Morning Briefing:
The hidden treasures of Paris Hilton: This makes the time her cellphone was hacked seem like small potatoes. It seems the lucky buyer of unclaimed items from a storage space in Los Angeles has found him- or herself in possession of a lot of Paris Hilton's old diaries, videotapes and photos; or, possibly, the stuff was taken by thieves. Either way, it seems celebrity-porn broker David Hans Schmidt has managed to get ahold of boxes of Hilton's belongings that were sent to storage after she moved house last year. He's offering them for something in the range of $5 to $20 million, though he says, "I might give a small discount to Paris." (TMZ, Page Six, L.A. Times)
Locklear calls it quits on Sambora: Citing good old "irreconcilable differences," Heather Locklear is filing for divorce from Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. Here is her publicist's statement, terse yet crystal clear: "After 11 years of marriage Heather Locklear has filed for divorce from Richie Sambora. This is a private matter and there will be no further comment at this time." (Us Weekly)
Werner saves Joaquin? Weird addendum to Joaquin Phoenix's car crash last week: It seems the first person to respond to the crash was German director Werner Herzog, who lives near where Phoenix rolled his car. "I remember this knocking on the passenger window," said Phoenix. "There was this German voice saying, 'Just relax.' There's the airbag, I can't see and I'm saying, 'I'm fine. I am relaxed.' Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, 'No, you're not.' And suddenly I said to myself, 'That's Werner Herzog!' There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' and he was gone." (Daily Dish)
The pirates of Howard Stern: Howard Stern's recent move to subscription-based Sirius Satellite Radio hasn't come without its share of headaches -- first pirates began rebroadcasting the show on vacant frequencies in the New York area, now Sirius has learned that every show since his Jan. 9 premiere on satellite is available for download on various file-sharing networks. As it did for the pirate radio stations, Sirius is threatening legal action: "We don't condone the stealing of Howard's show, or any of the content on our more than 125 channels," said a Sirius spokesman. "We vigorously protect our intellectual property rights and we will actively prosecute those who attempt to steal it." At the same time, Stern has certainly done his share for the service: It gained 1.1 million subscribers in the last quarter of 2005. (L.A. Times)
Also:
Contrary to recent rumors, Britney Spears is not already pregnant again. (Perez Hilton) ... Tommy Lee fled a club in Canada after mistakenly hitting on a transsexual -- who also outdrank him and called him a "p---y" after he gagged on a tequila shot. (National Post via Page Six) ... Vanity Fair is busted: The magazine secretly PhotoShopped journalist Peter Arnett into a group photo for its December 2005 issue. (The Smoking Gun) ... Director Lee Tamahori -- who helmed "Die Another Day" and "Along Came a Spider," as well as directing an episode of "The Sopranos" -- was arrested in Los Angeles on Jan. 8 for solicitation, after allegedly dressing up as a woman and trying to sell an undercover cop a blow job. He was released on bail and ordered to appear in court Feb. 24. (N.Y. Daily News) ... Gary Busey and Billy Zane appear in an upcoming, anti-Iraq-war Turkish movie called "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq" as two bloodthirsty American soldiers. (Rush & Molloy) ... All TV sets within the United States will have to switch from analog to digital by Feb. 17, 2009, according to Congress -- which, after all, has set aside $1.5 billion to make sure it happens. (BBC)
Money Quote:
Fur-lover Catherine Deneuve on PETA: "I can promise you that I have never worn fake fur and I never will. These people PETA -- who go around throwing things at people -- are ridiculous. I don't agree with people being told what they can and can't do. And for me, there are more important things in the world to get upset about." (Lowdown)
Turn on:
Comedian Dave Chappelle is Friday's guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (check local listings), where he'll talk about walking away from his Comedy Central show last year, and "Bernie Mac" (Fox, 8 p.m. EST) celebrates its 100th episode. Also, the Discovery Channel premieres Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" (8 p.m. EST), followed by a 30-minute special on the documentary "Diary of the Grizzly Man."
-- Scott Lamb
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