People: DeGeneres sits in the doghouse
Ellen DeGeneres is feeling the heat from a pet-rescue agency after giving a pooch away to her hairdresser because it didn’t get along with her cats.
The talk show hostess and her partner Portia de Rossi adopted Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix, on Sept. 20. But when things didn’t work out, DeGeneres gave the dog to her hairdresser.
In doing so, DeGeneres violated an agreement with the Mutts and Moms dog-rescue agency by not informing them of the handoff. The agency sent a representative to the hairdresser’s home Sunday and took the dog away.
DeGeneres went public about the situation Monday while taping an episode of her show to air Tuesday. She expressed concern for the hairdresser’s two daughters, whom she said had bonded with the dog.
“I feel totally responsible for it and I’m so sorry. I’m begging them to give that dog back to that family,” she said. “It’s not their fault.”
Do it to her one more time
Troubled pop star Britney Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license. Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. to be fingerprinted and photographed and left about 45 minutes later, he said.
Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly. “They were nice,” she said of police. She told the station she was wearing the sunglasses because she had pinkeye.
It’s tough to be Diddy
A man has accused Sean “Diddy” Combs, 37, of punching him out during a dispute at a trendy Manhattan nightspot, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Police were investigating the report of an assault early Saturday at the club in SoHo, but declined to identify any suspects. The victim told police that he and Combs had been arguing over a woman before he was punched in the face by the hip-hop mogul.
Rowling’s magic powers on
You’d think that J.K. Rowling‘s popularity would have flagged a bit. But when the British creator of the “Harry Potter” series showed up Los Angeles on Monday to read from her novel “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” some 1,600 students came to hear Rowling read and answer a few questions.
“Things had gotten a little unmanageable signing-wise in the terms of the numbers who were turning up,” she said, “but I really missed being able to interact directly with readers.”
The birthday bunch
Actress Julie Adams (“Creature From the Black Lagoon”) is 81. Actress Beverly Garland (“My Three Sons”) is 81. Daredevil Evel Knievel is 69. Country singer Earl Thomas Conley is 66. Singer Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts is 65. Singer Gary Puckett of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap is 65. Actor Michael McKean (“This Is Spinal Tap”) is 60. Actress Margot Kidder is 59. Actor George Wendt is 59. Actor Sam Bottoms is 52. Country singer Alan Jackson is 49. Comedian Norm Macdonald is 44. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 39. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync is 36. Rapper Eminem is 35. Singer Wyclef Jean of the Fugees is 35. Actress Sharon Leal (“Boston Public”) is 35