People talk 11/27/02

Supermodel, hairstylist husband decide to split

NEW YORK -- German supermodel Heidi Klum and her husband of five years, celebrity hairstylist Ric Pipino, have separated, a spokeswoman for Klum said.

The split is "mutual and amicable" and the two have not divorced, Desiree Gruber said Monday.

The 29-year-old was among the headliners at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York earlier this month.

Klum, who has appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine's swimsuit issue, plans to continue modeling, acting and business ventures, said a statement released by Gruber.

Pipino, 43, plans to continue working on new salons in Miami and New York, the statement said.

Vacation break means more work for singer

TOKYO -- After being hospitalized for an emotional breakdown last year, Mariah Carey flew to the tiny Italian island of Capri for a much-needed break.

It was hardly an idle vacation.

Within five months, the multiplatinum-selling diva had nursed herself back to health -- and recorded all 15 songs for her new disc, "Charmbracelet," which comes out in the United States on Dec. 3. The experience, she said, was therapeutic.

"I put all the things I had gone through into my music," Carey told reporters Tuesday in Tokyo. "In general, in my life, I'm in a really good, happy place."

If the disc's first-week sales in Japan are any indication, Carey's career may on the rebound, too.

Despite her poor-selling album "Glitter" last year, Carey's 12th album has been at No. 1 on Oricon Entertainment's pop charts in Japan since its debut last week. Thousands of screaming fans have mobbed her appearances in Tokyo.

Carey, who arrived Monday in Japan to film her second video, "The One," appeared relaxed and smiled broadly.

Knoxville shows sorrow for teenager's death

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville expressed sympathy to the family of a teen who died last week after falling from a moving pickup truck in a stunt possibly inspired by the TV show.

"My heart goes out to the kid's family, but we've done everything we can to prevent this type of thing from happening," Knoxville told The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Monday's editions.

"We don't take submissions. We never have," he said. "We have warnings at the beginning and the end. In every interview I have ever given, I have stressed: 'Don't try this at home.' We steer away from stunts that are easily imitable."

Adam Ports, 18, of Wooster, Ohio, and three fellow students at Tiffin University set a chair on fire and threw it from the back of a moving truck while friends photographed the stunt. Officials said Ports either jumped or fell from the truck and died the next day from head injuries.

Tennis star, actress wife announce child's birth

LOS ANGELES -- Tennis star Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson, have something new to love: their first child.

Christian Charles Sampras was born Thursday in Los Angeles, Wilson's spokeswoman, Deborah Grimes, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Both mother and baby are healthy, Grimes said.

The couple were married two years ago.-- From wire reports