A week after an overdose, Fantasia is back to promoting her new album. In a statement released on Monday, Fantasia says: “I can’t thank my fans enough for their prayers and support during such a challenging time.”

The singer overdosed on aspirin and other pills at her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week. Her manager says she wasn’t trying to kill herself, but police believed they were responding to a suicide attempt. The overdose came days after a woman accused Fantasia in court documents of having an affair with her husband. The former American Idol winner will make TV appearances, including stops at Good Morning America and Live with Regis & Kelly, in the next couple of weeks to promote her third album. The CD, titled Back to Me, is out on August 24.

—Daily Mail

Michael Douglas to undergo chemotherapy after doctors discover tumour in his throat

Michael Douglas faces two months of chemotherapy after doctors discovered a tumour in his throat. The Oscar-winning actor, 65, who is married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, will undergo eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.

His doctors expect the Wall Street star to make a full recovery, according to America’s People magazine. “I am very optimistic,” Douglas said on Monday. A spokesman for the actor would not confirm the type of cancer, when it was discovered, or when treatment would begin. He also declined to answer any questions on Douglas’s history of smoking. Larynx cancers are usually related to smoking and heavy drinking. Chemotherapy is often used in conjunction with radiation for more advanced throat cancers. If it is caught early, tumours can be cured in 90 per cent of cases. However, the prognosis is less hopeful if the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or lymph nodes. Cancers of the mouth and throat are more common in men and people over the age of 45. In 2006, the Daily Mail reported that Douglas and his wife were both trying to stop smoking. At the time they were said to be each smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

Douglas, who won an Oscar for Best Picture with One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, and for Best Actor in Wall Street in 1988, has starred in hits such as Fatal Attraction, War of the Roses, Basic Instinct, Falling Down and Traffic. He also stars in Money Never Sleeps – Oliver Stone’s sequel to Wall Street which will be released next month. Douglas married Zeta-Jones in 2000. They have two children. He also has a son, Cameron, from his first marriage to Diandra.

—Daily Mail

Erykah Badu gets fine and probation for Dallas strip

A city spokesman says singer Erykah Badu has paid a $500 fine and will serve six months of probation for stripping during a music video shoot at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot in 1963. Badu performed a walking striptease on March 13 for her Window S e a t music video. The video ends with a nude Badu falling to the ground as if she has been shot.

Police in April cited her for disorderly conduct after a witness made a sworn complaint. A number of children were among the tourists and other random passers-by seen on the video. Dallas city spokesman Frank Librio says Badu paid the fine last Friday.

A spokeswoman for the singer did not immediately comment.

—Daily Mail