Morning Briefing:
Curtains for Whitney and Bobby? There has been a nearly universal sense of relief at Wednesday's news that Whitney Houston has filed for legal separation from her husband of 14 years, Bobby Brown. She filed the papers yesterday in Orange County, Calif. -- she's reportedly living in Laguna Hills with their 13-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina -- citing "irreconcilable differences" and asking for custody of Bobbi. (TMZ, CNN)
The Borat summit: With Sacha Baron Cohen's multilaterally offensive "Borat: Cultural Learnings From America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" due to hit U.S. theaters in just six weeks, the Kazakhstan government has gone into P.R. crisis mode. (It had a spat with Cohen last year after his Kazakh character Borat appeared at the MTV Europe Awards, resulting in the site borat.kz getting yanked from the Internet.) In addition to print ads and TV spots about the "real Kazakhstan," Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev will hold a meeting with President Bush on the topic during his upcoming visit to America. "President Nazarbayev will visit the White House and the Bush family compound in Maine when he flies in for talks that will include the fictional character Borat," said a spokesman. "I cannot speak for the president himself, only for the government, but I certainly don't think President Nazarbayev and Mr. Bush will share a joke about the film." (Daily Mail)
Wedding date for Cruise-Holmes? With those pesky baby photos out of the way, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have apparently gotten down to the business of becoming a "legitimate" family. Us Weekly's cover story this week breathlessly relates what little concrete info it has on the upcoming nuptials: "He's an actor whose movie plots typically revolve around romance, action and a healthy dose of suspense. So it's no wonder that Tom Cruise, 44, has kept the details of his next production -- his wedding to 27-year-old Katie Holmes -- closely under wraps." As it happens, a source can only tell Us that "it's going to happen in the next three to six weeks." (Us Weekly)
Also:
Officials in the Bahamas now say the death of Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, is "suspicious," and have launched an investigation that could lead to some kind of criminal charges. (People) ... Madonna's Moscow gig on Wednesday night was reportedly guarded by 10,000 cops and riot police, on hand to protect her from threats ranging from Chechen terrorists to angry Orthodox Christians. (3 a.m. Girls) ... The first-ever Monday night football game aired on ESPN earlier this week earned the cable network its highest ratings ever, drawing more than 9.2 million viewers. (Associated Press) ... Singer Marianne Faithfull has been diagnosed with breast cancer. "The disease has been quickly discovered by doctors in France," her publicist told the BBC. "The prognosis for a return to full health is excellent." (BBC News) ... Beyoncé's newest album, "B'Day," opened at No. 1 on this week's Billboard chart, moving 541,000 copies in its first week. (E! Online)
Money Quote:
Rosie O'Donnell on Lindsay Lohan's behavior during the filming of "Georgia Rule," also starring Jane Fonda: "It was unacceptable. It's not like she was doing 'Dumb & Dumber 2.' It's a Jane Fonda movie! Be early! I can say this from experience: It's hard to be famous, and she's not doing it well at this point. But she'll get into rehab, take care of the eating disorder, and be all better in two years and have a huge comeback." (OK magazine via Perez Hilton)
Turn On:
Thursday night marks the start of the 13th -- and this time, racially divided -- installment of "Survivor: Cook Islands" (CBS, 8 p.m. EDT), and Damon Wayans tries his hand at another sketch comedy show, "The Underground" (Showtime, 10 p.m. EDT).
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT): Sean Penn
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Adam Nagourney
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): 26-year-old Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the Who
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jude Law, Bob Seger
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Al Franken, air guitar expert Bjorn Turoque
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Gary Sinise, Whitley Strieber, Chris Isaak
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Rachel Bilson, LeToya
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Norm MacDonald
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Bill Simmons
-- Scott Lamb
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