COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a settlement divvying up the multi-million dollar estate of James Brown, saying a former attorney general didn't follow the late soul singer's wishes in putting together the deal.

Attorney General Henry McMaster brokered a settlement in 2009 that split Brown's estate, giving nearly half to a charitable trust, a quarter to his widow Tomi Rae Hynie and leaving the rest to be split among his adult children.

But the justices ruled the deal ignored Brown's wishes for most of his money to go to charity. The court ruled the Godfather of Soul was of sound mind when he made his will before dying of heart failure on Christmas Day 2006 at age 73.

The court sent the estate back to a lower court to be reconsidered.

The justices did agree with the lower court's decision to remove Brown's original trustees. Members of Brown's family said they wanted them gone because the trustees mismanaged the estate until it was almost broke.

The court said it had no idea what the estate was worth, giving an estimate of $5 million to over $100 million.

The justices harshly criticized McMaster, who stepped in to broker the settlement after the estate floundered in court for years. Chief Justice Jean Toal suggested if the settlement was allowed to stand, it could prevent people from leaving most of their estate to charity because of fear their wishes could easily be overturned.

The dispute came to the court after the ousted trustees sued.

"The compromise orchestrated by the AG in this case destroys the estate plan Brown had established in favor of an arrangement overseen virtually exclusively by the AG. The result is to take a large portion of Brown's estate that Brown had designated for charity and to turn over these amounts to the family members and purported family members who were, under the plain terms of Brown's will, given either limited devises or excluded," Associate Justice John Kittredge wrote.

The fight over Brown's estate even spilled over into what to do with his body. Family members fought over the remains for more than two months, leaving Brown, still inside his gold casket, sitting in cold storage in a funeral home. Brown was eventually buried in Beech Island, S.C., at the home of one of his daughters. The family wanted to turn the home into a shrine for Brown similar to Elvis Presley's Graceland, but that idea has not gotten off the ground.

___

Reach Kinnard at http://www.twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

Paul Shaffer was offered the role of George Costanza on "Seinfeld."

According to The Week (by way of Shaffer's memoir), Jerry Seinfeld offered Shaffer the role of George with a message on Shaffer's answering machine, but Shaffer never returned the call. It certainly would've made for a very different "Seinfeld."

The Week also reports Ken Howard and Blythe Danner were originally offered the roles in NBC's "McMillan and Wife," but turned them down because they weren't interested in being part of the "wheel" format of NBC's mystery series. The parts went to Rock Hudson and Susan St. James.

Did you know that Matthew Broderick and John Cusack were up for the lead on "Breaking Bad" before Cranston got the job?

Click through the slideshow below to see what other famous faces turned down some pretty big roles.

Bobby Brown has been sentenced to 55 days in a Los Angeles jail for his most recent DUI charge, reports TMZ.

The 44-year-old singer plead no contest to driving under the influence and to driving on a suspended license, making this is third DUI conviction. In addition to jail time, Brown was sentenced to pay a $500 fine plus penalty assessment, complete an 18-month alcohol program, and was placed on 48 months probation. On the second charge placed on 36 months of summary probation, ordered to pay a $300 fine, and install an ignition interlock device, which prohibits the driver from starting the car if they blow above the legal limit, reports E! News.

Brown was already on probation at the time of his arrest on Oct. 24. The "New Edition" singer was arrested in March on DUI after he was pulled over for driving while using his cellphone. As part of a plea deal Brown entered court ordered rehab, and received probation -- but it didn't seem to do much good.

RadarOnline reported that the singer's friends and family were concerned that his court-ordered stint in rehab for the March arrest didn't make an impact, and were "terrified" that he was going to fall off the wagon again.

“They’re not sure if he was ever serious about conquering his demons and have voiced their concerns," a source told the website at the time.

Their fears came true when Brown was arrested again in October, however TMZ reported that after the incident Brown was looking to get help, as he was "extremely embarrassed" and "understands that drinking has become a big problem."

Usually when we talk about Britain's Prince Harry (especially in relation to food or drink), we're talking about something cheeky. Who among us could forget Royal Blush wine, inspired by his debaucherous romp through Las Vegas? Well, not us obviously.

Today, we're happy to share with you all something much safer for work: while visiting some of his charity projects in the southern African country Lesotho, he stopped by the Kananelo Centre for the Deaf to visit with the kids and (get ready) bake some local treats in a teddy bear apron. No, really. The Prince rolled out some dough rather deftly while bedecked in a purple Paddington Bear apron. And then, earth swooned.

What were they making? According to The Telegraph the Prince was trying his hand at rolling out mokoenya, a local nutmeg-spiced doughnut, fried in oil.

The charity organization, Sentebale, founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho defines their mission thusly: "We help the most vulnerable children in Lesotho get the support they need to lead healthy and productive lives. Sentebale works with local grassroots organisations to help these children -– the victims of extreme poverty and Lesotho’s HIV/AIDS epidemic."

Keep up the great work, gentlemen!

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Get a sneak peek at Malcolm McDowell on "Community"!

The study group at Greendale Community College has their next class all picked out: They'll take "The History of Ice Cream," which should get them all easy A's.

There's a small problem with their plan, however: They don't get into the popular class, and they have to take European History instead. McDowell (who, ironically enough, appeared in "Easy A") plays their new professor, and he's about as happy and well-adjusted as all their previous teachers (which is to say, he's not happy and well-adjusted at all).

