The man accused of stalking E! TV personality Ryan Seacrest, Chidi Uzomah, has pleaded not guilty to one felony stalking charge and two misdemeanor charges of disobeying a court order, TMZ reports.

The judge also granted a protective order stating that Uzomah must remain 500 yards from Ryan at all times. Uzomah, an active member of the U.S. Army, is accused of stalking Ryan between Sept. 15 and Oct. 30. He was arrested at the E! building last week in possession of a knife and looking for Ryan.

In September, Uzomah pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors after he choked Ryan’s bodyguard outside of a hospital in Orange County.

He’s due back in court on November 16.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: E! confirms alleged Ryan Seacrest stalker is Chidi Uzomah, and that the armed man showed up at the offices just before 10 a.m. this morning. He was in possession nof a three-inch folding knife, but never got close to Ryan.

Uzomah’s red Pontiac Thunderbird remains parked outside the E! News studio and was found to contain a variety of telling (and random) objects: multiple maps of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, a screwdriver, towels, clothes and a spare pair of shoes, water bottles, a receipt from Jack in the Box, Q-tips, rock crystals and a blue tarp.
TMZ reports a man has been arrested for allegedly stalking Ryan Seacrest inside the E! building.

Sources say tell TMZ it’s the same man who attacked Ryan’s security guard with a knife last month, Chidi Uzomah, outside an Orange County hospital.

TMZ cites another source inside the building who says the suspect had a knife with him today and is being detained right now by LAPD in the lobby of the E! building.

Uzomah reportedly went to the lobby and asked to see Ryan, but the guard there knew who he was and called the cops.

We’re told Uzomah went to the lobby and asked to see Seacrest. The guard was aware of Uzomah and E! called the LAPD.

Uzomah plead guilty last month in the O.C. hospital incident to three misdemeanors. The judge placed him on three years probation and ordered him to stay away from Ryan, who was reportedly in the building when Uzomah entered today.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Kara DioGuardi is still shocked that Paula Abdul has quit American Idol after eight seasons.

“I can’t get over it. I’m completely shocked,” she said on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show Friday. “It’s such a loss for the show, such a loss for the contestants. She’s definitely the heart of the panel.”

“The kind of heart she treated the contestants with she treated me with last year,” said DioGuardi, who added that she was “scared” joining the show last season. “She was so kind to me and made me feel immediately like part of the panel.”

DioGuardi added that she hopes Abdul “will reconsider” her decision to leave.

“I’ve left her a lot of messages. I talked to her last week,” DioGuardi said. “I haven’t spoken to her this week.”

DioGuardi shot down speculation that she was hired last season as an insurance policy against Abdul in case she leaves.

“The way I’m understanding it is that it was her choice to leave,” DioGuardi said of Abdul. “I never was here to replace her. It would be impossible to replace Paula Abdul. She’s an incredible talent. She is somebody who helped make the show as big as it is. How could you ever replace that?”

“If anything, she was really somebody who helped me because it was awkward at times being the fourth person,” she added.

DioGuardi – who is in Denver Friday to begin auditions – said she is excited to return to the show alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson for a second season, calling Idol “an incredible show.”

Said the new judge, “Last year, it was tough at times. Being the new kid, you get beat up a bit. I’m hoping this year that people are more accepting.”

On Thursday, Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice said producers are currently looking for a fourth judge to replace Abdul. (Katy Perry and Victoria Beckham are among the guest judges who have signed on.)

Abdul – who left show because she reportedly she didn’t get her desired $20 million deal – isn’t sweating the fact that she is out of a job.

“At this point, there are so many wonderful things that are being offered to me,” Abdul told the Associated Press Thursday. “And I got to take a deep breath, sleep a little … and go through everything.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Ryan Seacrest is now the richest reality TV host ever.

The American Idol host, 34, has inked a three-year deal with CKX, parent of Idol producer 19 Entertainment, worth $15 million per year, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Under the deal, Seacrest will be exclusive to CKX in broadcast TV primetime to host Idol or any CKX-produced show that might succeed it. The deal had been in the works for the past several weeks.

With his new pact, Seacrest now more than triples his previous salary of slightly less than $5 million per season.

Seacrest will still maintain a cable agreement with Comcast and his gig as E! Entertainment’s main anchor. He’ll also continue producing Keeping Up with the Kardashians for E! and an upcoming Jamie Oliver ABC reality show.

Reps for the star had no comment.

Now that Seacrest is secured on the show, the Reporter says that Idol wants to ink deals with judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi for next season.

Simon Cowell’s future remains up in the air, however.

He has said he may leave the show when his contract is up at the end of next season. British reports claim he has asked to be paid in excess of $100 million a season.

Source

Ryan Seacrest was spotted hanging out with the Lindsay Lohan on Thursday night and when asked why the two were spending time together, Seacrest revealed he is a mentor of sorts for the 22-year-old.

“I’m trying to, you know, give her guidance,” Seacrest told a cameraman for TMZ. “She wants to sing. She loves to sing. Dude, you know she’s a singer. Come on.”

Seacrest added he is impressed with Lohan’s vocal work.

“She’s good,” he said before jumping into the back of a black SUV after an evening clubbing with the “Mean Girls” star.

A short while later, cameras captured Lohan also diving into the back of the same vehicle, though she remained mum on her relationship with the TV host and radio DJ.

According to X17 Online, the SUV took the two to Lohan’s home, where loud music was heard coming from her house, prompting a police presence.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Ryan Seacrest has been named permanent co-host of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” which has been renamed to “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest”.

Seascrest will continue to co-host dick clark prods.’ veteran New Year’s Eve special with Clark.

The two are executive producing with dick clark prods. president Orly Adelson.

Seacrest first joined “Rockin’ Eve” in 2005, following Clark’s stroke.

“Watching ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve’ is an American tradition,” said Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment. “Ryan has been a tremendous part of the show the last couple of years and we’re thrilled he’ll be part of it for years to come.”

Adelson called the name change of the program a reflection of the success of Seacrest as a co-host.

“We are thrilled to extend Ryan’s contract as co-host of the ‘party of the year’ with Dick,” she said.

Source

WENN

On his KIIS-FM radio show Monday, Ryan Seacrest said he decided to take a dip in the ocean over the weekend when, he said, “I was bit by a shark!”

He said he was “about eight feet out” when he felt something swim by him.

“I thought it was a stick,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what had happened.”

Then, he said, “I saw it swim! He took a bite, and he left.”

Seacrest, 33, said the shark’s tooth “wasn’t a great thing to find. It was like finding a splinter!”

Although he said he was “in pain,” the American Idol co-host wasn’t hurt too badly, as he still went on the air to blab about it. (”I need to take an Advil!” he yelped.)

But he’s bitter.

Asked by his radio co-host if anyone else got bit, Seacrest lamented: “No, just me, of course! There were like 1,000 people in the ocean, and I get bit by the shark!”

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