NEW YORK (AP) – Eminem, who last week wrapped up his nationwide “Anger Management” tour, has canceled his European tour, citing exhaustion and other medical issues, his record label said Tuesday.

In a brief statement, Interscope Records said Eminem was scrapping the tour, which was supposed to kick off Sept. 1 in Hamburg, Germany, and end Sept. 17 in Dublin, Ireland. There were 10 concerts scheduled.

“Eminem is currently being treated for exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues. The shows are not expected to be rescheduled,” the statement read.

Eminem’s publicist, Dennis Dennehy, told The Associated Press he had no further information on the best-selling rapper’s condition, and couldn’t say whether he was hospitalized or what other medical issues he had.

“We just want to get the word out that these tour dates are being canceled,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have some news later on.”

Eminem, 32, just ended his summer tour with rappers 50 Cent and Lil Jon on Aug. 13 with performances in his hometown of Detroit. Dennehy said it was unclear when the decision was made to cancel the European tour.

Last month, Eminem denied a report that said he was planning to retire after releasing four multiplatinum albums, including his latest, “Encore.” But he did say he might be taking a breather from his multiplatinum career.

“When I say I’m taking a break, I’m taking a break from my music to go in the studio and produce my other artists and put their albums out,” Eminem said on MTV’s Web site.

“When I know my next move, I’ll tell everyone my next move. Not some reporter who writes a story about “This is Eminem’s last album.’ I never said (“Encore’) was my last album.”

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NEW YORK (AP) – A single, surprising phone call and it was over. That’s how Pierce Brosnan says he learned that his services as James Bond would no longer be required.

“One phone call, that’s all it took!” the 52-year-old actor tells Entertainment Weekly magazine in its Aug. 19 issue.

Brosnan starred in four Bond films. He says that before they stopped negotiations, the producers had invited him back for a fifth time.

“You know, the movie career for me really started with Bond,” says Brosnan, acknowledging that by the time “GoldenEye” premiered in 1995, he was already 42.

He then starred as 007 in “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) and “Die Another Day” (2002).

His departure from the role was a “titanic jolt to the system,” says Brosnan, followed by “a great sense of calm.”

“I thought. … I can do anything I want to do now. I’m not beholden to them or anyone. I’m not shackled by some contracted image. So there was a sense of liberation.”

Brosnan says he’s grateful to have had the role, but adds: “It never felt real to me. I never felt I had complete ownership over Bond. Because you’d have these stupid one-liners – which I loathed – and I always felt phony doing them.”

He plays a foulmouthed, skirt-chasing hit man in the upcoming film “The Matador.”

“(For this) to come on the heels of my departure from the world of Bond is sweet grace, to play this one as a farewell to that chapter in time – it certainly wasn’t planned.”

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On the Net:

http://www.piercebrosnan.com/

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – An irate judge, miffed by Michael Jackson’s failure to have his lawyer show up for a hearing in a civil case, fined the singer $10,000 on Wednesday.

Jackson was a no-show and had no lawyer present at a July hearing in the case accusing him of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man during the 1984 World’s Fair. Jackson denies the accusations.

Jackson attorney Charles F. Gay Jr. told U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon on Wednesday that the summons for the court date was simply lost in the confusion of Jackson’s child molestation trial in California. The summons for the New Orleans court appearance arrived on June 13 – the day Jackson was acquitted.

“I would like to point out that June 13 was probably the most anxious day of Michael Jackson’s life,” Gay said. “That was the day the jury reached the verdict.”

At that time, Gay told the judge, Jackson was not eating or sleeping and was worried about his and his children’s futures.

“The order of June 13 did not get in the proper people’s hands because of the chaos in Michael Jackson’s life,” Gay said.

The judge said he did not feel it was appropriate to fine Jackson for contempt, but he was not sold on Gay’s excuse either, so he levied other fines related to court costs.

“It strains my understanding of the facts that Mr. Jackson did not know of this matter,” Fallon said.

In the federal civil lawsuit, Joseph Thomas Bartucci Jr. claims he was lured into Jackson’s limousine by one of the singer’s employees in 1984, held against his will for days and sexually assaulted. Bartucci claims he repressed the memories until 2003, when he saw the coverage of the child molestation charges against Jackson.

Bartucci is seeking unspecified monetary compensation from Jackson on a variety of claims such as emotional distress.

Bartucci’s attorney, William A. Pigg, said he will push for a quick trial.

“My client has been under a great deal of stress,” Pigg said. “He has been the victim of character assassination.”

Jackson’s lawyer doubts the case will ever go to trial. There is a one-year statue of limitations from the time Bartucci claims he regained his memory, but Gay said Bartucci allegedly discussed the allegations with his wife in the 1990s.