LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday put his Hollywood projects on hold following the scandal over a secret child he fathered 13 years ago with his housekeeper.

The 63-year-old former California governor and “Terminator” star has told his agents to halt plans to resume his movie career so that he can deal with “personal matters”, according to a statement.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A scandal over Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love child switched on Wednesday to the mystery woman at the center of one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets.

As America’s top comedians lampooned the former California governor and “Terminator” star, U.S. media hunted down the member of his household staff with whom he admitted fathering a child, while he was married to Maria Shriver.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – To fans, he was movie star tough guy the Terminator. Then he turned to politics and was affectionately dubbed the Governator. But after acknowledging that he fathered a child out of wedlock, Arnold Schwarzenegger was swiftly given a new name — the Sperminator.

Schwarzenegger’s admission on Tuesday that he impregnated a member of his household staff 10 years ago, while married to Maria Shriver and before running for California governor, triggered scorn, shock and ridicule in the U.S. media.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Ashton Kutcher is joining a revamped version of the top-rated TV comedy “Two and A Half Men”, CBS said on Friday, ending months of disarray after the acrimonious firing of wayward star Charlie Sheen.

Kutcher, 33, the husband of actress Demi Moore, is joining the cast for the upcoming ninth season of the money-spinning show that is scheduled for broadcast in the fall of 2011.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Ashton Kutcher is joining a revamped version of the top-rated TV comedy “Two and A Half Men”, CBS said on Friday, ending months of disarray after the acrimonious firing of wayward star Charlie Sheen.

Kutcher, 33, the husband of actress Demi Moore, is joining the cast for the upcoming ninth season of the money-spinning show that is scheduled for broadcast in the fall of 2011.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British actor Hugh Grant was approached to replace Charlie Sheen in top-rated TV comedy “Two and A Half Men” as producers race to revamp the money-spinning show for a 9th season, an industry source said on Wednesday.

But final talks with the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” star stalled and Grant is likely out of the running, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced on Wednesday to four months in jail after changing her plea and effectively admitting stealing a $2,500 gold necklace from a Los Angeles store.

But Lohan, who was not in court on Wednesday, will likely serve just 16-17 days of her sentence — most likely under house arrest, officials said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Larry Hagman may be putting on his cowboy hat and boots again and heading back to “Dallas,” but off-screen the actor is selling his own ranch, and some of the memorabilia from the classic 1980s TV show.

Hagman, 79, best-known for playing conniving Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing, is putting furnishings, antiques, art work and personal property from his hilltop California home up for auction in Beverly Hills in June.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Paul McCartney is set to wed for the third time after proposing to his New York businesswoman girlfriend of four years, Nancy Shevell.

The London-based spokesman for the former Beatle confirmed on Friday that McCartney and Shevell were engaged, but declined to give further details.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Ousted “American Idol” contestant Jacob Lusk said on Friday he was hurt by constant criticism from the show’s in house mentor Jimmy Iovine.

But the 23 year-old gospel singer, whose voice was compared to the late Luther Vandross, told reporters it was more important that his music connected with American viewers on the top-rated TV singing contest.