Experience the new teacher's pomposity in HuffPost TV's exclusive clip above from "Alternative History of the German Invasion" (airing Thurs., Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC). By the way, Thursday's episode also features the return of the German foosball jerks from last season, as well as the re-appearance of Chang (Ken Jeong).

Check out NBC's official episode description bellow:

After losing out in registration for "The History of Ice Cream," the study group begins their European History class with Professor Noel Cornwallis (Malcolm McDowell, "Entourage," "Franklin & Bash"). To make matters worse, the group encounters the return of the arrogant German students from last season, which Jeff (Joel McHale) and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) faced over the foosball table. Meanwhile, much to Dean Pelton's (Jim Rash) dismay, Chang (Ken Jeong) makes his return to campus.

"Community" airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

So, to get Lindsay Lohan out of trouble this time, her lawyer is suggesting she do community service in the form of motivational speaking at schools.

Soooo... her lawyer must be some kind of improv performance artist, right? Watch Jimmy Kimmel's response to this news above.

Between James Franco's multiple sex-filled Sundance films and the upcoming adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey", with its much publicized plans to be NC-17, movie theaters are loaded with sex scenes.

Of course, it's not the first time: There is a long history of sex in movies, from Rose and Jack's onboard tryst in "Titanic" to the kinky scenes in "9 1/2 Weeks."

Click through below to take a look at 20 of the most famous sex scenes in film.

[h/t IFC]

As I write this, I am expecting my first child, a daughter. The prospect of motherhood has made me think more than ever about the world women are living in.

There are still many places, even in the developed world, where a girl born today will not experience equal opportunity or equal treatment or equal prospects simply because she is a girl.

We live in a world where the act of giving life could mean losing your own -- because 800 women die every day during pregnancy and childbirth of easily preventable deaths.

A world where the majority of the children who are not in school are girls, and two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women.

A world where 70 percent of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

And yet we also know that if we cut school fees, girls are much more likely to enroll. If we give a girl just one extra year of education, her wages will rise dramatically, and almost all of what she earns will be reinvested in her family. Small changes can lead to big gains for girls and women, for their families, and for the world.

By promoting and funding progress in the areas of education, health and justice, we can change the prospects for girls and women, and those girls and women can change the world.

That's why I am proud to announce the creation of a new campaign called Chime for Change, founded by Gucci.

Chime for Change is a global effort focused on girls' and women's empowerment. It serves to convene, unite and strengthen the voices speaking out for girls and women around the world, and to raise funds for non-profit organizations pursuing change. In launching Chime for Change, I am joined by two inspiring co-founders and mothers: Beyoncé and Salma Hayek Pinault. Together, we will lead with an advisory board of women's issues advocates and experts, as well as international leaders in business and philanthropy.

I have always felt that we must use the positions we hold to make the difference we can. I'm honored to be a part of a company -- Gucci -- that shares this belief. A focus on girls and women is a part of Gucci's -- and our parent company, PPR's -- DNA, from employees and customers, to senior leadership, most especially PPR Chairman Franҫois-Henri Pinault, who also chairs the PPR Foundation for Women's Dignity and Rights. Gucci has committed to bring its resources and relationships to bear in supporting this campaign.

As such, we've enlisted the support of partners and organizations that constitute an innovative coalition for change. The campaign is powered by our fundraising partner, Catapult, the first crowdfunding platform focused exclusively on girls and women. We have developed a strategic community-building partnership with Facebook. We're learning from leading philanthropic organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the PPR Foundation for Women's Dignity and Rights, as well as non-profits like UNICEF, Equality Now, and Education First. We have an international media partner, Hearst Magazines, whose global footprint reaches important audiences around the world. And we're pleased to have Mariane Pearl serving as our managing editor, soliciting and curating stories about the challenges and triumphs of women worldwide, with an emphasis on the individuals at the center of the stories.

One of our most powerful levers in this effort is technology. With social media, we have the ability to amplify moments until they ignite movements. Through organizations like Catapult, Chime for Change encourages citizen philanthropy and brings people face to face not just with the issues confronting girls and women around the world, but also with the tools and opportunities they need to overcome them. Each project tells you exactly where your donation is going, and lets you connect with people who share your passion for whatever cause you choose.

When you consider that $50 provides vocational training for a girl in India, or that less than $200 can train a mentor who will help refugees adjust to life in America, or that $8,000 is enough to build a water system in Ethiopia that will make it so that girls and women no longer have to walk two hours round trip to collect unsafe water from a river -- you realize how much positive impact each of us can have.

We don't need to wait for governments to act, or laws to change. The opportunities are out there. And there isn't a moment to waste.

On a visit to a child care center in Chimteka, Malawi in 2009, a little girl ran to me, asking to be held, asking to be lifted up. She had gorgeous, wide eyes, and that simple act of lifting her up brought a huge smile to her face. She nuzzled into my shoulder, the way children do. It pained me to put her down.

With Chime for Change, we can lift up millions of girls and women, and help them learn, stay healthy, be safe, and thrive.

I'll be making more announcements on behalf of Chime for Change in the coming days, because I believe this a pivotal moment in history. We can do more than stand by. We can stand together. By raising your voice, you'll help more of the world's girls and women can find theirs. Help the world hear our calls for change; join our campaign at www.chimeforchange.org and www.facebook.com/chimeforchange.

