Morning Briefing:
Another serving of Greek for Paris?: Fresh off her engagement to Paris Latsis, Paris Hilton is now attaching herself to another Greek billionaire, Mary-Kate Olsen's beau, Stavros Niarchos. As Page Six points out, his family's $7.5 billion net worth makes Latsis seem "nouveau riche." But the new romance may come at a cost: A lot of Paris' friends have been distancing themselves, bracing for a fight with the betrayed Olsen twin. The Post reports that Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan and "other young Hollywood hotties" have been avoiding Paris. Latsis, meanwhile, has nothing but love for Paris. He released a statement on Monday about the breakup, saying, "I love Paris very much. This was the best experience of my life. And I will always be grateful for it." (Page Six, People)
Hard times make for great books: Jail time did wonders for Martha Stewart's image, and now may help Judith Miller score some P.R. points, too. Rumors out of the publishing world say that Miller, just released from her stint in the big house, has made a $1.2 million book deal with Simon & Schuster to write about the experience. Arianna Huffington, after breaking down the numbers -- they'd have to move 300,000 copies at $27 a pop -- says "Don't do it. Smells like remainder to me." Anderson Cooper, meanwhile, may be getting a book deal of his own, based on his experience covering Hurricane Katrina. The deal has reportedly been made without any formal proposal or outline -- as a source tells the New York Daily News: "It's 'We saw you on TV, we saw you get very emotional, we love you, here's the money!'" Cooper, true to good-guy form, apparently plans on donating a large portion of the money to Hurricane Katrina relief funds. (Huffington Post, N.Y. Daily News, Page Six)
Britney pitches in, too: Unable to take part in any of the many recent benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina because she just gave birth, Britney Spears is instead holding an online garage sale to help raise money. Reportedly, via a seller on eBay, she's putting up a number of random household items for sale -- a couch, a daybed, a swimsuit and a sparkling beaded bra she once wore in a music video. The bra, which the auction notes has a broken link connecting the cups, has already passed $9,000 in the bidding. (AFP via Drudge, eBay)
Battle of the B-list stars?: Is Tara Reid trying to get publicity by starting a media fight with Paris Hilton? After blasting the press last week for always focusing on her antics and not her acting, Reid is now trying to make herself look good by pointing out she's never been filmed having sex and then having the sex tape released to the Internet. Or, as she told Britain's Arena magazine: "What she's done in her career and what I've done are two different things. I've never done porn. I've never made one. I'm not stupid enough to put myself on video." (FemaleFirst)
Also:
In other countries -- like Germany, for instance -- there actually are laws against naming your children whatever you want, but since this is America, Nicolas Cage was all right to give his new baby boy Superman's birth name: Kal-el Coppola Cage was born on Monday to Cage and his wife, Alice Kim ... If you were wondering who'd be interested in buying Brad and Jen's $28 million former estate, the answer, of course, is other celebrities: Ellen DeGeneres and Jessica Simpson have both been out to look at the property ... Meanwhile, rumors within the Jen camp say she recently rebuffed Brad's attempt to apologize for the pain his relationship with Angelina Jolie is causing her by hanging up on him ... Proving that not all high-profile marriages end in acrimony, Cris Judd wants the world to know that J.Lo's not really a bitchy, demanding diva. He never saw any of that side of her during their short-lived marriage, and says, "I heard stories about her before I met her, but I think her management had a lot to do with promoting that image" ... The Nobel Peace Prize is going to be announced later this week, and while secrecy rivaling the choice of a new pope surrounds the decision, bookies have significantly boosted the odds for peace-rockers Bono and Bob Geldof, moving their chances from from 66-1 to 7-1 ... Robert Blake, in a second day of testimony during the civil case against him for the death of ex-wife Bonny Lee Bakley, denied that he had someone kill her, but testified, "I could easily have been venting and saying things. When I'm angry, I run my mouth." The day's testimony also included lawyers using mobster slang: Bakley family attorney Eric Dubin asked Blake, "In any way, shape or form did you discuss whacking Bonnie Lee Bakley with Frank Minucci?" ... Nipsey Russell, the Tin Man from "The Wiz" and the guy someone once called the "the poet laureate of television" for his rhyming talk-show appearances, died yesterday in Manhattan. He is believed to be in his 80s.
Turn On:
It's been a decade since the glove didn't fit, and PBS takes a look at the years of cultural fallout from the O.J. trial in "Frontline: The O.J. Verdict" (check local listings). You can also catch the second season premiere of "Rodney" (ABC, 8:30 p.m. EDT) and a new episode of "My Name Is Earl" (NBC, 9 p.m. EDT). And: in yesterday's Fix, I incorrectly listed Jason Bateman as having been on "Family Matters" as a teen. Not even close. He once directed an episode of the show, and his sister Justine was on "Family Ties," but young Bateman was best known as David Hogan, first on "Valerie" and then on "The Hogan Family." The Fix regrets the error.
-- Scott Lamb
Get more of The Fix here.
To send a hot tip to The Fix, click here.
Shares