Designer indicted

Celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was indicted on 59 counts of sexual assault in a move prosecutors said would keep his accusers from having to testify at a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors previously charged Alexander (inset) with more than 40 felony and misdemeanor counts involving 18 victims that included rape, sexual battery, and committing a lewd act on a child. He pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges. The indictment, unsealed yesterday, added two more victims to the original case, and said the crimes targeted women and girls from ages 15 to 27 between November 2002 and March 2007. Alexander, 33, is suspected of meeting women on the Internet, then assaulting them when they visited with him about modeling opportunities. (AP)

A court commissioner has put the legal clamps on Britney Spears in a child custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline, noting she has not been in "substantial compliance" with a previous court order. In an order released yesterday, Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon granted some visitation rights to the 25-year-old pop singer but required that a monitor must watch her while she's with her sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James. The visits will be cut short if the monitor decides any behavior or action by Spears endangers the children. Following a closed-door hearing Wednesday that Federline attended, a court spokesman indicated Spears would be allowed visits every other day. (AP)

Isaac Hanson, the oldest member of the pop group Hanson, remained hospitalized in Dallas yesterday after suffering chest and shoulder pain following a performance earlier this week. A Baylor University Medical Center spokeswoman said the family had requested that no information be released on the 26-year-old singer's condition. He was taken to the hospital Tuesday night after a show at the House of Blues. Dallas-Fort Worth television station KDFW reported that Hanson was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot in the extremities breaks away and travels to the lungs. (AP)

Months after a public proposal in Times Square, Nick Cannon and Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks have parted ways, for the time being. "Selita and Nick are taking a break to focus on their careers but still very much love each other and remain the best of friends," Ebanks's publicist, Melissa Raubvogel, said yesterday. The 26-year-old rapper-actor got down on bent knee in May as the words "Selita will you marry me?" flashed on a giant TV screen in Times Square. He then presented Ebanks with a 15-carat diamond ring that he helped design. (AP)

A publishing company that owns the rights to "When You Wish Upon a Star" filed a federal lawsuit in New York against Fox and the producers and creator of "Family Guy" over an episode they claim infringes on the rights of the classic tune. The lawsuit claims that "I Need a Jew" - sung by the show's patriarch, Peter Griffin, in the episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" - is a "thinly veiled copy" of the song made famous in Disney's 1940 classic "Pinocchio." The defendants include creator Seth MacFarlane and the show's composer, Walter Murphy. (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

The accolades keep coming for America Ferrera. The Emmy-winning star of "Ugly Betty" is now the Hispanic Woman of the Year, the Hollywood Reporter and Billboard announced yesterday. The publications will honor Ferrera and the 25 most powerful Hispanic women in film, television, and music at their inaugural Hispanic Women in Entertainment breakfast at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday. Ferrera has won Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild awards for her portrayal of Betty Suarez on the ABC show. (AP)