Patrick Swayze is rallying against reports he has ended his acting career due to his current battle with pancreatic cancer - insisting he didn't drop out of a new movie because of his illness. The Dirty Dancing actor had reportedly withdrawn from the role of a gay cheerleading coach in Fired Up, while he undergoes chemotherapy treatment for the life-threatening disease. But his representative has revealed he pulled out for "artistic" reasons - and also because he is waiting to discover if network A&E are to commission a TV pilot he has shot called The Beast, reports the New York Daily News.

Troubled Jackass star Steve-O has been charged with felony possession of cocaine. The 33-year-old - real name Stephen Glover - was arrested on March 3 on suspicion of vandalizing his neighbors' property in Los Angeles. Police responding reportedly found him with cocaine. The Los Angeles County District Attorney has now charged the prankster with possession of the illegal drug, according to website Tmz.com. The news comes after Steve-O was taken to L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Sunday following a reported cry for help - the funnyman allegedly emailed 33 suicide notes to friends. Steve-O was later admitted to the Thalians Mental Health Center, where doctors placed him on a 72-hour hold. That has since been extended to 14 days, according to American magazine Star.

Actress Minnie Driver has confirmed reports she is expecting her first child during an interview on U.S. TV. The Emmy-nominated star of The Riches sparked rumors of a pregnancy after she was photographed leaving a Los Angeles clinic last month. The 38-year-old was forced to admit the news on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday night after Leno commented she had gained weight. Asked by the host if she was pregnant, Driver replied, "Yes, I am." The star told Leno she loves being pregnant, "more than anything else," but did not like morning sickness. She adds, "I don't know why they call it morning sickness. I am sick morning, noon and night, but it's a fair trade-off." Driver did not say who the father was.

Scarlett Johansson has helped raise thousands at a charity auction - one lucky fan has won the chance to accompany her to a future movie premiere after entering the final bid of $40,100. The online auction site eBay.com was visited by 695,183 interested parties and received 170 bids for the date. But the 10-day sale ended on Wednesday - and a U.K-based user named bossnour was slated as the top bidder. The fortunate fan will accompany the star to the premiere of her forthcoming movie He's Just Not That Into You in Los Angeles in June next year. All proceeds from the Auction Cause sale will go to charity Oxfam. The Lost In Translation star isn't the only star who has offered themselves up for auction for Oxfam; George Clooney is also looking for a date to attend the premiere of his new film Leatherheads, while Minnie Driver is auctioning off a $100,000 lunch date as part of an initiative between the actress' hit TV show The Riches and Oxfam America.

Comedian Billy Crystal's debut as a baseball professional ended in failure on Thursday - he was struck out without hitting the ball. The actor and lifelong fan of the New York Yankees was signed up by the team to play in a pre-season exhibition match against the Pittsburgh Pirates - an event to also mark his 60th birthday on Friday. Crystal trained with the team in Tampa, Florida, and turned out to hit wearing a shirt with the number 60 on the back. But the City Slickers star was left swiping at thin air and struck out. Crystal, who was cheered on in the stands by pal Robin Williams, said ahead of the game, "I've been waiting 50 years for this call. I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the Yankees and commissioner Bud Selig. I know this'll be tougher than the Broadway Softball League, but I'm looking forward to helping the younger players, which by the way is all of them."

A charity co-founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle has donated $500,000 to the United Nations World Food Program. The money, handed over by the stars' Not On Our Watch organization, is earmarked for the U.N.'s food aid agency to prevent hunger in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan. In a statement, Clooney said: "Without immediate additional funding, humanitarian aid in the region will be crippled." Not On Our Watch has raised more than $9.3 million for Darfur, and last year donated $1 million to the World Food Program. Clooney has become a leading celebrity advocate for action against the genocide in the Sudan after filming a documentary about the crisis last year.

Comedian Garry Shandling became the first celebrity to take the stand at disgraced private investigator Anthony Pellicano's wiretapping and bribery trial on Thursday. Shandling told the Los Angeles federal court hearing Pellicano was involved in a "spin campaign" to assassinate his character during a late-1990s legal dispute between the funnyman and his ex-manager Brad Grey. Shandling testified that he was disturbed to learn his personal records had been looked at four times in unauthorized police database searches in 1999. Prosecutors allege Pellicano bribed a Los Angeles police sergeant to carry out these checks. At the time, Shandling had filed a $100 million lawsuit against Grey, who is now the head of Paramount Studios, accusing him of taking too much commission from TV hit The Larry Sanders Show. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $10 million. While looking at the background check documents, Shandling told the court, "This bothers me as much as the first time I saw this. It's a creepy feeling. It was a spiritual test to get through." Sylvester Stallone and Chris Rock are on the list of 127 potential defense witnesses who may take the stand during Pellicano's trial. Pellicano, who is representing himself, has pleaded not guilty to charges, including conspiracy and police bribery, in a 111-count indictment. The 63-year-old private investigator is alleged to have collected information on celebrities for his clients to use for threats or blackmail.

New dad Marc Anthony has left his newborn twins at home with their mother Jennifer Lopez for the first time, to attend a police foundation gala in New York. The singer supported the NYPD and commissioner Ray Kelly at the event at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, to return a favor. He tells the New York Post, "I'm a life-long New Yorker. I've always worked for the NYPD and done fundraisers for fallen police officers. Five years ago Ray Kelly helped me organize a Hispanic presentation. So when he called last week and invited me - even though I'm a little busy with our babies - I came. This is my first time out of the house since the babies came." Lopez gave birth to babies Max and Emme on February 22.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris is raving about Britney Spears' return to acting - even though the pop star refused to take off her sunglasses for an in-studio read-through. Spears is playing a secretary opposite Harris in an upcoming episode of TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother - and the actor was impressed with the troubled singer's professionalism when it came time to act. He says, "She's good. We did the run through on Tuesday, she seemed a little nervous, she wore the big sunglasses the whole time. I think that's a bit of a security blanket. But she seems very professional." And Harris insists that working closely with Spears gave him a special insight into her personal troubles. He adds, "Being up close to her, she seems like a very sort of fragile, kind of complicated person; it must be very strange to live in her life." The episode featuring Spears will air in America on March 24.

Lisa Marie Presley has an extra special reason for gaining baby weight while pregnant - she is expecting twins. The daughter of rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley is four-and-a-half months pregnant with her third and fourth kids - her first with fourth husband Michael Lockwood. American magazine Star claims the couple is expecting twins at the end of August, and state at least one will be a boy. One of Presley's California neighbors tells the tabloid, "Michael told me that he and Lisa have been trying to get pregnant for about a year. He also said that they had a sonogram two weeks ago, and (one) baby opened its legs, and they saw something! Michael was beaming." Presley, who has two teenage children with ex-husband Danny Keogh, is currently planning to sue a publication that accused her of being fat, forcing her to reveal her pregnancy.

Michael Jackson has signed a deal to save his Neverland Ranch home from being sold at a public auction. The California estate was scheduled to be sold off if Jackson failed to pay $24.5 million he owed in property taxes by March 19. With less than a week to go, the superstar has agreed a deal with an investment group that will allow him to retain ownership. Jackson's lawyer L. Londell McMillan tells PageSix.com, "Neverland and MJ are fine." Details of the agreement with the Fortress Investment Group are confidential.