Nickelback to Perform at Halftime of NFL Thanksgiving Game

C Flanigan/FilmMagic(NEW YORK) -- Nickelback will perform during halftime of the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game, according to a statement released Thursday.

The performance will be during the first game of the NFL's Thanksgiving tripleheader. The Packers-Lions game will air on Fox.

“We are honored to perform at the United Way halftime show on Thanksgiving Day,” said Chad Kroeger of Nickelback.  “We always love playing in Detroit, our fans there have been tremendously supportive of us through the years and we can’t wait to come back and celebrate an exciting day for the Lions and the city of Detroit."

Additionally, American Idol season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina will sing the national anthem at Ford Field.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Billy Crystal to Host Academy Awards

ABC/A.M.P.A.S.(LOS ANGELES) -- Billy Crystal will host next year's Oscars, ABC News affiliate KABC has confirmed.

“Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show,” he posted Thursday on his Twitter page.

Crystal, who has hosted the show eight times — only Bob Hope can top that — is the obvious safe choice. But at 63, the When Harry Met Sally star is not exactly a fresh face likely to lure the young viewers the Academy so desperately covets.

Still, Crystal, who is equally liked by audiences and Academy members, could rescue the show by returning for the first time since 2004.

The show has been under fire since producer Brett Ratner tendered his resignation Tuesday amid the backlash that ensued over his use of an anti-gay slur. The following day, his handpicked host, Tower Heist star Eddie Murphy, also stepped down.

Hours after Murphy’s exit, Academy organizers drafted Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning producer of A Beautiful Mind, to fill the slot vacated by Ratner.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Carrie Fisher's Top Crazy Tales

PRNewsFoto/Jenny Craig(NEW YORK) -- Given the title of Carrie Fisher's latest book, crazy tales were a given. But the Star Wars actress and Wishful Drinking author exceeds expectations with her new memoir, Shockaholic, in which she chronicles a night on the town with two major senators, her dealings with the dentist that sued Michael Jackson, and her attempt to grant her dying father one final, raunchy request.

Below, check out Fisher's most outlandish anecdotes:

On a 1985 Washington, D.C., dinner with her date, the then-single former Sen. Chris Dodd, and dining companion, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy:

"Suddenly, Senator Kennedy, seated directly across from me, looked at me with his alert, aristocratic eyes and asked me a most surprising question. 'So,' he said, clearly amused, 'do you think you'll be having sex with Chris at the end of your date?' ... To my left, Chris Dodd looked at me with an unusual grin hanging on his very flushed face."

On being a patient of the dentist who sued Michael Jackson:

"So here was Dr. Chandler telling me how Michael was buying his kid computers and taking him to incredible places and sleeping in the same bed and getting him ... WAIT! 'Hang on,' I said. 'I have to interrupt here. Let's just go back a tic, okay?' 'Sure,' Chandler said. ' They're sleeping in the same bed?!' He blinked. 'Well, yeah, but my ex-wife is always there, so it's okay and his stepfather and ... and ... and ...'

"Then one night some months later, Dr. Chandler came up to my house again and told me that he and his wife were going to sue Michael. 'Why?' I asked. 'Because,' he explained rationally, 'Michael is sleeping in the same bed with my boy.'"

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Daniel Radcliffe Was Allergic to ‘Harry Potter’

2011 Warner Bros. Ent./ Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.(LONDON) -- Daniel Radcliffe was once allergic to Harry Potter.

In a never-before-seen conversation with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling featured in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Blu-ray and DVD, on sale Friday, Radcliffe reveals that he had an allergic reaction to his first pair of Potter glasses.

“It was brilliant because we put the glasses on and eventually we realized that I was allergic to them,” he said. “I was actually allergic to the Harry Potter glasses. Because I had these two rings of whiteheads and spots that had come up around my eyes and it took us a week to realize that it was actually the glasses.”

“It’s lucky neither of us believe in signs isn’t it?,” Rowling laughed. “You were meant to be.”

Radcliffe and Rowling’s 53-minute long conversation is one of more than a dozen extras featured on the disc. Their sit-down, filmed in London in 2010, chronicles how the iconic film franchise changed both their lives (after Radcliffe got a new pair of glasses, of course).

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Mario Batali Apologizes for Comparing Bankers to Hitler

ABC/ Ida Mae Astute(NEW YORK) -- Chef Mario Batali has apologized for comparing bankers to Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler at the TIME Person of the Year panel in New York City.

Many bankers suggested boycotting his 20 restaurants after the television chef said, "the ways the bankers have kind of toppled the way money is distributed and taken most of it into their hands is as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

CMA Awards 2011 Winners: Taylor Swift Named Entertainer of the Year

Jason Kempin/Getty Images(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- Taylor Swift was named Entertainer of the Year for the second time Wednesday night at the 45th annual CMA Awards, which aired live from Nashville, Tenn., on ABC.

Swift now joins Barbara Mandrell as the only other female artist in CMA history ever to be named Entertainer of the Year twice.

"I'm so happy right now!," gushed Swift from the podium.  "This is thanks to all the fans who filled up those stadiums and arenas all over the world this year."

The pop country star then proceeded to thank all the artists who've joined her onstage for her Speak Now tour, reading the names off her arm, where she'd scrawled them with a marker.  That list of names ranged from pop stars like Justin Bieber and Jason Mraz, to rappers like Nelly and T.I., to fellow country stars like Tim McGraw.