To illustrate how long it can take Sundance Film Festival hits to arrive in theaters, look no further than "The End of Love."Mark Webber's second effort as a director premiered to strong reviews at Sundance in 2012, but is only first opening to the general public on Friday, some 14 months later. (The film is also available via on demand services.)

Webber, best known as the lead singer of Scott Pilgrim's band Sex Bob-omb in "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," stars in "The End of Love" as "Mark Webber," a struggling actor trying to balance his fledgling career and his role as a single dad. In a twist, "The End of Love" co-stars Webber's actual son, Isaac Love, as his onscreen son. (Isaac's real mother appears in the film in flashbacks as Isaac's onscreen mother.)

"The End of Love" is an early year triumph, a thoughtful indie comedy with moments of heartbreaking -- and also heart-warming -- drama. With the film out in limited release on March 1, Webber spoke to HuffPost Entertainment about the difficulties of making "The End of Love," what he learned from his first feature, "Explicit Ills," and what famous people do when they hang out.

What was the hardest part about making this with your son?
It's like, what wasn't hard about it. It's so hard to make something seem so effortless and off-the-cuff and simple. It takes so much more effort to make something seem effortless. For me, I had to be the dad; I had to be a sad dad; I had to be the director, the production assistant, the DP [director of photography], in certain situations. It was wearing so many hats. It was a really hard movie to make, but so rewarding because of that. With Isaac, what was so cool is that he was always in the moment. So, having me orchestrate and create all these situations so I could fully inhabit this character, it turned out that anything that he would do would be right for the film. That was a really exhilarating way to make a movie.

How much of the process did you explain to Isaac?
No. What he did know was that my DP, Patrice Cochet, came over in what you could call the rehearsal period -- which was really just me seeing if I could make a movie in this way. Isaac knew that Patrice was making videos of us. From the iPhone or whatever, we've shot videos together and taken pictures, so he knows what that concept is. Eventually, it got to the point where Patrice didn't really exist. The more I didn't regard Patrice as being there, the more Isaac didn't. The film would only work if it was complete reality for Isaac. There were never any slates. There was no crew. I would get Patrice up and running and then just start living the moment with my son, based off of me knowing his moods and patterns and rhythms. Like, "OK, in this moment I know he's going to be a little cranky, so it's a good time to shoot the dinner scene."

Isaac's mother plays a small role in the film, so she was on board with this, but was it difficult to convince her that Isaac could handle such a big role?
Yeah. First and foremost, nothing matters more to us in this entire world than our child. His well-being and his safety is paramount in both our lives. We have a really great friendship and we co-parent in a really beautiful and creative way. It was easy for me to convince her because she knew I would only do this if I knew it wouldn't be harmful to Isaac. Which made it that much harder to make this movie, just because it wasn't traditional in any sense. We would shoot for 15, 20 minutes at a time with Isaac, and on days where it was just Isaac, that was our day. We would probably clock in like an hour. It was like, "All right, everyone; go home! Come back tomorrow, after naps. At about 2:30, after Isaac had his nap, we'll have another 25 minutes there." Isaac was never working. It was so non-invasive. There were no lights. There was none of that. Patrice is such a lovely great man and a father himself that everyone around was just fun to be around anyway.

During a key scene, your character goes to a party at Michael Cera's house, and people like Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson and Alia Shawkat are in attendance too. You know a lot of them from prior projects, but do you all hang out? Is that the reality -- minus Cera acting like a complete jerk, as he does in the film?
It is! What's really cool is that you get lucky every now and then by working with people who are really like-minded and awesome and you develop pretty strong friendships and bonds with them. Everyone who was there in that room that night came for a reason. First and foremost, we love each other and want to support each other. Amongst me and that group of friends, there's probably three or four major game nights that happen. We'll get together and play running charades or Celebrity or Scattergories. So, yeah! [Laughs] Minus Michael with a handgun and kind of being a little obnoxious -- and Michael, in reality, is the sweetest guy in the world -- it was pretty much like, "OK, here's a normal little get together."

This is your second film as a director; what did you learn on your first one that carried over here?
My first film, when I went into it, I was younger. I had made a bunch of films as an actor and had worked with a bunch of incredible directors and I thought, "I really know what I'm doing here!" I was really overly ambitious. I shot my first film on 35mm and old Panavision cameras. It had a huge cast and there were all these interconnecting stories and it was a little overly ambitious. It was a little too much at once. There's still things that I really love about my first film. The beautiful thing about making movies is that the movie still speaks to a lot of people. I'll have people come up to me and say, "I love that movie." To me, as a filmmaker, all I see are its flaws. Going into making "The End of Love," I wanted to capitalize off of the knowledge I learned from all the trial-and-error of the first one. I wanted to make a movie that had an undeniably strong emotional core. That was really about two people, whereas my first film had like 30 people. As an actor, I've always been obsessed with naturalism in film and reality. So, as a filmmaker, it was really exhilarating to create a world that really embraced that for me. It actually couldn't be more different than my first film -- just in terms of the story, the process, everything. Coming out of the making of "The End of Love," I've figured out my voice, in a way, and my style in the way I want to build off it. The next film I'm making, I'm making in a very similar way.

