The Tony-award winning stage and film performer was taken off life support by her family this afternoon, the New York Post reported. Friends and family had gathered at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she had been taken following a skiing accident two days ago near Montreal.

Other media outlets, including CNN and the Daily News, cited a family statement reporting Richardson's death.

Richardson, a member of the Redgrave theatrical dynasty, is married to film star Liam Neeson. In addition to Neeson, she is survived by sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12. The family statement said the sons were "shocked and devastated by the loss."

At Richardson's bedside over the past day were her mother Vanessa Redgrave, aunt Lynn Redgrave, sister Joely Richardson and ex-husband Robert Fox. Among those paying their respects have been actress Meryl Streep, author Joan Didion and actress Lauren Bacall.

For a look at Richardson's life and career, see Richard Lawson's Natasha Richardson, 1963-2009: In Memoriam.

Richardson's eventually-fatal accident came Monday. While taking a beginner's skiing lesson at Mont Tremblant in Quebec, north of Montreal, Richardson fell in what was later described as a patch of snow. She had not been wearing a helmet, but initially shook off the fall, according to news reports. About an hour later, Richardson complained of a severe headache and was taken to a Montreal hospital.

According to the Daily News, "Experts said she exhibited the classic symptoms of a epidural hematoma, or bleeding between the brain and the skull."

The website added that it's not clear whether Neeson, the Irish movie star, is at his wife's side. After starring in the title role in 1988's Patty Hearst, Richardson went on to leading roles in Fat Man and Little Boy, Nell and the Parent Trap, among other films.

In the U.S., Richardson has been involved with amFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

No one has yet confirmed IrishCentral.com's report.

UPDATE: People confirms "a serious head injury."

The talk radio home to Adam Carolla, Tom Leykis and Sam Phillips—who announced the news in a Facebook status update—is owned by CBS, who, says Franklin Avenue, want to flip it to a top 40 format to compete with Clear Channel's KIIS-FM.

Speculation is centering on the youth-oriented AMP Radio format, which already runs on the HD-2 signal for KCBS/93.1 "Jack FM."

According to Radio Insight, someone recently, quietly registered the web domains AmpRadioLA.com, Amp971.com, and Amp971fm.com on February 9.

"AMP Radio" artists include Lady Gaga, T.I., Rihanna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Beyonce.

A Howard Stern Show news board is reporting Carolla, who replaced Stern after Stern left for Sirius, has been fired. Friday also happens to be Conan O'Brien's last day on the air. It's as if all these beloved, long-running things are coming to an end this week, isn't it?

• Adam Carolla to Depart; KLSX 97.1 to Flip to Top 40? [franklinavenue.blogspot.com]
• Adam Carolla Fired From CBS Radio [gather]

I work on the WB lot and I think there's a fire going on at the stage where they tape the Ellen show...

From where I am, I can see lots of fire trucks, fire fighters, and water pouring out of the barn doors of the stage. Can you guys find out more?

We'll try! Cooking segment gone awry? Overzealous aisle-dancer? Smoking in the green room? Send anything you know here.

The content of the article has not yet been released, but some hints can be gleaned about his long-anticipated confession from the Aiken quote teased on the cover: "I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things." Kudos, Clay! Now where's your donation? [HuffPo]

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane carrying six people was departing shortly before midnight Friday when air traffic controllers reporting seeing sparks. The plane headed for Van Nuys, Calif., went off a runway, through a fence and crashed on a nearby road, officials said.

South Carolina officials say four California residents died in the crash.

The Lexington County coroner said today that pilot Sarah Lemmon of Anaheim Hills and co-pilot James Bland of Carlsbad died. Also killed were passengers Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles.

They were headed back to L.A. after performing at a free concert in Columbia. TMZ is reporting they saved their own lives by jumping out of the wreckage; both are expected to survive, but have sustained serious burns. This is really awful. Two weeks ago, we were standing a few feet away from them at the VMAs rehearsal and remarking upon what a surprisingly tight show they put on, backing a wide array of vocalists. Developing...

• Travis Barker, DJ AM critically injured in fatal plane crash [LAT]

Ok, sad thing first: a good Samaritan reset the password and tried to alert Sarah. But he also posted the new password, causing multiple people to try to log in at once, freezing the account for 24 hours. And now, the account has been deleted! Which is, as we said, maybe destruction of evidence? So for now this is, we think, all we'll get to see from this email account (if anyone finds evidence of saved emails, let us know.)

The full timeline of events, with corroborating evidence of the legitimacy of these screengrabs, is here. Here's why it all looks convincing:

• The emails to Ivy Frye, a Palin aide who's mentioned in the earlier email stories specifically wondering how best to hide her correspondence with the governor.
• The attached contact list (below) features an email address for husband Todd Palin that is legit. As well as an apparently genuine phone number for Bristol Palin and an address for Beth Leschper, Palin's deputy communications director.
• The email from Amy McCorkell, a known associate of Palin's from Wasilla who might have the governor's personal email address.
• Emails to and from Lt Governor Sean Parnell about a local radio talk host.
• Calls to the phone number listed for Bristol Palin apparently go to her voicemail.
• The public profile for the gov.palin address dates its last update to April of this year—well before she became McCain's running mate. So if it's a hoax, it's a hoax that began long before anyone outside of Alaska cared about Palin.
• We haven't seen these family photos before. Have we?
• The previously accessible public profiles for gov.sarah@yahoo and gov.palin@yahoo were both deleted at the same time.

Here are the screenshots of the emails saved before the account went dark, along with the contact list. It's newsworthy and we will not be taking it down!

CONTACT LIST

Beth Leschper (Beth Leschper SOA) [Edit]
beth.leschper@alaska.gov
Blanche Kallstrom (Blanche) [Edit]
mbkrdk@starband.net
Bristol Palin (Bristol) [Edit]
bristol_palin@hotmail.com
Chuck Heath (Chuck) [Edit]
chckheath@yahoo.com
fek9wnr@yahoo.com (Todd) [Edit]
fek9wnr@yahoo.com
ftb907@yahoo.com (Frank) [Edit]
ftb907@yahoo.com
Heather Bruce (Heather) [Edit]
khbruce@gci.net
ivy.frye@alaska.gov (Ivy SOA) [Edit]
ivy.frye@alaska.gov
ivyfrye@yahoo.com (Ivy Personal) [Edit]
ivyfrye@yahoo.com
Judy Patrick (Judy Patrick) [Edit]
jpphoto@mtaonline.net
kris.perry@alaska.gov (Kris Perry SOA) [Edit]
kris.perry@alaska.gov
krisandclark@yahoo.com (Kris Personal) [Edit]
krisandclark@yahoo.com
paymckhea@yahoo.com (Molly) [Edit]
paymckhea@yahoo.com
Roseanne Hughes (Roseanne Hughes SOA) [Edit]
roseanne.hughes@alaska.gov
Sally Heath (Mom) [Edit]
salheath@mtaonline.net
Sean Parnell (Sean Personal) [Edit]
sparnell@alaska.com
Sharon Leighow (Sharon SOA) [Edit]
sharon.leighow@alaska.gov
Sleighow@aol.com (Sharon Leighow Personal) [Edit]
Sleighow@aol.com
Track Palin (Track) [Edit]
track_44@hotmail.com

UPDATE:

ARLINGTON, VA — Today, McCain-Palin 2008 Campaign Manager Rick Davis issued the following statement concerning reports about Governor Palin's email and an invasion of privacy:
"This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."

Point one: legitimacy confirmed! Point two: I guess we'll have to blow up the internet now?

So. We all know the basics of the story. Big fun guy from Buffalo, worked in the New York Democratic party machine for Mario Cuomo and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Made the switch to journalism, got hired by NBC in Washington, and ended up the bureau chief four short years later, in 1988.

In 1991, he took over Meet the Press and quickly became one of the most important names in DC journalism. His journalistic style was a civil, well-read version of the GOTCHA that would take control of cable.

“Lawrence Spivak, who founded ‘Meet the Press,’ told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side,” he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. “And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.”

This could be an irritating style. Russert's specialty was pointing out a contradiction in a politician's vast record of spoken positions. Oftentimes this meant a descent into entirely useless minutiae. Though almost as often it was enlightening, or at least entertaining. It's certainly preferable to the Chris Matthews method of shouting whatever comes to mind, no matter how crazy. And Russert always knew his shit, even when you were fairly certain he was missing the point.

From Meet the Press he dictated the conventional wisdom of Washington's political establishment—a harder trick to pull off in the days before Drudge, The Note, the internet, Politico, and the rise of what is essentially meta-journalism disguised as political analysis. Russert just selected some insiders—usually white, usually male, every week well into the 2000s (such is DC!)—and allowed them to spin their little hearts out. It's still engaging television, even when it makes you want to level Washington and maybe give Philly a second chance as Capital.

But it was as the country's wonky guide to electoral politics that he perhaps undid some of the damage of the institution of the Sunday chatfest. Because Russert and his whiteboard did an admirable, commendable job, every four years, of explaining our insane and anti-democratic political process to a nation that has always been unclear on the subject. The electoral college, slightly demystified, for one night. Civics lessons are rare on television, and effective ones should be applauded.

And yes, it's actually shocking, and sad, to think that this November all we'll have is John King and his Blade Russert touch screen wall, or Keith Olbermann and his pseudo-gravitas, or poor bored Katie Couric to guide us through that stressful Tuesday night nationwide farce.

Russert died at work, as we said, at NBC's Washington studios. He is survived by his wife, Maureen Orth, his son Luke, and, tragically, his father, the hero of Tim's happily non-self-aggrandizing 2004 memoir, Big Russ and Me.

(Attached: a video montage of some of Tim's notable television moments.)

NBC'S Tim Russert Dead at 58 [MSNBC]

The Journal cited anonymous network executives and sources close to Couric in its report. An CBS spokeswoman denied "plans for any changes regarding Katie," and a spokeswoman for Couric issued a statement that didn't address the matter.

Couric may end up replacing Larry King on CNN, the newspaper speculated:

One possible new job for the Ms. Couric: succeeding Larry King at CNN. Mr. King, who is 74 years old, has a contract with the network into 2009. CNN President Jon Klein, a CBS veteran with close ties to some at the network, has expressed admiration for Ms. Couric's work, and the two are friends. They had lunch in late January, and the anchor attended Mr. Klein's birthday party in March. Time Warner Inc.'s CNN said, "Larry King is a great talent who consistently delivers the highest profile guests, and we have no plans to make a change." Through a publicist, Mr. King declined to comment.

Mr. King's talk-show slot at CNN might be a better fit than evening-newscast anchor for Ms. Couric, who is 51. She made her reputation as a skilled interviewer when she was an anchor at the "Today" show on General Electric Co.'s NBC network.

Ratings for the Evening News have remained mired in third place for the 18 months of Couric's tenure. In fact, after an initial spike, Couric, once known as "America's Sweetheart," has never exceeded the ratings of her predecessor Bob Schieffer, the sort of conventional anchor she was supposed to zoom right past.

[WSJ]

So, are readers finally tiring of the torrent of shallow news about no-name celebrities, as Salon believes? The reasons for the abrupt decision are more prosaic, and depressing. Pagesix.com experienced its first day with more than 1m pageviews, last week, when the site published a gallery of photographs of Eliot Spitzer's hooker, Ashley Alexandra Dupré. But it was not making sufficiently rapid inroads into a market dominated by Time Warner's TMZ, and gossip blogs such as Perez Hilton. But the decision to shutter the spinoff gossip site likely owes even more to the Australian media mogul's pessimism about the US economy, and advertising spending.

Murdoch, disclosing a slowdown in ad revenue at his Fox television stations and newspapers, has predicted a "temporary downturn for a year or so." Other media companies, such as the New York Times, are also suffering from the advertising downturn, and have cut costs by making piecemeal layoffs.

The News Corporation boss, who has funded a decade of losses at his tabloid, the New York Post, is typically a patient investor. But he can also be decisive. He will be wary of overstretching the company, particularly after stretching to acquire the Wall Street Journal. During the last big advertising downturn, Murdoch nearly lost control of his company.

Anyway, before competitors gloat at News Corporation's reverse, they should remember this: if advertising spending has indeed turned down, the downturn will not spare web sites. The web's boosters hope that newly cost-conscious marketers will simply redirect their budgets from print and television to the web; that was the hope during the last recession, and it was wishful thinking, then and now. Murdoch will be embarrassed for a day; other media groups will be subsidizing loss-making websites for months before they come to the same conclusion.

LucasArts has just confirmed to Kotaku that Jim Ward, longtime Lucas worker bee and current president of LucasArts, has resigned from the company "for personal reasons" and will be leaving LucasArts in a couple of weeks.

Ward, who began his career in advertising, started work at LucasFilm in 1997 as the head of their marketing division. In 2004 Ward was named president of LucasArts.

No word yet on the reasoning behind his seemingly sudden departure or where he will land, but we'll keep you up to date here.

Update: We've spoken with LucasArts about Ward's notice and gotten a comment from Ward.

