Mr. Jonas goes to Washington

June 25, 2009

Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers (right) testifies in Washington, D.C., yesterday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Type 1 diabetes research. He is joined by (from left) actress Mary Tyler Moore; Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard.

The best-picture Oscar lineup is doubling from five films to 10, a move organizers said yesterday will open the field to more worthy movies and possibly boost the show’s TV ratings. The change, approved Tuesday night by the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, takes effect next year. The plan is a return to traditions of the 1930s and ’40s, when a best-picture field of 10 or more films was common. (AP)

Elisabeth Hasselbeck says a claim that she plagiarized parts of her best-selling diet book is “without merit.’’ Hasselbeck, cohost of “The View,’’ defended her book “The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide’’ yesterday, speaking to the camera briefly just before the first break on the ABC daytime show. Susan Hassett, a self-published author on Cape Cod, alleges in the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts that Hasselbeck, a Boston College alum, lifted content from her book on celiac disease “word for word.’’ Hassett says she sent Hasselbeck her book after Hasselbeck disclosed she had the digestive disorder last year. (AP)

A judge issued a temporary restraining order yesterday to the boyfriend of one of the stars of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New Jersey’’ from releasing a sex tape and explicit images of her. Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Brogan also ordered Stephen Zalewski to produce all copies of the video and pictures of Danielle Staub. (AP)

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton sued the manager of the Black Eyed Peas yesterday for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000. Hilton claims Polo Molina attacked him because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas’ new album. Molina was arrested in Toronto early Monday after he allegedly punched Hilton following an argument between Hilton and Peas leader will.i.am. (AP)

The author of a new book about the wisdom of free products on the Web yesterday acknowledged taking liberties in his own work. Chris Anderson, known for the influential business book “The Long Tail,’’ admitted yesterday that “Free: The Future of a Radical Price’’ uses passages without attribution that closely resemble material from Wikipedia and other sources. “This is entirely my own screwup, and will be corrected,’’ Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, wrote on his blog. (AP)