--Rumor has it Britney Spears wants to record a duet with recent American Idol castoff Sanjaya Malakar. “Britney started watching American Idol when she was in rehab,” said a source. “She became a huge Sanjaya fan and thinks the two of them can make beautiful music together.” (So many jokes...so little time).
--Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have filed papers in Los Angeles to officially give their adopted son Pax their names. The couple have requested to change the young boy's surname. His new full name will be Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt. Jolie adopted the Vietnamese three-year-old as a single mother last month.
--The mother of The Rolling Stones' guitar legend Keith Richards has died. Doris Richards, 91, passed away at the weekend after a battle with cancer. (Any word yet on whether or not he's going to snort her?)
--Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown has named her new daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown. The child, born on April 3, is named in part after Eddie Murphy, whom Brown, 31, says is the baby's father. Murphy, 46, has said he wants a paternity test. On Tuesday, Brown, who lives in Los Angeles, explained the name in a brief statement released through her London reps. "Angel, as she was my little angel through my pregnancy," she said. "Iris, as it's my grandma's name, Murphy because he's the dad and Brown because I'm the mum!" (Murphy Brown? I loved that show...)
-- LL Cool Jis in talks to land the role of Brick in a revival of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," our sources say. The show will be produced by Stephen Byrd and directed by Debbie Allen. Others said to be in talks with Byrd for roles include Allen's sister, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose and Louis Gossett Jr. (Hmmm...I can see it)
--You can't be too careful, especially when you're high-profile anchorman Anderson Cooper. Cyber gossip Janet Charlton reports the white-haired CNN star regularly works out at the Equinox gym in the Time Warner Center, where he attracts a lot of attention from hard bodies of both genders. "So he takes precautions," Charlton reports. "Everyone knows camera phones are easy to smuggle anywhere, so sensible Anderson reportedly showers in his underwear. Boxer briefs, to be exact."
--Spinal Tap is back, and this time the band wants to help save the world from global warming. The mock heavy metal group immortalized in the 1984 mockumentary, "This is Spinal Tap," will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the Live Earth concerts scheduled worldwide for July 7. The original members of Spinal Tap will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner, who both directed "This is Spinal Tap" and played the fake documentarian Marty DeBergi in the film, will also be in attendance. (Christopher Guest is an effing genius.)
--Scarlett Johanssonis reportedly to make her singing debut with Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. Rumors have been circulating for a while that a special guest would feature on their US tour, and Johansson is now confirmed to sing backing for the band at their date in Pomona, California.
--"I loved you in 'The Pianist'" --a confused fan to Adam Brody.
Random Thought of the Day:
--So, a friend of mine read yesterday's post where I mentioned I sometimes draw a blank when it comes time to write my "Random Thought of the Day." So, she was kind enough to send me a few of hers.
"I have been thinking lately too about cell phone etiquette. My friends and I have this understanding that if we don’t leave a message, it wasn’t that important. If we leave a message, then obviously you should listen to it and call back if requested in the voicemail. Is it universal to assume however that you shouldn’t return a “missed call?” Do some people expect you to return their call even though they didn’t leave you a message?"
I agree that some universal rule needs to be developed. I too typically adhere to the "no message-no return phone call" rule (because if it's something quick, just text it!), but have had others scold me for it. Thoughts?
--Rosie O'Donnell's blue humor made faces red when she emceed the Matrix Awards in front of 2,000 feting New York's most accomplished women in media at the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom yesterday. The loose-lipped lesbian dropped the F-bomb as Barbara Walters lowered her head on the dais and covered her face with her hand. O'Donnell concluded a rant about Donald Trump by grabbing her crotch and shouting, "Eat me!" O'Donnell also said she was sad when Trump called her "disgusting" and "fat" because, "it was always my dream to give an old, bald billionaire a boner." The annual luncheon of N.Y. Women in Communications - which honored Cindy Adams, Meredith Vieira, Joan Didion, Susan Lyne, Arianna Huffington and Lisa Caputo, among others - featured as presenters News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch [See photo, facing page], Joy Behar, Nora Ephron, Martha Stewart and Sen. Hillary Clinton. Also on hand were 17 sweet-faced high school girls who won scholarships to pursue their dreams of careers in media. (Damn that woman's classy...)