In the film, you play "Mark Webber, struggling actor." In reality, you've got "The End of Love" and starred in a couple of well-received indies last year, like "For a Good Time Call" and "Save the Date." Are you happy with the direction of your career?
It's funny, man; I am happy. Like, I'm definitely happy. I'm happy because I've only ever done what I wanted to do. I've had many opportunities throughout my career to sell a piece of my soul. Maybe go in a different route. Things that would compromise my happiness. And I never want that. Because I've avoided that, I'm really happy. I've only really been a part of films that I want to be a part of. Now I have a career as a filmmaker. One of the beautiful things about making your own films is that you get to share the love. For me, just the auditioning process is horrible. It's miserable. It's the worst. "Please like me! Please like me!" To now be in a position to write things for people and not have them audition. Be like, "Hey, I wrote this for you, do you want to do this? How can we make this the best for you so you can do the best work you've ever done?" It's exciting for me. That's where I see myself headed. If people want to put me in their movies, I will do it -- I'm just not as willing to jump through so many hoops anymore [laughs]. I can't! I've paid my dues and I feel like I'm in a really good place right now. I'm pretty psyched.

EARLIER: Photos from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival

Each time you think Joan Rivers has reached her limit, she crosses the line once more.

Rivers has come under fire for a "vulgar and offensive" Holocaust joke she made about how German supermodel Heidi Klum looked in her dress at Elton John's Oscars party.

On Monday's episode of E!'s "Fashion Police," Rivers and her co-hosts were discussing Oscars fashion when they brought up the 39-year-old former Victoria's Secret model. Klum's cleavage-baring, curve-hugging Oscars gown turned lots of heads on Sunday night and Rivers took note.

“The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens,” Rivers, a Brooklyn-born child of Russian Jewish immigrant, quipped during her show, according to the New York Daily News.

Heidi Klum poses at Elton John's Oscars party. Story continues below.

The Anti-Defamation League then chastised the comedian for her comment. ADL director and Holocaust survivor Abraham Foxman issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter:

There are certain things about the Holocaust that should be taboo. This is especially true for Jews, for whom the Holocaust is still a deeply painful memory. It is vulgar and offensive for anybody to use the death of 6 million Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust to make a joke, but this is especially true for someone who is Jewish and who proudly and publicly wears her Jewishness on her sleeve.

Despite the outrage and ADL's request for an apology from E! Entertainment, Rivers refuses to apologize for her Holocaust joke.“My husband lost the majority of his family at Auschwitz, and I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the Holocaust through humor,” she said in a statement, via THR.

This isn't the first time the 79-year-old has be criticized for using anti-Semitic humor.

Last August, Rivers compared Costo's ban of her book, “I Hate Everyone … Starting With Me," to the "beginning of the Nazi Germany." She rationalized her comment by telling KTLA, “People should have the right to have the literature they want," according to the Los Angeles Times.

When asked for a response, she later told TMZ that her humor "reminds people of the Holocaust because half the people now don't even believe it ever happened."

Thought you'd seen the last of Ricky Gervais' "Office" character David Brent? Not so fast.

In the trailer for "The Office Revisited," a "mini episode" airing on March 15, Ricky Gervais will be revive his "Office" character one last time.

Always an aspiring musician, Brent is back with "Equality Street," a reggae tune with a twist.

“He is passing on his wisdom to younger would-be rock stars now and is living vicariously through a young performer, Dom Johnson,” Gervais said in a statement, according to EW. “Well, really he is trying to worm his way back into rock and roll. Fans of 'The Office' will be excited to know we finally get to hear the whole of ‘The Serpent Who Guards the Gates of Hell’ and an amazing Brent self-funded video, ‘Equality Street.’ Horrendous.”

Check out the teaser for "The Office Revisited" below:

Brent may be headed back to the small screen, but his American alter ego Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), isn't quite as gung-ho about the idea.

“I’m hopeful, but I don’t think [Carell] will be back,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters regarding a possible Michael Scott cameo in the final season of "The Office." "He left in the way that he wanted that character to leave," Greenblatt told TVLine. “There’s maybe a little Hail Mary pass on a cameo, but I think the decision is that he [doesn't want to compromise] his [original] exit.”

"The Office Revisited" will air on BBC One on Fri., March 15. It will also be available on Ricky Gervais' YouTube channel.

Manhattan artist Paul Fuentes has immortalized Kimye with this stirring homage, currently hanging in his local Whole Foods. But true, everlasting love like theirs knows no bounds -- which is why we were moved to expand his opus to a whole series featuring this timeless couple.

Watch The Soup tonight at 10/9c or go to thesoup.tv anytime for plenty of high-brow comedy and respectful celebrity worship.

We have conducted a thorough search to find out the success rates of celebrity marriages. We excluded politicians, political pundits and those who spin the news. We were only interested in the success rates of famous celebrities, particularly those who live and reside in or near Hollywood or New York City.

It's DISH vs. CBS and Kaley Cuoco is in the middle of it all because of a tweet.

"The Big Bang Theory" star Cuoco sent out a tweet on February 27 endorsing the satellite cable provider's Hopper service. CBS is currently locked in a battle with DISH over the Hopper's ad-skipping capabilities.

The tweet has since been deleted and DISH is accusing CBS of forcing Cuoco to remove the sponsored tweet. The Wrap was the first to report on the sponsored tweet.

“It’s disappointing that CBS -- once the exemplar of editorial independence and innovation -- continues to use its heavy hand to hold back progress from consumers,” Joe Clayton, DISH president and CEO, said in a statement.

According to DISH, in the few hours Cuoco's tweet was live, it received thousands of clicks.

