The law is finally catching up to 'Teen Mom' star Amber Portwood.

Indiana prosecutors formally charged the reality star today with two felony counts of domestic battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent and one misdemeanor of domestic violence and battery, E! Online reports.
Law enforcement became involved in Portwood's case after MTV camera crews filmed her hitting her ex-fiance, Gary Shirley, in front of their young daughter. The footage aired on 'Teen Mom,' and was subpoenaed from MTV after Indiana authorities received complaints from Child Protective Services.

I'm not a fan of Tila Tequila (actual name: Tila Nguyen) or her MTV programs A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila or its sequel, but that doesn't mean I want her to get hurt. Sadly, it looks like she was allegedly restrained and choked by Shawne Merriman, a linebacker with the San Diego Chargers. Charges have already been pressed.

Since she did call and press charges, I'm going to assume this isn't one of those cases of erotic asphyxiation gone wrong and assume Mr. Merriman was (allegedly) trying to prove his manhood somehow. In which case he's a cad and a beast and there are more promising men out there. In fact, since Ms. Nguyen is allegedly bisexual (she claimed to be on her show, but I've always had my doubts about that) she has an even bigger batch of better options to choose from.

Is this going to be another case of Rihanna and Chris Brown? I certainly hope not.

Yet again, we are reminded of the awesome power Oprah has over all of us.

A man in the UK who was raped along with his sister in the '70s (his younger brother was also molested) did not confront his abuser until 1995, attacking the alleged pedophile by punching him and stomping on him. A trial is currently underway, during which the jury was told the victim decided to confront his attacker after seeing an episode of Oprah about victims confronting those who had hurt them in the past. The man who abused the three children was a teenager at the time. It wasn't until 2005 that one of the brothers went to the police about the abuse they had all suffered as children.

[via Digg]

Footage of a father hitting his fifteen year old daughter that was taped back in 2002 and aired Friday as part of a Primetime Live episode about step-families, has led to an investigation by police in upstate New York. ABC did not report the incident to authorities, claiming it was the only act of physical violence out of hundreds of hours of footage. The father and stepmother  both later admitted, however, that they had struck the girl before. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, the girl, who is now eighteen, has come to her father's defense, asking folks to respect their privacy and not to attack him. Nevertheless, Primetime's messageboard is lit up with angry missives from people who caught the episode, some demanding ABC give any money made from advertising to causes promoting child-abuse prevention.

I didn't see the episode, but I would love to hear someone's take on it who actually watched it.

Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard, who is currently filming The Good Shepherd in Haiti with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, will star in the CBS remake of the 1976 NBC made-for-television movie, Sybil. Blanchard will play the title role, of a woman with multiple personality disorder. Lange will play her psychiatrist, who helps Sybil realize that years mental, physical and sexual abuse from her mother caused her emotional problems. Kinda sounds like an episode of Law and Order, doesn't it? I'm sure, in its day, the story was ground-breaking. I never saw the 1976 version, and I know I'm missing out on a lot of pop culture references because of it. The movie is based on the book of the same name which chronicled the real-life treatment of a woman from 1954-1965, who had 16 different personalities. The original version of the movie starred Joanne Woodward and Sally Field, who won an Emmy for the role. The screenwriter, Stewart Stern, also won an Emmy that year.

Filming of the remake begins next week in Nova Scotia. No air date is set.