--The Broadway version of The Producershas come to an end after more than 2,500 performances at the St. James Theatre in New York. The production has played across the world and won twelve Tony awards and tells the story of two crooked producers who set up a flop Broadway show about Adolf Hitler. After the final matinee show yesterday, Mel Brooks - who wrote the music and lyrics - took to the stage to address the audience. He said, "We have had six years of frolic and joy, and you have been such a good audience to give us such a rich, final performance." The St. James theatre is now expected to play host to Brooks' next show, a musical version of his 1974 film Young Frankenstein. (Such a great show).
--American Idol season-4 winner Carrie Underwood helped Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo celebrate his 27th birthday in Dallas over the weekend – and the pair looked very cozy. They showed up together Saturday night at Dallas's hip Ghostbar, where they were joined by nearly the entire Dallas Cowboys team. "Carrie and Tony were having a great time in the deejay booth," an insider said. "They were laughing, singing together, holding hands and their arms were around each other all night."
--Changing course from a recent declaration, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons on Monday recommended eliminating the words “bitch,” “ho” and “nigger” from the recording industry. The call comes less than two weeks after radio personality Don Imus’ nationally syndicated and televised radio show was canceled amid public outcry over Imus calling the Rutgers women's basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” Simmons, co-founder of the Def Jam label and a driving force behind hip-hop’s huge commercial success, called for voluntary restrictions on the words and setting up an industry watchdog to recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards. (Good for him. Someone with that kind of clout needed to say something).
--Maybe they should title it, "Chachie Chases Coochie."
--Comedian Chevy Chase will never forgive his mother and step-dad for the tortuous beatings he received as a child. The Fletch funnyman admits he lived in "deathly fear" of his mentally-ill mother Cathalene and stepfather because they subjected him to regular psychological torture. In his new autobiography I'm Chevy Chase . . . And You're Not, he claims his mother once slapped him "continually and hard, across the face. I don't remember what it was for, or what I had done. I lived in fear all the time - deathly fear. I always turn to it in my mind...I'll never forgive them. At their graves I didn't. It was too hard for me. You would think a grown man could shake it off, as the coffin was being lowered, to say, 'I forgive you.' I don't forgive."
--Iceman needed to take a dookie. No, not that Iceman...
--Actress and model Milla Jovovich and her fiancé, director Paul Anderson, are expecting a baby. The child, due in the fall, will be the first for Jovovich, 31, and Anderson, 42, who produced and wrote three Resident Evil movies starring Jovovich (the third, Resident Evil: Extinction, is due in theaters in September). The couple met when Anderson directed Jovovich in the first Resident Evil and announced their engagement in March 2003. They have not yet announced a wedding date. (Um, long engagement...)
--Pics have emerged showing us that ex-Laguna Beach-er Jason Wahler is more out of his effing mind than we had previously thought.
--Super Bowl Champions the Indianapolis Colts visited the President yesterday. (Whooo hooooo!)
--Shanna Moakler's still bitter, so she posted L.Lo and Paris Hilton's cell phone numbers on her Myspace page. They were barraged with phone calls yesterday. (I'm assuming the numbers have been changed by now, but feel free to give them a ring!)
--Good God.
Random Thought of the Day:
It's weird. All day I think of things and think, "Ooooh, that would be great for my Random Thought of the Day. And then I get here, and I'm drawing a blank. All I got right now is that the new Tom Petty song "Saving Grace" is freaking fantastic. I normally am not a Petty fan--I think a lot of his stuff in the last 8 years or so has just been him whining in the microphone. This, however, is a lot more rockabilly/blues/a bit harder than his normal stuff. Great lyrics, too. I could hear the Travelling Willburys doing it as well. Conincidentally, Jeff Lynne (a former Wilbury w/ Petty) plays guitar on it. Seriously, folks...download it. If you don't want to spend the whopping $1 to download it off iTunes, it's on the Tom Petty Myspace page as well.
--Broadway theatres dimmed their lights last night to honor revered stage and screen star Kitty Carlisle Hart, who died on Tuesday after a long battle with pneumonia. The 96-year-old actress, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and attended a private school in Switzerland, began her career as an opera star before becoming a Hollywood singer. She made her mark in the movies when she appeared with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. Other films followed, including Here Is My Heart, Murder At The Vanities, Larceny With Music and Woody Allen's Radio Days. But Hart was perhaps best known for her Broadway successes in the mid-1930s. She appeared in operettas like White Horse Inn and Three Waltzes and the American premiere of Benjamin Britton's The Rape of Lucretia. She met composer Moss Hart in 1946 and later married him. The couple was married until the songwriter's death in 1961. On TV, Hart became a beloved regular panelist on game shows To Tell the Truth and What's My Line. (She was so awesome. A fiesty but classy dame, to say the least...)
