ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

PEOPLE

Heche Focuses on Marrying Cameraman

On the eve of a 10-city tour to promote her autobiography, Anne Heche has married a cameraman she met while working on a documentary about her ex-girlfriend, Ellen DeGeneres. Heche, 32, and Coleman Laffoon, 27, were married at the Paramour villa near downtown L.A. Saturday.

Heche has starred in such films as “Six Days, Seven Nights” and “Wag the Dog.” She appears in the forthcoming film “John Q” and is developing a TV series for Warner Bros., her publicist, Brad Cafarelli, said. She met Laffoon while working on a documentary about DeGeneres’ return to stand-up comedy after the cancellation of her ABC sitcom “Ellen.”

Aaliyah Fund to Benefit Fine-Arts Students

A scholarship fund to help fine-arts students has been formed in memory of the late pop star Aaliyah. It will help pay for the books and supplies of two students attending the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, from which Aaliyah graduated.

The fund is expected to begin dispensing assistance next year. The 22-year-old singer and actress died Aug. 25 in a plane crash in the Bahamas, where she was filming a music video.

MTV’s Daly Files Suit Against Electronics Firm

MTV personality Carson Daly has sued Motorola, claiming the company backed out of a $1-million deal to promote cell phones, pagers and other products.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in New York City last week, claims that as part of a tentative agreement reached in January, he agreed to not make commercials for any of Motorola’s competitors. As a result, he turned down a lucrative deal with another cell phone maker.

Julie Cordua, a spokeswoman for Motorola, confirmed that the company had been in negotiations with Daly but decided against signing him to a contract after reviewing its marketing strategy. “A contract between Carson Daly and Motorola did not exist,” she said.

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebs Join Campaign to Cut Down on Gossip

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler and Whoopi Goldberg are among the entertainers who have lent their names to a group that today is launching a media campaign to reduce gossip in everyday life.

The organization, Words Can Heal (https://www.wordscanheal.org), will begin running television advertisements and displaying posters in the Washington, D.C., area, reminding people about the power of words.

The effort, designed “to promote ethical speech to improve democracy and build mutual respect, honor and integrity,” is the brainchild of Rabbi Chaim Feld of Aish Hatorah, an international orthodox Jewish educational organization.

The group is backed by at least eight senators, including Majority Leader and South Dakota Democrat Tom Daschle, Connecticut Democrat Joseph Lieberman and Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas.

RADIO

‘Breakfast With Beatles’ Gets Permanent Host

For the first time since Deidre O’Donoghue died last January, “Breakfast With the Beatles” has a permanent host. He is Chris Carter, one of five people who had been trying out to take over for O’Donoghue on the long-running music program.

Carter, a former guitarist with the band Dramarama, will be heard playing the Fab Four’s music Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon on KLSX-FM (97.1).

TELEVISION

Reality Gets Ugly for MTV’s ‘Real World’

The real world keeps intruding on MTV’s “The Real World.”

The latest version of the unscripted series is being shot in Chicago, but not everyone there is happy about it. There have been protests and graffiti outside the three-story brick building that is housing the young adults whose lives are being opened up for inspection on the show. It’s gotten contentious enough that MTV is pressing charges of disorderly conduct against 11 of the demonstrators.

“They’re trying to sell us an image of our lives. And if you don’t agree with that image, you go to jail,” said Nato Thompson, 29, an arts curator who was among those arrested.

MTV officials declined to comment.