Morning Briefing:
Ugh. Can't somebody stop this man? Ed Klein -- long a thorn in the Kennedy family's side -- is now said to be including in his forthcoming book about Hillary Clinton, "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President," due out next week and soon to be excerpted in Vanity Fair, that Sen. Clinton was -- oh, for Pete's sake -- raped by her husband, Bill, during a Bermuda holiday ... and that that encounter resulted in the conception of the couple's daughter, Chelsea. Klein also alleges that Bill Clinton learned of Hillary's pregnancy by reading about it in the Arkansas Gazette. An aide of Sen. Clinton has reportedly told the Drudge Report that the senator is considering suing Klein for "outright libel." (Drudge)
Aguilera, sucker-punched, twice: Poor Christina Aguilera is getting a double dose of bad press in Monday's news. First -- and worst -- is the disclosure, in Time magazine's big exclusive detailing interrogation techniques at the Gitmo Camp at Guantánamo Bay, that her music was used to torture terror suspects, played loudly to prevent prisoners from sleeping. And then there's a sad little item in the New York Daily News, tattling that the singer partied so hard at a New York club the other night, she had to be carried out. "She couldn't walk on her own," reports one witness. "She had one arm around her fiancé, Jordan Bratman, and the other around a blond assistant." The singer's rep's response? A plaintive "That's not very nice." (Time, Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Match made in hell? Former Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss is now said to be an item with Moonlight Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof. But that's according to Hof, a notorious self-promoter who claims that he and Fleiss are "[bleeping] every day," adding that Fleiss "has so much drive, she reminds me of myself." Fleiss, meanwhile, is downplaying the alleged connection. "Dennis is romantically involved with every girl around him," she tells the press. "I'm always single." (Rush & Molloy)
Jackson trial update: Jurors in the Michael Jackson trial resume deliberations on Monday after a weekend in which the Jackson camp announced that it had terminated the services of Jackson's spokeswoman, Raymone Bain -- possibly via a posting on the MJJ Productions Web site in which it "regretfully" announced her departure from the Jackson fold, adding, "We thank you for your services." No word on who will represent Jackson before the press in Bain's absence. (Fox News, MJJSource.com)
Also: Condoleezza Rice took the stage at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night to provide piano accompaniment for the 21-year-old soprano Charity Sunshine, the granddaughter of California Rep. Tom Lantos, a Democrat, who is trying to raise money for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. (Associated Press) ... Sean Penn -- yes, that Sean Penn -- had his video camera confiscated by police at a demonstration at Tehran University in Iran, where he is acting as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle (edited by his good buddy Phil Bronstein). Eventually, the camera was returned to the actor-turned-journalist. (Editor & Publisher) ... Mike Tyson, who ceded victory to virtual unknown boxer Kevin McBride in Round 6 of his big comeback match on Saturday night, says he's probably going to retire from the ring for real. "I don't have the stomach for this anymore," he said. "I most likely won't fight anymore. I'm not going to disrespect the sport by losing to this caliber of fighter." (Associated Press) ... Candace Bushnell is said to have included a sendup of Condé Nast honcho Si Newhouse in her forthcoming book, "Lipstick Jungle," describing a media bigwig character as a "small and uncannily rodent-like" man with "tiny and red" eyes and "small, half-formed graying yellow teeth that barely poked over the gum line." Very nice. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie -- Mr. and Mrs. Moneypants: The duo's new film, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," raked in the dough over the weekend, taking in $51.1 million and vaulting ahead of its nearest competition, "Madagascar," which took in $17.1 million in its second weekend in release. (Reuters) ... Shoe mogul Steve Madden is reportedly back at work and buffer than ever after his recent release from prison, where he served two and a half years for stock fraud. (Page Six) ... The members of Pink Floyd have announced that they'll reunite for the Live 8 concert in London, the first time they'll have performed together since 1981. (ITV.com)
Money Quotes:
Paris Hilton's mom, Kathy, on her daughter's infamous amateur sex tape: "Well, that was very painful. Very painful. Very painful ... It taught me you can't trust everybody." (N.Y. Post)
Karina Lombard, of "The L Word," on why she decided to doff her duds for an edgy, gender-challenging spread in Playboy: "I wanted to show the dichotomy between the sexes, the wild self versus the tame self, the male side in the female, and the female side in the male ... I had this dream. These pictures are exactly what I saw in my dream." (Page Six)
Turn On:
On Monday, TNT offers the series premiere of "The Closer" (9 p.m. EDT), starring Kyra Sedgwick as an Atlanta-based police detective who moves to Los Angeles to take on big murder cases, and National Geographic offers Part 1 of a two-part documentary (Part 2 airs tomorrow) about the mob, "Inside the Mafia" (9 p.m. EDT), narrated by Ray Liotta.
-- Amy Reiter
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