Hicks: Are Kim Kardashian and Kanye West living apart?

Are Kim Kardashian and Kanye West having problems?

As part of her deposition in her divorce case with Kris Humphries, Kardashian said that she has spent more time away from West than with him in recent months, according to RadarOnline.

The website says rumblings are growing that there is trouble between the couple. West wants to live in France, and Kardashian doesn't want to leave her reality empire in the United States.

"Kim was forced to admit during her deposition that she has spent more time away from Kanye than with him," a source supposedly told Radar.

And they said this was going to last forever.

"She blamed their hectic schedules, but it was obvious that it pained her a great deal. Kim is pregnant with his baby, and Kanye is missing all of her prenatal doctors appointments, because he is halfway around the world in Paris. Kim and Kanye talk, text and Skype, but it's not the same as having him physically with her," the source said.

Isn't that how they got into this situation in the first place.

Kardashian and West are planning to have their baby in Los Angeles, according to Radar, despite some reports saying they want to have it in Paris. Kardashian's doctor is in L.A., and she wants to be surrounded by her family and friends. And, of course, TV cameras.

West was in France while Kardashian appeared in L.A. for the MTV awards, but that temporary separation is part of a bigger problem that threatens the

couple's future, according to a new report.

"Kanye is loving Paris and is having a great time there working on his album. He'd like to move there," an insider said.

This will, no doubt, end well.

Kardashian and Humphries are slated to face each other in court Friday for a pretrial hearing before their divorce trial begins on May 6.

RELAPSED OZZY SAYS HE'S NOT GETTING DIVORCED: Ozzy Osbourne said he's not getting a divorce and has struggled with substance abuse the past year-and-a-half.

In a Facebook post Monday, the ! 64-year-old Black Sabbath singer denied rumors that he and wife Sharon were divorcing. But he said he hasn't exactly been easy to live with.

"For the last year and a half I have been drinking and taking drugs," he wrote. "I was in a very dark place and was an (expletive) to the people I love most, my family. However, I am happy to say that I am now 44 days sober."

"Just to set the record straight, Sharon and I are not divorcing," he added. "I'm just trying to be a better person."

According to E! News, Osbourne concluded by writing, "I would like to apologize to Sharon, my family, my friends and my band mates for my insane behavior during this period ... and my fans. God Bless, Ozzy."

Earlier reports on Monday had suggested that Ozzy, who has a history of substance abuse problems, and Sharon were living apart and their marriage was in trouble.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IS A FAN OF HIMSELF: Robert Downey Jr. says he will win an Oscar.

"I'm probably one of the best," the "Iron Man 3" star told GQ, according to E! news. "But it's not that big a deal. It's not like this is the greatest swath or generation of actors that has ever come down the pike."

Don't you hate it when cocky people are right?

The 48-year-old actor said it's only a matter of time before he wins an Academy Award.

"I, personally, would be shocked if we went to the end of the tape now and I didn't have at least one," he said. "Because I'm young enough, and I'm running down being occupied with these kind of genre movies, close enough. Even the next thing we're doing with (my wife, Susan Downey), I'm so confident about it. It's the best script the studio has; it's the best thing I've read in years."

"Look, even if I don't get one directly, eventually they're just going to have to give me one when I get old. So no matter how you slice it, I'm getting one."

He's probably right. Man, I hate this guy.

Downey is currently promoting "Iron Man 3," which comes out May 3.

Whether ther! e will be! an "Iron Man 4," is still up in the air.

"How many genre movies can I do?," he said. "How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun? I don't know. I don't know. Right now I don't have a contract to do anything, and I did for the last five years.

"At whatever point I'm done with this, I'm going to have a bit of a crisis, because I probably haven't even fully ingested how much I've enjoyed it, how much it's meant. It so came out of relative obscurity as this second-tier character from the Marvel universe, and I feel I was part of making it something more. But it also to me was just good filmmaking."

LAW TARGETS SWATTING: Celebrity swatting has become such a pain in the behind for Los Angeles police that a new bill has been introduced in the state legislature to put swatters behind bars.

Swatting is essentially a prank phone call to the police, describing a home invasion at a celebrity's house. The authorities respond, sometimes with overwhelming manpower, only to discover that no home invasion has taken place.

It's sort of like doorbell ditch, only it costs the taxpayers a lot of money and shifts police resources away from where they should be.

There are no specific laws prohibiting the pranks, although various laws can currently be used to prosecute anyone who's caught.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto introduced the legislation which, according to TMZ, has passed its first hurdle, breezing through the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a vote of 6-0.

Under the potential law, swatters would be subject to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. They could get more time if the prank results in someone getting hurt. In that case it becomes a felony.

Recent celebrity swatting victims include Justin Bieber, Diddy, Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake, Tom Cruise and Rihanna.

Justin Bieber actually probably needs to be swatted, but in a way that doesn't necessarily involve law enforcement.

Gatto told TMZ, "This bill is not just about protecting f! olks like! Justin Bieber. It's about protecting kids playing in the street when emergency vehicles needlessly speed by."

Of course it is.

Contact Tony Hicks at Facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks or Twitter.com/insertfoot.

APRIL 17 IN HISTORY

Wednesday is April 17, the 107th day of 2013. There are 258 days left in the year.

1492: A contract was signed by Christopher Columbus and a representative of Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.

1521: Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (He was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)

1861: The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.

1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the first Sino-Japanese War.

1937: The animated cartoon character Daffy Duck made his debut in the Warner Bros. cartoon "Porky's Duck Hunt," directed by Tex Avery.

1941: Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany during World War II.

1961: Some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day.

1969: A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

1970: Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.

1973: Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities. 1986: At London's Heathrow Airport, ! a bomb wa! s discovered in the bag of a pregnant Irishwoman about to board an El Al jetliner to Israel; she'd been tricked into carrying the bomb by her Jordanian fiance.

1993: A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.

1997: Former Israeli president Chaim Herzog died in Tel Aviv at age 78.

2003: U.S. special forces in Baghdad captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, a half-brother of and adviser to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S. government awarded Bechtel Corp. a major contract for helping rebuild Iraq's power, water and sewage systems. Diet doctor Robert C. Atkins died in New York at age 72. 2008: Danny Federici, the keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen, died in New York City at age 58.

2012: Riding on the back of a 747 jet, retired space shuttle Discovery traveled from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to Chantilly, Va., to be installed in its new home -- the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex near Washington Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia. Jamie Moyer, at age 49, became the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league contest as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 5-3.

BIRTHDAYS

Composer-musician Jan Hammer (65), actress Olivia Hussey (62), actor Sean Bean (54), singer Maynard James Keenan (49), singer Liz Phair (46), actress Jennifer Garner (41), singer Victoria Adams Beckham (39), actress Rooney Mara (28).

Associated Press