Transformers actor Shia LaBeouf has said he loved the fact that his parents worked as clowns when he was growing up, as it meant he could never argue with them.

The 23-year-old actor, who is currently promoting new film Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, revealed that when he was a child, his parents would dress up as clowns to sell hot dogs.

“I know some people are scared of clowns, but I never was – I guess you’re not scared of your parents, are you?

“My dad would train chickens to jump through hoops of fire and, when I was very young, we’d all dress up in clown costumes and sell hot dogs in the park together.

“That’s how we made money. I loved it, because being a clown meant you could never really have arguments as a family.

“Who wants to buy hot dogs from fighting clowns?”

The publisher of Harry Potter has rejected new plagiarism claims against JK Rowling by the family of an unknown dead writer.

The estate of Adrian Jacobs, a UK fantasy writer, claimed in a 2004 lawsuit that Rowling stole the plot from his 1997 book title Willy the Wizard No 1 Livid Land for her book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

It also claimed that Rowling used the services of a literary agent – Christopher Little – who was also employed by Jacobs. Jacobs reportedly died penniless in a London hospice, seven years before the suit was filed.

Bloomsbury Publishing said in a statement: “Bloomsbury would like to state that this claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously. The allegations of plagiarism made by the estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue. Willy the Wizard is a very insubstantial booklet running to 36 pages which had very limited distribution. The central character of Willy the Wizard is not a young wizard, and the book does not revolve around a wizard school …. The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard.”

Source: Splash News

Ugly Betty star America Ferrera has admitted she is not a “fashionista” and hates shopping.

America, 25, plays plain-looking Betty Suarez, who works for a fashion magazine, in the hit US sitcom.

“I’m [the] antithesis of a shopaholic. I’m afraid of shopping. I don’t like to shop, I don’t like being in stores,” she said.

“I’ve never enjoyed shopping since I was young. I like nice clothes, but I’m not a fashionista.”

Like her character Betty, America admitted she isn’t a fan of designer labels and wears whatever she feels comfortable in. “I just wear whatever fits me and what I feel good in,” she said.

She added: “My mum still buys me clothes sometimes. I like feeling pretty and wearing heels, but it’s not something I do on a daily basis.

“I don’t walk out the door and ask myself, ‘Am I wearing the most updated version of my Manolo Blahniks?”