Afternoon Briefing:
Abs fab: When the editor of Men's Health magazine writes a book, what would it be about but great abs? Said editor David Zinczenko at the launch party for his new book, "The Abs Diet: The Six Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life," "I think a lot of editors in chief would have done a first book that was a novel, gazing at their navel. I prefer as a first book to gaze at other people's navels." (N.Y. Observer)
Sarah Jessica in jeans: Following on the high heels of Madonna and Missy Elliott, Sarah Jessica Parker has agreed to appear in Gap print and TV ads starting this August. (CNN Money)
You know you've made it when ...: Beyoncé has been immortalized in wax at Madame Tussaud's in London, joining figures of Madonna, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue in the museum's "Divas" division. According to reports, when Ms. Knowles saw her waxy likeness she was "blown away." (BBC)
Rat Pack, lite: George Clooney, Matt Damon and the rest of the "Ocean's Twelve" gang filmed their leisure-time fun in and around fancy clubs and hotels, the Monaco Grand Prix and on various private planes, yachts and villas. The results have been released to American TV shows to promote the film. (IMDB)
-- Karen Croft
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Turn On:
Really, we swear this is the last time: Following this season's weird trend of padding, "American Idol" (8 p.m. ET; Fox) finally comes to an end on Wednesday, a day after the official finale -- though, as "American Idol: Where Are They?" (9 p.m. ET; TV Guide) makes clear, it won't be the last show made about the show. Meanwhile: Every country star alive will be at the "39th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards" (8 p.m. ET; CBS).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Times of trouble: So the N.Y. Times has published its much-anticipated mea culpa about its coverage of the trail leading up to the war in Iraq and its early stages. And? "We have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged -- or failed to emerge." Though the paper takes pains to say that "problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter" and does not mention star reporter Judith Miller by name, Editor & Publisher magazine maintains that "clearly, even in the Times' own view, Miller was the main culprit." According to E&P, which calls the letter from the editors as "in its own way, as devastating as last year's front-page corrective on Jayson Blair," Miller's culpability "is clear in analyzing today's critique. The editors single out six articles as being especially unfortunate, and Judith Miller had a hand in four of them: writing two on her own, co-authoring the other two with Michael Gordon. The only two non-Miller pieces were the earliest in the chronology, and they barely receive mention." (N.Y. Times and Editor & Publisher)
Singing the bellyache blues: Don't blame threats of terrorism for the cancellation of Madonna's concert in L.A. Tuesday night: Blame tummy trouble. According to a message posted Tuesday on her Web site, "Madonna has the stomach flu and was ordered by her doctor to rest this evening. She will be back at 100% and can't wait to entertain her fans!!!!" The show was rescheduled for Wednesday night. (Madonna.com)
No bones about it: Manhattan real estate lawyer David Richards, who tapped George W. Bush to join the secret society Skull & Bones at Yale in 1967, now says he'd like nothing more than to see him ousted from the Oval Office. "I think it's pretty grim, I think he has trashed the economy, and I think he has conducted foreign policy badly, and I think he is a bad President. I don't know what he has done well," Richards says in the new book "Ambushed." Adds Richards, "My personal choice is [Sen.] John Kerry" -- Yale class of 1966 and also a Bonesman, of course. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Engaged, married, pregnant? It's such a blur: Us Weekly is reporting that Anna Kournikova and Enrigue Iglesias may be not just engaged, but also married and expecting their first child. Evidence? Iglesias told a stranger their marriage was "old news" and "during a recent dinner in Los Angeles, a pal rubbed Kournikova's belly and offered congratulations." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Engaged, married, pregnant? It's such a blur, Part 2: Us Weekly also reports that Mira Sorvino, 36, is marrying actor Chris Backus, 22, this summer -- and that Giorgio Armani will have to alter Sorvino's wedding dress to accommodate her belly ... because she's pregnant. Sorvino's rep confirms the wedding plans, but denies the pregnancy. (Page Six)
With a shoe? The details of the domestic scuffle that brought police to Lindsay Lohan's parents' Long Island home over the weekend have emerged, but the story seems no less murky and weird. Lohan's father, Michael, explains that he got into a brawl with his brother-in-law, Matt Sullivan, after Lindsay's youngest brother's first communion. Michael says Sullivan had been drinking too much and after a failed attempt to drive him home, Michael ended up hitting Sullivan with the heel of his shoe, resulting in the need for 16 staples in his head. Michael says that none of his children were home at the time of the struggle and that Lindsay, 17, is back in L.A. "She's upset," he says. "But she's a trouper and she had to do what she had to do." (Rush and Molloy)
Rosie's next project: Rosie O'Donnell's apparently still riveted by the world of magazines. And ... so ... she's in discussions with LPI Media, which publishes the Advocate and Out, to launch R Family Magazine, targeted to gay and lesbian parents. "Rosie does hope to launch a magazine in the next year," Cindi Berger, her spokeswoman, confirmed. (N.Y. Daily News)
Courtney to dry out: Courtney Love pleaded guilty Tuesday to being under the influence of cocaine and told an L.A. judge that she would enter a drug treatment program. If she completes the program, she may avoid serving time in jail. (N.Y. Daily News)
Money Quotes:
Bill Maher on the cancellation of "Politically Incorrect" after he made controversial comments in the wake of 9/11: "Isn't there something wrong when so far the only person to be fired because of terrorism is me?" (Rush and Molloy)
Words of wisdom from Ice T in his recently rereleased porn tape "Ice T's Pimp'in 101": "All of us are hos in one way or another, but very few will ever get the chance to truly pimp." (Page Six)
-- Amy Reiter
Bookmark the Fix here. To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.
Shares