Miss America says she'll testify in sex sting case

May 2, 2007

Miss America will switch from her throne to a witness stand after all. Beauty queen Lauren Nelson has told prosecutors that she has no problem testifying against men she helped arrest in a Long Island sex sting, officials speaking on her behalf said yesterday, a day after prosecutors said she declined to take the stand. Nelson recently went undercover with police in Suffolk County and participated in a sting operation against would-be sexual predators, using an online profile of a 14-year-old girl that included photographs of Nelson as a teenager, and she chatted with predators online. She then lured men into meeting her at a Bay Shore home, where police and crews from "America's Most Wanted" awaited. Eleven men were arrested . (AP)

A Georgia woman who claims comedian Chris Rock is the father of her 13-year-old son says she is seeking a DNA test because she's not completely sure he's the father. "If I were 100 percent positive, I would not have requested a DNA test. I would have gone to the lawyers and courts for [a] child support order," Kali Bowyer told the Statesboro Herald on Monday. "It's hard enough for a parent of any child to seek such a test, let alone someone in the public eye." Rock, who is married with two children, has acknowledged the two had a "limited relationship" and is willing to take a DNA test, Bowyer said. (AP)

Ellen DeGeneres, who injured her back over the weekend, is hosting her syndicated talk show from a hospital bed on the set. "No, I'm not being lazy," DeGeneres, 49, told her TV audience yesterday. "I'm forced to bed rest right now. . . . And, let me just start by saying I'm on pills." DeGeneres said she "tore a ligament and did something to something else" on Sunday when leaning over to pick up her dog in her kitchen, and, as a result, isn't able to " move or to do anything." "This is not a sweeps stunt. . . . This is not like what Regis [ Philbin] did," she joked. (AP)

"Ghost Whisperer" star Jennifer Love Hewitt is having trouble "resolving unfinished business with the living," according to a lawsuit filed against her by Handprint Entertainment LLC. Hewitt's former management firm claims the 28-year-old actress reneged on a 2002 oral agreement to pay a 10 percent commission on all deals negotiated during the company's tenure. The company is seeking at least $350,000 plus legal costs, saying Hewitt "knows what she did last season," according to the complaint. Hewitt's publicist referred all questions about the case to the actress's attorney , who didn't immediately return a message . (AP)

Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend arrived in Kentucky from the Bahamas yesterday with their infant daughter and said he is looking forward to introducing the baby to his family. "It just feels good to be home," Larry Birkhead (below) said after stepping off a private jet in Louisville, Ky., and walking up to a fence where more than a dozen photographers and a handful of reporters were gathered. Birkhead said he plans to show off 7-month-old Dannielynn to his family in Louisville and "relax and horse around." Birkhead, a 34-year-old photographer based in Los Angeles, said he's unsure if he will stay in Louisville with his daughter. It is the first trip out of the Bahamas for Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead, who was born in September only three days before Smith's adult son, Daniel, died at her hospital bedside from a lethal combination of drugs. Smith, 39, collapsed and died in February from an accidental drug overdose. (AP)