Names and faces
■ Singer Olivia Newton-John and directors Sam Mendes and Steve McQueen all received high honors from the British government Friday. Grease star Newton-John was made a dame — the female equivalent of a knight — for her singing and acting and for her charitable work supporting cancer research. Oscar-winning director Mendes of American Beauty fame was made a knight along with McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, winner of the Oscar for best picture. The three were among more than 1,000 people named on the New Year’s Honors list. Britain’s Cabinet Office publishes a list of the people receiving honors for merit, service or bravery twice a year: shortly before New Year’s Eve and on the Saturday in June when Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday is officially observed. The list of 1,097 people made public late Friday gave recognition to standouts in the arts, science, research, charity, politics, community development and many other fields. Newton-John, 71, said the honor was a recognition of her British heritage. She was born in Britain but moved to Australia with her family when she was 5. “As a girl born in Cambridge, I am very proud of my British ancestry and so appreciative to be recognized in this way by the United Kingdom,” she said. Newton-John, who has spoken eloquently about living with breast cancer, said she was “grateful beyond words to be included with such an esteemed group of women who have received this distinguished award before me.”
■ A former Disney Channel actor charged with trying to have sex with a 13-year-old boy in Salt Lake City contends he can’t get a fair trial because the judge handling his case is biased against gay people. An attorney for actor Stoney Westmoreland said in court documents filed last month that U.S. District Judge Howard Nielson Jr. is incapable of being impartial because he represented proponents of a gay-marriage ban in California when he was a private attorney, the Deseret News reports. Nielson argued then that being gay is a choice and people can become heterosexual through conversion therapy, defense attorney Wendy Lewis wrote in court documents. Nielson rebutted the notion and denied Westmoreland’s request for him to recuse himself from the case. He said views of his clients don’t represent his own opinions. “I can state categorically and unequivocally that I do not harbor any personal bias or prejudice concerning Mr. Westmoreland,” Nielson wrote in his order denying the motion earlier this month. Westmoreland was fired from his grandfather role on the made-in-Utah Disney Channel series Andi Mack after his December arrest. Police say Westmoreland, 49, communicated with an undercover officer on the app Grindr and was arrested after trying to meet the investigator posing as a teenager. Westmoreland has pleaded innocent to enticement of a minor.