Kim Novak is clarifying why she used the word "rape" to describe how she felt about "The Artist." The "Vertigo" actress, 79, who will be honored next month at the TCM Classic Film Festival, said during an interview that hearing the score from the Alfred Hitchcock film used in the Oscar-winning homage to the silent-film era reminded her of the same feelings she experienced when she was raped as a child. "It was very painful," she said. "When I said it was like a rape, that was how it felt to me. I had experienced in my youth being raped, and so I identified with a real act that had been done to me. I didn't use that word lightly. ... It was a rape I never told about, so when I experienced this one, I felt the need to express it." Novak's comments in January -- that "The Artist" had no reason "to depend on Bernard Herrmann's score from 'Vertigo' to provide more drama" -- drew criticism from rape crisis groups, who noted that plagiarism was not the same as a sexual assault. "I never reported my real rape, so I felt the need to report this one," Novak said. Michel Hazanavicius, the writer-director of "The Artist" -- which won five Academy Awards, including best picture and original score -- responded to Novak, noting that the film was "a love letter to cinema" and that he loves "Bernard Herrmann, and his music has been used in many different films."

Rembrandt expected to be sold for $19MA Rembrandt portrait will lead a London sale of a private collection of Dutch Old Masters that is valued at more than $30 million. The panel painting "A Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap" has an upper estimate of $19 million for the July 3 auction, Christie's International said. The Caravaggio-influenced 1626-27 composition hasn't been offered at auction for about 40 years, the company said. The 15 works are owned by Pieter Dreesmann, son of the late Anton Dreesmann, a Dutch department-store heir. The collection will tour Doha, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam before the auction.

EXPECTING: Nick Lachey, 38, and Vanessa Minnillo, 31, are expecting their first child "in late summer, early fall," the singer announced. He said: "This is the one thing that more than any other I've looked forward to, and it's overwhelming."

IT'S A GIRL: Actress Linda Cardellini and her boyfriend, Steve Rodriguez, welcomed daughter Lilah-Rose on Leap Day, Cardellini's rep confirmed. It was the first child for the "ER" and "Freaks and Geeks" actress.