Morning Briefing:
No Catholic offspring for Cruise: Tom Cruise has put to rest any lingering doubts -- not that there were many -- that his baby with Katie Holmes will be raised as anything but a Scientologist. Asked during an interview with Diane Sawyer for "Primetime" (which airs tonight, see Turn On below) about whether the baby will be baptized, Cruise says, "No, I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists." He also vaguely answers questions about the whole Scientologist silent birth thing -- it's "basically just respecting the mother" -- and whether Holmes will have access to medical attention: "If she needs medicine, she needs medicine." Cruise has meanwhile been battling with Nicole Kidman over having their two children present while Holmes gives birth, at least according to the National Enquirer. "Tom thought it might make them feel involved but Nicole thought the exact opposite," a source tells the tabloid. (Associated Press, National Enquirer)
Hollywood big shots tied to Pellicano case: Newly leaked FBI files show much stronger ties between two Hollywood power players and celebrity private-eye Anthony Pellicano, the central figure in the ongoing wiretapping investigation in Los Angeles. Paramount chairman Brad Grey and all-around mover and shaker Michael Ovitz have both publicly denied ever directly hiring Pellicano to do their dirty business, but the files show that Grey had Pellicano gather information about his opponents in two lawsuits -- one of whom was Garry Shandling -- while Ovitz admitted to hiring Pellicano to look into 15 to 20 people who had been saying bad things about him, including David Geffen. The Times goes into detail about what the report contains (and offers this handy graphic), but the upshot is that the scandal is "rapidly expanding." (N.Y. Times)
Trump sells off baby photos: People magazine has won the bidding war among Us Weekly, Star, OK! and Hello for the prized first photos of Donald and Melania Trump with their brand-new baby boy, Barron. Trump would only coyly say that he got "a lot of money" for the shots -- which will appear in next week's issue, barring some other major gossip event, like Katie Holmes giving birth. Page Six says that "experts" estimate a price in the mid-six figures. (Page Six)
Also:
Michael Jackson may finally have his messy financial house in order: He's reportedly close to finishing a deal restructuring his debt that will give Sony the option to buy half of his part of a huge song collection that includes Beatles songs, "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan and "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. (E! Online) ... At the same time, because any news about Jackson has to include an element of the bizarre, the people involved in putting the deal together were apparently so worried about rumors that he'd died a few days ago that they called Bahrain in the middle of the night and sent his bodyguard in to check that Jackson was still alive. (Fox 411) ... A charter school in Utah thought it had booked Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" for a recent event, and were unhappily surprised when they instead got Jon A. Stewart, former professional wrestler and current motivational speaker. (Post Chronicle) ... For his next trick, magician David Blaine plans to live inside a "human aquarium" in front of New York's Lincoln Center for a week; on the final day, he will attempt to beat the world record for holding one's breath underwater, currently at 8 minutes, 58 seconds. (Yahoo! News) ... The New York Times reports that earnings are way down for many newspapers for the first quarter of this year -- including those owned by the Times, Tribune and McClatchy companies -- but that the Internet side of the newspaper business is "thriving." (N.Y. Times)
Money Quote:
Kevin Federline on how the media is actually responsible for his foray into music: "I don't have a choice. It's not like I can go and do construction, start building houses in Malibu. They are forcing me to do this, and I am glad they are. I am more than happy to do it." (Spin via Rush & Molloy)
-- Scott Lamb
Turn On:
Tonight Tom Cruise opens up to Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Primetime" (9 p.m. EDT), Fox's "The Bernie Mac Show" (8 p.m. EDT) has its fifth-season finale, and Paula Abdul is on "Larry King Live" (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT).
-- Joe DiMento
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