Monitor

BIRTHS Mummy daddy: On Sept. 17, Brendan Fraser, 33, and his homemaker wife, Afton Smith, 35, welcomed their first child, Griffin Arthur…. They knew it’d be a boy. TV psychic John Edward, 32, and his dance-instructor wife, Sandra, 31, had their first child, 10-pound Justin, on Sept. 25.

WEDDINGS She must’ve been the One. Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), 41, and actress Gina Torres (Firefly), 33, tied the knot Sept. 22 in Manhattan. It’s his second marriage, her first.

SPLITS On Sept. 23 in L.A., Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, 34, was sued for divorce by his model wife of two years, Mary, 27. The couple have two children, Noah Mercer, 1, and 2-month-old Lucy Olivia.

AILING On Sept. 30, Oscar winner George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke), 77, was released from an Idaho hospital after emergency heart-bypass surgery. He’s expected to fully recover.

COURTS Yoko Ono, 69, and a former assistant to her late husband, John Lennon, have come together, settling a 1999 lawsuit in which she claimed the ex-aide, Frederic Seaman, 49, broke a confidentiality agreement and stole personal family items. On Sept. 27, Seaman agreed to return 374 family photos to Ono and stop writing about the ex-Beatle. Ono’s lawyer says her client is ”thrilled” with the settlement. Seaman’s attorney called the outcome ”reasonable.”… On Sept. 30, rocker-actress Courtney Love, 38, settled a litany of issues with Universal Music Group and bandmates of her late husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. She’d disputed the terms of her own contract — and the details of releasing certain Nirvana recordings. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The deal allows Universal to release a Nirvana compilation album with the never-released track ”You Know You’re Right” this year, as well as a future boxed set and another unspecified album. The company will relinquish ownership of some unreleased songs by her band, Hole, and waive rights to Love’s future recordings (though it will get a percentage of earnings from some of them). Reacting to the settlement, Love said, ”Rock music is starting to become very fun.” A Universal exec said the firm was glad to have ”resolved this amicably.”… On Sept. 25, New York-based tech firm DownloadCard sued Universal Music for $750,000, alleging the label used its technology without permission on the upcoming Bon Jovi album Bounce. (Each copy will come with a pin number fans can use to access online info, using a program DownloadCard claims it provided to Universal for use on other albums to prevent piracy.) A Universal spokeswoman would not comment…. Three major music retailers and five top music firms (including Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, a division of EW parent AOL Time Warner) have agreed to pay $143 million to settle a CD-price-fixing case brought by 43 states. The 2000 suit accused the companies of conspiring to inflate CD prices between 1995 and 2000, violating antitrust laws. Under the settlement, $67.4 million will go to consumers (who can file claims to receive their share) and $75.7 million in product will be donated to nonprofit groups to promote music programs. WEA denied wrongdoing, calling the settlement ”a business decision.”… On Oct. 1, Gruner + Jahr Publishing filed a $100 million suit against estranged partner Rosie O’Donnell, 40, for her Sept. 18 decision to walk away from Rosie magazine. O’Donnell’s spokeswoman said the erstwhile TV host will ”countersue” but declined to elaborate.