*The Smashing Pumpkins filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Virgin Records, saying the record label has illegally used their name and music in a “Pepsi Stuff” promotion with Pepsi Co. and Amazon.com that threatens their reputation for “artistic integrity.”
*Fleetwood Mac singer- guitarist Lindsey Buckingham said singer Sheryl Crow may have jumped the gun a bit when she said the band would be touring soon — and that she’d be joining them. “I think we were all a little surprised [Crow] was announcing that to the world with such certainty,” Buckingham told Billboard.com with a laugh. But Buckingham did say the band is “looking at the idea of touring sometime in the first half of 2009,” and it might have new material.
*Heirs of the late actor Steve McQueen have gone to court in Manhattan to stop an apparel manufacturer from using the King of Cool’s name and likeness. Chadwick McQueen and The Terry McQueen Testamentary Trust have filed suit to stop Belstaff USA Corp. from marketing jackets, coats and other clothing under the name of the actor, who starred in classics such as “Bullitt” and “The Great Escape” and died in 1980.
*Sean “Diddy” Combs has settled a lawsuit brought by a man who claims the rapper-entertainment mogul punched him after a February 2007 post-Oscar party outside a Hollywood hotel. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in court papers posted Monday on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com.
*Country singer Sara Evans, who finalized a bitter divorce last year, is engaged to ex-University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker. No wedding date was announced.
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Personals was compiled by Kim Profant from Tribune news services and staff reports.
