WASHINGTON (AP) — One casualty of the war with Iraq is the First Amendment right to oppose it, actor Tim Robbins says.

Robbins and longtime companion actress Susan Sarandon are war opponents whose scheduled appearance at baseball’s Hall of Fame was canceled last week by former Reagan administration aide Dale Petroskey, now the hall’s president.

“A chill wind is blowing in this nation,” Robbins told a National Press Club luncheon Tuesday. “Every day the airwaves are filled with warnings, veiled and unveiled threats, spewed invective and hatred directed at any voice of dissent.”

Robbins, 44, said he didn’t regret supporting the 2000 presidential campaign of consumer activist Ralph Nader, who has been blamed for taking enough votes away from Al Gore to enable George W. Bush to win the White House. He said he hadn’t decided whom to support in 2004.

Petroskey sent a letter to Robbins and Sarandon, telling them the 15th-anniversary celebration of “Bull Durham” set for April 26-27 at Cooperstown, New York, had been called off.

Robbins and Sarandon co-starred in the 1988 baseball film.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — “Alias” star Jennifer Garner and her husband, actor Scott Foley, are splitting.

Garner and Foley “have mutually decided to separate,” according to a statement Tuesday from their publicist, Nicole King.

The couple, both 30, met in 1998 on the set of “Felicity,” the WB drama in which Foley co-starred. They married in 2000. Foley is currently in the NBC sitcom “A.U.S.A.,” while Garner plays a spy in ABC’s “Alias.”

She co-stars with Ben Affleck in the movie “Daredevil.”

The fact that Garner, a presenter at last month’s Oscar ceremony, attended without Foley earned a mention in People magazine.

In a delicate evening gown, the magazine said, she left behind her tough-girl “Alias” image. She also “left behind her husband, Scott Foley, and partied with a pal,” People reported.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (AP) — Actor Vince Vaughn got a bloody nose for his 33rd birthday outside a hotel lounge where he was celebrating.

Vaughn’s assailant fled after the incident early Friday, said Sgt. Robert Lewis of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

A witness told authorities someone approached Vaughn, who has costarred in “The Cell,” “Swingers” and “Return to Paradise,” outside The Standard hotel. The suspect spoke first, and Vaughn responded. Police did not say what was said.

“The suspect took offense to him and hit him,” Lewis said.

Vaughn’s nose was bloodied, said his publicist, Ina Teciokas.

“Vince never threw a punch,” Teciokas said. “He was just standing outside and got punched.”

While filming “Domestic Disturbance” in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 2001, Vaughn and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg were arrested after a barroom brawl in which the film’s co-star, Steve Buscemi, was stabbed several times.

Vaughn and Rosenberg were fined $250, ordered to pay court costs, undergo alcohol counseling and stay away from local bars. Buscemi was not charged.

Rapper Snoop Dogg escaped unhurt after he was shot at while driving in Los Angeles Thursday night, although one of his bodyguards was hit in the back. Police state that the “Gin And Juice” star was traveling in a convey of cars when another vehicle pulled up alongside at 9pm in the Mid-City area, and shots were fired after one of three men asked to speak to Snoop. One of his seven bodyguards, an off-duty police officer from the city’s Inglewood district, was wounded in the back, although it is currently unclear whether the injured man was traveling in the same car as the 31-year-old musician, real name Calvin Broadus. The man was released from hospital earlier today. Police spokesperson Brian Owen stated that although Snoop and his entourage were questioned following the incident, he did not expect any charges to follow, and that no further arrests have been made at the moment.

LONDON, England (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair put aside his concerns about Iraq for a few minutes to star as an animated version of himself in an episode of cult TV cartoon “The Simpsons,” a Downing Street spokesman said on Saturday.

Blair, a longtime fan of the show, spent a short time on Friday recording a few lines of dialogue for a special edition of the hit series in which the dysfunctional yellow cartoon family come to Britain for a holiday.

“The Prime Minister takes every opportunity he can to promote Britain and the script enables him to bang the drum for the tourist industry to a worldwide audience,” the spokesman said, adding that the long-planned episode had nothing to do with the war on Iraq.

U.S. citizens make up the largest number of tourists to Britain but visitor numbers have fallen sharply this year because of the war on Iraq and its lead-up.

The series is known for the steady parade of guest celebrities — including former President Bill Clinton and actress Elizabeth Taylor — who line up to be lampooned by lending their voices and animated caricatures in guest appearances.

Blair’s cartoon alter-ego is depicted with a big cheesy grin and big ears.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and actor Sir Ian McKellen also feature in the British episode.

The show derives much of its humor from sharp-edged social commentary, skewering authority figures and institutions such as politics, education, the medical profession, law enforcement and the entertainment industry.

[i]Liz Smith
New York Post[/i]

Filmmaker Kevin Smith says he is concerned about his longtime co-star and buddy, actor Jason Mewes, who is the subject of an HBO documentary about heroin addiction.

Mewes – who is best known for playing a fast-talking, pot-smoking drug dealer in a slew of Smith’s films – turned himself in and plead guilty this week to six counts of violating his probation for a 1999 heroin conviction.

His personal manager, Craig Veytia, who is also producing the show called “Rock Bottom,” told the Asbury Park Press that he convinced Mewes to do the program so that people could have a better understanding of his life and drug addiction.

“I’m all for Jay trying to put his life together,” Smith told The Post. “I’ve been taking a tough-love approach with Jay, telling him I wouldn’t hang out with him or work with him until he cleaned up,” he said.

“If the idea of a camera following him around impedes his drug use, that’s great. But at the same time it does seem kind of exploitative,” he says.

Smith says he hasn’t spoken to Mewes in months and now has his lawyer trying to contact Veytia to find out more about the project.

Smith and Mewes have starred in “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” They also appeared together as a cameo in “Scary Movie 2.”

“Rock Bottom” is reportedly slated to air on HBO this summer.