LOS ANGELES — The woman who was with actor Morgan Freeman the night of a Mississippi car crash that left both injured insists she was never romantically linked to the 71-year-old Oscar winner and is suing him for negligence. He was driving her car when it crashed.

Demaris Meyer and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, held a news conference yesterday announcing the lawsuit.

In the days after the accident last August, Freeman's lawyer told media outlets that Freeman and his wife of 24 years, Myrna Colley-Lee, had been separated since the previous December and were getting a divorce. Several media outlets reported that Meyer was Freeman's mistress.

Meyer, 48, says she met Freeman the night of the accident at a dinner party. She says Freeman agreed to let her stay at one of three houses on his property so she "would have an easier drive to work the next morning."

LAWMAKERS LAUD 'AMERICAN ICON'

WASHINGTON — Late actor Paul Newman, a 10-time Academy Award nominee, has been honored by Congress.

Newman died Sept. 26 at age 83 of cancer. The U.S. House approved a resolution Tuesday night recognizing that Newman's "humanitarian works and incomparable talents have made him an American icon who will never be forgotten."

Newman won one Oscar, received two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 movies. He and his food company, Newman's Own, gave more than $250 million to charity.

OBAMA SALUTES STEVIE WONDER

WASHINGTON — President Obama is honoring musician Stevie Wonder with a Library of Congress award and a White House concert.

Obama welcomed Wonder to the formal East Room yesterday to receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Wonder is the award's second recipient; Paul Simon accepted it in 2007.

Wonder's music was used in Obama's campaign. The Obamas used Wonder's "You and I" as their wedding song, and first lady Michelle Obama said his "Talking Book" was the first album she bought.

CANNES FILM FEST HONORS EASTWOOD

PARIS — Clint Eastwood received a Cannes film festival special honor yesterday — three months before the festival opens on the Riviera.

Festival president Gilles Jacob presented Eastwood with a special Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award at a private ceremony at chic Paris restaurant Le Fouquet's, in honor of what a festival statement called "the talent of a grand master at the summit of his craft."

"I'm very flattered," said Eastwood, who was surrounded by his family. He praised the support of French filmmakers who "encouraged me to go on" when he made his 1970 directorial debut, while "in my own country, people were much more reticent."

Eastwood, 78, was in Paris to promote his latest movie, "Gran Torino," which he directed and in which he stars.