Singer's bodyguard shoots himself in leg

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A bodyguard for R&B singer R. Kelly accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Marietta nightclub after being asked to remove the gun before entering the club.

Maceo Price, 32, of Covington, La., was escorting Kelly and Ronald "Slim" Williams, co-founder of Cash Money Records, into Vegas Nights on Saturday night, according to Marietta police.

Price was asked to remove the gun before entering the nightclub and it went off as he was taking it out of the holster, a police officer said.

Gooding kisses, tells about movie love scenes

NEW YORK -- Cuba Gooding Jr. understands why his "The Fighting Temptations" co-star Beyonce Knowles was uneasy about their kissing scenes in the comedy.

"She was probably a little nervous, because for her, it was more about, 'Oh, no, I'm performing for the peanut gallery,"' Gooding tells People magazine in its Sept. 15 issue.

In the film, Gooding plays an ad executive who learns he must create a successful gospel choir to collect his inheritance. The movie is set for release on Sept. 19.

Gooding, who won a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1997 for "Jerry Maguire," previously went to great lengths to loosen up before shooting intimate scenes.

Says the 35-year-old actor: "'Butt Naked' was my nickname for a long time on movie sets because when I had a love scene, I'd run butt naked through the set just to show them, 'Who cares?"'

George Clooney marries Italian woman, sort of

VENICE, Italy -- George Clooney said "I do" -- sort of -- when a journalist asked him to marry her during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival.

Clooney was answering questions Wednesday about his new film, "Intolerable Cruelty," when an Italian TV journalist wearing a white veil proposed marriage.

"All right, come here," Clooney replied.

The woman approached the dais, bringing along a cameraman doubling as a priest, who produced two rings.

"Finally, finally married!" Clooney said, although he added: "My fear is that he really is a priest."

Clooney kissed the journalist, laughed and had a sip of celebratory wine before moving on: "Next question?"

Stylist for singers goes to prison for fraud

NEW YORK -- A stylist whose clients included Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Tyra Banks and Queen Latifah, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for pawning more than $1 million in jewelry he borrowed from Harry Winston, Piaget and other stores.

Derek Khan, 45, was sentenced by Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Micki Scherer on his guilty plea to scheme to defraud. When arrested on March 5, Khan was charged with first-degree grand larceny and faced up to 25 years in prison.

Khan was arrested after he failed to return jewelry worth "in excess of $1 million" that he had borrowed from last November through February "for exhibition, advertisement and marketing purposes," a felony complaint said.

Stones, tenor join Asian tourism promotion

HONG KONG -- The Rolling Stones and tenor Jose Carreras will headline a four-week government-sponsored music festival designed to attract tourists to SARS-battered Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Harbour Fest will take place at the outdoor Tamar site along Hong Kong's waterfront Oct. 15- Nov. 9, organizers said Wednesday. More than 200,000 tickets for 18 shows will be available. Ticket sales begin Sept. 12.

Carreras will perform on Oct. 20. The Rolling Stones will play Nov. 7 and 9, with top tickets priced at $256.

"We thought we could all help Hong Kong recover by bringing some exciting, world-class entertainment here," said James Thompson, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, which is organizing the event with the government.

Carlos Santana, British R&B singer Craig David, Irish boy band Westlife, Taiwan pop sensation Jay Chou and boy band F4 also will participate.

Kiss with Madonna is a first for Britney Spears

WASHINGTON -- Britney Spears can get a lot of mileage from a kiss.

The 21-year-old pop star was asked about her MTV Video Music Awards smooch with Madonna during a news conference promoting Thursday night's NFL kickoff celebration. Spears was slated as the headliner of the event.

Spears said she left for England immediately after the Aug. 28 awards show in New York City and was unaware of the media attention the kiss had received. She said it was unrehearsed and that it was the first time she had kissed a woman.

Would she do it again?

"I hadn't kissed anyone in a long time," she responded, "so that should last me for a while."

-- From wire reports