BITS AND PIECES 12/08
agcbli...@yahoo.com
--Survivor Live" hosts Dalton Ross, Jenna Morasca in L.A. for Sunday's
season finale of "Survivor," doing red-carpet interviews that'll stream
on cbs.com (11 p.m.).
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--Warner ("Let's go to the videotape") Wolf, who had a walk-on in
"Rocky IV," is trying to contact the casting director of "Rocky VI." "I
would like to play myself again, 20 years later, just like Stallone,"
says the sportscaster . . . THAT Hilary Swank just dropped $8 million
on a swanky pad in Malibu.
--JAY-Z is being sued by former pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who
claims the hip-hop heavy stole his trademark "Diamond Cutter" hand
gesture. The suit, filed in L.A. federal court, accuses Jay-Z and
Roc-A-Fella Records of copyright infringement and misappropriation of a
hand signal, mtv.com reports. Page wants an injunction to prevent Jay-Z
from using the gesture - which involves touching the index fingers
and thumbs so they form a diamond shape. Page's lawyer says the
wrestler can be seen flashing the "Cutter" on video since the mid-'90s.
--THE environmentalist movement makes for strange bedfellows. Take
poker-playing legend Doyle Brunson and movie star Leonardo DiCaprio.
Brunson is a financial backer for DiCaprio's "11th Hour," a
feature-length doomsday documentary that includes solutions for saving
the planet. DiCaprio will produce, co-write and narrate the project
with the same team that collaborated on "Global Warming" and "Water
Planet," short films that can be seen on DiCaprio's eco site,
leonardodicaprio.org. "It was a no-brainer to team up with Leo on this
film," said Brunson. "I know we'll be able to raise a lot of awareness
for an issue that plagues our world."
--DONALD Trump may have landed in hot water with his five-months
pregnant wife, Melania, during his appearance on Sirius Satellite
Radio-bound Howard Stern's K-Rock show yesterday. "You know, they just
blow up, right?" Trump said of his burgeoning bride. "Like a blimp -
in the right places. In her case, the right places. I mean she really
has become a monster - in all the right places." After some ribbing
from Stern and co-host Robin Quivers over the word "monster," the
blustery billionaire corrected himself: "I mean monster in the most
positive way. She has gotten very, very large - in all the right
places." OK, we get it - she's stacked! Trump also opined that
supermodel Heidi Klum, who recently gave birth, doesn't look quite as
alluring as she used to. "I looked at her the other day, and it's off,"
Trump declared. "There's no question." Then Stern played an old clip in
which Trump dissed Nicolette Sheridan's figure ("very flat-chested"),
Carmen Electra's implants ("they look like two light bulbs") and broke
down Halle Berry thusly: "From the midsection to the shoulders, she's a
10. The face is a solid 8. And the legs are maybe a little bit less
than that."
--IN "Speed," Keanu Reeves had to keep driving a booby-trapped bus at
50 mph at least or it would explode. In "Crank," Jason Statham is a
hitman who's been shot up with a Chinese poison that will kill him if
his adrenaline level drops. Amy Smart (above), who plays his
girlfriend, told the Chicago Sun Times: "What Jason must do to keep his
adrenaline up is insane. He has to hammer nails into his legs, snort
coke and have crazy sex in public."
--JERRY Seinfeld cruising through Hudson Heights in a vintage Porsche
Carrera.
--DENNIS Rodman showing up to the Delano in South Beach with gender
illusionist Elaine Lancaster.
--"LAW and Order: SVU" star Christopher Meloni trying to show his
daughter how to skate at Chelsea Piers.
--JIMMY Breslin, playwright? The legendary newspaperman has penned a
drama, "Love Lasts on Myrtle Avenue," which will get a reading tomorrow
at the Actors Studio by Estelle Parsons and Rip Torn, "so it is hardly
an amateur affair," says Breslin. Lee Grant is the director. If the
play makes it to Broadway, it will be "the first done by a newsman in
New York since Tom Topor sat on The Post rewrite desk and wrote 'Nuts.'