“Clearly, with this kind of response, consumers have a true interest in the types of innovations the DISH Hopper offers," Clayton said in a statement. “It’s a shame that CBS, despite its legacy, feels it needs to thwart this kind of consumer demand.”

Request for comments from CBS and Cuoco's representative were not immediately returned.

DISH provided a screen capture of the deleted sponsored tweet.

NEW YORK — There is something Donald Trump says he doesn't know.

Trump has welcomed a reporter to his 26th-floor corner office in Trump Tower to talk about "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice." And here in person, this one-of-a-kind TV star, billionaire businessman, ubiquitous brand mogul and media maestro strikes a softer pose than he has typically practiced in his decades on public display.

Relaxed behind a broad desk whose mirror sheen is mostly hidden by stacks of paper that suggest work is actually done there, Trump is pleasant, even chummy, with a my-time-is-your-time easiness greeting his guest.

He even contradicts his status as a legendary know-it-all with this surprising admission: There's a corner of the universe he doesn't understand.

The ratings woes of NBC, which airs his show, are on Trump's mind at the moment, and as he hastens to voice confidence in the network's powers-that-be ("They will absolutely get it right"), he marvels at the mysteries of the entertainment world.

"If I buy a great piece of real estate and do the right building, I'm really gonna have a success," he says. "It may be MORE successful or LESS successful, but you can sort of predict how it's gonna do. But show business is like trial and error! It's amazing!"

He loves to recall the iffy prospects for "The Apprentice" when it debuted in January 2004. With show biz, he declares, "You NEVER know what's gonna happen."

Except, of course, when you do.

"I do have an instinct," he confides. "Oftentimes, I'll see shows go on and I'll say, `That show will never make it,' and I'm always right. And I understand talent. Does anybody ask me? No. But if they did, I would be doing them a big service. I know what people want."

So maybe he does know it all. In any case, lots of people wanted "The Apprentice." In its first season, it averaged nearly 21 million viewers each week.

And it gave Trump a signature TV platform that clinched his image as corporate royalty. He presided in a mood-lit stagecraft boardroom where celebrity subjects addressed him as "Mr. Trump" and shrank at that dismissive flick of his wrist and dreaded catchphrase, "You're fired."

The two-hour premiere of "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" (Sunday at 9 p.m. EST) starts by rallying its 14 veteran contenders in the even more evocative setting of the 2,000-year-old Egyptian Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There, grandly, Trump receives such returning players as Gary Busey, Stephen Baldwin, LaToya Jackson and reality mean queen Omarosa.

Soon, teammates are chosen by team leaders Bret Michaels and Trace Adkins. Their first assignment: concoct a winning recipe for meatballs, then sell more of them than the rival team.

This is the 13th edition of the "Apprentice" franchise, which has now slipped to less than one-third its original viewership, according to Nielsen Co. figures. But even an audience matching last season's 6.26 million viewers would be pleasant news for NBC, which has recently fallen to fifth place in prime time, behind even Spanish-language Univision.

"I could probably do another show when I don't enjoy `The Apprentice' anymore," says the 66-year-old Trump, mulling his TV future. "I have been asked by virtually every network on television to do a show for them. But there's something to sticking with what you have: This is a good formula. It works."

Years before "The Apprentice," Trump had hit on a winning formula for himself: Supercharge his business success with relentless self-promotion, putting a human face – his! – on the capitalist system, and embedding his persona in a feedback loop of performance and fame.

Since then, he has ruled as America's larger-than-life tycoon and its patron saint of material success. Which raises the question: Does he play a souped-up version of himself for his audience as Donald Trump, a character bigger and broader than its real-life inspiration?

He laughs, flashing something like a you-got-me smile.

"Perhaps," he replies. "Not consciously. But perhaps I do. Perhaps I do."

It began as early as 1987, when his first book, "Trump: The Art of the Deal," became a huge best-seller.

And even without a regular showcase, he was no stranger to TV. For instance, in the span of just 10 days in May 1997, Trump not only was seen on his "Miss Universe Pageant" telecast on CBS, but also made sitcom cameo appearances as himself on NBC's "Suddenly Susan" and ABC's "Drew Carey Show."

Meanwhile, as a frequent talk-show guest then (as now), he publicized his projects and pushed his brand.

"I'll be on that show for 20 or 30 or 60 minutes, and it costs me nothing," he notes. "When you have an opportunity for promotion, take it! It's free."

No one has ever accused Trump of hiding his light under a bushel. But his promotional drive (or naked craving for attention) has taken him to extremes that conventional wisdom warns against: saying and doing things that might hurt your bottom line.

Item: Trump's noisy, even race-baiting challenge to President Barack Obama to prove his American citizenship. This crusade has earned Trump the title from one editorialist as "birther blowhard."

For an industrialist and entertainer, where's the profit in voicing political views that could tick off a segment of your market or your audience?

"It's a great question, and a hard question to answer, because you happen to be right," Trump begins. "The fact is, some people love me, and some people the-opposite-of-love me, because of what I do and because of what I say. But I'm a very truthful person. By speaking out, it's probably not a good thing for me personally, but I feel I have an obligation to do it."

But isn't he being divisive with some of his pronouncements?

"I think `divisive' would be a fair word in some cases, not in all cases," he replies. "But I think `truthful' is another word."

