Pop Stand

Jesse James' sister, Julie, has come forward to support her brother's stories about being an abused child. James appeared on 'Nightline' and explained his bad behavior as a reaction to years of physical and verbal abuse from his father, Larry. "I remember the clenched-teeth, strained-neck look on his face. He beat my ass pretty good a bunch of times," James said on the news program.

He also recounted a story where his father allegedly chased him around the house, eventually falling and breaking his arm. "I remember my dad laughed when I hit the ground and called me a dummy," James said.

"It wasn't getting the s--t beat out of me ... It was the in-between time, the fear of that happening again. I was a terrorized kid. It's really tough for me to think about now," he said.

Larry James denied the claims, as has stepmother Janina. Larry told Radar Online that Jesse broke his arm climbing a fence to retrieve a baseball hit into a neighbor's yard. Larry also says that the photo shown on 'Nightline' of Jesse sporting a black eye was from a mini-bike mishap, not any physical abuse.

But sister Julie supports her brother against the denials. "I think they are giving their stories to make money, she says. "Janina was married to my dad when we were teenagers. She doesn't know how angry my dad used to get with us," Julie told E! News. "My [birth] mom had to be my mother and my father. She would back us up." Julie says that Jesse is a different man since his stint in rehab and is trying to move forward with his life.

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Meanwhile, soon-to-be-ex-wife, Sandra Bullock will make her first appearance at the MTV Movie Awards next month, where she will receive the 'MTV Generation Award' for "her riveting and diverse contributions to the film industry." Bullock's rep confirms to People that the Oscar-winning actress will appear to accept the award, but won't be doing any interviews.

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The Ventura District Attorney has decided not to file charges against Heather Locklear for an auto accident last month in which a vehicle owned by Locklear struck a road sign and the driver left without reporting it. Locklear was taken into custody, and  initially charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run, but the D.A. now says that there isn't enough evidence to support the charge. "Physical evidence established that the vehicle involved in the collision was ... a 2005 black BMW sedan registered to Richard and Heather Sambora ... Insufficient evidence exists to establish who the driver of the vehicle was at the time of the collision. As a result, no criminal charges will be filed."

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Mariah Carey has backed out of a film, and it has spurred rumors that she did so because she is pregnant. Carey was to appear in Tyler Perry's adaptation of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf," which was to begin filming next month. While Carey and husband Nick Cannon have discussed having children, this is the first real buzz about a possible child. But Carey's rep isn't spilling any confirmation. "I'm not at liberty to discuss her personal life at this time," the rep said, failing to disclose a reason for the withdrawal from the film.

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Shannen Doherty says that her 'Dancing with the Stars' co-star and winner, Nicole Scherzinger, had an unfair advantage. Scherzinger is a member of the Pussycat Dolls, a pop music girl group. "Nicole's an amazing dancer and singer. So it's hard to compete with that," Doherty said. When asked whether she thought Scherzinger had an advantage, Doherty said, "Yeah, you know ... whatever. In the long run, it's up to the fans. It's a bit of a mixed bag over there."

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