Academy of Performing Arts announced Tuesday that Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Academy Awards.  Murphy has appeared on the Oscar show several times in the past 25 years, most recently when he presented Jerry Lewis with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009.  He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor two years earlier for “Dreamgirls”, but lost to Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”.

A lot of people don’t want Chaz Bono to compete on “Dancing with the Stars”, but he says he’s not paying attention to the negative comments.  Chaz Bono told “Good Morning America” that he won’t be talking about transgender issues on “Dancing with the Stars” and he’s, quote, “just gonna be dancing.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis have signed on for “substantial” roles in the sequel of “The Expendables” alongside Sylvester Stallone. Rumors are that the cast will expand to also include Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.

Regis Philbin’s last day on “Live” will be November 18th.  He made the announcement on yesterday’s show.

Bill Hudson, father of Kate Hudson and ex-husband of Goldie Hawn, has written what is being called “a scathing tell-all” entitled “2 Versions: The Other Side of Fame and Family.”  In the book Bill Hudson calls his daughter, Kate “a spoiled brat.” Hudson and Hawn were married in 1976 and had two children, Kate and Oliver, before divorcing in 1980; Goldie’s next beau, Kurt Russell, helped Hawn raise the kids and basically cut Hudson out of the family.  He’s upset because Kate never visited her grandmother, who is now suffering from Alzheimers.  Hudson also dishes on his second wife, Cindy Williams, who co-starred in “Laverne and Shirley”.  The book will be released on Nov. 1st.

An Atlanta federal appeals court denied Wesley Snipes‘ most recent attempt to overturn his 2008 conviction for tax evasion.  Snipes’ attorneys sought to prove that the certain jurors were guilty of bias and misconduct by determining Snipes’ guilt before the trial began.   The circuit court cited a lack of “strong, substantial and incontrovertible evidence” in making the allegation.  Snipes has been serving a three-year term that started in December.

It looks like running back, Tiki Barber, is going to stay in retirement.  Barber was hoping to come out of retirement at the age of 36, but didn’t get one single offer from any of the 32 league teams over the Labor Day weekend.  He left the New York Giants in 2006 to pursue a career in broadcasting working as a contributor on “The Today Show”.  NBC let him go in 2010, his biggest gig was commentating on the 2011 Super Bowl, abroad, for the BBC.

A man broke into Celine Dion’s Montreal mansion Monday and was caught eating food out of the refrigerator and trying to take a bath.  According to CBS News, 36-year-old Daniel Bedard has been charged with breaking and entering, auto theft, and causing property damage after the man allegedly stole keys from Celine’s husband’s car and used them to break into the singer’s house.  Bedard had set off the motion detector alarm and sent police to the home where officers found him drawing a bath. The officers arrested him on the spot.

Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyers are trying to stop a prosecution witness from testifying that drinking Propofol would not trigger a fatal reaction.  Murray’s lawyers plan on arguing that Michael Jackson was frustrated and accidentally killed himself by either ingesting or injecting himself with a fatal dose of Propofol when Dr. Murray left the room.  Witness, Dr. Steven Schafer has two studies he believes in that show drinking propofol does not harm a patient. Dr. Murray’s team claims the studies are hearsay, because Dr. Schafer wasn’t part of the tests.  Judge Michael Pastor has not yet ruled on the matter.

On “The Colbert Report”, former GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said there’s a big entertainment aspect when you run for president.  And he joked that he thought about learning to shoot sparks out of his backside.

Season 10 American Idol fan-favorite and resident-rocker James Durbin has signed a record deal with Wind-Up Records. James is currently halfway through recording his debut album with Grammy-nominated producer and famed rock producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, P.O.D, My Chemical Romance, 3 Doors Down).  Wind-Up will release James’ debut album this fall.

Madonna’s former husband, director, Guy Ritchie and his girlfriend, model Jacqui Ainsley, 29, welcomed a baby boy via C-section on Monday morning in London.  Ritchie is already father to two sons, Rocco, 11, and David, 6 this month, from his marriage to Madonna.

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