Townshend arrested for child porn use
British rock star Pete Townshend has been arrested under allegations that he had made and possessed indecent images of children, police said Monday.
The 57-year-old founder of the Who was arrested under the Protection of Children Act after police performed searches at a business and his home near London. Police took computers from the home for examination.
Townshend was held at a police station in London Monday but was released later that day. He has not yet been charged with a crime.
Townshend admitted Saturday that he had visited an Internet site advertising child pornography, but claimed he had only used the porn site once. The rocker said he was not a pedophile and had visited the site while doing research for his autobiography, which will deal with his own childhood sexual abuse.
Bee Gees blame doctors for brother’s death
Robin and Barry Gibb have expressed feelings that doctors at Sinai Medical Center are to blame for the death of their brother Maurice.
The 53-year-old singer was admitted to the hospital Wednesday for emergency surgery due to intestinal blockage, but went into cardiac arrest Thursday before the operation was performed. After three days of being in critical condition, Gibb died on Sunday.
Robin and Barry Gibb have told the British Broadcasting Corp. they believe the doctors are at fault. “… Mistakes were made and time was wasted,” Robin said Sunday. Hospital spokespeople have not commented on the allegations because of patient privacy laws.
Maurice Gibb was the keyboard and bass player for the band.
Cinematographer dies of cancer at 76
Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, responsible for such films as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “American Beauty,” died Jan. 4. He succumbed to bladder cancer at a Santa Monica hospital.
Hall has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, has won two, and was known for his imaginative, beautiful cinematography.
Aside from “Beauty,” for which he won his second Oscar, he is remembered for such films as “Cool Hand Luke” and “Tequila Sunrise.” His last work, “Road to Perdition,” may earn him his 10th Academy Award nomination. He was also due to receive a lifetime achievement award this month from the National Board of Review.
Hip-hop dominates awards ceremony
The American Music Awards turned into “The Eminem Show” Monday as the rapper brought home four awards for his album by that name. He won favorite artist in the hip-hop/R&B category as well as in the pop/rock category, and “The Eminem Show” won the awards for favorite album in the hip-hop and pop/rock genres.
Ashanti’s self-titled album won her the favorite new pop artist award as well as the award for favorite hip-hop/R&B artist.
Other winners that night included the Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Creed and Enrique Iglesias. Nelly was the fan’s choice award winner.
The nominations for the event were based on radio airplay and record sales. The actual awards were decided by a national sampling of about 20,000 members of the public.
January 16, 2003
