Quick Takes - Sept. 21, 2010

Jay-Z’s big Vegas date

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Jay-Z and Coldplay plan to share the stage in Las Vegas as New Year’s Eve headliners at the Cosmo-?politan of Las Vegas casino-resort.

Cosmopolitan officials said Monday that the music superstars would also play solo sets with the performances broadcast on the hotel’s 65-foot marquee overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

The Cosmopolitan said the concert is part of a three-day invitation-only celebration roughly two weeks after the resort opens. The $3.9-billion resort owned by Deutsche Bank is scheduled to open Dec. 15.

—?Associated Press

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Probation for Paris Hilton

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With a judge warning her to “treat this very seriously,” Paris Hilton on Monday pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that will allow her to avoid jail time after her arrest last month in Las Vegas on suspicion of cocaine possession.

Hilton will serve one year of probation, pay a $2,000 fine and serve 200 hours of community service. She had been charged with felony drug possession, but the charge was downgraded under the plea deal.

“You have now been sentenced to one year in Clark County Detention Center. I can assure you it’s not the Waldorf-Astoria,” said Judge Joe Bonaventure.

Hilton admitted to the judge that she was lying when she told officers the purse where the cocaine was found didn’t belong to her.

Hilton was arrested Aug. 27 with her boyfriend, Cy Waits, who was driving the black SUV stopped by police after officers said they smelled marijuana. A police lieutenant found 0.8 grams of cocaine in a purse Hilton was carrying.

—?Richard Winton

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‘Ruined’ may be TV-bound

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“Ruined,” the 2009? Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that recently opened at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood after runs in New York, Chicago and Seattle, may next appear on television

A representative for Lynn Nottage said the playwright is working on a screen adaptation of her stage drama for Harpo Films — Oprah Winfrey’s production company — and HBO Films. The project is in its early phases, according to the representative.

Set in a war-torn part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, “Ruined” follows the interactions between the workers of a brothel-bar and some of their male visitors.

—?David Ng

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London tribute to McQueen

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They came in sky-high heels and huge dark sunglasses and even managed to flash a little cleavage from their deep black mourning outfits.

The world’s fashion elite gathered beneath the magnificent dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Monday to celebrate the legacy of Alexander McQueen, the troubled British designer who took his own life in early February.

The crowd included a Who’s Who of fashion central: American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, models Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, designer Stella McCartney, “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker, and dozens of other McQueen devotees.

The event brought London Fashion Week to a halt — no one wanted to show a collection while the giants of the industry were marking the passing of McQueen, an iconoclast who was Britain’s most celebrated and controversial designer.

—?Associated Press

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Singer Mars

is arrested

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Rising singer-songwriter Bruno Mars was found with a bag of cocaine in a Las Vegas casino bathroom after a nightclub show over the weekend, police said Monday.

The “Just the Way You Are” crooner was arrested early Sunday after being detained by security at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, was found with 2.6 grams of cocaine and booked into county jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, police said. He faces possible felony charges.

An aide to Clark County District Attorney David Roger in Las Vegas said the case was under review and formal charges had not been filed, though Hernandez, 24, was given a court return date of Nov. 18. The office declined further comment.

—?Associated Press