Johnny Rotten is all right _ at least in the eyes of “Judge Judy.”
The rock star, aka John Lydon, appeared on retired New York Judge Judy Sheindlin’s syndicated TV show on Tuesday to resolve a dispute with drummer Robert Williams.
Williams claimed damages of $5,000 for lost wages and civil battery after losing his job as drummer on Lydon’s Psycho’s Path album concert tour this summer.
But according to Lydon, former lead of the Sex Pistols, Williams clashed with band members and quit after a rancorous dinner meeting.
After a small claims court suit was filed, the Judge Judy show offered to resolve the case, and the judge ruled in Lydon’s favor.
“Now I’m going to get on with my life. We’re going after the real killers,” Lydon said afterward.
The Judge Judy episode featuring Lydon’s case will air in three to four weeks.
A little short on the Spice
A Spice Girl’s illness forced the British pop group to cancel an appearance in Sweden _ and avoid a showdown with the Swedish media.
Journalists had threatened to boycott a news conference on Friday because of the group’s demand that photographers sign an agreement not to use pictures of the appearance without the singers’ permission.
The Spice Girls even demanded that photographers hand over their negatives.
But Spice Girl Geri came down with an undisclosed illness and was unable to fly, Peter Nilsson, spokesman for the group’s record label, Virgin, told news agency TT on Wednesday.
The Spice Girls were to perform at a televised benefit concert. The group’s recent release is Spice Up Your Life.
Self-portrait of Skelton is stolen
A self-portrait of the late comedian Red Skelton was stolen from an art gallery in San Pedro, Calif.
Big Red, a 14- by 18-inch signed lithograph showing Skelton as a clown, was taken Saturday when a salesclerk at Parkhurst Art Gallery left the front counter to help a customer.
“It was just a matter of three or four seconds,” Eileen Austin Knight said. “I turned my back and it was gone.”
Skelton, who died at 84 on Sept. 17, once estimated he earned $2.5 million a year from the sale of his clown-themed artworks.
The stolen piece was appraised at $3,000 before his death.
Tallest man has towering woes
The world’s tallest man is hospitalized with life-threatening medical problems.
Mohammed Alam Chaana _ whose height of 7 feet, 7.25 inches is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records _ lies across two beds pushed together in a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Chaana is diabetic and has severe tuberculosis that has attacked his kidneys and bladder, his family and doctors said.
He also suffers from spinal injuries suffered in two car accidents.
In defense of the downtrodden
Martin Sheen was in Manila, Philippines, in the 1970s fighting the jungle and Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. This time, the actor will be working to defend the poor.
Sheen is to arrive Nov. 10 to visit slum areas facing demolition by the government, organizers said on Wednesday.
Sheen is joining members of a group, the Urban Poor Colloquium, that will visit urban poor communities and recommend ways of dealing with the problems of inadequate housing and public services.
Putting a new face on the royalty
A new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II will adorn British coins minted next year, the first revision in 13 years.
The 71-year-old queen, who this month observes her 50th wedding anniversary, will be depicted in the tiara she wore at her marriage to Prince Philip.
The coin portrait, described on Wednesday in London by the Royal Mint as strong and realistic, is the fourth since Elizabeth took the throne in 1952, at age 25.
ALMANAC
It’s the 296th day of the year; 69 days are left in 1997. On this day: * In 1944, World War II’s Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
* In 1956, an anti-Stalinist revolt subsequently crushed by Soviet troops began in Hungary. * In 1983, 241 U.S. Marines and sailors in Lebanon were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.
* In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected, 58-42, the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork. Thought for today: “Truth is not introduced into the individual from without, but was within him all the time.” _ Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55)
Today’s birthdays: Johnny Carson, 72; Soccer great Pele, 57; country singer Dwight Yoakam, 41; parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic, 38.
