Today's entertainment news: Ray J opens up about Houston's death

Plus: Big B set for more surgery; Oprah mulls film comeback; Beyoncé working on new album; Clooney and Russell bury the hatchet; and Charlie Sheen says Ashton Kutcher's no good.

George Clooney and the filmmaker David O Russell patch things up. Giuseppe Cacace / AFP

The musician Ray J broke his silence with Us Weekly, six days after the death of his former partner Whitney Houston.

"Over the past few days, I've tried to process the emptiness that I am experiencing. What my heart feels cannot be expressed in words. The world lost an icon, but I lost my close friend," he said in a statement on Friday. "Nippy, I miss you so much! Your smile will live in my heart forever."

On February 9, two days before her death, Houston was spotted at Hollywood's Tru nightclub with daughter Bobbi Kristina as well as Ray J. The former couple were publicly displaying affection to each other, a source told Us Weekly.

Houston was laid to rest yesterday at noon in a private memorial service in New Jersey.

Oprah Winfrey to make film comeback?

The American talk show host Oprah Winfrey is contemplating making her big screen comeback, 14 years after her 1998 film Beloved.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Winfrey might join the cast of The Butler, a biopic of Eugene Allen, who served as a butler to eight US presidents. She is being courted to play the role of Allen's wife.

The actors Hugh Jackman, Mila Kunis and John Cusack are also attached to the project.

It will be directed by Lee Daniels, the filmmaker behind Monster's Ball and Precious.

Big B set for more surgery

The veteran Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was under observation in a Mumbai hospital Friday awaiting further surgery - his third in a week - to treat recurring abdominal pain.

"He is not critical but under observation," a hospital source told the Press Trust of India.

The 69-year-old actor, who underwent two operations last week, tweeted to his fans on Thursday: "Some more tests ... more unpronounceable medication and another visit to the OT ... operation theatre! Going to be a long stay."

Bachchan was admitted last week after complaining of abdominal pain, sparking worries about his health among his fans who held vigils outside his hospital and made offerings at temples and mosques for his recovery.

* Agence France-Presse

Beyoncé working on new album

Following the birth of her baby daughter Blue Ivy last month, Beyoncé is already working on a new album, revealed her songwriting collaborator and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder to TheBoombox.com.

"The conversations about her next album literally just started and there are two projects happening," he said. "All I can say is you kind of feed her the best that you have and she's this phenomenal filter and she takes it all in."

Beyoncé's last album, 4, was released in June last year.

Clooney and Russell bury the hatchet

The actor George Clooney and filmmaker David O Russell have ended their decade-long feud after falling out on the set of the 1999 war movie Three Kings.

Clooney told The Hollywood Reporter: "I saw David a few weeks ago at a party and I felt compelled to go over and go: 'So, are we done?' And he goes: 'Please'. And I said: 'OK'.

"We made a really, really great film and we had a really tough time together, but it's a case of us both getting older."

Russell is notorious for his high-strung outbursts. While on the set of 2004's I Heart Huckabees, he verbally sparred with the actress Lily Tomlin. He quit and walked out on the set of 2010's Nailed, while filming with Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal and James Caan, who quit on the first day of shooting.

Charlie Sheen: Ashton Kutcher's no good

Charlie Sheen called in to the live chat programme TMZ Live on Thursday and bashed the actor who replaced him in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.

"I'm tired of lying. I'm tired of pretending the show doesn't suck, that Ashton doesn't suck," Sheen said.

The 46-year-old actor has been publicly supportive of the sitcom up until the statement, which was probably triggered after Warner Bros sent him a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, demanding he stop using Two and a Half Men photos to promote his forthcoming new show, Anger Management.

"I'm thrilled. It insulates me from having to redundantly see myself in the idiotic bowling shirt," Sheen told TMZ. "Perhaps if Warner Bros spent as much time and energy focusing on their show. When you take away the anchor from your show, which they stupidly did, you go adrift."