Actress Sienna Miller has agreed to settle her case against News Corp, the parent company of the British News of the World tabloid, which she claimed had illegally hacked her mobile phone, according to Reuters. Miller will receive approximately $160,000 to drop her case, one of several brought by celebrities and British politicians against the paper for allegedly hiring a private investigator to listen in to their calls. “We are pleased that we have managed to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion. Several weeks ago we admitted liability in certain cases and offered a genuine and unreserved apology,” News International said in a statement on Friday. “We hope to resolve other cases swiftly.”

As sources previously told EW, Lindsay Lohan has pleaded no contest in connection to her misdemeanor theft charge. Though the actress did not appear in court Wednesday, her lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, entered the no contest plea for Lohan, thereby avoiding a lengthy trial stemming from the charges. (Lohan was accused of shoplifting a necklace from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store called Kamofie & Co.) The plea has the same effect as a guilty plea, but it cannot be used against her in a civil case.

In court, Judge Stephanie Sautner said Lohan still must serve 120 days in jail in connection to her parole violation, which stems from a 2007 drunk driving charge. Lohan has been ordered to begin serving on or before June 17, but it’s likely she’ll avoid time in the actual clinker: Holley told the court that it appears as though the actress will be approved for house arrest. READ FULL STORY »

Okasana Grigorieva, Mel Gibson’s former girlfriend and mother of his 18-month-old daughter Lucia, has informed the judge presiding over their child custody case that she was withdrawing her allegation that Gibson hit her during a fight at his Malibu home in 2010, a source tells the Associated Press. The Braveheart director/star, who recently spoke about his troubles, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge earlier this year as part of a plea bargain that requires him to be on probation for three years and undergo domestic violence counseling. His plea did not contain an admission of guilt.

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Looks like Lindsay Lohan is serious about shifting the public’s focus from her legal troubles to her career: A source close to the actress confirmed to EW that Lohan is considering pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges that she had stolen a $2,500 necklace from a jewelry store in Venice, Calif. Though the actress has rejected plea deals related to the case before — they likely involved jail time — she’s weighing accepting one that would put an end to the criminal case, and avoid a trial. Though, by making the move, the actress certainly would not be admitting that she stole the necklace — a no contest plea does not point to guilt. Lohan was already sentenced to 120 days in jail on April 22 for violating her probation on a 2007 drunk driving case; she’s currently out on bail. Her next court date, should she not plead no contest beforehand, is scheduled for May 11.

Should Lohan be able to avoid a lengthy trial, her schedule would likely be freed up to pursue film projects, including Gotti: Three Generations, the biopic about the mob family in which she’ll play Kim Gotti. She’s also signed on for Mob Street, another film greenlit by Fiore Films, the production company behind Gotti. Last week, after posting bail, she appeared on The Tonight Show and told host Jay Leno about her desire to move past her well-documented problems: “I made a lot of poor decisions in the past,” she said. “And I’m dealing with the consequences of those decisions. So, yeah, there were times when I was concerned [about getting work], but I’m a fighter. And I know I have to work to gain the respect back. And I’m willing to do the work that I have to do to follow through with being an actress.”

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Read more:
Lindsay Lohan on ‘The Tonight Show’: ‘I’m a fighter.’
Lindsay Lohan’s grand felony theft charge reduced to misdemeanor, but she’s sentenced to 120 days in jail for probation violation
Lindsay Lohan: 18 Highs and Lows

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Less than two months after Katie Holmes served the publisher of Star magazine with a $50 million libel lawsuit for their January cover story “Katie Drug Shocker,” the legal wrangle has been resolved. According to a statement released today from Holmes’ camp, the actress and American Media, Inc. have reached a settlement, part of which includes an apology printed in the magazine’s May 9 issue and touted on the cover. The full statement reads: READ FULL STORY »