It was great on the stage. Streisand was spectacular in the movie,"
said Breslin, who wrote the drama in 13 weeks after Newsday freed him
from writing his column. He said it's about "a guy who goes to work at
the World Trade Center on 9/11 and doesn't come back. His wife won't
accept the money. He wakes up six months later on a fishing boat in New
Jersey."
--SCARLETT Johansson still hates Michael Bay. The luscious actress was
dumbstruck when her director on "The Island" unchivalrously blamed the
picture's lousy turnout on the lack of "star quality" in his leads,
Johansson and Ewan McGregor. In Sunday's New York Times Magazine,
Johansson says that last Christmas, McGregor got her lots of presents
for her Chihuahua and added that Bay "has enormous dogs. He needs them,
he has a lot of enemies." Did Bay give her any gifts? Johansson laughed
but politely did not answer.
NY POST/CINDY ADAMS...
--LINDSAY Lohan, of whom you may have heard and seen and re-heard and
re-seen, found time between being seen and being heard everywhere to
sign West 57th's Great American kosher vegetarian eatery guest book.
--Palm Beach County Circuit Court plaintiffs alleging Serena and Venus
Williams reneged on a deal signed by their coach/dad, Richard Williams,
for an event involving brothers John and Patrick McEnroe. The sisters
claim only they sign their contracts.
--Morrison Hotel Gallery on Prince Street plans an '06 Valentine
exhibit of couples like Paul and Linda McCartney, Johnny and June
Carter Cash.
--Speaking of "Walk the Line" Johnny Cash, his estate recently rejected
a bid to use his hit "Ring of Fire" ("It burns, burns, burns") in a
Preparation H hemorrhoid ad.
--Fisher Stevens partied Matt Dillon's Gotham Awards tribute with a
lunch at Michael's and such eaters as Julianna Margulies, Griffin Dunne
and Ethan Hawke.
--MY friend Jack Martin, whom all Hol lywood knows as a nifty
columnist, has a memory an elephant would admire. So we're talking
about Jon Voight playing the pope, and he says, "Something's triggering
something in my brain. Hold on." Thank God this was his call from Los
Angeles because I held on so long my dress went out of style. Back
comes Jack reading from David Sherwin's 1996 book, "Going Mad in
Hollywood." In it is the chapter "The Stress of Jon Voight." After
reading for miles comes the reveal that Jon is frustrated because he'd
love to play Robin Hood. He then extols Robin's priestlike virtues, and
what comes out is this exact precise quote: "I, too, am a priest. We're
all f - - - ing priests."
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--ON DEC. 13, Steve Carell, of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" fame, and Mark
Wahlberg, of wow-he's-really-a-very-serious-actor fame, join Hollywood
Foreign Press President Philip Berk to announce the 2005 Golden Globe
nominations. We already know this year's Cecil B. DeMille honoree for
lifetime achievement is Anthony Hopkins. And this year's Miss Golden
Globes - she wafts on and off stage with the Globes - is
16-year-old Dakota Johnson, the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don
Johnson. This is the first time a daughter follows a mother in these
duties. (Melanie was a Miss GG back in her starlet days, before her two
marriages to Don and her current stint as Mrs. Antonio Banderas.)
--JAMES LIPTON is usually the man who showers his "Inside the Actors
Studio" guests with flowery compliments. But he was no match for the
vociferous fans of Miss Liza Minnelli on Monday night when she sat with
Lipton. It was a great, big love fest, and shouts of: "We love you,
Liza" peppered the three-hour run down memory lane. The iconic
performer was in fine voice, belted out four songs and talked with that
unique mixture of giggly naivete and worldliness that is her trademark.
The actress flared regally just once, when she said people accuse her
of having "no willpower." She blasted: "Willpower? You think I don't
have willpower? I have an Oscar. An Emmy, three Tonys and a Grammy.
