Morning Briefing:
Jackson trial update: Defense witnesses continue to pile on Michael Jackson's accuser and his family. On Monday, a Jackson administrative assistant testified that the mother of Jackson's young accuser insisted that she be driven to a nearby spa for a full body wax, paid for by Jackson, during the time that she was allegedly being held hostage at Neverland, and that she sang Jackson's praises the whole ride there. A Neverland maid further claimed that she found a backpack full of porn in the guest room being shared by the accuser's younger brother and older sister -- and testified that the children's mother had gushed about Jackson to her, too. A Neverland security guard said he once caught the accuser and his brother drinking in the wine cellar. And an assistant chef who once had a romance with the boys' older sister said the younger of the brothers once threatened to have him fired if he didn't spike his milkshake with booze and held a large knife up to his neck for no clear reason. The chef has told attorneys that the boys' sister once told him her mother was "psycho" and planning "something big" in relation to Jackson, but it's not clear if he will be allowed to testify about that conversation before the jury. On Thursday, Larry King may testify that the mom's former lawyer once told him that the woman was "after money" and that he did not believe that they were telling the truth. (Reuters, N.Y. Daily News, N.Y. Post)
Dark meets "Desperate": Eva Longoria and Hayden Christensen were reportedly spotted "in full canoodle" at the party for "Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" at the Cannes Film Festival. "She was hitting on Hayden, big-time," one witness reports. "They basically spent the whole night talking and caressing each other in a dark corner with security all around them." They left separately, but at around the same time, at about 3:30 a.m. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Ellen's pain: Ellen DeGeneres is going public with her story of being molested by her stepfather, her mother's third husband, when she was 17 years old and her mother was recovering from breast cancer. The man, whom she has declined to name, asked her to lie down so that he could examine her breast because he thought he might have felt a lump in her mother's healthy breast and needed to feel hers for comparison. "It escalated into other things ... He tried to break down the door to my bedroom ... I had to kick a window out and escape and sleep in a hospital all night long," DeGeneres tells Allure magazine. She also describes her total heartbreak after her ex Anne Heche left her for a man (she hasn't spoken to Heche since), but says she's now blissfully in love with her new girlfriend, Portia de Rossi. "I pray that Portia and I are together the rest of our lives," she tells the magazine. (Allure via Rush and Molloy)
Yesterday's news: But since the Fix took the day off yesterday, we feel duty-bound to make sure you know that Dave Chappelle has stepped forward to discuss what compelled him to skip town and head to South Africa without telling anyone, forcing the indefinite postponement of his hit show. "I'm not smoking crack or hanging out in a mental institution," he tells Time magazine. Nope. Chappelle says he's staying with a friend (who is also apparently something of a religious advisor to Chappelle, a Muslim) and just wanted a "quiet place" where he could "think, eat, sleep, laugh. I'm an introspective dude. I enjoy my own thoughts sometimes. And I've been doing a lot of thinking here." Chappelle blames the pressure to produce a show he felt was true to his own standards and his own voice in light of all the expectations and noise that followed the signing of his $50 million deal with Comedy Central. "There were things that overwhelmed me," he tells the magazine. "But not in the way that people are saying. I haven't spent any of the money. All that stuff about partying and taking crack is not true. Why do I live on a farm in Ohio? To support my partying lifestyle?" He also began to distrust the voices around him. "I want to make sure I'm dancing and not shuffling," he says. "Whatever decisions I make right now I'm going to have to live with. Your soul is priceless ... I want to make sure whatever I do has spirit." (Time)
Also: Zach Braff is denying an NYC waitress' allegations that he got completely hammered, praised her breasts and requested that she allow him to place a "Scrubs" DVD between her breasts at the release party for the new disc. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... Mariah Carey is reportedly getting a high-class makeover from Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley. According to the singer's rep, "We don't want people to say things like 'skanky.'" (Page Six) ... Curious coupling: Comedian David Brenner and Olympic skater Tai Babilonia are engaged to be married, though they have not yet set a wedding date. (Page Six) ... Kylie Minogue has announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will postpone an upcoming tour to get immediate treatment. (MSNBC) ... Janet Jackson has been named in a lawsuit brought by a California songwriter who claims that Jackson's hit "All for You" was ripped off from a song he wrote in 1986 and later played for Jackson's songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. (The Scoop) ... Oprah Winfrey honored 25 pioneering black women, including Coretta Scott King, Diana Ross, Maya Angelou and Cicely Tyson, at a lavish gala held in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Saturday night. Guests included Usher, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. (Associated Press) ... A celebrity impersonator who has been conning people into thinking he actually is Robin Williams has agreed to stop trying to pass himself off as the high-energy actor after Williams brought suit against him. (Reuters) ... Jon Stewart and Dan Rather were among the 32 newspeople honored with Peabody Awards on Monday night. Quipped Stewart after the award ceremony, "I'm just glad to see Dan Rather in a suit. When you see that guy on the beach in a safari shirt, you know the invasion is imminent." (Washington Post)
Money Quote:
Jane Fonda on whether she might one day run for office: "No way! It's not my thing ... When I was married to Ted Turner, he talked about running for office and I threatened to leave him if he did." (RuthRadio.com via Page Six)
Turn On:
Tuesday night brings the moment you've all been waiting for: the season premiere of "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic" UPN at 9 p.m. EDT. And "Gilmore Girls" wraps things up for the season on the WB at 8 p.m. EDT.
-- Amy Reiter
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