Make no mistake: Arnold Schwarzenegger is no Celine Dion.
The "Terminator" star has apparently had no priority-realigning second thoughts about a lawsuit he filed against a slot machine manufacturing company on Sept. 7. Schwarzenegger's beef? International Game Technology's allegedly unlawful use of his likeness and voice on a line of Terminator-themed slot machines.
"My client never gave those rights that his photo could be used and has never consented to the use of his voice," the actor's lawyer, Marty Singer, told the Associated Press.
Although the company insists it got approval through a third party, Schwarzenegger isn't buying it. He's seeking $20 million in damages.
Talk about a jackpot.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Age issues
"You can be a legitimate sex symbol up till the age of 35 and then after that you just can't take that seriously."
-- Raquel Welch, 61, on sex symbolism and aging gracefully.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Flack to Madonna: Speak for yourself
Speaking of priority realignment and life being too short, Madonna's hardworking spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg has decided to ditch the Material Girl in light of the recent attacks on the material world.
After doing a little soul-searching after Sept. 11, "I decided I wasn't in a position to sustain the emotional commitment necessary to stand between Madonna and the media," Rosenberg told veteran gossipist Liz Smith. "I've given everything I can."
Now, says Rosenberg, who will still rep Cher and other Warner Bros. artists, "I get to breathe and think how I can do something wonderful for this world!"
"There will," she says, "be life after Madonna."
Unthinkable.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Juicy bits
While we're on the subject of Madonna ... her childhood home in Rochester Hills, Mich., is still available. Bidders who had their heart set on owning the four-bedroom colonial that the perennial popster lived in from the time she was a Material Baby to the time she went off to become a Material College Student will be pleased to know that they still have a chance. The home's current owners have pulled the home off eBay's auction block after pranksters drove the price up to $99 million in insincere bids. Instead, theyve announced their intentions to sell it through a live auctioneer in a few weeks.
And while we're on the subject of pesky pranksters and their pop star prey ... Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are apparently the victims of burglary. According to the Associated Press, four teenage boys broke into the house the couple rents in Florida through an unlocked (!) back door and made off with bottles of booze (!!), clothing, video camera equipment and "personal" videos (!!!). The heist happened over the weekend, while the couple was on vacation. Neighbors called police to the scene, and the teens were later arrested. One of the filching fellas was apparently nabbed in the midst of making a copy of one of the stolen videotapes. Oops!
Speaking of sticky fingers, "American Pie" star Jason Biggs is going from pies to plastics. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Biggs has agreed to take on the role of Benjamin Braddock, opposite Kathleen Turner's Mrs. Robinson, in the Broadway production of "The Graduate." Alicia Silverstone will play Elaine. Elaine! Elaine!
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Sage, inspiring words from Superman
"Before a catastrophe, we can't imagine coping with the burdens that might confront us in a dire moment. Then, when that moment arrives, we suddenly find that we have resources inside us that we knew nothing about. What I've discovered is that we are able -- all of us -- to do much more than we think we can. Just look at me."
-- Christopher Reeve on bearing up under duress in the U.K. Telegraph.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Miss something? Read yesterday's Nothing Personal.
Shares