Disney Bans Keith Richards From “World’s End”

Disney is worried about how Keith Richards' recent "dad-snorting" comments will affect Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, in which he plays Johnny Depp's father. He's been effectively banished from the marketing campaign behind the film. The man has virtually admitted to inhaling, snorting, injecting, swallowing, and mainlining every element in the periodic table – and just now they find his behavior alarming? (NME)

Disney's not the only one upset: The Daily Mail reports that Richards' family, including his cancer-stricken mother, was so appalled by his comments that they forced him to issue a "retraction."

In other news:

• The Beatles aren't the only legendary act releasing their catalog to iTunes: Elvis Costello's first 11 albums will become available on May 1. (NME)
• Oasis, The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, The Fratellis, Travis, and James Morrison will all contribute tracks to a new Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band covers album marking the 40th anniversary of the original. (NME)
• Serbian concertgoers taunted Samantha Fox about her breasts, causing her to storm off stage and effectively scrapping a planned statue of the pop star. (The Sun)
• "Please stop playing these crap songs – the Prince wants dance music."
  (The Sun)
• Prince Charles hates global warming, pills, and DVDs. (The Sun)
• John Travolta to Ricky Gervais: no digs at Scientology if you want me to appear in the Extras finale. (The Sun)
• Jade Goody has fired her agent. (The Sun)
• Nike and Reebok are battling for Lily Allen's services. (The Sun)
• Did Bryan Ferry's son, Isaac, fire the pistol that sent crowds scrambling in fear from a London nightclub? That's what a photographer alleges. (Daily Mail)
• Eight-time Oscar also-ran Peter O'Toole isn't done yet: he's co-starring in a biopic about painter Thomas Kinkade. Ninth time's a charm, hey, Pete? (Guardian)
• Eric Clapton's "Layla" tells her side of the story. (Page Six)
• How far can J. Bo (The Guardian's new nickname for Johnny Borrell) go in America now that he's dating Kirsten Dunst? (Guardian)
• '70s prog rock has influenced many of today's most innovative bands – but why have they abandoned the egg? (Guardian)
• Gordon Ramsay was voted "the most admired man" in an Esquire magazine poll. No. 2: Friggin' Stephen Hawking. The three least admired men were Pete Doherty, Russell Brand, and David Beckham (!). (BBC)
• Mutya Buena says she's friendlier with George Michael than she is with her former Sugababes. (Mirror)
• Pete Doherty and Kate Moss want to become a 21st century Sonny and Cher, and have used grass-roots means to secure a record deal. (Mirror)
• Tim Rice-Oxley says Tom Chaplin may rap on the next Keane album. (Mirror)
• Producer Mark Ronson has attacked Joss Stone: "I've been around white singers who've been told they're soulful since a young age and they feel they have the carte blanche to be 'I'm a down groovy soul chick' – this really annoying attitude permeates everything… she's being rammed down my throat." (Mirror)
• The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan instructs us how to make a good cover version. She quotes Ronson, who is "unrepentant" against "crazy Smiths fans" who find his remake of "Stop Me (If You Think That You've Heard This One Before)" unacceptable. "I could be the town pariah, but you can hear the dedication to the original, every little detailed thing," he says. So why, when Daniel Merriwether sings "Broke my knee/broke my spleen/and then he really laced into me," does it sound like he's merely nursing a hangnail? How can you replace Morrissey's wit and expert phrasing with R&B clichés and expect us to simply roll over and suck it up?
• The Times's Camilla Cavendish worries about the state of policing in London: "London is becoming a city of vigilantes. The well-off are hiring uniformed guards, and the teenagers down the road are arming themselves with knives – because no one else is going to defend them. We have seen the results of that: five teenagers stabbed to death in the past four weeks."