Luxury condos will not be built directly behind the Hollywood sign. Two years ago a developer wanted $22 million to ruin the LA icon. Today, because the market crashed, a conservation group got an option for $12 million. [AP]

In a move that will simultaneously fill waiters and barstaff in LA and NY with hope and bitterness, a Uruguayan who posted a three-minute, $300, YouTube film has been given $30m to make a sci-fi movie in Hollywood. [BBC]

In his forthcoming Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer, Mel Gibson confronts his intense hatred of Jews, saying that his recent anti-Semitic comments were just "the stupid rambling of a drunkard" and that "the last thing I want to be is that kind of monster." Alas, someone might want to remind Mel that one is often judged by the company one keeps: