Entertainment

 LOS ANGELES (AP) - The company behind the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire has filed for bankruptcy in a move it says is an effort to restructure its legal affairs after several disputed court judgments.

 

     GGW Brands LLC and several subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday in Los Angeles, listing more than $16 million in disputed claims.

 

     The largest claim is $10.3 million that Wynn Resorts Limited is seeking from the company for judgments entered against "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis over a gambling debt and statements he has made about the casino and its founder, Steve Wynn.

 

     Francis no longer owns the company, which has made a fortune selling videos and magazines of young women flashing their breasts.

 

     "Girls Gone Wild" issued a statement that it is financially strong but needed to "re-structure its frivolous and burdensome legal affairs."

 

 A gold-medal figure skater, a country music legend and a kooky comedian are stepping their way onto "Dancing With the Stars."

 

     ABC says Dorothy Hamill, Wynona Judd and Andy Dick are among 11 contenders for the mirrored ball on the new season of the celebrity dance competition.

 

     Other famous faces in the show's 16th edition include standup comic and actor D.L. Hughley, Baltimore Ravens football player Jacoby Jones and former "American Idol" contestant Kellie Pickler.

 

     Also on hand will be former welterweight boxing champ Victor Ortiz, "General Hospital" star Ingo Rademacher, actress-singer Zendaya Coleman and Lisa Vanderpump from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," as well as Olympic gold-medal gymnast Aly Raisman.

 

     The new "Dancing With the Stars" season kicks off on ABC with a two-hour premiere on March 18.

 

  FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - Family and friends have gathered for the funeral of country music star Mindy McCready in her Florida hometown. 

 

     About 200 were present Tuesday at the Crossroads Baptist Church. McCready's music played in the background and her image was shown on a large screen behind the altar. 

 

     McCready committed suicide Feb. 17 at her home in Arkansas, days after leaving a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program. The 37-year-old mother of two died from a single gunshot to the head about a month after her longtime boyfriend David Wilson's death, also thought to be suicide, in the same place.

 

     McCready hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career.

 

     In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels." 

 

  NEW YORK (AP) - Sony is unveiled its next-generation gaming system, PlayStation 4, at an event in New York, saying the console will be part of a new ecosystem focused on hardware, software and services.

 

     The console is Sony Corp.'s first major game console since the PlayStation 3 went on sale in 2006.

 

     Wednesday's unveiling is an attempt to give Sony the spotlight on video games, at least until Microsoft Corp. unveils the next Xbox in June, as expected, at the E3 video game expo in Los Angeles. 

 

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 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - There's renewed focus on Dr. Drew Pinsky and his "Celebrity Rehab" series in the aftermath of the death of country singer Mindy McCready (mih-KREE'-dee.) 

 

     The singer is the fifth cast member of the series to die since appearing on the show -- and the third from Season 3. The previous deaths had already stirred up discussion about the show's helpfulness. 

 

     Singer Richard Marx on Twitter compared Pinsky to the suicide doctor, Jack Kevorkian -- though he later backed away and said he'd gone too far.

 

     Pinsky is accepting no responsibility. He told "The View" that "in a weird way" he wishes he could take responsibility, but he hasn't been McCready's doctor in years. He says he spoke to McCready two weeks ago and helped persuade her to get help, but she left rehab within hours. 

 

     She was found dead on the porch of her Arkansas home days later, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

 

     VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" isn't currently on the air. Pinsky switched his focus to non-celebrities in Season 6, and changed the title to "Rehab."

 

 

 Burger King hasn't really been sold to McDonald's, despite what it says on Burger King's Twitter feed today.

 

     Someone apparently hacked the account, posting obscene messages and changing the profile picture to a McDonald's logo.

 

     The tweets stopped after a little more than an hour. Burger King says it reached out to Twitter to suspend the account and to get it back up and running again.

 

     Burger King usually tweets several times a week. Today, just after noon, Eastern time, someone tweeted on the account, "We just got sold to McDonalds!" Dozens of other tweets and retweets followed, including some that contained racial epithets, references to drug use and obscenities.

 

     A spokesman for Burger King says the restaurant chain doesn't know who hacked the account. The company says no other social media accounts were affected.

 

     At the beginning of this month, Twitter acknowledged that cyber attackers may have stolen user names and passwords of 250,000 users. 

