Morning Briefing:
Trouble in Britneytown? Fresh on the heels of Cindy Adams' report yesterday that recording on Britney Spears' next album had stopped and that her label, Jive, is on the verge of dropping her, Page Six says on Friday that sources at the company have had it with the pop diva. "Like the rest of us," said their talker, "Jive is done with Britney Spears." Both Spears' rep and a Jive spokesperson deny that anything is amiss with Ms. Spears' new album. (Page Six, Cindy Adams)
Lohan under the knife: Exactly a year after being hospitalized for what her publicist described as an asthma attack, Lindsay Lohan is headed to the hospital after being diagnosed, says her rep, with appendicitis. "She does have appendicitis, and she is getting her appendix removed," rep Leslie Sloane informed People magazine on Thursday afternoon. "She will be going in shortly." (People)
SAG award nominations: Leonardo DiCaprio and Helen Mirren led the nominations announced yesterday for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, while "Babel," "Dreamgirls" and "Little Miss Sunshine" each grabbed a total of three nominations apiece (see a full list here). DiCaprio was nominated for leading actor in "Blood Diamond," and earned a nomination in "The Departed" for supporting actor and as part of the cast; Mirren was acknowledged for her royal leading roles in "The Queen" and HBO's "Elizabeth I." Gold Derby is keeping track of who got snubbed by SAG, citing Jack Nicholson ("The Departed"), Brad Pitt ("Babel") Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") and Toni Collette ("Little Miss Sunshine"), among others. (Hollywood Reporter, Gold Derby)
Magical mystery tour: The Web zine 10 Zen Monkeys, taking Heather Mills' allegations in divorce papers that Paul McCartney drinks to excess and uses illegal drugs as a starting point, has created a life of the Beatle in the form of a drug-use timeline, from "1966 -- McCartney becomes the last Beatle to try LSD" to "September 22, 1999 -- McCartney is observed smoking vast quantities of weed with Woody Harrelson and Laurence Fishburne," with many woozy stops along the way. (10 Zen Monkeys)
Also:
Page Six reports that burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese is filing for divorce from scary goth rocker Marilyn Manson after just a year of marriage. A source blabs, "She tried to tell him she was divorcing him, but she can't even get him on the phone. She moved out of the house and he hasn't even noticed." (Page Six) ... A one-time audience member is now suing "Oprah" for an incident last April -- she alleges she was hurt during a rush for seats at a taping of one of the show's episodes and is seeking $50,000 in damages, accusing the show's producers of failing to handle the crowd. (BBC News) ... Album sales in the U.S. were down 4.9 percent in 2006, the seventh straight year of decline, while digital downloads jumped 65 percent over 2005's numbers. Selling 3.7 million records, Disney's "High School Musical" soundtrack was the year's best-selling album, but it was also the lowest-selling No. 1 album in the 15 years SoundScan has been keeping track. (Variety) ... The owner of the two Club Paris nightspots in Florida has decided to drop Paris Hilton as the face of his clubs after she flaked on one too many promotional appearances. "Paris was a friend of mine, and I hoped that this would work out," owner Fred Khalilian says. "Unfortunately, she didn't hold up her end of the bargain, so I had to take action." He's changing the clubs' theme so that the Paris in the title refers to the city, not the blonde. (People)
Money Quote:
Penis-baring Ewan McGregor on how his most famous body part almost made it into "Miss Potter": "I did try to get it in the film. They said, 'It's nice, Ewan, but we don't think it quite works with this movie.' They tried animating it: Putting Peter Rabbit's face on it and making it speak to Beatrix, but they didn't think it was tasteful enough in the end." (New York Magazine)
Turn On:
On Friday night, Rob Schmidt ("Wrong Turn") directs another creepy tale in the "Masters of Horror" (Showtime, 10 p.m. EST) series, and on Saturday, "Munich" (HBO, 8 p.m. EST) has its TV premiere. Sunday night, choose between the season premieres of "The L Word" (Showtime, 10 p.m. EST) and "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" (NBC, 9:30 p.m. EST) and the series premieres of "I'm From Rolling Stone" (MTV, 10 p.m. EST) and "Grease: You're the One That I Want" (NBC, 8 p.m. EST).
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EST): Laci Peterson's mom, Sharon Rocha; Mark Geragos; and others
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Zubin Mehta, Calvin Trillin
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EST): Donald Trump, Mary Lynn Rajskub
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EST): Terry Bradshaw, award-winning baker Marjorie Johnson, Papa Roach
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EST): Cedric the Entertainer, John Pizzarelli
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EST): Sherri Shepherd, Hellogoodbye
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EST): Lauren Conrad, Eddie Pepitone
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