Madonna, chatting with David Letterman last night, got a tad personal. She seemed concerned about Dave's marital status now that he and his gal pal have a baby together. "So, are you going to go to the PTA meetings and introduce her as your girlfriend?" she asked. Letterman replied that she and he had gone to PTA meetings together before the baby's arrival. Without missing a beat, Madonna shot back "Is that because your girlfriend is still in high school?" Dave was impressed, saying, "You can still hit fastballs, can't you?"
How many blondes does it take to sell mediocre music? You can be the judge tomorrow night when Britney Spears is interviewed by Diane Sawyer. Di asks Brit whether she's ever "gone further" than she wished she had. Spears mentions the recent Esquire photo shoot for the cover ( a recreation of a famous pose by Angie Dickinson) and says it took her by surprise that she was shot with just a sweater, pearls and high heels: "So that's one picture, I must say, that I felt kind of weird about. But hey, it's done. And I learned from it. And I'll never be put in that position again." Right ... (ABC News)
The best part of the news that Justin Timberlake has become a partner in a West Hollywood restaurant called Chi is the one-line pitch-meeting description it gets from the L.A. Times: "1930s Shanghai-meets-'Blade Runner.'" (EurWeb)
Men's Journal editor, Mark Horowitz on his mag's list of the Top 50 Guy Movies: "These are movies that guys like, generally that guys can watch in groups, that they remember all the lines [and that] they watch over and over again. It tends to be movies women don't like." He then goes on to name the top three: "Dirty Harry," "The Godfather" and "Scarface." Hey Mark, meet you any time, any place for a "Godfather" quote-off. Loser has to watch "Kill Bill." (CNN)
Beyoncé complained to a German magazine recently that she has a hard time finding clothes: "It is hard to find something that fits me. Most clothes are made for models. But not for people that have a bum." Probably only J.Lo can truly empathize. (Ananova)
Is Larry Flynt finding his conscience? By now you no doubt know that the persistent porn peddler has decided to pull back from his stated intention to publish steamy photos of rescued soldier Jessica Lynch cavorting with a couple of out-of-uniform male colleagues. "I'm forfeiting millions of dollars. Sometimes there are things more important than money," the Hustler publisher told the New York Daily News. What's more, Flynt seems to have done some deep-down soul searching in the last day or so. "Maybe I've become a little insensitive," he told the paper. "All my life has been about sexual liberation. Now here I am condemning this girl for being a little on the loose side. It sort of rings of hypocrisy." Oh, and also, he says, his wife told him, "America is going to hate you for this!" Not that he ever cared what people thought of him before.
Money Quotes
What, him, stiff and wordy?: Al Gore thinks maybe TV watching has made us fat, lazy and dumb and that we should be reading more newspapers and checking out the Internet more instead -- only he says it like this: "What does [TV watching] do to us that has relevance to democracy? Does it encourage passivity? Is it connected to the obesity epidemic? ... If people are just staring at a little box four hours a day, it has a big impact on democracy ... We have to choose to rehabilitate our democracy in part by making creative use of these new media and by insisting within the current institutions of our democracy that we open up access to the dominant medium." (A speech before students at Middle Tennessee State University via the Associated Press)
Definitely two of his top 40 friends: Casey Kasem's wife, Jeannie, on why she asked her mother to move out of her Malibu condo so that the Kasems' buddy Robert Blake, under house arrest and awaiting trial for the murder of his wife, could move in: "We're doing what we're doing because it's the right thing to do." Adds Casey of Blake: "He's a very warm, sincere human being ... I believe that the man I know couldn't do that [murder]." ("48 Hours Investigates" via CBS News Online)
Technically, we suspect he's over it by now: Britney Spears on Justin Timberlake's allegations that she was unfaithful to him: "Everyone has a side to their story. I'm not technically saying he's wrong. But I'm not technically saying he's right, either." (ABC's "PrimeTime Thursday" via Rush and Molloy)
Kidding, kidding: A friend of Christian Slater's on Slater's wife Ryan Haddon's arrest for spousal abuse after she reportedly chucked a glass at him -- creating a noggin slice that require nine stitches -- during a fight at a Los Vegas hotel: "She went to throw a glass of water at his face as a joke. He went down to get help with the cut and they called the police. He didn't want to press charges. It was an accident, but they had to arrest her. She was released from jail 12 hours later on her own recognizance." (Page Six)
Oh, and also? Camille Paglia fans will want to know that she's scheduled to be Matt Drudge's guest on the Rush Limbaugh show today from 1 pm to 2 pm, East Coast time.
Best of the Rest
Page Six: Arthur Schlesinger Jr. on Sen. Joe Lieberman: "He's the most sanctimonious member of the U.S. Congress"; Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley gets beaten up by Tulane frat boys; friends of Robert Downey Jr. on his engagement to producer Susan Levin: "Susan is great for Robert. She keeps him on the straight and narrow, and they are very much in love."
Rush and Molloy: Britney Spears pissed at NBC, pulls out of "Today" show appearance; a Las Vegas police spokesman on those spouse abuse charges against Christian Slater's wife, Ryan Haddon: "Even if the victim says, 'I don't want to press charges,' they don't have a choice. There will be a court appearancein the next six-eight weeks"; Kirsten Dunst says she's in love with Jake Gyllenhaal, adds, "I'm becoming more of a woman in every way in my life"; Billy Crudup and Mary-Louise Parker, seven months pregnant with their child, split up.
Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Grove's review of the Paris Hilton sex video [Salon's is here]: "Riveting but repellent, with the advantage that at least it's over quickly"; Ted Koppel rewrites words of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" so that it's about the TV news biz, sings it in public; on witness stand, Rosie O'Donnell calls Vanity Fair scribe Judith Newman "the nebbishy Jewish girl who worked for the [audiovisual club]" in high school; paparazzi show their kinder, gentler sides, don't yell when photographing war vets Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson.
--Amy Reiter
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