Berry backs out of a joke

Halle Berry is the latest celebrity to join the Foot-in-Mouth Club. The 41-year-old actress has apologized for making an inappropriate joke at last Friday’s taping of NBC’s ‘‘The Tonight Show.’’ Berry, who showed host Jay Leno photos of herself that she had distorted by using computer software, remarked that one snapshot — in which her nose appeared cartoonishly large — made her ‘‘look like my Jewish cousin.’’ ‘‘I so didn’t mean to offend anybody — and after the show I realized it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did,’’ Berry told the New York Post this week. (AP)

Britney Spears is no longer facing hit-and-run charges since she paid off the other car's driver, but she still has to deal with one count of driving without a license, a Los Angeles court commissioner ruled yesterday. Spears was not required to attend the hearing on the misdemeanor charges stemming from an Aug. 6 parking lot mishap. (AP)

Michael Lohan wants to patch things up with his family. "Reconciliation and redemption - across the board," says Lohan, a born-again Christian. Lohan's 21-year-old actress daughter Lindsay has said her father's behavior and parents' divorce have caused her to act out. Michael and Dina Lohan settled their long-simmering divorce in August, months after he left a New York prison where he served almost two years for drunken driving and other charges. (AP)

Playing for Good, the Spain-based charitable organization sponsoring Paris Hilton's planned trip to Rwanda, said yesterday it was postponing the journey due to a "restructuring" in its organization. (REUTERS)

The divorce of actress Kate Hudson and Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson was finalized in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday. Details of their child custody arrangement and property division were not disclosed. (AP)

The memoirs of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the object of an international bidding war that went on for days, have been acquired by Alfred A. Knopf and Hutchinson, imprints of Random House in the US and England, respectively. (AP)

Halle Berry is the latest celebrity to join the Foot-in-Mouth Club. The 41-year-old actress has apologized for making an inappropriate joke at last Friday's taping of NBC's "The Tonight Show." Berry, who showed host Jay Leno photos of herself that she had distorted by using computer software, remarked that one snapshot - in which her nose appeared cartoonishly large - made her "look like my Jewish cousin." "I so didn't mean to offend anybody - and after the show I realized it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did," Berry told the New York Post this week. (AP)

A first-edition hardback copy of J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," published in 1997 and signed "Joanne Rowling" on the back of the title page, was sold to an anonymous private bidder for $40,326 yesterday at Christie's auction house in London. (AP)