Actor Sean Penn is urging sponsors of the 2014 Dakar Rally to drop Bolivia from the famed race to show support for a businessman imprisoned there.
The Oscar winner has called on the government to put pressure on Bolivian officials to release New York native Jacob Ostreicher, who was detained in 2011 on money laundering allegations but was never charged.
Penn also wants top motoring firms…

Oscar winner Meryl Streep took to the stage in New York on Monday to honor the careers of fellow actresses Lois Smith and Frances Sternhagen.
The Mamma Mia! star presented Smith and Sternhagen with lifetime achievement prizes at the 58th annual Village Voice Obie Awards, which celebrate Off-Broadway shows.
Actress Eisa Davis was also among the honourees, landing the Sustained Excellence in Performance accolade, while the…

Sir Anthony Hopkins has reportedly joined the cast of John Travolta’s much-anticipated new movie about mobster John Gotti.
Gotti: In The Shadow of My Father picked up Travolta as its lead in 2010, while Nick Cassavetes signed on as director and Lindsay Lohan and Joe Pesci were announced as potential co-stars.
Cassavetes and Pesci dropped out amid delays in 2011 and a deal with Lohan didn’t…

A top Chinese movie executive involved in Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut has fallen victim to thieves after his luggage was stolen from a French hotel during the Cannes Film Festival.
Zhang Qiang, vice president of the China Film Group, was forced to pull out of a press conference with The Matrix actor for the film Man of Tai Chi on Thursday after discovering that his…

Embattled actor Edward Furlong has been released from a Los Angeles jail after posting $100,000 bail.
The Terminator 2: Judgment Day star was arrested on Thursday for allegedly violating a restraining order obtained by his ex-girlfriend Monica Keena, after he was found in a stairwell close to her West Hollywood home.
He spent two nights behind bars before being released on Saturday afternoon, reports the Associated…

Oscar winner Christoph Waltz has assured fans he is “fine” after he was caught up in a gun scare at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Friday.
The Django Unchained star was on set for an outdoor TV interview with French show Le Grand Journal for the local Canal + channel when a man nearby allegedly fired a weapon and claimed to have a…