The publicity he got from his political activism reached a fever pitch during his months-long, media-blitzed flirtation with running for president that seemed conveniently to dovetail with the Spring 2011 season of his TV show.

That May, he announced he would not run. For some, it was the final scene of nothing more than political theatrics.

"They weren't," Trump says quietly. "I was very seriously considering running. It was a race that the Republicans should have won. I made a mistake in not running, because I think I would have won."

He says he has no designs on this year's race for mayor of New York. But his politicizing continues apace. In his Twitter feed, with 2 million followers, he continues to bash China and rant about Washington. He phones in to Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" each Monday morning to vent his spleen.

"I believe in speaking my mind," he says, "and I don't mind controversy, as you probably noticed. I think sometimes controversy is a good thing, not a bad thing."

Last summer saw the opening in Aberdeen, Scotland, of Trump International Golf Links after a bitter, yearslong fight waged by environmentalists and local residents against government leaders and, of course, Trump.

A man for whom it seems no publicity is bad publicity, Trump insists the controversy helped the project.

"If there wasn't controversy surrounding it, I don't think anybody would even know it exists," he says, laying out the alternative: "I could take an ad: `Golf course opening.'"

Trump even seems to profit from the harsh attention focused on his hair.

"I get killed on my hair!" he says, with no trace of remorse. But he wants everyone to know, "It's not a wig!" Nor is it an elaborately engineered coif to hide a hairline in retreat, as many Trump-watchers imagine.

To prove it, Trump does a remarkable thing: He lifts the flaxen locks that flop above his forehead to reveal, plain as day, a normal hairline.

"I wash my hair, I comb it, I set it and I spray it," he says. "That's it. I could comb it back and I'd look OK. But I've combed it this way for my whole life. It's become almost a trademark. And I think NBC would be very unhappy if I combed it back, `cause – you know what? – maybe I wouldn't get as high a rating."

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Online:

www.nbc.com

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Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier

Ashlee Simpson has allegedly been dealing with some difficult personal issues by partying hard and it's reportedly taking a toll on the singer and her family.

Sources told RadarOnline that Simpson's ex-husband, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, is concerned that her behavior is having a negative impact on their 4-year-old son Bronx, and has asked her to slow down and take a break from going out and drinking.

“Ashlee is in the dog house right now with Pete. He’s concerned that she’s burning the candle at both ends and worried about the effect on Bronx if she continues in this current state," a source told the website, adding that Wentz is so worried, "he’s even spoken to [Simpson's mother] Tina to get her take on the matter and make sure that he’s not overreacting in any way. She reassured him that he isn’t and said she’s been worried about Ashlee too.”

Earlier this month it was reported that the 28-year-old singer was having a rough time coming to terms with her parents' divorce, as well as rumors that her father and manager, Joe Simpson, is gay. Last week eyewitnesses claimed they saw Simpson "downing drinks like there was no tomorrow," at a Los Angeles restaurant.

Simpson has been known to enjoy a couple drinks -- and was caught on camera in 2005, appearing belligerently drunk at a Toronto McDonald's, where she swore at an employee who told her to get off the service counter that she was trying to climb over.

This isn't the first time there have been reports that Wentz was concerned about Simpson's drinking either. In 2011 Us Weekly reported that her split from then-husband Pete Wentz was in part sparked by her alleged drinking problem.

Simpson was "reverting to drinking and going out, because she is sick and tired of her life," a source told the magazine at the time, adding that the alcohol was "an outlet for her unhappiness, and Pete is getting fed up."

Star reported that following her divorce from Wentz, Simpson was "downing eight to 10 bottles of wine a week" and her older sister, Jessica, was "on a mission to save Ashlee from self-destructing." At the time, a source close to the Simpson family told Gossip Cop that the allegations of Ashlee's drinking problem were absolutely "not true."

Request for comment made to Wentz's rep has not been returned at this time.

We don't always leap to Justin Bieber's defense, but the latest sartorial backlash against the singer has us wondering if people are being a little too harsh on the kid.

While out and about in London yesterday, the Biebs decided to rock purple leopard print pants, thick-rimmed glasses and -- the pièce de résistance -- a yellow spiked hat. Strangely enough, his critic was none other than Damon Lindelof, one of the writers for "Lost" and the upcoming "Star Trek" film (aka not your usual style pundit). Lindelof took to Twitter to vent his frustrations with the look -- specifically, that hat:

Why Lindelof was totally cool with Bieber's drop-crotch pants is beyond us, but, for whatever reason, he really took issue with the 18-year-old's headgear. Rather than take the blame, Bieber took to Instagram to implicate his fans and his friend Ryan Butler: "Ryan said you won't go out in that. I said watch mea haha toocolorful next time im gonna wear a black hat ... But a fan did get me this hat so I'm glad I wore it :)"

We can't help but wonder: Is this spiked-hat ensemble really the worst look the "Boyfriend" singer has ever rocked? Of course, there was that whole controversy about his choice of overalls last November, but we seem to recall some getups that were even more offensive to the eye.

Here's the bizarre look in question:

But is it weirder than this?

Or this?

Or even this??

We'll let you be the judge of that. For now, we're going to lay off Justin for a little while and give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he's just caving under all of the pressure?

Just in case you hadn't had enough, here's more of Bieber's style:

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Holly Madison has plans to eat her placenta after giving birth.