--Donald Trumphas unleashed a secret weapon in his feud with Rosie O'Donnell - a gigantic black undergarment she wore in the movie "Exit to Eden," which Trump sent to Barbara Walters on Monday to hang on the office wall at "The View." The girdle-like outfit - variously described as "a bustier" and "a giant pair of panties" - was bought at a charity auction by a fan, who then had the relic framed under glass and delivered to Trump. "I sent it to Barbara to hang in her office because I didn't want it in mine. It was funny, except that it was really gross. It's disgusting," Trump said. "I feel sorry for [Rosie's] wife. It can't be pleasant." (Wow. That's hitting below the...yeah. Ha).
--Cormac McCarthy, whose novel "The Road" was recently chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club, has added another honor: "The Road" won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction Monday. Click here for the rest of the awards.
--"I just want to say that um, I'm just really, really shocked at like how nice our world is because it's just so nice. Like oh my God! Like, the other day, like I was sitting there and I saw these magazines and they said I was pregnant, and like, it's so true. Like America, believe everything you read. Because, like, you're smart and I'm stupid. Like for real. Come on y'all." --Like I even have to tell you: Brit Brit (I don't even know how to respond to this...)
--Joan Rivers, once the queen of Hollywood's red carpets, is being dropped by TV Guide Channel and replaced with Lisa Rinna. Ms. Rivers and her daughter Melissa moved to TV Guide Channel from E! Entertainment in 2005. "TV Guide Channel is very appreciative of Joan and Melissa Rivers' contributions to the success of our Red Carpet programming over the past three years," said Ryan O'Hara, president of TV Guide Channel. "We wish them the best in their future endeavors." Ms. Rinna will make her Red Carpet hosting debut for TV Guide Channel at the Emmy Awards on September 16. (Um, is this an upgrade?)
--If you want Snoop Dogg to play at an event, not only will you have to pay his $150,000 fee, you'll have to accommodate his unusual tastes and enormous entourage. Organizers of Tuesday night's Pussycat Dolls concert at Cipriani Wall Street to benefit UNICEF, which also featured the rapper, had to fly in more than 10 members of his posse, first-class. Then, at the last minute, Snoop almost didn't go on because, "he insisted on having an Xbox in his dressing room," an insider said. "We finally found someone who lent us their kids' Xbox, and had to put Snoop somewhere on the third floor because he was smoking so much dope." Snoop and his pals were having such a good time they were an hour late making it to the stage, forcing the Pussycat Dolls, who were paid $300,000 to perform, to actually talk - which wasn't a good thing. While introducing themselves, one of the blond dolls thanked "Unicel" instead of "UNICEF." (That last part is hilarious).
--"I have fame on the level of a Marilyn Monroe or an Elvis, but part of the reason I didn't go the way they did was because of my beliefs." --John Travolta (Um, I think he's a little delusional...)
--The newest baby picture sellout:
--What a mess. John Mayer is turning her fugly. Why is she oompa loompa orange? And, I'm well aware that high-wasted, wide-legged pants are "in" this season, but those are mom jeans!
Random Thought of the Day:
--For you locals, there's a GREAT event tonight that you won't want to miss: Margarita Mingle benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 5:30 @ Adobo Grill. $30 in advance; $40 at the door--Free beer, wine, and food until 8. Then drinks are $4. It was packed and a ton of fun last year. SEE YOU THERE! :)
--Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has defended actor Richard Gere after his public show of affection sparked protests in India. Gere swept the popular actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event last weekend. The action has outraged Indians, who feel Gere went too far in a country where such public displays of affection are largely taboo. Angry crowds burned effigies of Gere during demonstrations last Monday after photographs of him embracing and kissing Shetty appeared on the front pages of India's leading national newspapers. But Shetty has defended Gere, saying, "What he did was very sweet. It was all in good humor. He especially told me to tell the media that he didn't want to hurt any Indian sensibilities." And she admits the actor has apologized "profusely" to her following the kiss.
