Bye, 'Buckwild': MTV nix hicks

FOLLOWING the death of reality-TV star Shain Gandee, MTV has officially canceled "Buckwild."

"After careful consideration, MTV will not be moving forward with season two of 'Buckwild' in West Virginia," MTV said, in a statement. "We love the cast and the show and this was not an easy decision, but given Shain's tragic passing and essential presence on the show, we felt it was not appropriate to continue without him. Instead, we are working on a meaningful way to pay tribute to his memory on our air and privately."

MTV had hoped that "Buckwild" would fill the void left by the end of "Jersey Shore."

With its cancellation, MTV will now be seeking another set of partially backward, fun-loving rubes with a new geographical dialect to brand for the masses.

The famed Louvre Museum in Paris was closed Wednesday after its workers walked off their jobs.

No, they didn't go on strike.

They were protesting the increasing problem of pickpockets in the museum's vast galleries.

Louvre spokeswoman Sophie Grange was unable to say when the museum, which normally attracts up to 30,000 visitors a day at this time of year, would reopen.

The Louvre claims to be the world's most visited museum, with nearly 10 million visitors last year.

Unfortunately, too many leave with someone else's wallet.

Even Mickey Mouse is trying to do more with less. After spending $4 billion to add the "Star Wars" empire and another $4 billion a few years back to add Marvel Comics, Walt Disney Studios, which employs 7,000 people, on Wednesday laid off 150 workers, including a few relatively senior executives in movie publicity and the DVD department, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The layoffs followed a yearlong review by the company.

What did they review? How great everything was going?

Disney said in a statement that the cuts ensured "that the studios' operational structure and economics align with the demands of the current marketplace."

Disney released 13 movies in 2012, and those 13 films took in approximately $1.5 billion (and that's just in the U.S. and Canada). The company as a whole (theme parks, ABC, ESPN, etc.), which employs close to 166,000 people, had 2012 earnings of approximately $5.4 billion and has seen its stock price rise from approximately $42 per share to $60 per share over the past 12 months. Chief executive Bob Iger took home nearly $20 million in salary.

But sorry, you 150 people, we can't afford you.

The Malawi government issued an angry attack on Madonna on Wednesday, alleging that she expected VIP treatment during her controversial tour to the southern African country last week.

"Granted, Madonna is a famed international musician. But that does not impose an injunction of obligation on any government under whose territory Madonna finds herself, including Malawi, to give her state treatment. Such treatment, even if she deserved it, is discretionary not obligatory," said a statement, signed by State House Press Officer Tusekele Mwanyongo, apparently referring to the singer's annoyance at being stripped of her VIP status on departure from Malawi last Saturday.

Madonna, who has had VIP treatment during previous visits - including when she arrived on this trip - was apparently surprised when she and her travelling party had to line up with ordinary passengers and be frisked by airport security.

President Joyce Banda said that she was angered by Madonna's claims that she has built 10 schools in Malawi.

"Where are the 10 schools she has built?" Banda said. "She is just building school blocks at already existing schools. . . . This is an insult to the people of Malawi."

But Trevor Neilson, whose Global Philanthropy Group is managing Madonna's projects in Malawi, said that Banda is really mad because her younger sister, Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, was fired as the CEO for Madonna's charity, Raising Malawi.

* Responding to rumors, Sean "Diddy" Combs tweeted Wednesday that he is not having sex with Sports Illustrated super swimsuit model Kate Upton.

Yo, Diddy, we finally have something in common. We should hang.

* A settlement has been reached between the producers of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" and its fired director, Julie Taymor, ending a bitter legal fight over what has become Broadway's most expensive show.

No details about the settlement or how it was reached were revealed.

* The 950-acre property that John Denver bought in the late 1970s as headquarters for his Windstar Foundation is being sold, a move seen by some environmentalists as the unofficial end to the singer's vision to protect some of the land west of Aspen from being overrun by developers.

The property in Old Snowmass is under contract to be sold to a private buyer. The conservancy placed the property on the market in September for $13 million.

According to the Aspen Times, foundation officials want to use the money to help the institute achieve its goal of opening a state-of-the-art green office building in Basalt, about 18 miles northwest of Aspen.

* U.S. Treasury officials say that the trip by Beyonce and Jay-Z to Cuba was licensed as an educational exchange.

Jay and Bey learned about Cuban cuisine at Havana's finest restaurants. And Cubans learned Beyonce really is bootylicious.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.