People

A Shady History
For all the folks EMINEM has offended over the years — gays, women, his mother — the blond rapper seemed to avoid insulting African Americans. Until, that is, hip-hop magazine The Source dug up some Eminem juvenilia: "Blacks and whites, they sometimes mix/but black girls only want your money 'cause they're dumb chicks" are some of the milder lyrics on the tape. Responding to charges of racism, Eminem issued a statement saying the song was recorded after he broke up with a black girlfriend and "made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager." Hey, man, some of us just kicked our lockers.

That's One Butch Bridget Jones
RENEE ZELLWEGER plays a hardscrabble country woman in the upcoming Civil War epic Cold Mountain. To fix the mood on set, director Anthony Minghella displayed tintype photos of cast members, including Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Zellweger "is not digging into her own biography as an actress," says Minghella in Interview, where the pictures appear. "She's creating it." Either that or it's the gritty stare of a gal who wants her Oscar.

U.S. Soccer's Goooal!
Sure, Mom will have to drive him to practice. But when FREDDY ADU, 14, starts playing with Major League Soccer's D.C. United next spring, he'll have no trouble getting respect. Adu, who may be the next Pele, played barefoot pickup games in Ghana as a toddler. When his family moved to the U.S. in 1997, the youngster's formidable talent wowed coaches. Now Adu has spurned deals with prestigious European clubs to stay close to his Maryland home. Will a charismatic young star be what the sport needs to build its U.S. fan base? "Give soccer 10 years here, it'll be just as popular as it is everywhere else," Adu says. Doesn't he know Americans only like to riot over trade agreements?