--Paris Hilton was ordered Tuesday to appear in court May 4 for allegedly violating her probation in a reckless driving case by driving with a suspended driver's license. City prosecutors are seeking to revoke Hilton's probation on grounds that she violated its conditions, which could result in a sentence of up to 90 days in jail.
--Chloe Sevignybares her wild teen years in the introduction she's penned to an old high school pal's new memoir about growing up in the Connecticut suburbs. In Lesley Arfin's "Dear Diary," due in June, the "Big Love" star writes: "She was the first person I smoked cigarettes and pot with, got drunk with, snuck out of the house with, got arrested at the mall with, drove underage with." Sevigny adds, "The people from Darien thought of me as a junkie or a lesbian. They weren't mean to me, but they weren't nice, either." (She is so odd...bring on new Big Love episodes, though!)
--Are Calista and Harrison engaged? (Hard to believe they've been together for 5 years...)
--Don Imus' racist crack about the Rutgers' women's basketball squad has led to a windfall for team coach Vivian Stringer, who hired lit agent Laurie Bernstein over a year ago to sell her autobiography. Now Crown has signed a lucrative deal with Stringer, "an incredible woman with an extraordinary life story," Crown spokesman Tina Constable told New Jersey's Star Ledger. Stringer, the third all-time winning women's college basketball coach, has survived the paralysis of a daughter from meningitis, the death of her husband at 47 - and the crude taunt of a cowboy shock jock.
--Rachel McAdams, 30, and Ryan Gosling, 26, are spending some time apart. “It’s a break, not a breakup,” says one source, who adds that while McAdams is very dependent on Gosling, the recent Oscar nominee wants some distance so he can focus on his sizzling career. “It’s a pivotal moment for him,” says the insider. Still, McAdams “is taking it really hard because Ryan is everything to her,” says a source. (Oh, I'm not worried. Noah and Allie took some time apart, too...Ha).
--Courtney is starting to look more and more like a tranny:
Random Thought of the Day: So, how are you guys liking the season of "Sopranos" so far? Likey? No likey? Too slow? Want AJ to die a slow and painful death? Oh, maybe that's just me. Ha. Predictions?
It's impossible to even think about blogging about the latest celebrity trash when shit like this is going on.
I remember what a bubble college felt like. We all felt so safe to live life to the fullest. I can't imagine something like that happening. Stories of heroics will emerge, I'm sure. I heard one this morning about one of the professors who was killed stood in front of a classroom door to keep the shooter out.
Of course I wonder why over 2 hours elapsed before the campus was notified of the first shooting, but I'm sickened by the finger pointing already going on by the media. And, I don't see how the 2 incidents aren't related. I'm just not buying the coincidence thing. But, only time will tell.
And, you know I'm not exactly PC, so here goes: I'd be lying if I said I didn't derive a small ounce of satisfaction in the fact that the gunman took himself out. No wasted money on a trial for him; and we all know he probably would have gotten off on the insanity plea. No, I know it doesn't bring those students back. But, nothing will.
Sorry, guys...sorry for the lack of posting. I'm dealing w/ some major swampage at work.
However, I did have a Random Thought of the Day I wanted to share with you:
I was out w/ A and A (gal pals from law school) last Thursday night at one of our favorite martini establishments. I looked over, and saw a woman in a business suit sitting with 2 men smoking a big, fat cigar!
I don't know why, but it looked completely ridiculous to me. Maybe because she was a female. Maybe because that would be cool in NYC or LA, but not good, old Indianapolis. I continued to check back, thinking that perhaps she was just "testing it out," but no...she finished the whole damn thing.
Fifteen minutes later, she had lit up another one! TWO cigars? My dad doesn't even smoke that many when he's playing poker! (Do you, Dad?).
So, what's the scoop? Have I missed a new, hot trend? What's the allure? I think they smell like stale ass. Guys, weigh in on this for me: Is it sexy? Is it sexy at first and then gross?
--Britney Spears and Kevin Federline have hammered out the details of their split, and it’s reportedly going to cost the “Toxic” singer $13 million. (Which, varies greatly from the $1M that was earlier reported). What’s more, Star magazine says that Spears was reluctant to finalize the split. “Do you really want to do this?” Spears asked K-Fed as the two met to discuss final details of their divorce, reports to the upcoming issue of the tab. K-Fed said yes, and his estranged wife replied, “You’re the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, but thank you for my babies.”
--Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named their baby daughter after the actress' brother James Haven - he has revealed. Haven claims he was originally given Shiloh - which means 'messiah' or 'peaceful one' - as a middle name by his and Jolie's parents Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, before they switched it at the last minute. The 33 year old actor tells Grazia magazine, "At the last second, my parents gave me Haven instead. So it was very cool when Brad and Angie came to me and said: 'We're thinking of names and our favorite is Shiloh. We know that was your original name, so would that be OK?'. I was almost in tears - I was so honored." (Hmmm...kind of makes you wonder about those brotherly love rumors).
--Jim Cramer has taken his madcap "Mad Money" stock-picking television show to eight college campuses. But the 2,000 people who showed up Wednesday to take part in taping his show at Indiana University's Assembly Hall comprised his largest college crowd to date, organizers of the CNBC show said. Cramer made the most of the IU connection by inviting IU grad and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to be his guest.
--Leonardo DiCapriois considering swapping Hollywood for Broadway later this year, to make his New York stage debut in drama The Basic Training Of Pavlo Hummel. According to FoxNews columnist Roger Friedman, DiCaprio's agents are currently negotiating the deal, that would see the actor recreate a role played on Broadway by Al Pacino 30 years ago. Pavlo Hummel is an American soldier stationed in Vietnam who has an African-American alter ego called Ardell.
--Heidi improves her "hills." (I wonder if she is still with that tool Spencer...)
--Lindsay Lohan has another modeling contract - this time for Jill Stuart. Lohan was signed to be the face of Stuart's new couture line that will debut in the fall after the success of her Miu Miu campaign earlier this year.
--K-Fed's younger brother, Cameron, landed himself in jail for boozing. 20-year-old Cameron was arrested by members of the Pendleton Police Department at midnight on March 4, during a raucous party at his family home. At an April 3 court appearance, Federline pled guilty to the charges of "providing liquor to minors" (his other underage partygoers), "illegal possession of alcohol by a minor" and "illegal possession of alcohol by a minor by consumption" (he was drinking, as well). (Maybe K-Fed will pay his legal bills w/ his new settlement cash).
--If Angelina Jolie adopts a fifth child from Chad as expected, maybe she should let some other publication besides People run exclusive photos of the child. Sources say Us Weekly, Star and other celebrity weeklies are so fed up with getting scooped by People, they've turned on Jolie and Brad Pitt with a vengeance. "Angelina and Brad want to make sure Zahara doesn't feel alienated as the only black face in their family," a source told London's News of the World. Jolie herself recently said, "Should you balance the races, so there's another African person in the house for Zahara, after another Asian person in the house for Mad? We think so." Jolie reportedly has already picked out a 1-year-old girl from Oure Cassoni in Chad and has her lawyers working on the adoption paperwork. "She is hoping to have her daughter home by the summer," a source told the British paper. She'd better be generous with the baby pictures. The headline on Us last week blared, "Her Twisted Double Life," along with, "Her broken promise to be a stay-at-home mom . . . How she uses her kids to manipulate the media." This week, Star went with "Angelina Walks Out on Brad! . . . and Dumps the Kids!" The tab says Jolie reneged on her promise to stay home with her kids and flew off to Chicago to film "Wanted."
--Film director Robert Clark, best known for the beloved holiday classic "A Christmas Story," and his son were killed Wednesday in a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver on Pacific Coast Highway, the filmmaker's assistant and police said. Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in the accident in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant. (What a sad story. For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE that movie. It's genius!)
--Hmm...maybe the Isla is pregnant w/ Borat's baby rumors are true.
Random Thought of the Day:
Does anyone else think the voiceover guy in the Lowe's commercials sounds just like Gene Hackman? I'm pretty sure the Pizza Hut lady is Queen Latifah. Ok, just Googled it. Yep, it's Hackman. He's also doing the Oppenheimer Funds commercial as well. Oh, and I was also right about the Hut using the Queen. This could be a fun game!
--Never one to shy away from the outrageous, Keith Richards now admits to having sniffed the ashes of his father – mixed with cocaine. "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," the Rolling Stones guitarist, 63, is quoted as saying by the British music magazine NME. "He was cremated," recalls Richards of father Bert, who died at 84 in 2002, "and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared." (I saw a headline for this story that said "Father Nose Best." I thought that was pretty clever).
