Kid Rock: Just kidding

Kid Rock says he was joking when he posted a video on YouTube last week urging fans to "steal everything." The Detroit musician says in the video that he's so rich he can't complain if his fans illegally download a song or two without paying him. In fact, he goes on to say, people should "level the playing field" by stealing anything they need from wealthy corporations. He mentions laptops, iPods, Toyota vehicles, gasoline, and Tommy Hilfiger clothing as potential targets. However, the rap-rocker, who has resisted selling his music on iTunes and other online stores, said yesterday he was kidding around. The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times. (AP)

A Nashville man has been charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication after he repeatedly harassed Cher early yesterday at the famed honky-tonk Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Police say 36-year-old Calvin Hutton Houghland tried to make contact with Cher and was asked to leave the club. He complied, police said, but returned a short time later and grabbed Cher by the waist as the singer-actress sat in a roped-off area of the lounge. Houghland was escorted from the bar but returned again. When security blocked his attempts to approach the singer, Houghland called police to say he'd been assaulted. (AP)

Queen Elizabeth II conferred a knighthood on "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie yesterday, a year after the announcement of the knighthood provoked protests from the Muslim world. Some Muslims accused Rushdie of blaspheming in the book and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on him in 1989. (AP)

An Idaho judge has rejected Tom Hanks's second request for arbitration over what the actor says was $2.5 million in faulty workmanship by the company that built his compound north of Ketchum. After the decision, a lawyer for the company said it will seek monetary damages from Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, for what it alleges was "abuse of process" for filing the second arbitration request. (AP)

Twenty-five outfits worn by James Gandolfini's alter ego Tony Soprano raised $187,750 at auction yesterday for a charity that aids wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gandolfini attended part of the Christie's auction with a soldier from the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project. The highest bid was $43,750 for a faux bloodstained black and beige short-sleeve polo shirt, white tank top, and black pants the actor wore in a scene when Tony is shot by his Uncle Junior. (AP)

"This is the most offended I've ever been....This is the maddest I ever will be." - Kanye West, writing on his blog, insulted that fans chanted "Kanye sucks" at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee, where problems setting up his elaborate stage set delayed the start of his show until 4:25 a.m.