Morning Briefing:
The Jane Fonda/Ted Turner sex tape? This doesn't come as a complete surprise -- Jane Fonda wrote about being bullied into threesomes by ex-husband Roger Vadim in her memoir, "My Life So Far" -- but a forthcoming book by former Hustler magazine editor Allan MacDonell, "Prisoner of X," has the goods on a rumored sex tape involving Jane Fonda, Ted Turner and another woman. MacDonell describes the alleged tape in detail, as the Lowdown cautiously writes: "Suffice it to say that the purported Fonda is allegedly wearing artificial equipment to pleasure the alleged Turner while he services the brunette and asks the camera operator, 'Are you getting this?'" Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher and friend to Ted Turner, was unimpressed when asked for a comment by Lowdown: "It's not like capturing a hypocritical congressman in the sack." (Lowdown, FemaleFirst)
"Brokeback" enters the lexicon: Thanks in large part to the many obvious jokes it spawned, "Brokeback" has been named the Hollywood word of the year by the Global Language Monitor -- or, as the group itself puts it, the "top HollyWORD of 2006." "A cultural phenomenon (Brokeback, Brokedown, etc.) with almost a million references to Brokeback jokes alone on Google," the organization says on its Web site. "Overall there are some 30 million references." Meanwhile, a Christian clothing company called Second Coming Clothing is cashing in on the phenomenon with its "Brokeback on the Mountain" T-shirts, referencing a quote from Exodus: "He saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount." (Reuters via Defamer, SecondComingClothing.com via the Scoop)
The Oscar bump: Box Office Mojo has a breakdown of the so-called Oscar effect, the impact that getting nominated for best picture has on a movie's box office showing. The numbers go back only to 1982, but at the top of the list of those helped by the Oscar bump is "The Dresser," which took in almost 90 percent of its box office gross after being nominated for five awards at the 1984 Oscars (where it took home none). This year's five nominees have taken in only 18.6 percent of their combined $229 million box office gross since the nominations were announced (most of it going to "Brokeback Mountain," which has taken in nearly $24 million since the nominees were announced on Jan. 31). Last year, though, the bump was huge: The post-best-picture nomination take accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total gross box office of the five nominees, with the winner, "Million Dollar Baby," making almost all of its cash in the months following the awards announcement. (Box Office Mojo)
Also:
CBS has filed its huge lawsuit against Howard Stern -- as mentioned in Tuesday's Fix -- claiming that Stern failed to disclose the terms of his deal with Sirius Satellite Radio before leaving CBS. At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Stern said, CBS president and CEO "Les Moonves claims it was a secret. He put me on 'David Letterman,' he put me on '60 Minutes.' Just like everyone else, Les Moonves doesn't listen to his own radio stations or TV stations." (N.Y. Daily News) ... Since leaving rehab last fall, Kate Moss has nearly doubled her earnings, and is reportedly now considering a $2.6 million deal with Calvin Klein and a $1.8 million arrangement with former client Burberry. (Page Six) ... Two security guards were shot outside a Kanye West concert Tuesday night in Birmingham, England. (The Sun) ... Today's postmodern cultural moment: Chantelle Houghton, a U.K. reality TV star who looks an awful lot like Paris Hilton, is starting up her own reality TV show and trying to get the real Paris Hilton on board: "Basically it's a case of 'my people' are talking to 'her people' and we'll see what happens." (The Scoop) ... Britney Spears showed up in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras, and took two local girls -- whose lives were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina -- shopping. (People) ... There are two ways of looking at the ratings numbers from the Olympics: Either they were great (NBC says two-thirds of Americans tuned in) or they were a disaster (Fox trumpets the fact that "American Idol" handily won the competition for the 18-49 bracket). Nielsen numbers support both perspectives. (E! Online) ... Under the headline "Hermione Granger and the Hangover of Doom," Gawker has a picture of "Harry Potter" starlet Emma Watson, 15, apparently drinking a beer. (Gawker)
Money Quotes:
Heidi Klum on how she manages her denim: "I have maybe 459 pairs of jeans. I go up and down in sizes -- they're organized by pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-pregnancy." (ContactMusic)
Paris Hilton warning Oscar winner Charlize Theron that they may soon be competing for roles: "My acting coach told me I have a similar style of acting to her so we may end up vying for the same parts." (FemaleFirst)
Turn On:
On Wednesday, ABC is airing a new episode of "Lost" (9 p.m. EST) followed by the annual "Barbara Walters Oscar Special" (10 p.m. EST), this year featuring interviews with George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey and Mariah Carey. Also: Arianna Huffington appears on "The Colbert Report" (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EST).
-- Scott Lamb
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