Alas, there are never quite enough idling white vans to stop the rapid proliferation of mouth-foaming, glassy-eyed, Scientological diatribes on the internets, and so Radar Online has reposted the footage. Don't let the Mission Impossible-theme loop or the shutter-effect edits throw you: The United Artists co-figurehead has never sounded more focused or enlightened about his true mission—ridding the world of spectatorism, by never hesitating to put his ethics into someone else. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Surprise! The video has come down again. We'll replace it as soon as another is made available, but until then, you get this lovely, keepsake YouTube Scientology copyright claim notice.

UPDATE #2: The video is back up and we've got it.

• "We are the way to happiness" [Gawker]
• Cruise Pulls You A Little Closer to Xenu [Radar]

From: Office Of JoAnne Griffith
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 2:53 PM
To: M_MTVN__ALL
Subject: More Important News for Freelance and Temporary Employees

As you know, we've been holding information sessions over the past several days to discuss our freelance and temporary employee benefits. We've had many insightful conversations and heard a number of your specific concerns.

As a result of the input you've given to us directly through the sessions and your managers, we want to announce the following changes:

· We are expanding our freelance and temporary medical and dental benefits options to include the United Healthcare plan under which many of you are currently covered. This means anyone who is eligible for benefits in 2008 can opt for medical and dental coverage with United Healthcare at the current rate of contribution, or you can elect instead to enroll in the newly offered Aetna plan.

· The Aetna plan has certain advantages that may make it the preferred option for many of our freelance and temporary employees. Based on your input, however, we want to make sure that those of you who prefer the United Healthcare plan have that option.

· As a result of this change, the freelance and temporary employee payroll conversion to Cast and Crew has been delayed until February 1, 2008. Therefore, the December 14th deadline to submit your Cast and Crew paperwork has been postponed. We will inform you of the new deadline early in the New Year.

· We've implemented a process for evaluating freelance and temporary employee positions for possible conversion to staff positions. This process is currently underway and decisions will be communicated by January 31st, 2008.

In order to address additional questions, HR representatives will be available to discuss individual circumstances and concerns at the following times and locations:

· New York: Thursday, December 13th
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
1515 Broadway, Conference Room 44-02

· Los Angeles: Thursday, December 13th
11:00 a.m.
2600 Colorado Ave., 5th Floor LEG Room

Employees in other regions should contact their HR representative directly with any questions or concerns.

• Access Live Stream: Spears-Federline Custody Hearing [accesshollywood.com]

We suppose we'll have to wait a few hours to see whether or not the footage makes the West Coast airing of the the show, which they could rush to promote (The Shocking Samba That Took Marie Osmond's Breath Away!) for a quick ratings boost, hoping to capitalize on the tensest moment in series history since Goodman leapt from behind his table and interrupted a particularly inept, flailing Billy Ray Cyrus foxtrot, mistakenly believing the contestant to be suffering from a grand mal seizure.

• Dancing With the Stars [ABC.com]

Details of what triggered sole background-dancer custody haven't been revealed, so we'll just assume for now that Spears has already violated one or more of the Britney Rules laid down by the judge; perhaps she's already dropped out of her neglect-prevention classes to protest the court's insinuation that she needs eight hours of parenting lessons per week to teach her how to tell the manny what time to put the kids to bed while she's out clubbing in Hollywood.

UPDATE: Does the stunning custody news have anything to do with this footage of her kids being driven to tears by paparazzi flashbulbs as she tries to put them in her car? We have no idea! But here's the video anyway, courtesy of The Insider:

• Court Orders: Britney Loses Custody of Kids Until Further Notice [US Weekly]

A dog mauling incident was reported at the home of actor Ving Rhames on Friday morning, and one person is reported dead, according to police.

Police said they got a call at about 7:15 am about a body on a lawn with bite marks. The victim, believed to be a property caretaker, was described as a Black male in his 40s.

Two dogs, reportedly Mastiffs, were captured by animal control officers.

A reader who happened to be in the area in the ensuing chaos, and who didn't initially know what was going on outside the home, wrote in with this report from the scene:

There have been helicopters, police and rubberneckers outside a mcmansion on san vicente near the country mart for the past two hours—when I went over to check it out, I was told by several people that a "maid had been killed by the dog." nobody really seemed concerned about the loss of human life; in fact, people were taking pictures of the developing crime scene in the house's driveway with their iphones, at which point I decided to go curl up under the covers with a bottle of tequila and wait for the coming apocalypse.

We'll probably wind up settling for draining a bottle of tequila at our desks for the rest of the day.

• Police: Man Dead After Dog Mauling At Actor's Home [KNBC.com]