Afternoon Briefing:
Rosie to be a newlywed: This morning, Rosie O'Donnell flew from New York to San Francisco, where she and her girlfriend, Kelli Carpenter, had an afternoon appointment to get a marriage license. Earlier, Rosie went on "Good Morning America" to make the news official, talk about love and take a few digs at George W. Bush. "I think the actions of the president are, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president." (Associated Press)
"Sex" stuck on the small screen? Bad blood between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker could put an end to plans for a film version of "Sex in the City." Cattrall reportedly doesn't want to be part of the project -- perhaps, it's been speculated, because she and Parker never really got along. (The Miami Herald)
Buddy, can you spare a dime? Lawrence Weschler, former staff writer at the New Yorker, is planning on starting his own magazine, Omnivore: A Journal of Writing & Visual Culture. The publication would feature longer, in-depth pieces that Weschler believes tend to get lost in today's "niche-slotted, attention-squeezed, sound-bit media environment." Weschler's first challenge: raising $300,000 to get it off the ground. (Romenesko)
Maybe the judge was in the crowd: Fighting a court battle to prove she's motherly enough to have custody of her daughter apparently hasn't stopped Courtney Love from letting loose onstage. The rocker, who recently released a new album, flashed her breasts at the audience several times during a show at the Viper Room in Los Angeles. (Jeannette Walls)
Controversy pays: Apparently, all the reviews lambasting Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" for being a gore-fest didn't keep people from crowding the theaters on opening day. The controversial Jesus flick raked in $23.6 million Wednesday, automatically making it one of the highest-grossing Bible movies of all time. (mlive.com)
-- Christopher Farah
Morning Briefing:
Strange times, these: Clear Channel Radio has yanked Howard Stern from its stations as part of its new "Responsible Broadcasting Initiative," which aims to "address the rising tide of indecency on the airwaves." Said Clear Channel president and CEO John Hogan in a press release, "Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content and Howard Stern's show blew right through it. It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency. We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting." (Yahoo)
And they just might get stranger: Mel Gibson is intimating that he may follow up on "The Passion" by making more Bible pix: "There are good stories in that book -- it's worth looking into them," he said. (Variety)
Speaking of indecency: Heidi Klum's ex-boyfriend and alleged baby daddy Flavio Briatore is said to have told previous ex-girlfriend Naomi Campbell that he's planning to demand a paternity test to find out if he's really the father of Klum's unborn child. Klum's Aunt Erna, meanwhile, has dubbed Briatore a "worthless man" and a "bastard." (Page Six)
Too puffy for Broadway? Word is that Sean "Puffy/P.Diddy" Combs hasn't even read the script for "Raisin in the Sun," in which he's signed to appear on Broadway starting April 26. "He thinks it will be easy to remember and is too busy right now," a production source snitched. (Page Six)
Tom turns to tomorrow: Designer Tom Ford presented his last collection for Gucci in Milan on Wednesday, then strode down the aisle amid roses, kissed his partner and brought the house to its feet. "It wasn't overly dramatic or emotional," Vanity Fair fashion director Elizabeth Saltzman said of Ford's final show. "He didn't shove humble pie in anyone's face. He just let us all know what we're going to miss." (N.Y. Times)
-- Amy Reiter
Will "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" waltz away with this year's best picture Oscar? Vote in Salon's Oscar poll and see how your choices compare with the Academy's. We'll publish the results of the poll on post-Oscar Monday.
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