Afternoon Briefing:
Mariel as Maria: Mariel Hemingway has been cast as Maria Shriver in an A&E channel biopic called "See Arnold Run" about the rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger from bodybuilder to California governor. Arnold will be played as a young man by Roland Kickinger and as a more mature man by Jurgen Prochnow. Filming starts this month in San Diego. (Hollywood Reporter via Yahoo)
"Halftime" Person of the Year? Time magazine managing editor Jim Kelly is saying that his "unofficial midterm choice" for Person of the Year is former terrorism czar Richard Clarke, whose book "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror," according to Kelly, "kickstarted the roar of criticism ... that the administration has gotten for its overall handling of terrorism." (Media Industry Newsletter via I Want Media)
You could put an eye out with that thing! Nicole Richie had to remove her shirt at the Reno, Nev., airport the other day. She told security, "I'm pierced," and then two female officers took her "not to necessarily the most private place and made me take off my top. Thank god I'm not a shy person, but what if I was shy?" Richie added: "You know what, you guys are letting lighters on the plane and stuff like that, but I can't have a nipple ring? What am I gonna do -- poke someone in the eye with it?" (Ananova)
They were sex pistols: Memorabilia from Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen's brief, intense lives will go on display in London at a date to be announced. The show, to be at The Hospital gallery, will include artifacts from the couple's Chelsea Hotel room and a blood-spattered poster publicizing the Sex Pistols' album "Never Mind the Bollocks." (Reuters)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On:
TNT's new terrorism-themed "original limited series," "The Grid" (9 p.m. ET; TNT), debuts on Monday, starring Julianna Margulies, Dylan McDermott and Tom Skerritt. Also: Neal Gabler, the author of "Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality," appears on the PBS book show "Literati" (PBS; check local listings).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Never mind the hairstyle: Meryl Streep insists that she did not base her portrayal of the evil, manipulative Sen. Eleanor Shaw in the remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" on a certain former FLOTUS turned senator from New York. "Fox News would love if I were doing Hillary, but that's so off the mark," Streep says. And who did she model her role after? "Never mind," she says. (Newsweek via MSNBC.com)
Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, avenged? Les Moonves, co-president of Viacom and chairman of CBS, told TV critics on Sunday that he would fight the FCC's proposed fine against 20 CBS-owned stations that broadcast Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction in February. The move to fine the stations, Moonves said, is "patently ridiculous, and we're not going to stand for it ... We're going to take it up to the courts if that happens." (Reuters)
Chick this: It's a little late, but Elton John has the Dixie Chicks' back. "There's an atmosphere of fear in America right now that is deadly. Everyone is too career-conscious," John told Interview magazine, adding that performers have been "frightened by the current administration's bullying tactics." He continued, "The Dixie Chicks got shot down in flames last year for criticising the president. They were treated like they were being un-American, when in fact they have every right to say whatever they want about him because he's freely elected, and therefore accountable." (Interview via BBC News)
Madonna's dancers, overworked and underpaid? Some dancers in Madonna's Reinvention Tour are reportedly unhappy because they earn less than $1,000 per show and have to work on a very hot stage. Madonna, they point out, earns $2 million per show. But lead dancer Seth Stewart says that Madonna treats her dancers "like royalty. She even had us to her house for a cookout." (Rush and Molloy)
The hazards of life without a Secret Service detail: Poor Howard Dean. The former presidential candidate was giving a speech to a gathering of supporters from a telephone at JFK Airport after his plane en route to Washington to address them in person was delayed due to bad weather, when someone snatched his wallet from where he'd plunked it down. "I gotta go," he told the crowd, mid-speech. "Somebody just stole my wallet." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Is Rupert Murdoch personally responsible for this one, too? Britney Spears is hopping mad over a report in the New York Post that a photo that ran in the paper depicted her and her fiancé drinking whiskey in broad daylight. She was, she says, drinking ginseng, an energy-boosting herbal tonic that contains no alcohol. "Ms. Spears intends to file a lawsuit against the New York Post and [writer] Bill Hoffmann unless the paper immediately issues an appropriate retraction, apology and financial settlement," an attorney for Spears said in a statement. The Post blames a photo agency for the mishap and says it called Spears twice for comment on the piece, which ran under the headline "Britney hits the bottle." (USA Today)
Strange story of the day: There's a guy in Atlanta who's been going around posing as Miramax co-founder -- and bro of Harvey -- Bob Weinstein. According to New York magazine, this guy, whose real name actually is Bob Weinstein, but who is, in truth, a humble jewelry salesman, told his hangers-on that he'd "been exiled by brother Harvey when he came out of the closet a few years back. He claimed to be sitting out a noncompete clause in Atlanta with a lover and an adopted son (age 28). He drove a Lexus, spoke of artistic differences with Disney, and confessed that Quentin Tarantino, though a genius, was a real diva on-set." One would-be Weinstein pal reports, "He said it was really hard being gay and Jewish in L.A." The real Miramax Bob Weinstein, who's married with a family, said through a spokeswoman, "We're taking the matter seriously and considering our options." (New York magazine)
Money Quote:
Julianna Margulies, of "ER" and now the TNT miniseries "The Grid," on the current administration: "You know, I listened to the hearings after the 9/11 commission, and nobody is taking responsibility for anything. All of this bureaucratic red tape is a crock of s---. People need to wake up, and the only way people are going to wake up is by changing our leadership." (N.Y. Daily News)
-- Amy Reiter
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