Morning Briefing:
More Jackson fallout: I promise, this won't go on forever, but today's news cycle brings reports that A) the Jackson camp is considering suing the Santa Barbara district attorney for "malicious prosecution", B) Jackson is getting ready to travel to Europe for a while because, according to one insider, he "fears for his life here," C) the Jackson family is trying to peddle a reality TV show based on how Jackson's kin rallied to his side before, during and after the trial, but no one has bitten ... yet. (Times of London, Fox 411, Hollywood Reporter via N.Y. Daily News)
Sofa, so bad? Never say that Billy Bob Thornton isn't one to kiss and tell. Angelina Jolie's ex has this to say about sex with the woman who reportedly stole Brad Pitt's heart away from Jennifer Aniston: "Sex doesn't have to be with a model to be good. Sometimes with the model, the actress or the 'sexiest person in the world,' it may literally be like f-ing the couch." Thornton made his kind and thoughtful comments to Esquire magazine, which last year dubbed Jolie its "Sexiest Person in the World." (Esquire via Rush & Molloy)
Radio Clinton? FOB Harry Thomason has been telling the press that Bill Clinton is considering hosting a radio show on Clear Channel. "There's definitely a place for [Clinton] on radio at some point," Thomason told Business Week. Neither Clear Channel nor Clinton's people would confirm that they were in discussions, though Clear Channel has admitted that it's in conversation with "a number of high-profile people" about hosting their own shows. (N.Y. Post)
She's no Paris: Poor Liz Hurley. No sooner does she announce plans to marry her boyfriend Arun Nayar in February -- in a traditional Hindu ceremony in which she hopes to ride in on an elephant -- than her P.R. people find themselves fighting off a nasty rumor about her: that somewhere out there there's a tape of her getting it on with former bad-boy boyfriend Tom Sizemore. "Rubbish," her rep sniffed. "No such thing exists." (N.Y. Daily News, Sky News)
He's no Paris, either: Paris Hilton's steamy Carl's Jr. ad, in which she appears in a skimpy bathing suit suggestively washing a car and eating a burger with gusto, has expanded beyond the West Coast and will now be shown on stations in the Midwest and Southeast. Meanwhile, someone has shot a version of the ad recasting a hairy, fat man in the Hilton role. A link to the video -- hot or not -- can be found here. (Fox News, Save Manny)
Also: A statue of late actress Elizabeth Montgomery as cute-as-a-button Samantha Stephens in "Bewitched" was unveiled in Salem, Mass., on Wednesday, amid protests from some people who contend that it trivializes the tragedy of the Salem witch hunt of 1692. (Associated Press) ... If it's long been your dream to see Elton John in concert in Vegas, you're in luck. Caesars Palace has extended his "Red Piano" show through 2008. (Associated Press) ... Daniel Radcliffe, who has played the title role in all of the "Harry Potter" movies, has taken a non-Harry film role: He'll co-star in "December Boys," about a group of orphans vying for a place in the home they all long for. (Reuters/Hollywood Reporter) ... The British military is looking into a security breach at its elite Sandhurst Academy after a reporter for the U.K. Sun reportedly entered the grounds under false pretenses, videotaped Prince Harry, who is a cadet there, and wandered around carrying a "fake bomb" without being stopped by security. (AFP) ... Kid Rock is being sued for $575,000 by a Nashville DJ who says he suffered "severe, disabling and permanent injuries" after the musician punched him in a nightclub scuffle. (Fox News)
Money Quote:
Gwinnett County, Ga., District Attorney Danny Porter, who pursued charges against runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, on recent reports that Wilbanks has just sold the rights to her life story for $500,000: "It's disturbing to me on a personal basis that she's willing to profit from this, but there's nothing I can do about it legally." (Associated Press)
Turn On:
Thursday night is a good night to save your tube-watching energy for late-night TV: Bill Clinton and Ringo Starr will be on David Letterman's couch (CBS, 11:30 EDT), and Jay Leno's got Lindsay Lohan along with Jeremy Piven and the Backstreet Boys (NBC, 11:30 p.m. EDT).
-- Amy Reiter
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