 

 

  PALM CITY, Fla. (AP) - Michelle Obama jokingly says a midlife crisis is what inspired her new haircut with bangs.

 

     The first lady revealed the new hairstyle last month on her 49th birthday, which came a few days before the festivities for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

 

     Mrs. Obama was asked about the new haircut during an interview with talk-show host Rachael Ray.

 

     Said Mrs. Obama: "This is my midlife crisis." She added that she cut her bangs because she can't get a sports car and won't be allowed to bungee jump.

 

     The interview was conducted via Skype and is scheduled to air on Wednesday. The Rachael Ray show released excerpts on Monday.

 

   HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - Authorities say they found country singer Mindy McCready's body on the same porch of her northern Arkansas home where her boyfriend was found dead of an apparent suicide last month.

 

     Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss said Monday that it appears McCready killed her late boyfriend David Wilson's dog before she turned the gun on herself Sunday. The dog and McCready were found dead next to one another the home in Heber Springs, a vacation community about 65 miles north of Little Rock. Moss says the dog's body was next to McCready's.

 

     Authorities are investigating Wilson's shooting death as a suicide, but Moss says an official determination hasn't been made.

 

     Moss says he expects McCready's official cause of death to be released soon, but that "all indicators" point to suicide.

 

     

 

  MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Florida teenager who plummeted 100 feet from a Wisconsin amusement park ride in 2010 is getting some help from actor Charlie Sheen.

 

     Teagan Marti (TEE'-gehn MAHR'-tee) suffered brain, spine, pelvis and internal injuries when nets and air bags that were supposed to catch riders on the free-fall ride were not raised. She was paralyzed initially but through physical therapy is now able to walk with a walker.

 

     A Marti family friend in Eau Claire asked Sheen for $6,000 to cover therapy dog training, and Sheen wired $10,000 on Thursday.

 

     Sheen said he found it impossible not to help after getting the request and he likes to "pay it forward."

 

     The 15-year-old said she didn't really know much about Sheen before but now thinks he's kind and generous.

 

     

 

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     The British rockers said they didn't expect to win "since the Black Keys have been sweeping all day."

 

     It was the foursome's second win Sunday night. They also won best long form music video.

 

     "Babel" is platinum-selling success that is still rocking on the charts.

 

     The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach is the night's top winner with four awards.

 

     Gotye, Skrillex, Black Keys, Jay-Z and Kanye West won three Grammys each. Ocean, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding and Matt Redman were double winners.

 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The city's glitziest, most star-studded parades of the Carnival season will roll this weekend, including one with a float being touted as the biggest in New Orleans' history.

 

     Mardi Gras is Tuesday, but more than a dozen parades roll in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday.

 

     The Krewe of Endymion's "super float" rolls Saturday night in New Orleans, led by pop star Kelly Clarkson.

 

     Sunday's Bacchus parade will include more than two dozen child cancer patients, who will ride with Bacchus celebrity king, actor G.W. Bailey.

 

     On Monday, actor Gary Sinise and New Orleans musicians Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Harry Connick Jr. will ride in the Orpheus parade.

 

     The Carnival season culminates Mardi Gras day with street revelry and the pageantry of the Rex and Zulu parades.

 

  NEW YORK (AP) - Sony is poised to unveil the next PlayStation in New York City on Feb. 20.

 

     The Japanese electronics giant invited journalists to an evening press event. The company has not said what it plans to show off, but signs indicate that it'll be the PlayStation 4.

 

     Such a console would follow Nintendo's Wii U, which launched last fall, and precede Microsoft Corp.'s next Xbox game console, which will likely be unveiled in June at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles.

 

     Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says it's a "super smart" move for Sony Corp. to pre-empt Microsoft's expected launch by several months. This way, the PlayStation 4 will get the spotlight without much competition.

 

     Sony would only say it "will deliver and speak about the future PlayStation business."

 

  DALLAS (AP) - Thanks to a tiny video camera on his collar, Barney offered a dog-level holiday tour of the White House in 2002 while shuffling from room to room and menacing the Christmas tree.

 

     The video starring President George W. Bush's black Scottish terrier was a hit, drawing 24 million online tourists the first day. It also helped reopen the White House after it was closed to tourists the previous holiday season following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

 

     Bush and his wife, Laura, released a statement Friday saying their famous 12-year-old pooch had died after suffering from cancer.

 

     Bush said, "Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House," and noted Barney "never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend. Laura and I will miss our pal."

 

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