Passages

I Do!

After a 2½-year courtship, actress Ashley Judd (Double Jeopardy), 33, and race-car driver Dario Franchitti, 28, wed on Dec. 12 at Scotland’s Skibo Castle before 180 guests, including Judd’s mother, Naomi, sister Wynonna—also her maid of honor—and actors Ed Norton and Salma Hayek. It’s the first marriage for both. The Scottish-born groom wore a traditional kilt, and his bride donned a white silk Armani gown with a full-length, hand-beaded lace coat….

Also on Dec. 12, 100 Centre Street stars Paula Devicq, 36, and Joseph Lyle Taylor, 37, who play lovers on the A&E legal drama, exchanged vows in a private New York City ceremony. It’s the second marriage for Devicq, the first for Taylor….

Judge Joe Brown, 54, who presides over the reality-courtroom TV show bearing his name, wed Deborah Herron, 36, a retail manager, at a private seaside ceremony in Oxnard, Calif., on Dec. 29. It’s Brown’s second marriage, her first.

Law and Order

Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland, 34, pleaded guilty to domestic battery on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas and was ordered to attend 26 counseling sessions. The case against the rocker, who was arrested in November for allegedly grabbing and pushing his wife at the Hard Rock Hotel, will be dismissed in six months if the counseling is completed and there are no more incidents.

On the Mend

Hollywood veteran Kirk Douglas, 85, left an L.A. hospital on Dec. 13 after a two-day stay for a bladder infection. Paramedics were called when the star got the shivers while playing golf. Douglas said, “I think lots of people thought, this is it.”

Split

Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, 42, filed for divorce from his wife of six years, actress Holly Hunter, 43, on Dec. 19 in L.A. The couple, who have no children together, are both Academy Award winners—she for The Piano, he for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan….

The divorce of country singer Garth Brooks, 39, and his wife of nearly 15 years, Sandy, 37, became final on Dec. 10 in Nashville. The star, who has three daughters with his ex-wife, filed for divorce in November 2000….

The three-year marriage of Titanic star Kate Winslet, 26, and director Jim Threapleton (Hideous Kinky), 28, was declared officially over by the High Court in London on Dec. 13. The couple, who have a 1-year-old daughter, Mia, separated in September.

Deaths

British actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne, 72, who was nominated for an Academy Award for 1994’s The Madness of King George but was best known for his role as a scheming civil servant in the popular 1980s BBC TV series Yes, Minister, died of a heart attack at his home in Hertfordshire on Dec. 26….

Lester Persky, 76, the producer of nearly 30 films, including Shampoo and Taxi Driver, died on Dec. 16 in L.A. of complications from heart surgery….

Comedian Foster Brooks, 89, whose “Lovable Lush” fake-drunk act was wildly popular in the 1970s and ’80s on TV variety shows, died of heart problems on Dec. 20 at his home in Encino, Calif….

C. Carwood Lipton, 81, the World War II veteran portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg in Band of Brothers, HBO’s miniseries about a company of paratroopers, died of pulmonary fibrosis in Pinehurst, N.C., on Dec. 16. Lipton, a recipient of three Purple Hearts and a battlefield commission, supplied much of the material that author Stephen Ambrose used to write the original book….

Longtime University of Washington band director Bill Bissell, 70 who, along with an associate in 1981, invented the wave—the stadium cheer in which fans stand and raise their arms by section—died of heart failure in Bothell, Wash., on Dec. 20.

Engaged

Country star LeAnn Rimes, 19, and dancer Dean Sheremet, 21, who met in May at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Nashville, announced that they plan to wed this year.

Legal Matters

On Dec. 21, an L.A. jury found that Under Siege star Steven Seagal, 49, slandered Patricia Nichols by calling her “dishonest” when they worked together in 1999 on a failed recording project. But the jury, who didn’t award Nichols any money, cleared Seagal of additional charges of sexual harassment. Nichols plans to appeal….

On Dec. 12 in Seattle, David Grohl, 32, and Krist Novoselic, 36, the surviving members of Nirvana, filed a countersuit against former band member Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, 37, who has spent seven months battling them for control of the group’s assets, including unreleased material. Currently, Love, Novoselic and Grohl have equal representation in deciding what to do with the music.

Sued

On Dec. 19 in L.A., Dick Clark, 72, filed a $10 million lawsuit against Recording Academy president Michael Greene for allegedly blacklisting performers from the Grammy Awards who appear first on Clark’s American Music Awards show. Clark also alleges that Greene recently induced singer Michael Jackson to break a promise to appear on Clark’s January show. “I’ve known Michael Jackson since he was a kid….To have another party interfere in that relationship makes me very, very angry,” Clark said. A statement released by the Recording Academy read, “We do nothing outside normal industry business practices.”…

On Nov. 22 in Macomb County, Mich., sanitation worker DeAngelo Bailey, 30, a former schoolmate of Eminem, 29, sued the rapper for more than $1 million, alleging that one of Eminem’s songs damaged his reputation. Part of the 1999 tune “Brain Damage” reads, “I was harassed daily by this fat kid named DeAngelo Bailey.” Bailey denies that he bullied Eminem, whose lawyer Peter Peacock said, “This is a case of ‘I’ll file a lawsuit and see if I can set some money.’ ”

Update

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, 51, had an electronic hearing device implanted in his left ear on Dec. 19 in L.A. In October Limbaugh revealed that he was suffering from an autoimmune disease that had left him almost entirely deaf in both ears (PEOPLE, Oct. 22, 2001). Doctors say the controversial talking head should regain 30 to 40 percent of his hearing in that ear….

On Dec. 18 V.I.P. star Pamela Anderson, 34, lost her bid to require the monitoring of visits her ex-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, 39, has with their two children (PEOPLE, Dec. 17, 2001). Anderson had claimed that Lee was an unfit father, but an L.A. judge said she saw no reason to oversee Lee’s visits. “I am very happy,” Lee said. “I just want to be with my kids.”