As Us Weekly first reported, Madison revealed that she will have her placenta turned into pills after her baby girl is born next month. Although it might sound unusual, many other mothers have done the same, as ingesting the placenta is said to aid recovery and help postpartum depression.

The former Playboy model revealed her placenta plans on her Celebuzz blog Wednesday.

Via Celebuzz:

This might sound gross, but I’m totally planning on having my placenta turned into pills I can take after giving birth. I heard it helps women recover faster and I want to recover as quickly as I can!

How does it work?

The woman's placenta is cleaned, cooked, dried and made into ingestible capsules. Some women choose to eat it raw, cooked or blended into smoothies. In a blog for HuffPost Science, behavioral neuroscientist Mark Kristal said women think eating the placenta can help or reduce "postpartum depression, 'baby blues,' fatigue, lactational insufficiency and hormone deficiencies."

Madison is not the first celebrity to jump on the placenta trend. "Mad Men" actress January Jones, for one, has admitted she ate her placenta after the birth of her son, Xander, in 2011.

“Your placenta gets dehydrated and made into vitamins,” she told People magazine. “It’s something I was very hesitant about, but we’re the only mammals who don’t ingest our own placentas. It’s not witch-crafty or anything! I suggest it to all moms!”

Placenta capsulation is not FDA-approved, ABC News notes, but it has become more and more popular as pregnant women turn to practices like midwifery and home births. Despite its nutritional value, the placenta hasn't been scientifically proven to help any ailments.

“There is certainly a potential medicinal use,” Dr. David Katz, founder of the Yale Prevention Center, previously told ABC News. “This is a time-honored cultural practice of eating the placenta. It is nutrient-rich and a source of hormones.”

On average, HuffPost readers probably aren't the biggest aficionados of country music. Still, many readers here understand the need for establishing responsible marijuana policy. When it comes to reversing archaic pot prohibition laws across the United States, the most regressive region is the same place where country music prevails most predominantly. In my opinion, one of the main ingredients still needed for successful marijuana reform in the South is public support by prominent country artists.

Surely Willie Nelson comes to mind for many people when the words "country music" and "marijuana" are mentioned together. Yet Willie has many younger allies these days as a new generation of "outlaw" artists are brazenly singing about pot. Though most haven't been as open about legalization as Willie, lyrics about marijuana are craftily blended into many of their songs. The likes of Zac Brown, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson come to mind to name just a few.

Take the following lyrics for example:

Zac Brown: "Gonna lay in the hot sun and roll a big fat one, and grab my guitar and play"

Dierks Bentley: "Let the smoke roll over your lips. Let it all go whatever it is"

Eric Church: "Dig down deep, find my stash. Light it up, take me back"

Randy Houser: "Well I've been known to giggle on a joke. Mostly when I'm smokin' on my smoke"

Jamey Johnson: "So if you go out my back door, just over the hill, you'll see all these plants that's been paying my bills"

I commend these musicians for breaking the taboo and singing about marijuana. I'm not condoning drug use, but as a former federal drug-enforcement agent who's confiscated thousands of pounds of pot and experienced the futility of the plant's prohibition firsthand, I know the substance should be legally on par with alcohol. So props to these artists for keeping it real and singing about marijuana's normalcy. Unfortunately though, country radio isn't keeping it real with their continued censorship of songs involving marijuana use. Instead, many stations are only adding to the reefer-madness taboo. For instance, when Zac Brown mentions the words "fat one" in the song "Toes," many stations edit those words out entirely.

Hopefully this sort of censorship ceases in the future, and country outlets stop undermining the intelligence of their listeners. Not only is it insulting, but it discourages other artists from singing about the truth. Just because other singers haven't necessarily sung about marijuana doesn't mean they don't have a stake in ending its prohibition.

Take Tennessean Kenny Chesney, for example, who graduated from my alma mater, East Tennessee State University. Few people realize this, but Tennessee ranks right up there with West Coast states when it comes to the domestic production of cannabis. The Appalachian Mountains offer perfect terrain and seclusion for harvesting the crop. Yet, unfortunately for the state's lawful citizens, all those profits are only financing an illegal market that's pushing the state's law enforcement resources and prison population to the brink.

And consider George Strait, the king of country music himself, whose sprawling ranch in South Texas sits directly in the crosshairs of Mexico's bloody narco war. His acreage is in Webb County, which is across the Rio Grande and adjacent from Tamaulipas, one of Mexico's most violent states due to its proximity to the enormous drug market that is the United States. In fact, Laredo (the county seat), is one of the places where I worked as a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

After resigning from law enforcement in 2011, I joined Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of criminal justice professionals opposed to the disastrous war on drugs. Since then, I've spoken regularly on the need for marijuana reform. Living in South Carolina makes this task particularly challenging. Close to eighty percent of Americans now support legalizing medical marijuana, and more than fifty percent support legalizing the substance for recreational use, yet there's still not a single Southern state that allows for the legal use of medical marijuana. This is frustrating to me and to the thousands of others advocating for change in the region, and this is why I believe getting more country artists onboard is so critical.

Thankfully, a new organization called the Marijuana Majority helps reserved proponents of marijuana reform understand that they're not alone, and that a majority of Americans also agree with them. The organization's website features influential voices from all realms of society, showing that support for marijuana legalization is now mainstream and no longer a third rail issue.

