Morning Briefing:
The lawyer is the father: Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer Howard K. Stern was on "Larry King Live" Tuesday night supposedly just to talk about the sudden and still-unexplained death of her son, Daniel, but revealed the surprising news that he's the "proud father" of Smith's newborn baby girl. Stern -- who was with Smith in the Bahamas on the night that Daniel died -- said they've named their daughter Dannie Lynn Hope, and told King that they plan to stay in the Bahamas and marry sometime soon. (Associated Press)
Paris charged: Paris Hilton has been officially charged with drunken driving stemming from her arrest earlier this month. She's due in court on Thursday in Los Angeles for arraignment, facing at most a $1,000 fine and six months in county jail, but is likely to be looking at a fine, probation and some mandatory Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. (Los Angeles Times)
Tales of the Screech sex tape: Celebrity porn broker David Hans Schmidt has confirmed he's acquired the rights to a 40-minute sex tape starring actor Dustin Diamond, aka Screech from "Saved by the Bell" -- hardly a surprise, given the urban legends surrounding Diamond's size. The tape is apparently pretty raunchy, involving two women, bodily functions and a move called the Dirty Sanchez (defined here, but definitely NSFW). But news of the tape's existence may have an unexpected upside. "I haven't seen the tape," his rep told Rush & Molloy. "I've heard rumors. Dustin has been trying to escape the Screech typecast. So this may help me get more bookings." (Rush & Molloy, City Rag)
Blacklisting the Scissor Sisters: The New York disco-rock band the Scissor Sisters released a new album on Tuesday, "Ta-Dah," but it may not necessarily be coming to a store near you. The group -- whose single off the album, "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'," is No. 1 in the U.K. charts -- won't be appearing in any of the 1,100 stores owned by Trans World Entertainment, including FYE, Sam Goody, Strawberries, Wherehouse, Specs and Coconuts. The reason? Frontman Jake Shears complained at a record retailers convention last month that Trans World's prices are too high: "I went to go buy the new Raconteurs album, and it was like $18.99." Trans World president and CEO Jim Litwak said Shears was exaggerating the price but never apologized, "so we made the decision not to carry the band's new release." (VH1)
Also:
Terri Irwin, "Crocodile Hunter" Steve's widow, says she hasn't seen the footage of her husband's deadly encounter with a stingray, and tells Barbara Walters in an interview airing Wednesday night that it will never be aired: "What purpose would that serve?" (Associated Press via Yahoo) ... Chevy Chase is slated to play a somewhat Mel Gibsonian character in an upcoming "Law & Order" show, portraying "a television celebrity who is pulled over for drunken driving while wearing blood-soaked clothes, and whose religious prejudice comes out after his arrest." (TMZ) ... "Grey's Anatomy" was the ratings winner for last week's prime-time TV, with 25.41 million viewers. (Associated Press) ... Eddie Murphy has reportedly confirmed that he and former Spice Girl Melanie B. are an item. The two have recently been spotted vacationing in Hawaii, and a source tells Hello that Murphy has revealed, "I am madly in love with Mel, but there are no wedding plans." (Hello) ... Fantasia Barrino's father is suing the publisher of the "American Idol" winner's 2005 memoir, "Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairytale," for $10 million, claiming his daughter's book includes "false, exaggerated, sensational, intentional and malicious untruths" about him and other family members. (E Online)
Money Quote:
"Grey's Anatomy" star Sandra Oh on what her parents originally thought of her choosing acting as a career: "It was one step above prostitution." ("Ellen" via People)
Turn On:
Sydney Pollack's documentary "Sketches of Frank Gehry" (PBS, check local listings) has its television debut on Wednesday night, and "One Tree Hill" (CW, 9 p.m. EDT) has its season premiere. On "20/20: Special Edition" (ABC, 10 p.m. EDT) Barbara Walters talks with Steve Irwin's widow, Terri, and while the third season of the castaway show doesn't come until next week, "Lost: A Tale of Survival" (ABC, 9 p.m. EDT) will get you caught up on all the plotlines.
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT): Clay Aiken
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul; Nicholas Burns, U.S. Department of State undersecretary for political affairs
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Amanda Peet, Nigella Lawson, Bob Seger
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Evangeline Lilly, Magic Johnson, Aaron Neville
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Billy Bob Thornton
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Forest Whitaker, Julie Walters, Shang Forbes
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Jon Heder, Don, Mole and Perry, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Al Franken
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Lowell Bergman
-- Scott Lamb
Get more of the Fix here.
To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.
Shares