Will Smith's soon-to-open private school in Los Angeles is not a Scientology facility, as some reports have suggested, the academy's director said.
Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, have founded the New Village Academy, scheduled to open in September.
The school will use instructional methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard called study technology. And a few teachers belong to the church.
But the couple say they are not Scientologists, and the academy's director insists the facility has no religious affiliation.
WHAT, NO SINGING?
Former “American Idol” Ruben Studdard has married Surata Zuri McCants at a church in a suburb of Birmingham, Ala. But there was no singing during the 30-minute ceremony – just an exchange of vows, prayers and music provided by a string ensemble.
Alabama will be their home as the 29-year-old-singer gets set to release a new album later this year.
FAST FORWARD, PLEASE
Verne Troyer successfully shut down the distribution of a sex tape featuring the “Austin Powers” actor and a former girlfriend – for now.
The celebrity Web site TMZ posted a 25-second snipped of the video Wednesday, but pulled the clips down Friday evening after a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order requested by Troyer's attorneys.
The ruling also prevents any attempt by a porn distributor from taking orders for the full 50-minute video, and keeps TMZ from broadcasting any more clips. Troyer's lawsuit also seeks $20 million in damages and the return of all copies of the tape.
Troyer, most famous for his role as “Mini Me” in two of the “Austin Powers” movies, claims the sex tape he made with a former girlfriend, which he never intended to become public, was stolen from his home some months ago.
A BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
Uma Thurman, star of the “Kill Bill” thrillers and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” will marry financier Arpad “Arki” Busson, according to a recent report in the New York Daily News.
The pair apparently began dating last summer after attending a private dinner together in Milan, Italy. Busson surprised Thurman with the ring this week in London, where the couple attended the 90th birthday party for Nelson Mandela, according to the Daily News.
It would be the third marriage for the 38-year-old Thurman, who has a son and daughter with ex-husband Ethan Hawke, whom she divorced in 2003. Thurman was previously married to actor Gary Oldman.
Busson, 45, has two sons with supermodel Elle Macpherson, from whom he split in 2005.