That being said, I recently reached out to Zac Brown on behalf of Marijuana Majority hoping to get a quote for the website. I also contacted him on behalf of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) to see if he would spread the word about the upcoming Southern Cannabis Reform Conference in Atlanta on March 15 and 16. Atlanta is, after all, Zac's hometown, and God only knows how beneficial marijuana reform would be for the state and citizens of Georgia (medically, financially and judicially). It remains to be seen whether the country singer will respond, but again, voices like his that resonate with conservative mindsets are missing ingredients needed to effect change in the South.

A lot of times country music gets mocked for its simplicity, but all of the Waylon Jennings- and Johnny Cash-inspired artists I've mentioned in this article represent freedom to me. What could be more about freedom than ending marijuana prohibition? What a person grows on their land or consumes in their bodies shouldn't be dictated by government in a free society. This article is not just a call for more country artists to break the marijuana taboo, but it's also a call for country fans to embrace them when they do. Inevitably, marijuana will be regulated like alcohol across the board in the United States, and with the help of more trailblazing country artists, the South won't be left in the dust when it comes to this reality.

Since 1987's "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace," there have been four Spider-Mans ("Spider-Man," "Spider-Man 2," "Spider-Man 3" and "The Amazing Spider-Man") and seven Batmans ("Batman," "Batman Returns," "Batman Forever," "Batman & Robin," "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises"), but just two Superman movies: 2006's "Superman Returns" and the upcoming Superman reboot, "Man of Steel." How did one of the most iconic comic book characters of all-time fall between the cracks during the last 25 years, when movies starring the likes of Thor became global blockbusters? It all started with "Superman Lives."

"If 'Superman Lives' had come out, I think it would have been a giant hit," filmmaker Jon Schnepp told HuffPost Entertainment. "This movie would have been a departure and completely different from what we're used to from Superman and superhero lore."

"Superman Lives" was supposed to hit theaters in the summer of 1998 with Nicolas Cage playing Superman and Tim Burton in the director's chair. (Test shots from the film with Cage in his Superman costume have been widely disseminated on the internet.) Kevin Smith wrote the script -- with rewrites from Wesley Strick and then Dan Gilroy. It was all set to go into production in early 1998 after Warner Bros. had spent upward of $30 million on pre-production. Then, it didn't happen.

"They put a lot of money into 'Superman Lives,'" Burton told HuffPost in an interview published in January. "What's interesting is if we had been able to make the movie the way we wanted to back then -- it was like 'Batman' all those years ago; there was always a bit of controversy. Like, 'Oh, it's too dark.' It's like, well, now it looks like a light-hearted romp."

The plot of "Superman Lives" would have followed the "Death of Superman" storyline, where Superman is killed by Brianiac, an alien supercomputer, and later resurrected by the Eradicator. Actors ranging from Kevin Spacey to Tim Allen to Chris Rock Courteney Cox to Jim Carrey were approached for various roles. (Spacey eventually starred in "Superman Returns" for Bryan Singer.)

"We were trying to explore the more human side of the character and get into that whole thing," Burton explained, before admitting that there's no real rhyme or reason to why certain films fall apart. "There's all sorts of forces at work: Where the studio's at, the chemistry of the people and the producers. I think that's why it's hard to understand why certain things go down."

Schnepp, an animator who has worked on "Venture Bros." and other series, is trying to understand. He's producing documentary about "Superman Lives," one he's financing, in part, through Kickstarter. The campaign, which started on Jan. 24, has a pledge goal of $98,000. With 10 days to go, Schnepp has raised $79,895. The project is called "The Death of 'Superman Lives.'"

"I want to find out why this was stopped, because I think it was a great idea," Schnepp said.

One reason could have been the cold climate for superhero movies at the time. "Superman Lives" was set to go into production right after "Batman and Robin" was released. That Batman film, with George Clooney as the Caped Crusader, was mocked by fans and critics alike, and earned only $107 million at the domestic box office. According to Schnepp, that failure was a big reason why "Superman Lives" died.

"'Batman and Robin f--ked sh-t up," Schnepp said, bluntly. "It kicked every comic book in the f--king balls."

After "Batman and Robin," it would be eight years before another Batman film was even released. In between, Singer's "X-Men" movie came out and helped launch the modern superhero era. As Schnepp posits, however, everything could have been different if Burton was able to make his version of Superman.

"If 'Superman' came out in 1998 when it was supposed to -- 'X-Men' didn't come out until 2000. How would that have affected 'X-Men'? How would that have affected a lot of Marvel movies? How would that have affected the further adventures of Batman? Michael Keaton was scheduled to make a reappearance as Batman in Burton's 'Superman Lives.' Who knows what that could have spawned?" Schnepp said. "I think it would have changed the landscape for superhero films quite a bit. So much so that we wouldn't have had a Christopher Nolan Batman reboot. We would have probably had some other kind of Batman reboot. It might have been a Frank Miller reboot. It might have gone the way of Darren Aronofsky's Batman." Miller and Aronofsky collaborated on a "Batman: Year One" film in 2000; like "Superman Lives," that film was never produced.

As for "Superman Lives," Schnepp told HuffPost Entertainment that he hopes to get Burton, Smith and Cage on camera to discuss the film, but hadn't confirmed anyone just yet.

"It's not negative toward Warners or Tim Burton," he said. "It's more of a larger idea: things that could have been, that didn't exist, that were almost ready to go and how I want to see that now and didn't get the chance. I want to tell the story of why this thing was created this way."

More information on "The Death of 'Superman Lives'" can be found here.