The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

Actor Depardieu hits back at French PM, hands in passport

Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:54 AM PST

PARIS, Dec 16 — French actor Gerard Depardieu, accused of trying to escape the taxman by buying a house just across the border in Belgium, retorted that he left because "success, creation, talent" were now being punished in his homeland.

The 63-year-old Depardieu, a popular and colourful figure in France, is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

High life and a free man: Depardieu makes his choice. — Reuters file pic

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Depardieu's behaviour as "pathetic" and unpatriotic at a time when the French were being asked to pay higher taxes to reduce a bloated national debt.

"Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?" Depardieu said in a letter to weekly newspaper le Journal du Dimanche.

"I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned," he said.

An angry member of parliament has proposed that France adopt a US-inspired law that would force Depardieu or anyone trying to escape full tax dues to forgo their nationality.

The "Cyrano de Bergerac" star recently bought a house in Nechin, a Belgian village a short walk from the border with France, where 27 per cent of residents are French nationals, and put up his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale.

Depardieu, who has also inquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency, said he was handing in his passport and social security card.

He said he had paid €145 million (RM578.7 million) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14.

"People more illustrious than me have gone into (tax) exile. Of all those that have left none have been insulted as I have."

The actor's move comes three months after Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH and France's richest man, caused an uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium — a move he said was not for tax reasons.

Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over €1.3 million. Nor do they pay capital gains tax on sales of shares.

"We no longer have the same homeland," Depardieu said. "I no longer have any reason to stay here. I will continue to love the French and this public that I have shared so much emotion with."

Hollande is pressing ahead too with plans to impose a 75-per-cent supertax on income over €1 million.

"Who are you to judge me, I ask you Mr Ayrault, prime minister of Mr Hollande? Despite my excesses, my appetite and my love of life, I remain a free man." — Reuters

US pop star Kelly Clarkson announces engagement

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:40 PM PST

LOS ANGELES, Dec 16 — Kelly Clarkson, who became the first contestant to win "American Idol" a decade ago and went on to several chart-topping successes, has gotten engaged to her boyfriend, the singer said in a Twitter message yesterday.

Clarkson, 30, previously revealed she had been dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock since early this year. Blackstock is the stepson of country singer Reba McEntire.

"I'M ENGAGED!" Clarkson said on Twitter. "I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night!"

She then followed that by posting a link to a photo of her canary yellow diamond engagement ring on a website. She wrote that her boyfriend helped design it and that she "can't wait to make Brandon's ring."

Clarkson's album "Stronger" hit No. 2 last year on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and she in previous years topped pop charts with her songs "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "A Moment Like This."

The Texas-born singer won the Fox television singing contest "American Idol" in the show's debut year in 2002, and has had more success than many of the show's stars from following years.

Clarkson has burnished an image as an artist willing to speak her mind, even confessing to feelings of loneliness.

Last month, in an appearance on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show," Clarkson said she had been dating Blackstock since earlier this year and was thankful to have him.

"I am not alone for the first time for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'm very happy," she said on the show.

In the same November appearance, Clarkson said she expected to get engaged to Blackstock. "We will totally, probably elope," she told DeGeneres. — Reuters

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Ahad, 16 Disember 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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