the role because director Francis Ford Coppola was his uncle.

She also said he was arrested for drunk-driving and stealing a chihuahua.

Cage spoke out to dismiss the allegations and has since issued libel proceedings against her at the High Court in London.

A spokesman said: “The libel action follows false allegations that appear in the forthcoming autobiography. As legal proceedings have been commenced, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

[From Digital Spy UK]

This feud suddenly got very ugly– and very interesting. In fact, this may be the most interesting thing that Nicolas Cage has done since “Valley Girl.” If this case makes it to trial, it’s going to be difficult to prove anything on either side of the argument, since the alleged incident happened in 1986. How does one prove or disprove that another person stole a chihuahua, anyway?

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicholas Cage is shown at the premiere of World Trade Center on 8/3/06. Kathleen Turner is shown at the Monster House premiere on 7/17/06, thanks to PRPhotos.

Note by Celebitchy: Both Helen and JayBird covered this, so here’s Helen’s take on it, followed by JayBird.

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Sometimes even a gated community isn’t enough. Sometimes you just need some security, and police, and I don’t know – a rottweiler? Nicolas Cage at least had the first two when an intruder broke into his house at 1:30am Monday. His wife Alice Kim and son Kal-El were also in the home at the time.

Robert Furo was charged with residential burglary and remanded to jail on 100,000 dollar bail, after allegedly breaking into Cage’s oceanfront home in NewPort Beach, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of here, said the local district attorney’s spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

“The defendant, Mr Furo, is accused of breaking into the home of the victim, Nicolas Cage … and wearing Mr. Cage’s jacket” early Monday, she said.

Inquirer.net

Nick escorted the intruder into his backyard, and when he got there he discovered the guy was wearing his jacket. It must have been a nice jacket. Nick Cage likes them action movies, so I’m guessing he’d have a really nice home entertainment unit, you might steal that first. Or even his cell phone. Or some cash you found lying around. Not so for this intruder, not when you can have a nice jacket instead.

The intruder will appear in court on 10th October. He’s listed his occupation as ‘tailor’, so either he’s not so crazy and recognises the amusement of stealing only a jacket, or it was really a very lovely jacket and he simply recognised that as part of his profession.

Written by Helen, JayBird’s version to follow

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I’m sure being a celebrity isn’t all sweetness and light. I know we all would like to be famous, or at least rich, and most of the famous people we talk about here sought out their fame, and thus chose it, with all the good and the bad that comes with it. Still, there’s some freaky elements to deal with, like… stalkers! Now they say you’re no one in Hollywood until you have your very own stalker, and while it’s nice to know you’ve arrived, it’s probably not so nice to realize it when someone’s trying to slash your tires… or your throat. Nicolas Cage got a little bit of the weirdo action when he woke up on Monday morning to find a man in his house… wearing his coat. I gotta tell you, if I were to break in to a rich person’s house, trying on their clothes would not be my first order of business. Which makes me think this dude is likely crazy. Or just obsessed with couture who knows.

“Sweet dreams aren’t made of this. An Orange County man has since been arrested and charged with burglary after Nicolas Cage woke up early Monday morning to find the guy shuffling around his Newport Beach home. Cage reported seeing a strange male in his home to his community’s gate guard, who in turn called the cops.

“Newport Beach police told “E! News” that Robert Furo Jr. was wearing Cage’s jacket when the actor spotted him shortly before 1:30 a.m. The Oscar winner then escorted Furo outside, where officers took him into custody without incident a few moments later.

“Police said that there was no sign of forced entry and Furo didn’t give them, or Cage (minus the trauma factor) any trouble. The Ghost Rider star’s wife, Alice Kim, and their son Kal-El, who turns two on Wednesday, were also asleep in the house at the time.

“Furo pleaded not guilty to felony burglary Tuesday and is currently still behind bars. Bail was set at $100,000 and the defendant, who identified himself as a tailor, is due back in court for a pretrial hearing Oct. 10.”

[From E! News]

Well at least it sounds like this Robert Furo Jr was one of your nicer, better behaved crazies. There’s a sliding scale of crazy: the bottom being the guy who stands outside your house with binoculars, the second being the guy who walks inside, takes his pants off and sits on all your furniture, and the third being the guy that stabs you in the kidney. There is nothing between the pants-off guy and the stabbing guy. So considering that rule, it sounds like Cage’s crazy guy was right in the middle – the report doesn’t mention the sate of Furo’s underwear, so I’m going to assume it was around his ankles. I’m glad Nicolas Cage and his family are alright, though I’d recommend they purchase a top of the line steam upholstery cleaner, just to be safe.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicolas Cage is shown on the set of “National Treasure 2″ in London on 8/3/07. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Leonardo DiCaprio is proving his geek credentials – getting into a fight with Nicholas Cage about a dinosaur head.

The bidding war between the two Hollywood stars was intense as the price soared for the 67 million-year-old dinosaur skull.

Only when it reached $276,000 did Leonardo DiCaprio blink - and Nicolas Cage walked away from the Beverley Hills auction with a ferocious-looking addition to his fossil collection.

As this recent battle of the celebrities for the head of a tyrannosauras [sic] bataar — the Asian cousin of T-rex — proved, dinosaur bones are emerging as the new, collectible must-haves for the multi-millionaires of Hollywood, Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

Daily Telegraph

Apparently these are the new must-have accessory, although I guess more for geek boys than fashion conscious ladies. Hopefully this doesn’t translate to fashion – I’m thinking the Flintstones here!

Dinosaur bones are a new form of wall art, an alternative to a Monet or Picasso. It must be cool to have one of these.

“Dinosaur bones and all sorts of fossils are increasingly hot right now. Hollywood heavy-hitters and the mega-rich types from the Middle East love this stuff,” said Josh Chait, operations director of the family firm (auctioneers IM Chait).

“When you already have a Warhol or a Monet on the wall, you tend to want a change from traditional artwork and people are turning to natural history for that.”

Daily Telegraph

This is a great trend for Hollywood to get into. Hopefully when they turn into old bones themselves, or even just tire of the trend, they’ll donate the bones to a museum. A Chicago museum recently paid $8.3million for a dinosaur skeleton, so if they could get some for free, everybody wins!

Picture note by Celebitchy: Composite picture includes an illustration of the Tarbosaurus bataar, also known as Tyrannosaurus bataar. It was one of the last surviving dinosaurs, and lived in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia. It was a carnivore and is a close relative of the T-Rex. Thanks to Dinosaur-World for the picture and description.