--Two-time Academy Award nominee Will Smith is the most powerful actor on the planet, according to an annual list by America's Newsweek magazine. The actor has eclipsed last year's winner Tom Cruise and previous regular winner Tom Hanks. Newsweek spoke to a host of studio chiefs and film producers anonymously for fear of offending other stars. Smith was chosen because of his huge box office success and his ability to tackle any genre - sci-fi I, Robot, action comedy Men In Black or drama The Pursuit Of Happyness. Following behind was Johnny Depp at two, Ben Stiller at three, Brad Pitt at four and Cruise at five.
--Rachael Rayputs her money where her mouth is. While other so-called "green" celebrities tell others to drive Prius cars and then hop into their own gas-guzzling SUVs or town cars, Ray insists on not only driving a Prius, but being driven around in one. Ray uses Ozo Car - a limo service which only has Toyota Prius or Lexus RX400h models in its fleet - for herself, rather than being chauffeured around in a more luxurious town car.
--Metallica may work as a name for a heavy metal band, but a Swedish couple is struggling to persuade authorities it's also suitable for a baby girl. Sweden's tax agency rejected Michael and Karolina Tomaro's application to name their 6-month-old daughter after the legendary rock band. "It suits her," Karolina Tomaro, 27, said Tuesday of the name. "She's decisive and she knows what she wants." (I've heard worse...)
--Scary Movie actress Anna Faris filed for divorce Tuesday from her husband of three years, actor Benjamin Indra. Faris, 30, filed her petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split from Indra, 28.
--KITT, the flame-throwing, river-jumping, talking muscle car from the '80s TV show Knight Rider is up for sale. Restored to its debut-season glory, the modified black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am is offered at $149,995 at a Dublin auto dealership. Johnny "Vette" Verhoek of Kassabian Motors has had the car, officially called Knight Industries Two Thousand, on display for about a month. (God, I loved that show. Are the re-runs on at all? TV Land, maybe?)
--Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry claimed her star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame yesterday - four years late. The sexy star unveiled the 2,333rd star on the famous Hollywood Boulevard landmark - an honor she was set to receive in 2003. Berry's busy work schedule kept her from making that ceremony, but she told organizers she wouldn't miss the belated honor this time around. Speaking to fans in Hollywood this morning, Berry said, "I'm thrilled and very honored to be part of Hollywood history."
--Paula Zahn and her husband, real-estate magnate Richard Cohen, have filed for divorce. (Rumor has it that she's been having an affair).
--“What’s happened to Britney is all down to who she is as a person.” “If you want a piece of this business, you have to be able to deal with it. You can’t complain about the pressures, the paparazzi, the madness, because that’s the job.” --Avril Lavigne on Britney Spears
--Paris Hilton acted in an MTV comedy sketch featuring a drunk ditz getting pulled over for DUI - but last week, her lawyers threatened to sue the network if it wasn't deleted from tomorrow's debut episode of "ShortCircuitz." Viewers of the sketch comedy show, exec-produced by Paris pal Nick Cannon, will not get to see a phony infomercial with Hilton shilling "What Would Paris Do" bracelets. In the sketch - which was included on a copy of the show sent to TV critics last week - the action shifts from salesgirl Paris to "real-life" situations in which people look to their bracelets for advice. In one instance, a leggy blonde in a short skirt is busted for drunken driving. After checking her Hilton bracelet, she starts grinding on one of the cops as if he were a stripper pole.
--The quirky judge who cried in the courtroom and referred to lawyers by their hometown during the legal controversy over Anna Nicole Smith’s burial may be shopping for a television deal. Broadcasting & Cable reports Judge Larry Seidlin and his family are in Southern California on vacation, where the legal man is expected to fit Hollywood meetings around a trip to Disneyland. According to the industry publication, Judge Joe Brown’s Executive Producer John Terenzio and CNN’s Art Harris are believed to be advising the bald bench warmer. According to the magazine’s insiders, a host of networks and production companies could land the Judge including CBS, Warner Bros.’ Telepictures, Sony Pictures Television and Fox’s Twentieth Television.
Random Thought of the Day:
This weather blows. Don't give me 70 degrees and then tell me the temp w/ wind chill the morning is in the 20's. Seriously. It makes me angry.