I've got willpower. Alcoholism is a disease, and I am determined to win
the battle!" This show airs in the spring to coincide with Showtime's
telecast of Liza's 1972 masterpiece "Liza With a Z." Look up
"indomitable" in your Webster's. Here is what you will find: Liza
Minnelli.
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY...
--Wrestler Diamond Dallas Page is accusing rap mogul Jay-Z of - get
this - theft of gesture. Page just filed suit in L.A. Federal Court,
claiming Jay pirated his "Diamond Cutter" hand signal. The grappler,
whose real name is Page Falkinburg, says he trademarked the move in
1996. He charges the Def Jam CEO appropriated it for several album
covers, according to http://www.allhiphop.com/. A Def Jam rep declined
comment, but one pal tells us that Jay may show Page a different
gesture if he ever runs into him.
--The parents of a teenager who claims she was raped at a party at Nick
Nolte's home can include evidence of the actor's past drug and alcohol
use in their suit, a California state judge has ruled. Nolte's reps say
he wasn't home during the bash. But the family of the teen claims Nolte
was negligent and that his pad had "a long history of furnishing drugs
and/or alcohol to minors." According to the suit, the girl, then 15,
was given the date-rape drug GHB and sexually assaulted at a party on
Jan. 25, 2003.
--A judge in London has blocked the publication of those topless photos
of Jennifer Aniston - at least in England. The sealed injunction lets
Aniston specifically name paparazzo Peter Brandt as a defendant.
Aniston has also filed suit against Brandt in L.A. http://www.tmz.com/
reports that the photos were shot with a telescopic lens from a vacant
lot near Aniston's Hollywood Hills home.
--Hard to imagine the tragic "Brokeback Mountain" cheering anybody up.
But after his "Hulk" flopped, director Ang Lee says, the gay cowboy
drama "dug me out of [my depression.]" Also at Tuesday's premiere:
Lee's star Anne Hathaway, who isn't afraid that her role in "The Devil
Wears Prada" will lead its thinly veiled subject, Vogue editor Anna
Wintour, to ban her from the mag. "We're not making a character
assassination," she told us.
--The Alliance for Marriage, supporters of traditional matrimony, has
named its paragons of wedded bliss. Among them: Renee Zellweger, whose
marriage to Kenny Chesney lasted four months; Madonna, who had her kids
out of wedlock (she wed Guy Ritchie four months after the birth of son
Rocco), and Rod Stewart, whose fiancée, 26 years his junior, recently
bore his third out-of-wedlock child, reports The News' Paul H.B. Shin.
--Ex-CIA boss James Woolsey took in "Syriana," George Clooney's Middle
East thriller, at Capitol File's D.C. screening.
NY DAILY NEWS/LLOYD GROVE...
--Watch your back, Angelina Jolie: Former "Partridge Family" star Danny
Bonaduce is hot for your boyfriend. "If I stopped hanging around with
everyone I want to sleep with, that's half the country - and Brad
Pitt," the 46-year-old star of VH1's "Breaking Bonaduce" told Lowdown
at Tuesday's party hosted by Theory and the Council of Fashion
Designers of America. "If I was going to sleep with one man, it would
definitely be him." The newly sober Bonaduce was on hand at Pastis with
Diddy, designer Peter Som, Theory honcho Andrew Rosen and fashion
editor Alexis Bryan to celebrate Richard Avedon's posthumous book
"Woman in the Mirror." Bonaduce also claimed that he'll be taking it
all off in an upcoming spread. "This guy, some well-known photographer,
says, 'I wanna shoot you for Vanity Fair,'" he explained. "And I said,
'Only if you can shoot me naked,' and he said, 'Yeah, I'll shoot you
naked.' I can't wait to do it!" Asked if it was going to be full
frontal, Bonaduce replied: "If it were up to me, I'd show the unit. I
call it Hermione Gingold." Pardon? "Hermione Gingold. An old-time
actress. I've called it that since I was kid. I don't think I've ever
told anyone that." Sadly, a Vanity Fair spokeswoman said the world
won't be seeing Hermione anytime soon. "There's no shoot," she told
Lowdown. And I suspect Pitt won't be seeing Hermione, either.
