The Fix

Should Condi Rice double-date with Cameron Diaz? Should Annika play with the boys? Should Halle Berry be called sexiest -- again? Plus: Rod Stewart unties the knot

Published May 23, 2003 2:33PM (EDT)

Could it be true that Condi Rice has found her man (other than Dubya, that is)? She's been escorted to several state fetes by Gene Washington, a former wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. They met at Stanford when she was provost and he was assistant athletic director, but their spokespeople are saying they are "just good friends." Sounds like they're both on message. (New York Daily News)

It makes sense that swinger Vince Vaughn would be romancing cutie Cameron Diaz. After all, they're both tall and thin and sexy in the same sassy way. The rumors have them "joined at the hip" after a recent MTV taping that had Diaz in a rather fetching outfit that included a corset and high heels -- always a foolproof way to get a date. Maybe Condi and Gene should double-date with Vince and Cameron at the next State Department dinner. Might jazz things up. (Daily Mirror)

While Vince and Cameron are getting together, rocker Rod Stewart is finalizing his divorce from Rachel Hunter after four years of separation. He says he owes it to his girlfriend, Penny Lancaster. Guess this leaves Rachel free to marry her boy toy Robbie Williams. Just kidding. (CNN)

It's a little tiring when admittedly lovely Halle Berry keeps being named sexiest woman alive. Most recently, the laddie mag FHM did so. Come on, let's be more creative! Have these boys ever taken a look at Sophia Loren? She's 69 years old and still sizzling. And you know she makes a better spaghetti sauce than Halle. (Ananova)

CBS is hoping, along with lots of gal golfers, that superstar Annika Sorenstam will make it to the final round of the Colonial tournament this weekend. The network stands to make millions in ad revenue and the women golfers stand to earn bragging rights. And it's nice that both of Annika's male partners (even the one who was one stroke behind her as of Thursday) are saying "Go, girl." (Motley Fool)

-- Karen Croft

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Bragg slapped
Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent Rick Bragg is the latest New York Times reporter whose work is coming under scrutiny by the Times' brass. The Times will publish an editor's note "stating that the Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent did not do all the reporting on a story from rural Florida that carried only his byline." (New York Daily News)

The margin by which Ruben Studdard trounced runner-up Clay Aiken on "American Idol" the other night may be in dispute, but the winner of the competition is not: It's Fox. The show's massive ratings -- 38 million viewers tuned in for the final hour -- earned it the distinction of being the third-most-watched show this year, just behind the final edition of "Joe Millionaire" and the Super Bowl. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Speaking of quality reality TV, the latest couple to find true love on "The Bachelor," Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft, won't acknowledge any solid wedding plans yet, but they claim they're ready to reproduce. "I would like to have two or three children," Schefft says. Firestone, who publicly proffered his proposal and 3-carat, oval-shaped Harry Winston diamond engagement ring just days ago, is apparently game, telling Us Weekly, "We're practicing a lot right now." (The Associated Press)

No Cannes do? Vincent Gallo has taken such a beating by critics and audience members who jeered "The Brown Bunny," a film he wrote, directed, produced and starred in, that he's sworn off filmmaking permanently. (Apparently the film's oral sex scene between Gallo and Chloe Sevigny is a particular groaner.) "I'll never make another movie again. I mean it," Gallo dispiritedly declared after his film's disastrous Cannes debut. "Being booed at was not much fun. It's really not very nice that people are so nasty. I'm very disappointed ... It was never my intention to make a pretentious film, a self-indulgent film, a useless film, an unengaging film." Oh, well, if he didn't mean to ... (Reuters)

Psst ... wanna buy Britney Spears' used bra? The green bra and miniskirt the hard-partying pop princess wore on her "I'm a Slave 4 U Video" are among the 160 Spears items being auctioned off for charity through June 3 on gottahaveit.com. You could also snap up the red catsuit the singer wore during her "Oops! ... I Did It Again" performance at the 2000 Grammys. Britney says the clothes are "kind of iconic or whatever, but it's not like I'm going to be wearing them anytime soon." (Ananova)

And in case you've been wondering, here are Jim Carrey's thoughts about God: "People have always tried to humanize him. I know I have. But he's probably just a shaft of light in a doorway or something like that." ( Copley News Service)

-- Amy Reiter

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The crotchety Times

In a Friday story on the popular new girl group Fannypack, the New York Times describes the title of the group's hit single, "Cameltoe," as "a slang for a fashion faux pas caused by women wearing snug pants; the term suggests a visual analogy." That clear things up?

-- Kerry Lauerman

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