Morning Briefing:
Making the apology rounds: Russell Crowe is sorry about chucking that phone so hard at Mercer Hotel employee Nestor Estrada that he opened up a nasty-looking gash on Estrada's cheek. He's very sorry. And he wants you all to know it. He's also kinda down. "I'm at the bottom of a well. I can't communicate how dark my life is right now," Crowe, still in New York, though staying at a different hotel, told Australia's Daily Telegraph. "I'm in a lot of trouble. I'll do my best to solve the situation in an honorable way. I'm very sorry for my actions." The actor said it was a "combination of jet lag, loneliness and adrenaline" that made him hurl his room phone at the unfortunate concierge, but that he never meant to hit the man. "One thing that I don't want to do is imply that I'm trying to make out it's somebody else's fault," Crowe added. "It's not, I know it's my fault, I've got to face up to it and deal with it. I'll cop whatever I cop." Crowe also went on "The Late Show With David Letterman" to discuss his admitted anger problem and explain what he was thinking as he embarked on what he's calling the "most shameful" and "dumb" act of his life. "I'm trying to fill my basic obligations to my wife, who needs to know that I'm at home, I'm in bed, I haven't had too much to drink and that, primely important, I'm alone," Crowe told Letterman. "These are questions that every wife has the right to have answered every night, and that's my duty." The actor says he's called to apologize to the concierge, but "at the moment, he's not answering his phone." (Daily Telegraph, N.Y. Daily News, "The Late Show with David Letterman" via the U.K. Sun)
Also doing damage control on late-night TV: Tom Cruise went on "The Tonight Show" Wednesday night, and yes, he hopped up on the couch again. But this time, he was kidding -- kidding! And yes, he gushed about Katie Holmes again -- saying that he was looking forward to "spending the rest of my life" with her. Presumably, he wasn't kidding about that. Meanwhile, Holmes' old agent, CAA's Brandt Joel, is probably not laughing. The actress has dropped him in favor of Cruise's agents, also at CAA, Rick Nicita and Kevin Huvane. The actress has also dumped her longtime manager, John Carrabino. (Associated Press, Page Six)
Mama Madonna: A press tour to decry your old penchant to do anything for attention? Who else but Madonna would do that? The former Material Girl is promoting her latest children's book, "Lotsa de Casha," which preaches that the path to happiness is sharing, and not money, appearing at book signings across the land, including one for well-heeled New Yorkers at Bergdorf's, the proceeds of which will be donated to Unicef. She's also giving interviews about how much she's changed over the years. "There were some times I really had an altruistic goal, I really did want to help people. And then other times, I just wanted to show off -- let's call a spade a spade," she says of her wilder younger days in the upcoming issue of Ladies' Home Journal. "I knew I could get people to pay attention to me. Sometimes now I sit back and say, 'What was I thinking before I was thinking?'" Thanks to the Kabbalah, she says, she's now a totally different person. "I can assure you, five years ago there's no way I would have said, I'm going to write kids' books and give all the money to charity. It's so cool that I'm helping kids, and I never thought I'd be doing that. I like the idea that people can change, and that everybody has to go through a painful process before they can realize that they're idiots." Oh, and speaking of painful processes, Madonna says that her next career move is to treat the world to a TV series based on her book "The English Roses," in each episode of which girls will find themselves "in challenging situations." (Reuters, Ladies' Home Journal, N.Y. Times, Rush & Molloy)
Jackson trial update: The jury in the Michael Jackson trial is still deliberating. They'll put in a half-session today, because at least one of them has to attend a graduation. Jackson went to the hospital late Wednesday for what his spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, said was "routine treatment" of his back trouble. And both Bain and Jackson's spiritual advisor Jesse Jackson have been somewhat muzzled by Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau, who issued a statement Wednesday saying, "I have not authorized anyone to speak or hold any press conferences on behalf of Michael Jackson or his family. A gag order is in effect which the defense team will continue to honor." (Associated Press, N.Y. Daily News, Reuters)
Also: Macaulay Culkin pleaded guilty on Wednesday to drug possession, receiving a deferred sentence from an Oklahoma City judge in connection with his arrest last year after pot and Xanax, a prescription drug for which he did not have a prescription, were found in a car in which he was riding. (Celebrity Justice) ... Lindsay Lohan's father, currently serving time in jail for drunk driving and various other charges, says that, when he gets out of jail, he'd really like "to go into a ministry to learn more about what connects people to their spirituality." ("A Current Affair" via Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... The seven-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Nashville, Tenn., that Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash lived in until they died, in 2003, is on the market for $2.9 million. It has a swimming pool, is situated on a lake, needs some maintenance and is being sold with some of the furniture included. (Reuters)
Turn On:
The 2005 MTV Movie Awards, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, air Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EDT on (where else?) MTV. There's also a red-carpet preshow at 8 p.m. EDT and a post-show wrapup at 10:30 p.m. EDT. And CBS offers the premiere of a new reality show about fashion designers, "The Cut," presided over by Tommy Hilfiger, at 8 p.m. EDT
-- Amy Reiter
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