Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

Now That’s ‘Tubthumping’!: The Virgin Megastore music chain has removed Chumbawamba’s recordings from the shelves of 12 of its U.S. stores and is selling them only from behind the counter after Alice Nutter, a member of the English band, said on network television that it was “fine” for people with little money to steal its records from big chain stores. Christos Garkinos, Virgin vice president of marketing, said, “We were dismayed by her saying this kind of thing, especially since we were one of the band’s early supporters.” Nutter made the statement, which the self-avowed anarchist band has made often in previous interviews, on ABC’s “Politically Incorrect” Tuesday. Nutter told The Times on Thursday that it was the show’s host, Bill Maher, who singled out Virgin as an example in the discussion, and that she tried to steer the topic toward “why people can’t afford records and feel the need to shoplift in an unequal world.” Chumbawamba’s album “Tubthumper” has sold 2.2 million copies and is currently No. 7 in the U.S.

Out of Treatment: Singer James Brown was released Wednesday from a South Carolina hospital where he had been treated since Jan. 15 for an addiction to painkillers. “Everybody’s making a big deal out of nothing. He’s fine,” said his agent, Jeff Allen. Allen said Brown, 64, began taking painkillers after hurting his back while doing the splits during a recent concert in Florida.

THE ARTS

Paintings Vandalized: Three Matisse paintings--including one on loan from Washington’s National Gallery and another from Russia’s Hermitage Museum--were found to be damaged Thursday at a Rome museum. Officials temporarily closed the Capitoline Museum, where the paintings had been on view since September, and police were investigating the matter. The three vandalized paintings were identified as the National Gallery’s “Pianist and Checker Players,” the Hermitage’s “Zorah Standing” and “The Japanese Woman” from a private collection. Nancy Starr, a spokeswoman for the National Gallery, called the damage--which included puncture holes and pencil marks--”very minor,” and said a gallery official was flying to Rome for further assessment. Eugenio La Rocca, Rome’s superintendent of antiquities and fine arts, predicted repairs would be completed “in a few days.”

50 Years of Mime: Renowned mime Marcel Marceau will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his stripe-clad character Bip, with a one-night-only performance, Feb. 28 at the Wiltern Theatre. Marceau, 74, has not performed in the Southland since 1992. Tickets for the 8 p.m. Wiltern performance, priced from $30 to $50, go on sale Sunday.

TV & RADIO

Alphabet Shuffle: ABC has canceled “Cracker,” the first-year Robert Pastorelli drama, with the program to have its final telecast this Saturday. The network will also pull the controversial drama “Nothing Sacred” after this week but plans to relaunch that series in March, most likely in the later 9 p.m. time slot. Both programs did poorly in their first Saturday airing last week, having previously struggled on Thursday nights. ABC will rely on movies and specials on Saturdays during the February rating sweeps.

Dial Notes: Sex therapist and self-proclaimed “ethical hedonist” Dr. Susan Block (HBO’s “Radio Sex TV”) has joined the KLSX-FM (97.1) Tuesday night lineup. She will share the mike each week with regular weeknight host Chuck “Nastyman” Naste, from 10 p.m. to midnight. . . . Longtime KABC-AM (790) restaurant critic Merrill Shindler takes his weekly “Dining Out” show to KLSX beginning this weekend. It will air on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m.

MOVIES

Crichton’s Testimony: Writer Michael Crichton, testifying Wednesday in a St. Louis lawsuit over the origins of his hit movie “Twister,” said he and his wife, co-writer Anne-Marie Martin, acted out the plot turns in the “Twister” screenplay while they were writing it. Crichton said that he and Martin used several sources, including books and videos about tornado chasers, to create the screenplay. In a 1996 lawsuit, writer Stephen Kessler claims that Crichton and some of Hollywood’s biggest names--including producer Steven Spielberg--ripped off Kessler’s script “Catch the Wind” to make “Twister.” Kessler seeks “Twister’s” entire multimillion-dollar profits. Crichton, meanwhile, maintains that he and Martin had never heard of Kessler or his screenplay prior to the lawsuit. Instead, they got the idea for “Twister” after seeing a TV documentary about storm chasers, Crichton testified.

QUICK TAKES

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince has canceled his scheduled Saturday concert at San Diego State University’s Cox Arena, citing “last-minute recording conflicts,” according to the show’s promoter. The appearance will not be rescheduled, and refunds are available at point of purchase. . . . Princess Diana’s family is planning an all-star concert on June 27 at the ancestral home where she is buried. Performers are to be announced next month, and all ticket proceeds will go the Princess Diana Memorial Fund. . . . The Washington Opera has extended famed tenor Placido Domingo’s contract as artistic director through the 2001-02 season. . . . The Babyface-produced comedy-drama “Soul Food” topped the VideoScan sales chart in its first week of video release last week, and landed at No. 2 on the Video Software Dealers Assn.’s rental chart. . . . Late-night host Keenen Ivory Wayans guests on a rival talk show tonight, when he appears on HBO’s “Dennis Miller Live” at 11:30 p.m.