--Is MSNBC going after that all important posh boarding-school
audience? Maybe that's why the somewhat ratings-challenged cable
network devoted several minutes Tuesday night to the teenage love lives
of Tucker Carlson and Billy Bush, both alumni of the super-exclusive
St. George's School in Newport, R.I. The 109-year-old St. George's was
the training ground for such worthies as former presidential candidate
Howard Dean and funny-couplet writer Ogden Nash. It turns out that
"Access Hollywood" anchor Bush, who was subbing for MSNBC's Rita Cosby,
and late-night personality Carlson, host of MSNBC's "The Situation,"
had their eyes on the headmaster's daughters when they attended St.
George's in the late 1980s. "We were both dating sisters at the time,"
Carlson, class of 1987, reminded Bush, class of 1990. Susie Carlson is
the older sister of Bush's ex-girlfriend Molly Andrews, the spawn of
then headmaster George Andrews. "Billy, you look very young," Carlson
added, as their yearbook photos flashed onscreen. "God, you look
handsome there. I love those glasses," Bush retorted. "By the way,
Tucker has a wonderful romantic story," he added. "He's been with his
wife for 22 years. You guys dated since sophomore year. And I dated
your wife's younger sister. She was my first love." Yesterday, I asked
MSNBC President Rick Kaplan: Will attracting preppy eyeballs to MSNBC
be demographic gold? Apparently not. "You're such a turkey," Kaplan
advised.
--Did hip-hop impresario Jermaine Dupri - who also happens to be a
partner in the premium liquor brand 3 Vodka - commit a major branding
foul by choosing Imperia Vodka to sponsor his Billboard Music Awards
after-party in Las Vegas the other night? "It's bizarre for him to
align himself with another brand, because he's always promoting 3
Vodka, and it's even on his Web site," an insider told Lowdown.
Yesterday 3 Vodka's managing partner, Brian Berish, downplayed any
conflict of interest, telling Lowdown: "We can't sponsor every event."
Meanwhile, while the shindig drew the likes of Chingy, Nick Cannon and
Tyrese to the MGM Grand, tongues wagged that Dupri's girlfriend, Janet
Jackson - who had apparently RSVP'd yes - was a last-minute no-show
because she feared she's too hefty these days to be seen in public. A
rep for Dupri and Jackson didn't return detailed messages.
--First Daughter Barbara Bush was wearing a ring on the third finger of
her left hand yesterday, but the White House denied she is engaged. A
spokeswoman for the First Lady said the jewelry that the 24-year-old
had on during a visit to Children's National Medical Center with her
mom was not an engagement ring.
NY DAILY NEWS/Adam Nichols
--Oh, bother! A little girl is about to wander into the Hundred Acre
Wood. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet may be losing their old buddy
Christopher Robin - and are gaining a female playmate. Disney plans to
mark the bear of little brain's 80th anniversary with a new animated
series, introducing an as-yet-unnamed 6-year-old redhead as a central
character. "The introduction of a new character provides a way for
Pooh, Tigger and their friends to tell even more wonderful, enriching
stories of the Hundred Acre Wood," said Disney spokeswoman Patti
McTeague. "It's early in the writing stages and, although Christopher
Robin is not a core character...we have not ruled out the possibility
of perhaps having him and the new character meet or appear together."
Pooh and friends were created by author A.A. Milne, based on his
musings of an imaginary world his son lived in. Disney bought the
rights to Pooh in the 1960s from the family of Stephen Slesinger, a
literary agent who acquired them from Milne in the 1930s. The new
character will appear in "My Friends Tigger and Pooh," a computer
generated series expected to air in 2007.
