People in the News

NEW YORK — Nicole Richie is talking about her pregnancy and the four-day jail sentence she received after her guilty plea to driving under the influence.

After months of rumors, Richie tells ABC News’ Diane Sawyer for an interview to air this week that she is almost four months’ pregnant and that her boyfriend, Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, is the father.

"Yes I am. We are,” she tells ABC, which issued a news release about the interview.

In the latest issue of OK! magazine, on newsstands Wednesday, Richie says she is feeling "healthy and happy” and her life "is clearly going to slow down.”

"I will be really happy once I have done my jail time,” the 25-year-old star of TV’s "The Simple Life” and on-again pal of Paris Hilton says. "I can start fresh.”

Richie was sentenced to nearly four days in jail after pleading guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of drugs.

"It was a fair, standard sentence,” the daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie, tells OK! "I expected that.”

She must complete her jail time by Sept. 28.

Her ABC interview was to air on "Good Morning America” on Thursday and Friday and on "20/20” Friday night.

"I have a responsibility and it’s something that I did wrong, and if I could personally apologize to every single person that has lost a loved one from drunk driving, I would,” Richie says in the ABC interview. "And unfortunately I can’t, but this is my way of paying my dues and taking responsibility and being an adult.”

The series finale of "The Simple Life” will air Sunday on E! The program, which debuted on Fox in 2003, throws Richie and Hilton into everyday situations.

Scary Spice files petition to establish Eddie Murphy as father of her 4-month-old daughter

LOS ANGELES — Scary Spice went to court Wednesday to try to scare some child support from Eddie Murphy.

The 32-year-old singer, whose real name is Melanie Brown, filed a petition in Superior Court that seeks to legally establish Murphy as the father of her 4-month-old daughter, Angel Iris Murphy Brown.

Brown will also seek sole custody and reasonable child support, attorney Gloria Allred said at a press conference.

"I am here today for one reason and one reason only; her name is Angel,” Brown said. "Angel is my baby and Eddie’s. She will always know that she was planned and wanted by both of us.”

Arnold Robinson, a spokesman for the 46-year-old actor, declined comment.

"We just don’t comment on Eddie Murphy’s personal life,” he said.

Allred said Murphy took a DNA test in June.

The test "established paternity but paternity has not been legally acknowledged,” she said in a statement.

Murphy has shown "shocking and appalling” conduct since the test, the statement said.

Brown, who dated Murphy last year, gave birth to her daughter April 3. She listed Murphy as the father on the birth certificate.

Murphy has five children from his marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy, who filed for divorce in 2005.

Brown also has an 8-year-old daughter.

The Spice Girls recently reunited for a tour that is scheduled to begin later this year.

Kevin Federline focused on parenting after divorce from Britney Spears, lawyer says

LOS ANGELES — With his marriage to Britney Spears officially over, Kevin Federline is focused on giving their two young sons a secure upbringing outside the media glare so they can "pretend they’re like everyone else,” his lawyer said.

The couple’s divorce was made official Monday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said Tuesday his client will shun the spotlight when he cares for the children under a custody agreement.

"When they are with him, he is going to shield his children from unwanted media attention,” Kaplan said. "You will not find a picture of Kevin parading with the children out in a public place.

"He’s focused right now on being the best parent that he can be,” the attorney added.

Kaplan, who specializes in celebrity family law cases, refused to disclose the custody arrangement or other details in the divorce.

Since February, Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, have shared joint custody of their two sons, 22-month-old Sean Preston and 10-month-old Jayden James. Federline also has two children with former girlfriend Shar Jackson.

However, Kaplan said Federline’s life as a celebrity father comes with different demands than many other fathers face, including huge expenses. When they go out, Kaplan said, there must be a nanny and security guards.

"There are people you have to pay so your kids can pretend they’re like everyone else,” said Kaplan. "When you are a celebrity parent, there are financial dynamics that others not familiar with it can’t understand. "

Spears and Federline wed in October 2004, eight months after her first marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander was annulled. The pop star cited irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce from Federline on Nov. 7, 2006.

Kaplan said Federline wouldn’t comment on Spears’ public behavior. Most recently, she’s been accused of threatening paparazzi outside a Las Vegas spa.

"He doesn’t want to do anything that would be perceived as taking her down a peg,” Kaplan said. "His goal is to keep things between him and Britney private. There’s a proper forum to discuss issues with a co-parent. That place is not in the public eye.”

Asked if things might have been better for their sons if they had made a go of it together, Kaplan sighed.

"In a perfect world, maybe that would be true,” he said. "I’ve seen so many marriages end on that question. But in a perfect world, there are no lawyers.”