Turn On:
Serious stuff: On Monday night, HBO looks at five young people struggling with drug addiction in the documentary "Rehab" (8:30 p.m. EDT) and PBS takes a close look at a murder in Hawaii circa 1932 in "American Experience: The Massie Affair" (check local listings).
Morning Briefing:
Nugent, crazy as ever: Addressing an audience at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Houston on Saturday, Ted Nugent, holding a gun in each hand, roused the crowd with the following rallying cry: "Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" He continued, "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em." (Associated Press)
Crazier than expected: As odd as the mother of Michael Jackson's young accuser was in direct testimony last week, she proved even more peculiar and unpredictable under cross-examination on Friday -- so much so that the judge repeatedly had to interrupt her testimony and D.A. Tom Sneddon, who has spent years building his case against Jackson, could be seen cradling his head in his hands. Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau appeared to catch the witness in a series of lies -- as minor as whether or not she paid for leg, bikini and lip waxings she had at a spa near Neverland during one of her "escapes" and as major as whether she lied under oath in a previous case she brought against JC Penney (and may have coached her children to do so as well). As he sparred with the witness, Mesereau also succeeded in getting her to lose her last shreds of composure. At one point, she turned to the jury and spit out, "Now I know that Neverland is all about booze, pornography and sex with boys" -- a comment the judge immediately had stricken from the record. Close trial watcher Fox News gossip Roger Friedman is now calling for the declaration of a mistrial -- and even Court TV's Diane Dimond felt compelled to worry about damage done to the D.A.'s case, labeling the accuser's mother "the state's worst nightmare." The witness will resume testimony on Monday. (Associated Press, Fox News, N.Y. Post)
Snyder is sick: Writing on his Web site, former talk-show host Tom Snyder, 69, has revealed that he is ill. "I have been diagnosed with something called chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Jesus H. Christ! When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence. Now, my doctors say it's treatable!" he writes. "Lemme pause here on this word treatable. Four years ago they stuck a defibrillator/pacemaker in my chest because my heart disease was treatable! A year and a half ago a nearly torn tendon in my left leg was diagnosed as treatable. Then I came down with atrial fibrillation, but was told not to worry about that because it is treatable! I don't know how much more room I have in my aging carcass for this treatable shit!" Snyder says his brother is suffering from the same illness, writing, "He mentioned that he was seeking another opinion. I told him he was funny looking!" (Snyder's official Web site)
Also: A lawsuit brought against Eminem by the ex-schoolmate he accused of bullying him in the song "Brain Damage" has been dismissed by a panel of three judges, who determined that no "reasonable listener" would take the song's lyrics as facts. The case is not expected to be appealed. (Associated Press) ... A Web site called the West Virginia Surf Report is counting up the number of times the F-word is used in HBO's "Deadwood," episode by episode. (West Virginia Surf Report via Drudge) ... "The Amityville Horror" remake, reviled by the critics, nevertheless ruled the box office over the weekend, taking in an estimated $23.3 million. (Reuters) ... Vanessa Haydon, the fiancée of Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., is denying pesky rumors that she once had strong ties to the gang the Latin Kings. (Page Six) ... Reality TV teens John and Carmine Gotti Agnello were asked to "tuck their gold chains inside their shirts" before being admitted to the New York club Marquee last week. According to Rush and Molloy, the club's "top brass didn't like the [boys'] Long Island style." (Rush and Molloy) ... Art Garfunkel is expected to be a no-show for a court date in Wisconsin today, where he was ticketed last month for speeding. (Appleton Post-Crescent) ... Rapper DMX was arrested on Saturday in connection with a three-way car crash late Friday involving a police cruiser on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx. There were no major injuries. (Reuters) ... Us Weekly has apologized for mislabeling a woman photographed with Charlie Sheen a porn star. (Regret the Error via Fishbowl NY)
Money Quote:
Paris Hilton and her new "Simple Life" costar Kimberly Stewart, upon seeing Hilary and Haylie Duff at Us Weekly's recent Young Hot Hollywood party in Los Angeles: "Ewwww." (Page Six)
-- Amy Reiter
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