Pitt Checks Into Hospital

Brad Pitt was hospitalized yesterday in the Los Angeles area after complaining of flulike symptoms. "I think he has the flu," said Cindy Guagenti, his publicity representative. She said that he checked himself in and that it was not known if he contracted the illness while with Angelina Jolie last week in Africa, where she adopted a baby girl. Mr. Pitt, 41, starred with Ms. Jolie in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and has been her companion recently.

Stanching Harry Potter Leaks

J. K. Rowling has gone to court for a second time to try to prevent details of her new novel, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," from leaking. After 14 copies of the book were sold to customers at the Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, the Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained a court order to have the copies returned. It also received an injunction prohibiting disclosure of any information from the novel before its scheduled release at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Jamie Broadhurst, a spokesman for Raincoast, said the company is "in conversations with a number of the customers" who bought the book, but he declined to say whether any had yet agreed to return their copies. Raincoast has offered to return the books to the customers at the time of the scheduled release along with a bookplate signed by the author and a T-shirt. Last month, a British court issued a similar injunction after two men were arrested and charged with trying to sell stolen copies to reporters at two newspapers in Britain. EDWARD WYATT

The Gang's All Here for Farm Aid at 20

Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young will return to Illinois on Sept. 18 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Farm Aid, the daylong concert they organized to benefit struggling small farmers, The Associated Press reported. In this year's concert, to be held at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, a Chicago suburb, the three founders will be joined by the Dave Matthews Band and by other acts to be announced, organizers said. Mr. Nelson said: "A lot more people are interested in finding out where their food comes from now than they were 20 years ago. And as they find out more and more about it, they agree with us that it is important to keep the family farmer on the land growing organic food." The first Farm Aid concert, in Champaign, Ill., in 1985, attracted 80,000 fans and raised $9 million. Organizers said that Farm Aid concerts have raised more than $27 million. Tickets go on sale on July 30.

Lloyd Webber Sells Four London Theaters

Months after the first reports that Andrew Lloyd Webber was planning to dispose of four of his dozen London theaters, he has sold them to the Broadway producer Max Weitzenhoffer, the BBC reported. Lord Lloyd Webber said the sale meant he would be able to spend at least $17.5 million over the next five years to improve his eight remaining theaters. Beginning on Oct. 1, Mr. Weitzenhoffer and Nica Burns, who is the production director of Lord Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, will assume ownership and management of its Apollo, Duchess, Lyric and Garrick Theaters. Lord Lloyd Webber said, "I am thrilled to be able to say that these theaters are not being sold to the highest bidder but to theater professionals who will continue to administer them in the way that is in the best interests of the theaters themselves and the West End in general."

75 Candles on Dagwood's Sandwich?

In September, the comic strip "Blondie" will turn 75. To commemorate the anniversary, Dean Young, 66, the strip's writer, has embarked on a three-month plotline. (Mr. Young took over the strip in 1973, after the death of his father, Chic Young, who created it.) The story, which began on Sunday, follows Blondie and Dagwood as they plan their wedding anniversary. The party's special guests are a veritable who's who of comic strip stars, and they will make appearances in "Blondie," up to and including the big celebration. Readers can expect to see Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, Mother Goose and Grimm, Marvin, Dilbert, Dennis the Menace, Dick Tracy and more. Characters from "For Better or Worse," "B.C." and "The Family Circus" will also be included. Additionally, many of the guest stars' own strips will include references to the anniversary party. "Blondie," first published on Sept. 8, 1930, is syndicated by King Features to more than 2,300 newspapers and is translated into more than 35 languages. The anniversary party, a color Sunday display with appearances by all the guest stars, will run on Sept. 4. GEORGE GENE GUSTINES

Dim Debut for 'Rock Star'

Fifteen performers began competing on Monday to be the new lead singer of INXS on the premiere of CBS's "Rock Star: INXS." Dana Robbins, whose biography on the CBS Web site lists her current and former jobs as a yoga instructor and adult film actress, was the first contestant to be eliminated. She made the judges uncomfortable during her rendition of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." The series, which is scheduled to be broadcast three times a week, drew only 5.62 million viewers for the first episode, according to Nielsen's estimates, putting it in fourth place for the 9 p.m. hour. Because of CBS's strength in the other time periods - with repeats of "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Two and a Half Men" and "CSI: Miami" - the network was No. 1 in Nielsen's estimates of total viewers and households. But Fox easily won the among 18-to-49-year-olds with back-to-back episodes of "Hell's Kitchen." KATE AURTHUR

Shankar Survives as Sitars Don't

Ravi Shankar likened his misfortune to losing "two relatives." But after two treasured sitars that he had played for years were broken during a flight from Lebanon, he performed with his daughter Anoushka Shankar at Les Suds à Arles, a world music festival, in Arles, France, with two replacements brought from India by his instrument maker, the BBC reported. A spokeswoman for the festival said that Mr. Shankar, 85, who lives in California, had time to tune the instruments before the concert and that the performance was wonderful.

Stolen Chagall Retrieved

Raiding an expensive restaurant in St. Petersburg, Russia, the police foiled a smuggler who was about to receive a stolen Marc Chagall painting valued abroad at $1 million, Reuters reported. The painting, "Hasid," was stolen with six others from a private collection in 2001. The Interfax news agency said the raid occurred as the painting was to be handed to the smuggler.

Voice Change, Cast Change

The tenor Roberto Alagna will replace Ben Heppner as Canio opposite Mr. Alagna's wife, the soprano Angela Gheorghiu, as Nedda when the Los Angeles Opera performs Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" on Sept. 11 as part of its season-opening weekend. A statement from Mr. Heppner's management, relayed yesterday by the opera company, said, "After very careful consideration, Ben has decided that the role of Canio no longer suits his voice and has removed it from his active repertoire."

Footnote

The producer and director Reginald Hudlin, whose filmmaking credits include "House Party" and "Serving Sarah," has been named president for entertainment at BET.