--Emmy-winner Dana Delany has joined the cast of NBC's drama pilot
"Kidnapped." Described as a blend of suspense thriller and family
drama, "Kidnapped" revolves around a wealthy New York family whose
15-year-old son is held for ransom, with the story being told from
multiple points of view. Delany will play the boy's mother, the
silver-spooned daughter of a top banker. Already cast are Linus Roache,
Mykelti Williamson, Delroy Lindo, Carmen Ejogo and Boris McGiver. The
pilot is being shot here.
USA TODAY/JIM CHENG...
--Director Rob Reiner said Wednesday he won't run for governor in 2006,
putting to rest rumors of a potential "Meathead vs. Terminator"
showdown with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
--A replica of Princess Diana's wedding dress sold at auction Wednesday
for $175,000, twice its pre-sale estimate. The ivory silk taffeta dress
went to an anonymous private buyer, said a spokesman for auctioneer
Cooper Owen.
--Mel Gibson is stirring passions again with his latest project a
non-fiction TV movie set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.
Gibson's Con Artist Productions is developing Flory for ABC, based on
the true story of a Dutch Jew and her non-Jewish boyfriend who
sheltered her from the Nazis.
--Time will announce its Person of the Year Dec. 18, but until then,
it's looking for regular folks to submit digital photos for display on
an electronic billboard in New York's Times Square. The magazine will
post the first 50,000 photos its receives at www.impoy.com and then
beam them to the billboard.
--The families finishing second and third in Tuesday's season finale of
The Amazing Race (CBS, 9 p.m. ET/PT) will square off in a challenge
available only at CBS.com following the West Coast broadcast (11 p.m.
PT). The winner gets a 2006 GMC Yukon XL.
LAS VEGAS JOURNAL/Kiki King, Eva Simpson And Caroline Hedley
--POOR Kelly Osbourne has fled to LA after being ditched by her Dork of
a boyfriend. Son Of Dork guitarist David Williams told the 21-year-old
that their fledgling relationship was over on Wednesday night - and a
distraught Kel has flown to the US. A friend of Kelly tells us: "She's
very upset as she thought she'd found someone she really liked. David
even had dinner with Sharon and Ozzy the other weekend. "When David
said he wasn't ready for a relationship, she was gutted as everything
had been going so well." Kel is now being consoled by her US pals and
is said to be "highly emotional". Wouldn't like to be in Dave's boots
when Ozzy gets hold of him.
--MATT Damon on his own, getting off the tube at Piccadilly Circus.
--Blondie in reception at Liverpool's Radisson SAS Hotel.
--YESTERDAY Sienna Miller was cuddling up to A-lister Leonardo
DiCaprio. Well, now it's Jude's turn to make her jealous. Sienna won't
be pleased to hear how well he's getting on with ex-wife Sadie Frost.
"I am going away with Jude and the kids before Christmas and we're both
so pleased we can go together and do it for the kids," Sadie, 40, told
us at the launch of Liz Hurley's TV show Project Catwalk - on which
Sadie is a guest judge. Still, she is loved up with toyboy Andy Jones.
"It's early days yet, but yes, things seem to be going well," she
gushed. Bring on the mistletoe.
--PENNY Lancaster and Rod Stewart have bucked the celeb trend for wacky
baby names - calling their tot Alastair Wallace Stewart. Alastair was
chosen because of its Scottish origins while Wallace is in memory of
Penny's grandfather, who died in 2003. The 7lbs, 7oz boy, born on
November 27, is the couple's first and sexy 60-year-old Rod's seventh.
Pen, 34, said her waterbirth was "empowering". What, no gas?
LAS VEGAS JOURNAL/NORM CLARKE...
--Sting will be in the lineup at Tiger Woods' annual Tiger Jam on April
29 at Mandalay Bay.
--Pamela Anderson, triggering a paparazzi stampede when she stepped in
one of Tao's marble rose-petal tubs on Tuesday with Jesus Villa, her
horned pal from "Zumanity."
--At Pure (Caesars Palace) on Tuesday: Toby Keith, Lance Bass, Joey
Fatone, Billy Zane, Ian Ziering, Tommy Davidson, and Ryan Cabrera.