--Rose is a homewrecker. (Have you seen the previews for this? She has a machine-gun-like-thingy on the bottom half of her leg!)
--Pop star/actress Mandy Moore has been hobbling around Hollywood for the past month after fracturing her ankle during a magazine shoot. The singer was injured after jumping from a boat during a cover shoot for June's health and fitness magazine Self. A spokesperson for Moore tells People magazine, "It happened at the end of February in Mexico. It was for one of the setups for the spread where she had to jump into the water." The 22 year old has been sporting a cast on her right leg for the past few weeks.
--The ashes of James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Star Trek TV series, are one step closer to being beamed up into space. Doohan will not be alone on his journey. Also having a few ounces of their remains loaded into a rocket that is set to launch in New Mexico on April 28 are Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and some 200 others, the Associated Press reports. Cost per person for the voyage (to be paid by survivors or the deceased person's estates): $495.
--HBO is revisiting one of the most dramatic events in U.S. election history with "Recount," a film about the 2000 turmoil in Florida to be directed by Oscar winner Sydney Pollack. Paula Weinstein is executive producing the HBO Films project, which is targeted to premiere in spring 2008. Written by actor Danny Strong, Spring Creek Prods.' "Recount" chronicles the weeks after the 2000 presidential election and goes behind the scenes of the recounts in Florida to explore the human drama of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary event that would decide the leadership of the country. "It's a very compelling piece that takes a well-known event and deconstructs it from the point of view of the people involved," HBO Films president Colin Callender said. (Ha. That will be really objective...)
--Snoop has mad love for Bill O'Reilly. Not.
--Jessica Biel has beaten her reported one-time love rival Scarlett Johansson to the top of a new Sexiest Women poll. Both actresses were romantically linked to Justin Timberlake at the beginning of 2007, although Johansson, who appeared in the pop star's steamy "What Goes Around, Comes Around" video, has recently denied she dated the singer. But, if the rumors were true, Timberlake was dating the two top women in the world, according to men's magazine Stuff. Biel finished first and Johansson second in the publication's 100 Sexiest Women list. The top 10 are: 1. Jessica Biel 2. Scarlett Johansson 3. Jessica Alba 4. Eva Longoria 5. Katharine McPhee 6. Sienna Miller 7. Olivia Wilde 8. Angelina Jolie 9. Malin Akerman 10. Christina Aguilera. (Personally, and I'm not a guy so I don't count, but I think 2-5 are all sexier than #1).
--PETA has Karl Rove in its cross hairs. The animal-rights group — which usually goes after fur-wearing celebs such as Nicole Richie and Ashley Olsen — has set its sights on President Bush’s top aide. Rove provoked the group’s ire with a rap routine he performed at the Washington Radio and TV Correspondents’ dinner. Listen up suckas, don’t get the jitters,” Rove rapped, “but MC Rove tears the heads off of critters.” And when asked if he has any hobbies, Rove said he enjoys “ripping the tops off of animals” and demonstrated with his hands. “We saw your bizarre routine. . . and our first thought was, ‘Don’t give up your day job,’” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote in a letter to Rove at the White House. “On second thought, we do wish you’d give up your day job. . . . You have a severe compassion deficit and, sadly, you have the president’s ear, and the last thing this country needs is someone whispering something violent into it.” (The folks at PETA are so irrelevant).
--Abigail Breslin may not have won the title of Little Miss Sunshine, but she's about to be crowned an "American Girl." According to Variety, the recent Oscar nominee has booked a pair of high profile leading roles, opposite Jodie Foster in the Walden Media-produced "Nim's Island" and in the doll-based feature "American Girl." (I'm sure she'll be adorable in it, but thinking about American Girl dolls gives me hives. When I used to live in Chicago, there was an American Girl store in Michigan Ave., and these crazy mothers with their kids acted like they were seeing the second-coming. They would beeline to the store, w/ no regard for others around them, act like snarling wolves, and then walk around Michigan Avenue with these huge American Girl bags and run into people. Annoying!)
--Click here to win a date w/ a giant D-bag whose 15 minutes of fame should have been up long ago...
--Um, I'm not really sure what the hell this is. If Alanis was singing different words, I'd love it. Who knew "You love my lady lumps" could be so stirring?
--The MySpacer who had gone 16 days without food in protest of Sanjaya Malakar's presence on "American Idol" has finally relented -- under doctor's orders. "J," the one-letter moniker by which she is known to millions, says that she will continue to fight the good fight the old fashioned way: by voting for anyone other than Sanjaya. (Hmmm...she has an idea there...)
--"I have had lesbian experiences in the past. But I started having sex quite late on - after I was 18. I was raised a good Catholic girl. " --Fergie
Random Thought of the Day:
So, who watched the game last night? I caught most of it, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't switch back and forth to "The Bachelor" from time to time. Whatever...don't judge. To my credit, my girlfriends got together to watch "The Bachelor," and I didn't go b/c I knew I wouldn't get to see ANY of the game, highlights, etc. Oh, and I finished 8th in my pool sponsored by my pals at the G2. No, there weren't 10 entries...there were 159! Not too shabby!
--"She's a little bit fed up...and he's a little bit kicked to the curb."
--Shots were fired at a party attended mostly by teenagers early Sunday following the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, wounding three people, and police said they suspected gang members were involved. The party in the western part of the city was thrown by someone who had attended the awards, but it was not an official Nickelodeon function and had no celebrity guests, police Lt. Roger Deranian said. No arrests had been made by Sunday morning, police said.
--HIP-hop artist Timbaland left no doubt who inspired his combative song, "Give It to Me," at club Marquee the other night, when he announced to the shocked crowd, "Scott Storch is a bitch!" Storch, 32, the record producer who has worked with Beyoncé, 50 Cent and Jessica Simpson, used to be friends with Timbaland, 36. But they had a falling-out. Timbaland's "Give It to Me," featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, contains lyrics that were thought to refer to Storch: "I get a half a mil for my beats/You get a couple grand. Never gonna see the day that I ain't got the upper hand. I'm respected from Californ-i-a way down to Japan. I'm a real producer and you just a piano man."
--Former child actor Brian Bonsall, who played Andy Keaton on Family Ties, was being held in a Boulder, Colo., jail Friday after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, the Associated Press reports. Bonsall, 25, was arrested Wednesday on charges of second-degree assault and false imprisonment, according to the AP. Bonsall's girlfriend told officers he poured an alcoholic drink on her face as she slept, put her in a chokehold and threw her onto a bed. Bonsall told police he acted in self-defense when she cut his arm and face with a steak knife, which she denied. (Wow. He sounds like a winner. I'm sure Alex P. Keaton is devastated. He was so cute on that show and Star Trek TNG).
--New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi will lend his celebrity hand to the borough of Brooklyn tomorrow. The rocker will don his tool belt to help finish renovating an energy-efficient, three-story condo complex on Halsey Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Delta Airlines' new global initiative, "Force for Global Good," and Habitat for Humanity plan to host the ceremony, which will kick off final construction of the affordable housing units. The apartments eventually will be rented to low-income locals.
--Dustin Hoffman's wife, Lisa, has launched a skincare line. All those years traveling with Dustin from movie set to movie set -- and trying to pack all the jars and bottles and tubs of her skin care regimen -- clearly paid off with what's being called her "wickedly innovative" line, designed for to be super easy to toss in your bag when you travel. At the recent launch party at L.A.'s Fred Segal, a whole host of male stars -- including Sasha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Piven and Mark Ruffalo -- showed up to celebrate.
--One of the world's most famous 'do's - considered by many to be a fashion don't - remains intact after its owner, Donald Trump, prevailed in Sunday night's "hair match" at Wrestlemania. Trump trumped World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon in the "Battle of the Billionaires" at the WWE's largest annual pay-per-view event. After the real estate mogul and reality TV star triumphed, he gleefully took the shears to Mr. McMahon's head. Trump and McMahon didn't actually battle it out in the ring, but instead had WWE wrestlers representing them grapple to see who would go bald. The winner, Trump's guy Bobby Lashley, bested McMahon's chosen wrestler, Umaga. (Like it wasn't planned to turn out that way...)
--Did Chelsy dump Harry? Kinda harsh since he's supposed to leave for Iraq soon...
Random Thought of the Day:
Did I miss Easter? Did I miss brunch with my family, dark chocolate bunnies, etc.? Oh, I didn't? Then why did I see a sea of white pants and skirts out at the bars on Saturday night? Seriously people, you can wait another week. Oh, and white pants necessitate nude undergarments. We all applaud your wise decision to bag your boyshorts to avoid lines, but we can see your pink thong, babe.
