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

PEOPLE WATCH

Lynn Warns Against Implant Dangers: Country singer Loretta Lynn is warning women about the dangers of silicone breast implants. “You women out there that have breast implants, it is dangerous. Have them jerked out,” Lynn says in the April 21 issue of Country Weekly magazine. The 63-year-old entertainer had her 25-year-old implants removed in January because of leaking silicone that had attached to nerve endings, her rib cage, backbone and tissue. “It was a mess. It went all over,” Lynn said. Without surgery, adds the singer, “I would have died.”

COMEDY

Comics to Roast Improv’s Budd Friedman: Comedians Jay Leno, Drew Carey, David Spade and Richard Lewis will be among the veteran comics roasting Budd Friedman on Wednesday night at the Improvisation as the longtime owner of the West Hollywood comedy club celebrates 35 years in the business. Les Moonves, president of CBS, and Chris Albrecht, president of original programming at HBO, are also scheduled to participate. Although an industry-heavy crowd is expected, a small number of tickets will be made available to the public the night of the show.

POP/ROCK

Michael Apologizes to Fans: British pop singer George Michael apologized to fans and revealed that he is gay in an interview with CNN--his first public comments since his arrest last week in a men’s room in Beverly Hills. “I have no problem with people knowing that I’m in a relationship with a man right now,” he said. “I have not had a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years.” Of his arrest on charges of committing an unspecified lewd act, Michael said: “I don’t feel any shame. I feel stupid, and I feel reckless and weak for having allowed my sexuality to be exposed this way.”

CBGB’s Launches Own Label: CBGB’s, the New York nightclub that introduced the world to groundbreaking acts such as the Talking Heads, Blondie, the Ramones and Patti Smith, has launched its own record label. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the club that has been in the forefront of live music said it established CBGB’s Records to give a wider audience to some of the new talent currently performing on the club’s stage.

MOVIES

Partial Cannes Jury Lineup Leaked: Actresses Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Lena Olin and Chiara Mastroianni will be part of the 10-member jury lineup at next month’s 51st Cannes Film Festival, a French newspaper reported. Festival organizers, who formally announce the jury and films on April 23, say director Martin Scorsese will preside over the jury.

TELEVISION

UPN Expands Programming: UPN will expand its prime-time programming from three nights to five consecutive nights, Monday through Friday, starting in the fall. The network, which started in January 1995, will launch its Thursday programming Oct. 8 and its Friday programming Oct. 9. Network executives are considering comedy and drama series, and a two-hour movie franchise. UPN’s chief rival, WB, is planning to launch a fifth night of programming--either Thursday or Friday--next January.

Best Prop Would Be ‘Titanic’ Ratings: NBC’s “NewsRadio” will borrow from the decks of “Titanic” when the comedy series uses original set dressing from the blockbuster film in its season finale, which will be broadcast May 12 from 8:30-9 p.m. “Titanic” fans may spot the items that “NewsRadio” set decorator Linda Cooper was able to obtain from the film crew, including deck chairs, a silver coffee maker, a brass arm lamp, sexton (compass) and red emergency hoses. In the episode, titled “Sinking Ship,” host Phil Hartman proposes a hypothetical question--what if the show’s characters were aboard the doomed ship?

QUICK TAKES

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, songwriting partners for nearly 50 years, will be the 1998 recipients of honorary doctorates in music from Boston’s Berklee College of Music. They will receive their doctorates during commencement ceremonies May 2. . . . “Chicago Hope” star Christine Lahti, talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger and “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman” executive producer Beth Sullivan will be honored Thursday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel during the 43rd annual Genii Awards, which recognize prominent Hollywood women. . . . Bailey Salinger, played by Scott Wolf on the Fox drama “Party of Five,” and Kelly Taylor, played by Jennie Garth on Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210,” are the television characters most representative of true college students, according to a poll of writers at 100 college newspapers conducted by the backpack manufacturer JanSport. . . . Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis will receive an alumni award in theater arts Saturday at Boston University, her alma mater.