While Swift snagged the evening's most prestigious award, the night's big winner was The Band Perry, who scooped up three trophies, including New Artist of the Year, and both Song and Single of the Year for their smash hit "If I Die Young."  Accepting the Song of the Year trophy was Kimberly Perry, who wrote "If I Die Young."

"I truly believe that [the song] would've been written with or without me.  It just always felt like a song that was meant to be here," Perry said.

The night's other winners included country's current power couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.  The two, who wed earlier this year, each picked up their second straight CMA Male and Female Vocalist of the Year awards.

Jason Aldean scored two wins, picking up the Album of the Year award for My Kinda Party, and the Musical Event of the Year trophy for his duet with Kelly Clarkson, "Don't You Wanna Stay."  Sugarland took home their fifth win in the Vocal Duo category, and dedicated it to their fans, especially the "good folks of Indiana."  Over the summer a number of fans were killed when the group's stage collapsed during the Indiana State Fair due to high winds.

Lady Antebellum, meanwhile, scored their third straight win as Vocal Group of the Year.

Here's a list of winners at the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards:

-- Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift
-- Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
-- Male Vocalist of the Year: Blake Shelton
-- New Artist of the Year: The Band Perry
-- Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum
-- Single of the Year: "If I Die Young," The Band Perry
-- Album of the Year: My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean
-- Song of the Year: "If I Die Young," The Band Perry
-- Vocal Duo of the Year: Sugarland
-- Musical Event of the Year: "Don't You Wanna Stay," Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson
-- Music Video of the Year: "You and Tequila," Kenny Chesney w/Grace Potter
-- Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Ashton Kutcher Catches Heat over Joe Paterno Tweet

Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) -- Ashton Kutcher is catching heat for a tweet about Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's firing.

Kutcher tweeted Wednesday night to his 8.3 million Twitter followers, “How do you fire Jo Pa?  #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste.”

Paterno was fired in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.  School officials have been blamed for not notifying the police about Sandusky's alleged crimes against young boys that apparently went on for years.

Kutcher's tweet triggered a rush of responses from people blasting him: "Today's lesson? @aplusk Think (get facts) before you tweet! #yikes,” wrote Laurie Good.  Another follower wrote, “With 8 million followers, you MAY want to reserve your opinions until you know the whole story.”

Kutcher removed his original tweet a short time later and then tweeted, “Heard Joe was fired, fully recant previous tweet! Didn't have full story. #admitwhenYoumakemistakes”

The actor followed that with, “This is an insane story, I just heard paterno was fired, getting the rest of the story now...Wow.”

Kutcher then tweeted, “As an advocate in the fight against child sexual exploitation, I could not be more remorseful for all involved in the Penn St. case.”

To the Twitter followers who criticized him, Kutcher replied, “Honestly just had half facts man my bad” and "U r right, I need 2b more responsible 4 my voice.”

A Kutcher tweet early Thursday morning stated, "As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed. I feel awful about this error. Won't happen again."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Dakota Fanning's Perfume Print Ad Pulled for Being Too Suggestive

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic(LONDON) -- Dakota Fanning's U.K. magazine ad for Marc Jacobs's Oh, Lola! perfume has been deemed too suggestive by the U.K.'s Ad Standards Authority, and it has ruled that the ads must be pulled, reports People.com.

The print ad features the 17-year-old actress in a thigh-length dress with an oversize rose-topped bottle of Oh, Lola! positioned between her legs.

The U.K.'s Ad Standards Authority found that "the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality.  Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualize a child.”  Furthermore, the ASA said the ad was irresponsible, and likely to cause “serious offense."

On Tuesday, Marc Jacobs released a statement saying, "It was our pleasure to work with Dakota Fanning for the Oh, Lola! campaign.  She is a smart, pretty, interesting, talented young woman and we would never have suggested an advertising concept that we thought was inappropriate."

Jacobs added, "I believe she is also very thoughtful about the projects she takes on and would not have done something that she felt was in questionable taste.  It's really unfortunate that people have taken anything negative from what we believe is a really good campaign and one that so perfectly embodies the fragrance."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Kris Humphries' Family Reacts to Divorce

Jerritt Clark/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) -- As Kris Humphries continues to mend his broken heart in his home state of Minnesota, his aunt, Diana Humphries, tells In Touch the soon-to-be ex-hubby of Kim Kardashian is doing just fine.

"We support Kris 120 percent. We love him very, very, very much.  I talk to him all the time and he’s doing fine,” she says.

Meanwhile, some members of the Humphries family apparently didn't think the marriage would last.  In Touch reports another aunt, Marcia Evans, told friends she was surprised the couple had gone through with the wedding in the first place.

Back in June, just two months before the nuptials, Evans said, “It’s a miracle the relationship has gotten this far.  I hope and pray that if God ordained their union that it will go on.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

'Family Circus' Creator Dead at 89

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz.) -- Bil Keane, the creator of Family Circus, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, according to The Washington Post.  He was 89 years old.

Keane first drew the one-panel cartoon featuring Billy, Jeffy, Dolly, P.J. and their parents in February 1960, and the comic, which is now drawn by his son Jeff, is currently featured in nearly 1,500 newspapers across the country.

Bil Keane’s first cartoon was published in 1936 in the Philadelphia Daily News.  He served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945, and was president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1981 to 1983.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio