CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) — Country singer Garth Brooks told jurors Friday that he believed he had a “done deal” to honor his late mother with a women’s health center in his Oklahoma hometown, and said he still doesn’t understand how he received nothing for a $500,000 gift.

Brooks is suing Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon, accusing it and its president of reneging on a pledge to build the center and name it after his mother, Colleen, who died of cancer in 1999. The center was never built, and Brooks wants his money back, plus punitive damages.

(EW.com) — Henry Winkler is often called the Nicest Man in Hollywood, but now he’s also known as an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).

He was awarded the honor from the Queen this week in recognition of his services to children with dyslexia and special educational needs.

According to the British Embassy in Washington, he’s spent much of the last two years touring the U.K. to educate about dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Winkler, who was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, is also the author of 17 children’s books centered on Hank Zipzer, a boy with dyslexia who overcomes his struggles at school and with bullies.

Jerry Lewis is not a fan of reality television.

The star of Encore’s upcoming “Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis,” a documentary about the 85-year-old comedian’s life and career, took aim at weight-loss reality shows and the contestants who try out for FOX juggernaut “American Idol” on Friday at the Television Critics Association Summer Session 2011 in Beverly Hills.

Country superstars Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire raised $500,000 for victims of recent tornados in Oklahoma.

PHOTOS: Stars’ good deeds

Shelton, a musician coach of NBC’s “The Voice,” teamed up with McEntire, his adviser on the competition series, for two relief concerts May 25 and 26 in Durant, Okla. Kelly Clarkson even made a surprise appearance at the May 26 relief show.
Story: Miranda Lambert shoots her own matrimonial meal

The duo — both Oklahoma natives — donated all proceeds to the Tushka Disaster Relief fund.

Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to the Red Cross for Japan disaster relief, her rep confirms to Scoop. While other celebrities have made various gestures to encourage donation and raise money, this is the largest known donation made by a celebrity since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

NEW YORK — More than 70 guitars belonging to British music icon Eric Clapton will go on the auction block in New York next week to raise money for his drug and alcohol treatment center in the Caribbean.

The instruments, shown at a preview on Friday, include a 2005 Fender Stratocaster Signature Model, which is expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.

Clapton used the instrument during the Cream Reunion concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London in May 2005 and at Madison Square Garden in New York in October of the same year.

How’s this for spreading holiday cheer: Lil Wayne, now a free man himself after his release from prison in early November, has helped someone else get out of confinement.

The 28-year-old rapper, who served eight months in New York’s Riker’s Island on a weapons charge, has bestowed the mother of fan Ronda Austin with a wheelchair.

He writes on his website, WeezyThanxYou.com, that he came to know Ronda through a series of letters she sent him while he was serving his sentence.

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Large and small donations flowed in Monday evening as dozens of celebrities answered phones for Larry King’s telethon to help the people of the U.S. Gulf Coast suffering from the oil disaster.

“A hundred dollars? Wow! Thanks you so much,” rocker Tyson Ritter told one donor who called in.

The two-hour CNN show raised $1.3 million with proceeds going to three charities deeply involved in the efforts to help humans, wildlife and the environment.

(CNN) — “Golden Girls” star Bea Arthur’s generosity lives on.

The actress, who died in April, included a $300,000 donation to New York’s Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will, leaving center Executive Director Carl Siciliano overwhelmed by her kindness.

Siciliano said he knew of Arthur’s plan to include the center in her will, but never knew the amount.

He had been struggling to keep the doors of the shelter open. The organization assists more than 1,000 people each year, providing shelter for those who had to leave home “for being who they are,” Siciliano said.

So, this year the hip-hop artist will hold a charity concert at Madison Square Garden in New York on the anniversary of the attacks. He announced the show, named “Answer the Call,” at a press conference with government officials Monday morning at the Midtown New York venue.

Standing next to officials, including New York Gov. David Paterson and New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, Jay-Z — born Shawn Carter in Brooklyn, New York — outlined his plans to donate the proceeds from the concert to the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.

“This is my chance to help out and do something,” he told reporters.

Tickets for the benefit go on sale September 8 and will cost $50. Organizers hope to raise more than $750,000 for the widows’ and children’s fund, according to information at the press conference.