Chris Brown is out on bail - and out of Doublemint ad campaign for now
Los Angeles authorities are continuing to investigate what took place between R&B; singer Chris Brown, one of the biggest-selling performers in pop music, and his girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna, after the pair were seen enjoying themselves at the annual pre-Grammy party hosted by Clive Davis. Both singers were scheduled to perform at Sunday night's Grammy Awards but did not appear.
Instead, Brown, 19, was being booked on suspicion of making a criminal threat stemming from an assault on Rihanna, 20, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police did not identify the victim, but TMZ.com claimed it was her.
Brown was released after posting $50,000 bail.
Police Sgt. Bridget Pickett said that "domestic violence charges [might be] added later, but that will be up to the district attorney's office."
Meanwhile, Wrigley says it is suspending ad campaigns featuring Brown as its spokesman for Doublemint gum until the situation is resolved.
A company statement expresses concern about what it calls "serious allegations made against Chris Brown."
Grammy ratings higher
Nielsen Media Research says that Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony was seen by an estimated 19.1 million people. That's about 2 million more viewers than for last year's show and higher than it has been for three of the past four years.
Among viewers ages 18 to 34, ratings were up 23 percent. The Grammys tried to reach a mixed audience, with such performances as a duet featuring teen dreams the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder.
Last year's Grammy Awards, with 17.2 million viewers, was the least-watched Grammys show since the awards were first televised by CBS in the mid-1970s.
Ouch!
President Barack Obama bumped his head yesterday morning when boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.
The solution for the 6-foot-1 president? Duck!
Although he was making his fifth flight aboard the helicopter, which ferried him to Andrews Air Force Base for his flight to Indiana, he misjudged and banged his head on the low doorway.
Winning writers
Milk and Slumdog Millionaire won top honors Saturday at the Writers Guild of America Awards.
Dustin Lance Black won the original screenplay prize for the bio-pic of slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk.
The adapted screenplay award for Slumdog Millionaire went to Simon Beaufoy, who based it on a novel by Vikas Swarup about an Indian street orphan's journey of survival and love.
Ari Folman won the documentary screenplay award for Waltz with Bashir. The film, which is nominated in the foreign-language category at the Academy Awards, is an animated study of an Israeli soldier struggling to recall suppressed memories of his involvement in the war with Lebanon.
In television categories, writers for NBC's 30 Rock and AMC's Mad Men won in the comedy and drama categories, respectively. Other winners: In Treatment, new series; Breaking Bad, episodic drama; 30 Rock, episodic comedy; The Simpsons, animation.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
Opera singer Leontyne Price, 82.
Actor Robert Wagner, 79.
Singer Roberta Flack, 72.
Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, 59.
Actress Laura Dern, 42.
Actress Emma Roberts, 18.