--TOBY Keith, inviting Larry the Cable Guy and other Cable family
members into the VIP room for chicken fried steak at Keith's I Love
This Bar & Grill (Harrah's) on Tuesday.
--On the red carpet at the one-year anniversary of Teatro Euro Bar (MGM
Grand) on Tuesday night: Jermaine Dupri, Nick Cannon, Linkin Park,
Tyrese Gibson, Tarver, Chingy, Jeremy Jackson, Shaun Robinson and MTV
VJ Coltrane Curtis.
--At Studio 54 (MGM Grand) on Tuesday: "American Idol" winner Carrie
Underwood (with a mystery boyfriend), the "Surreal Life's" Ryan Starr,
Master P, Little Bow Wow, Tia and Tamera Mowry from "Sister, Sister,"
and Ziering.
--Ashlee Simpson and her father, Joe, dining at one table at N9NE
Steakhouse (Palms) on Tuesday; at another table, Hulk Hogan.
L.A. DAILY NEWS/ By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
--Although names including Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez have been
bandied about in recent years to star in the long-anticipated
big-screen "Wonder Woman," writer-producer Joss Whedon doubts he'll use
a big name for the part. The man who created the TV world of "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," among other accomplishments, tells us he's
wrapping up a draft of his "Wonder" script and expects to have it in
early next year. But there will be no rushing of the project into
production, no insistence on a high-profile actress.
"That was one of my stipulations," he says. "This is Wonder Woman we're
talking about here. Those are big booties to fill. You don't do Wonder
Woman because someone's schedule has a free block." He adds, "That's
not to say I'm against famous people. Some of my best friends are
famous people." First on Whedon's agenda is the Dec. 20 release of his
"Serenity" feature on DVD. That's the movie that picks up where his
"Firefly" Fox TV series left off - and which fans are hoping will
become a franchise. "Firefly," you may recall, was canceled before it
completed a season, but DVD sales of the episodes were so big that the
movie got the go-ahead. The special features on the "Serenity" DVD
capture the behind-the-scenes drama. "This isn't like a
'how-we-did-the-stunts' feature. There's a real story to the making of
the movie," says Whedon.
--Scott Glenn admits he nearly turned down the chance to star as the
late, famous Army football coach Earl "Red" Blaik in ESPN's
Saturday-premiering "Codebreakers: The West Point Scandal," about the
1951 Army football team cribbing disgrace. Glenn had just finished his
run of Arthur Miller's "Finishing the Picture" in Chicago, and "I was
just going to take it easy. They kept pursuing me, making the deal
sweeter, and then I read it and became fascinated with the character
and the story." Blaik, widely regarded as among the greatest college
football coaches, really did believe, as he said, that "football is
war," recounts Glenn. "He knew that as soon as these guys graduated,
combat was going to be their next experience - guaranteed. They were
going to go lead troops in Korea - and he believed he was preparing
them for that ... the quarterback (Bob Blaik) was his son, and he had
major high dreams for him." Bob Blaik was among more than 80 students
forced to resign in the wake of the scandal. Glenn says he asked about
meeting Blaik's son, "but he absolutely didn't want to have anything to
do with it. He didn't try to block it or anything like that. He just
apparently didn't want to revisit a part of his life filled with so
much pain."
--That was smart of Nicole Richie - to build into her book title the
prospect of doing cross-promotional activities with a diamond jewelry
designer. Not that that's the reason her book is called "The Truth
About Diamonds," but it does happen to work very well for Beverly Hills
designer Judith Ripka to be hosting an exclusive party Tuesday for
Richie at her boutique, where Ripka will also be showing off her new
"18k Couture" collection of rare diamonds. On the invite list are such
Nicole pals as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Lindsay Lohan, Mischa
Barton, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Kirsten Dunst, Selma Blair and
other celebrities who can afford diamonds (but not ex-best friend Paris
Hilton). Nicole is wearing an $18,000 Judith Ripka luxe ring with 18k
gold and diamonds and a diamond tiara on her book's cover.