Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Photographers appeared in a court in Nanterre, France, on Tuesday over topless photographs of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. The photos were published in a French gossip magazine in 2012, the year after Middleton married Prince William. The couple subsequently filed a court complaint, but they didn’t attend the trial held in a suburb outside Paris. The prosecutor asked the court to impose substantial fines on the magazine executives and photographers Cyril Moreau and Dominique Jacovides. Jean Veil, the lawyer for Kate and William, said he was seeking significant damages. The pictures of the duchess were taken with telephoto lenses while she and her husband apparently were sunbathing on a patio at a private luxury estate in France’s southern Provence region. The owner and executive editor of celebrity magazine Closer also were tried along with the former publisher of a French regional newspaper that also ran the photos. None of the executives attended. Francois Blistene, an attorney representing the photographers, claimed his clients are innocent and said he is certain they will be cleared of any wrongdoing. “The investigation was botched,” Blistene said. “They were looking for scapegoats; they found these two. But the elements in the court file show that they are not involved.” A verdict is expected July 4.
■ Carol Burnett typically spends her mornings doing crossword puzzles with her husband, but the comedy legend could return to a full-time work schedule if the pilot she recently shot for ABC becomes a regular series. In Household Name, produced by Amy Poehler, Burnett plays an eccentric, aging movie star who arranged to continue living in her old mansion even though the home’s new owners, a young family, have already moved in. Burnett says Poehler would play her daughter in future episodes. “I’m looking forward to actually locking eyeballs with Amy because I know her and we’re friends,” Burnett said in an interview. “So I’m looking forward to the show in which, as I say, we’ll be able to lock eyeballs and get in the sandbox together.” The actresses are appearing at a luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., today to benefit the Children’s Institute. ABC is expected to announce its slate of new shows later this month. Burnett also continues to appear onstage in live question-and-answer sessions around the country, and she’s developing a screenplay by her late daughter, Carrie Hamilton, into a movie with CBS Films.