Medical examiner rules Ike Turner died of cocaine overdose

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rock 'n' roll pioneer Ike Turner's death last month at age 76 was caused by a cocaine overdose, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office said.

"We are listing that he abused cocaine, and that's what resulted in the cocaine toxicity," said Paul Parker, chief investigator at the medical examiner's office.

The medical examiner's office also listed hypertensive cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema as "significant and contributing factors" to Turner's death, Parker said.

A telephone call from The Associated Press seeking comment from the attorney of Turner's daughter, Mia Turner, was not immediately returned.

Turner, whose musical accomplishments were overshadowed by his image as the man who brutally abused former wife Tina Turner, died December 12 after years of drug abuse. He was jailed in 1989 and served 17 months.

Turner once told the AP he originally began using drugs to stay awake and handle the rigours of nonstop touring during his glory years.

Eva Longoria defends Jessica Simpson

NEW YORK (AP) — Eva Longoria has some advice for Jessica Simpson.

Longoria, who is married to San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, says Simpson is taking unnecessary heat from Dallas Cowboys fans who blame the 27-year-old singer's weekend trip to Mexico with her boyfriend, quarterback Tony Romo, for the Cowboys' defeat by the New York Giants.

"People gave me that ... when I started dating Tony," Longoria, star of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," said in an interview Monday with E! Entertainment Television's "Daily 10."

"If he had a bad game they'd blame me. If he, uh, you know, had an injury, it's like, 'What did you do to him?"' the 32-year-old actress laughed.

"Believe me, they are not thinking about us when they're on the court, when they're on the field," she said of Parker and Romo. "It's like they've got a little more important things to do."

Longoria, who wed Parker last July, also shot down speculation that she's pregnant.

Stephen Colbert gets run at Smithsonian

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Colbert was denied when he tried to run for president this year in South Carolina. Now the fake TV pundit is getting some love from the city of his birth.

His portrait was hung Wednesday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington for a six-week showing in what the museum considers an "appropriate place" — right between the bathrooms near the "America's Presidents" exhibit. Museum officials stress it's only temporary.

"We agreed to go along with the joke and hang it for a short time in between the bathrooms," said museum spokeswoman Bethany Bentley. "Let me tell you two key things here: His portrait is not coming into the collection, and it's not hanging permanently."

That may come as a surprise to Colbert, who has campaigned for the honour and boasted on his Comedy Central show Tuesday night that his portrait was "hanging in the hall of presidents, just a few yards from the father of our country — exactly where I believe it belongs".

Colbert, who plays a pompous conservative talk-show host on "The Colbert Report" and recently tried to run for president as a Democrat, went to great lengths to persuade Smithsonian Institution officials he was worthy.

The portrait — actually three portraits in one — depicts a debonair Colbert standing at a fireplace in front of a similar portrait of himself posing in front of the same mantel with a third picture of himself.

After the work was rejected by the National Museum of American History, Colbert eventually made his way to the portrait gallery. Bentley said Colbert wasn't begging so much as "making his case". She said they welcome the conversation about whose portraits are included in the gallery's collection. It was just not Colbert's time, she said.

"Who's the competition? Who do I need to knock out of here to get me up?" Colbert asked gallery director Marc Pachter.

Colbert argued he was more deserving than athletes Lance Armstrong or Andre Agassi and pulled out his Hacky Sack for a few kicks in the art gallery to prove it. "You do realise I'm in big trouble if you hit any of these portraits," Pachter said.

Oprah school matron appears in court

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — A judge set an April 21 trial date for a dormitory matron accused of abusing students at a school set up by Oprah Winfrey for disadvantaged girls.

Tiny Virginia Makopo, 27, faces charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury, allegedly committed against six students ages 13 to 15 and a 23-year-old fellow dormitory matron.

Makopo appeared in court with a towel over her head. She did not speak during her brief court appearance.

Police said there were at least three serious cases of indecent assault, and that the alleged abuse took place over four months at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, which opened last January.

Before the allegations, Winfrey said she told the pupils she was the "momma bear" who would protect them.

The 53-year-old talk-show host has spoken in the past of being raped by a distant cousin at 9 and then abused by three other men, trusted family friends. She has campaigned for laws in the United States to protect children from abusers.

DMX to pay $1.5 million in damages

UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland (AP) — DMX has been ordered to pay $1.5 million to the mother of his child after the rapper-actor failed to appear in court to defend himself against allegations of defamation.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was sued by Monique Wayne for defamation of character after he allegedly told a magazine that Wayne raped him during a 2003 hotel stay in Baltimore, leading to her pregnancy.

Wayne responded to the comments by filing a $6 million lawsuit against Simmons in Prince George's County Circuit Court in October 2006.

Judge Thomas Smith ruled in Wayne's favour Friday when Simmons didn't appear at the scheduled court hearing. He ordering Simmons to pay Wayne $518,400 in compensation and $1 million in punitive penalties, according to Wayne's lawyer, Stephanie Moran.

"The judgment of the court speaks to the outrageousness of what Mr. Simmons said about Miss Wayne and that such false statements will not be tolerated," Moran said.

A lawyer for Simmons didn't return calls Tuesday seeking comment.

Besides his top-selling records, Simmons has acted in films including "Never Die Alone," "Romeo Must Die" and "Cradle 2 the Grave".