$heen $its Atop TV Heap

She collected cool $260m; second-place Seinfeld nabbed $60m

(NEWSER) - Talk show diva Oprah Winfrey continues her reign as the Queen of Media, topping Forbes' list of 2007's 20 highest earning TV stars with a whopping $260 million. Jerry Seinfeld came in a distant second with $60 million—mostly from residuals. They were followed by Simon Cowell ($45 million), David Letterman ($40 million), Donald Trump ($32 million) and Jay Leno ($32 million). More»

His firing from Two and a Half Men costing producers a bundle

(NEWSER) - Who's crazy now? Charlie Sheen is hammering out a settlement with Warner Bros. for his firing from Two and a Half Men amounting to $25 million, TMZ and the Los Angeles Times are reporting. The whacked-out actor filed a $100 million lawsuit for wrongful termination against Warner Bros. when he was axed from the program after his public battles with substance abuse and tirades against the studio and the program's producer. More»

Hugh Laurie, Oprah, Ryan Seacrest, Charlie Sheen lead way

(NEWSER) - TV stars still make good money, but they make a bit less of it now than in recent years—studios have lowered the starting salary for a series star from a consistent $150,000 to $200,000 to between $75,000 and $125,000. Established stars, however, rake in much bigger bucks. Yahoo breaks down the leaders, via TV Guide numbers:

• Drama: Hugh Laurie picks up $400,000 per episode of House, while Law and Order: SVU duo Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay each get $395,000.

Actor pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault; felony charge dropped

(AP) - Charlie Sheen has pleaded guilty in a Colorado domestic abuse case involving his wife in exchange for the withdrawal of two other charges, including a felony. The Two and a Half Men star entered the plea to a misdemeanor assault charge today in court in Aspen, the scene of a Christmas Day argument with his wife that ended in his arrest. Sheen was sentenced to 30 days in a California rehabiliatation center, 30 days of probation, and 36 hours of anger management. More»

New Forbes list is full of ‘biggest-ever’s

(NEWSER) - Forbes’ new list of the 100 most powerful celebrities is packed with broken records, including the highest-grossing athlete (Tiger Woods: $100M in the past year), the highest-grossing concert tour (The Rolling Stones: over $400M in sales) and the highest-paid film role (Johnny Depp: $92M for Pirates II). But the ubiquitous Oprah topped the list. More»