Afternoon Briefing:
Howie loves Johnny: John Kerry may not have to spend all his money on campaign ads, since he's got superjock Howard Stern firmly on his side right now. Stern is rallying his 8.5 million listeners (many of whom are independents in swing states) to vote for Kerry and against Bush and his FCC indecency cops. Said Stern on a recent broadcast, "I'm asking you to do me one favor: Vote against Bush. I call on all fans of the show to vote against Bush. We're going to deliver the White House to John Kerry." (N.Y. Daily News)
Kimmel pulled for dissing Detroit: Comic Jimmy Kimmel, chatting with sportscaster Mike Tirico during halftime at the Pistons-Lakers game Tuesday, quipped "They're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win, and it's not worth it." For that, ABC yanked Jimmy's Wednesday show saying it contained "more disparaging remarks about the city." Kimmel on the brouhaha: "What I said about Pistons fans during halftime was a joke, nothing more. If I offended anyone, I'm sorry. Clearly, over the past 10 years, we in L.A. have taken a commanding lead in post-game riots. If the Lakers win, I plan to overturn my own car." (CNN)
What do Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks and Ellen DeGeneres have in common? They'll all be Olympic torch bearers when the flame hits Los Angeles on its way to Greece this summer. The torch relay's sponsor, South Korea's Samsung Electronics, said the three were chosen "because of the example they set to people." (AFP)
Since when was he so shy? David Beckham's body is splashed all over the pages of the latest Vanity Fair but he's got his underpants in a bunch over British tabloid pictues of him in his underwear, hanging out on a hotel balcony. Said Beckham, "I must admit I wasn't happy with that sort of picture being on the front page of the paper. But it didn't surprise me." (AFP)
Why bother to read the book? Bloomsbury Day is June 16 and will be the 100th anniversary of that day in 1904 on which James Joyce's "Ulysses" was set. Dublin will host a huge festival in Joyce's honor but the organizer of the event, Laura Weldon, says, "I have to confess that I've never waded my way through 'Ulysses,' but I'm hugely proud that we have produced a writer who's esteemed internationally." Contemporary Irish writer Roddy Doyle says the book "could have done with a good editor." (BBC)
--Karen Croft
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Turn On:
If your Friday plans don't include watching the Reagan funeral on NBC, FOX, ABC, UPN, CNN, MSNBC, FNC or C-SPAN, see what anecdotes filmmaker/eccentric John Waters will share when he appears on Jon Favreau's "Dinner for Five" (10 p.m. ET; IFC) along with Colin Quinn, Danny Aiello and Delroy Lindo. Plus, that other HBO show is back: Sunday night marks the return of "Six Feet Under" (9 p.m. ET; HBO).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
The ex-wife speaks: Disappointing news for those of you waiting for Ronald Reagan's ex-wife, actress Jane Wyman, to say something vaguely cutting or reveal any secrets about the Gipper now that he's dead. Both Wyman and Reagan had resolutely refused to discuss each other or the details of their eight-year marriage -- from 1940 to 1948 -- or subsequent divorce. Now, Wyman , a dedicated Democrat, has released the following statement through a friend: "America has lost a great president and a great, kind and gentle man." (The Desert Sun)
The Lohans' troubled past: It looks like the Lohan family fisticuffs the other week were nothing new. The National Enquirer is featuring 1989 divorce papers filed by Lindsay Lohan's parents in which Lindsay's mother alleges that Lindsay's father slapped, "struck" and threw a baby carriage at her when Lindsay was an infant. Lindsay's father, meanwhile, alleged that Lindsay's mother hit him with everything from curlers to a pot and "would travel regularly to Flushing, Queens, in order to purchase cocaine" while she was pregnant with Lindsay. The couple never did divorce and are still together, though Lindsay's father is not living at the family home at the moment. Lindsay, meanwhile, is said to be keeping her distance from her father for the time being. (Rush and Molloy)
Perez's pet project: Rosie Perez and Rory Kennedy are collaborating on a film about "misunderstandings and myths" about Puerto Ricans for the Independent Film Channel. The story apparently grew out of Perez's desire to make a movie about the forced sterilization of thousands of Puerto Rican women by the U.S. government, beginning in the 1930s, something Kennedy says her film "may still touch on." (Rush and Molloy)
Pitchman's curveball: Rapper DMX is being sued by a marketing firm called Amusing Diversions, which recently hired him as the spokesman for a line of high-end dogwear. Turns out DMX failed to alert the company to the fact that he'd pleaded guilty to charges of animal cruelty in 2002 after 13 caged and uncared-for pit bulls were found in his Teaneck, N.J., home. (N.Y. Daily News)
How Lo can you go? J.Lo shouldn't expect any wedding presents from certain people in Russia. Lopez has been accused of failing to show up at the opening of the J.Lo store in Moscow last weekend, choosing to get married instead. A spokesman for the company financing the store contends that Lopez had signed a contract saying she'd attend and failed to alert them otherwise until the day she was to have boarded a plane bound for them. What's more, the company had scheduled for her to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and 450 orphans at a fundraiser for the needy kids. (Page Six)
Pryor commitment? Former New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell is said to be fielding several offers from publishers interested in acquiring the rights to the book he's proposed to write about Richard Pryor. One editor commented that the proposal for the book, which will be told in a nonlinear format, is "unusual," and another publishing person predicted that Mitchell might snag an advance as high as $500,000. (N.Y. Post)
-- Amy Reiter
Bookmark the Fix here. To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.
Shares