Winehouse Assault Trial Begins

(Newser) – Hair and booze, two of Amy Winehouse’s better-documented crutches, came into play at the start of her assault trial today, People reports. When demonstrating the height difference in court between herself and the dancer who accuses Winehouse of slapping her, Winehouse pointed out, “my hair does make a difference.” For her part, Sherene Flash said Winehouse seemed “drunk” at the time of the alleged incident. Elsewhere:

• Mischa Barton’s publicist was hoping to use his client’s hospitalization as a way to land her on the cover of a celeb weekly, a magazine editor tells the New York Post, but “no one really cares.” The publicist denied the report.
• After spending some time with Susan Boyle for her recent interview, NBC's Meredith Vieira was pleasantly surprised: “She looked great and seemed extremely relaxed and confident,” Vieira tells People. “I really do think she's a lovely lady.”
• TR Knight left Grey’s Anatomy after a “breakdown in communication” with exec producer Shonda Rhimes, he tells the New York Daily News. His screen time was reduced to 48 minutes in the first nine episodes of season five, which “didn’t seem like an ebb to me,” he says. “No other series regular’s character had ever disappeared like mine did this past season.”