Barbra Streisand is hot under the silk collar this week and this time it's not about George Bush or the war. She's upset enough at an aerial photographer that she's suing him for $50 million for taking survey shots of the California coastline that include her estate. The photographer, Kenneth Adelman, takes the shots, which are used by scientists and other researchers, but Babs is worried that the detailed photos will allow stalkers and other undesirables to make their way into her world. Oh, and the suit also states that it will deprive Streisand "of the economic value of the use of the images of her property and residence." Yep, once the editors at Architectural Digest see those aerials, they're not going to want to send a crew to shoot the furniture and boost the value of your home, now are they? (S.F. Gate)
The report of another movie musical in the works, trying to profit from the success of "Chicago," is usually like fingernails on a blackboard, but this one just might work. Director Irwin Winkler is doing a Cole Porter biopic called "Just One of Those Things" starring Kevin Kline in the title role and a whole slew of people performing Porter's swelegant songs, including Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams and Diana Krall. They're shooting in London right now and that must be the most fun any actors are having on a set, anywhere. (Zap2it)
Now, for a flick that seems more doomed than delightful, Renée Zellweger just got a whopping $22.5 million to do the sequel to "Bridget Jones's Diary." Bridget, it seems, will put on the pounds again and land in a Thai jail accused of drug smuggling. Let's hope that this one isn't a musical. (WENN)
--Karen Croft
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Those of you out there who've been anxiously waiting for Prince William to open up and chat candidly with the press about his life will be pleased to learn that the young British royal likes cider, Africa, the coziness of drapes on his windows and "water sports." He also likes to stock up on groceries. "I do a lot of shopping -- I enjoy shopping, actually," he says. "I get very carried away, you know, just food shopping. I buy lots of things and then I go back to the house and see the fridge is full of all the stuff I've just bought." (So much for heavy lays the head that wears the crown.) What doesn't England's heir like? Um ... kilts? He finds them "a bit draughty." Like drapeless windows or an empty fridge. (London Telegraph)
Vice President Dick Cheney would really, really like you to know that he never made the following "joke" to his staff: "The way to lick this recession is to get all those deadbeats out of the soup kitchens." (N.Y. Post)
Is there a God? Who knows? But if he exists, he's apparently "out golfing." And no, his receptionist doesn't know when he'll be back. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
The following rumors about Jennifer Lopez are apparently false: 1) that she and Ben Affleck have sold the rights to exclusive coverage of their wedding to a magazine for a seven-figure sum and 2) that she and Affleck are expecting their first child. But don't expect J.Lo's longtime publicist Alan Nierob to comment on the rumors, because he's apparently gone the way of the fickle diva's first two husbands.
Maureen Dowd and Aaron Sorkin sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g? The Times columnist says no comment. Veteran gossipiest Liz Smith says "the answer is yes." (Meanwhile, news is less cheery for Dowd in Lufkin, Texas, where the cranky Lufkin Daily News dropped her column for a shot she took at the Texan in the White House.)
People have said a lot of things about Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, and now they're saying the troubled couple may have joined a cult, a religious sect called the Black Hebrews. Houston's former flack, Nancy Seltzer, says her ex-client's connection with the controversial group, to whom she was reportedly introduced by Louis Farrakhan, is all part of the "spiritual journey" she's on. (N.Y. Daily News)
-- Amy Reiter
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