Morning Briefing:
Cruise fears kidnappers? There's been hardly a mention of baby Suri Cruise in the gossip pages recently -- she hasn't been seen in public since her parents' honeymoon two months ago in the Maldives -- and Star magazine thinks it knows why: kidnapping plot! Sources close to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tell the glossy rag: "The world was so obsessed with getting its first peek at Suri, I think Tom and Katie might have decided to keep her under wraps to prevent some wacko from trying to abduct her." (Star)
Trump/Rosie hate-a-thon continues unabated: We've lost count of what round of unpleasantries we've reached in the Donald Trump vs. Rosie O'Donnell battle, but yesterday's skirmish began with O'Donnell and Barbara Walters showing a united front. "The man is obsessed with me, and I'm happy to say his show tanked," said O'Donnell on Wednesday's "The View." Walters called Trump a "poor, pathetic man," and added, "You know, he just can't let go, but we're moving on," as the whole "View" panel exchanged high-fives. In response, Trump told the Insider, "It was sad to see Barbara read her statement off a cue card." He has also continued his letter-writing campaign; key quote from his most recent correspondence: "Barbara has become a sad figurehead dominated by a third-rate comedian and I now wish she had not recently chosen me as one of the '10 Most Fascinating People.'" (Defamer, Associated Press, Access Hollywood)
Berman leaves Paramount: The Hollywood trade papers today are abuzz over Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman's exit from her position on Thursday. Variety calls her departure part of a major restructuring at the studio by chairman and CEO Brad Grey, and the Hollywood Reporter writes, "Without a studio president, under the new Paramount structure each of Grey's motion picture group executives now reports directly to him." Nikki Finke reports on her blog that Berman's departure means "Amy Pascal at Sony Pictures Entertainment is left standing as the one female mogul in a position of real power without layers of male bureaucracy above her." (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
"Borat" in Beirut: Time has a piece on "Borat's" reception in Beirut -- Lebanon was the only Middle Eastern country in which the film was distributed. "I don't want to call Borat an 'art' film," said Georges Haddad, whose movie distribution company brought "Borat" to Lebanon. "But it is a special film that requires special handling. Watching two men rolling around naked is not acceptable in our culture. Two women? Maybe." Still, writes Time reporter Andrew Lee Butters, "'Borat' has gone almost the length of its commercial run without public outcry -- and, as far as I could tell, without a single cut from the original. In a random sampling, Lebanese audiences laughed at the same moments as did those in New York." (Time)
Also:
The National Enquirer says the "REAL" story to come out of Lindsay Lohan's recent emergency appendectomy is that blood tests prior to the procedure showed Lohan's poor liver is in serious trouble. The tab writes: "Lindsay Lohan's doctors have told her she is suffering from liver damage and that she could die if she doesn't stop drinking soon!" (National Enquirer) ... The Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- the group that runs the Golden Globes -- announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the IRS over the issue of taxes on the cushy gift baskets it has given out in the past. The association paid back taxes for the gifts through 2005, sent out tax forms to anyone who received a basket in 2006 (gifts that year were worth over $20,000) and has said there will be no swag in 2007. (Associated Press) ... David Gest's appearance on the U.K. reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" was such a hit that the former Liza Minelli spouse has been given a reality show of his very own, to air later this year. (BBC News) ... The "Dreamgirls" soundtrack is currently the No. 1 album on the Billboard chart, though with sales of only 66,000 copies, it had the lowest total sales for a No. 1 record since SoundScan started following album sales back in 1991. (Billboard) ... Hilary Swank, who plays a high school teacher in the new film "Freedom Writers," has been dogged by questions about her own past education. "I'm not proud to say I'm a high-school dropout," she recently admitted. "I'm not proud that that's something that happened, but it happened." (The Scoop) ... Yvonne De Carlo, the actress best known for her roles as Moses' wife, Sephora, in "The Ten Commandments" and Lily Munster in "The Munsters," died on Monday in Los Angeles. She was 84. (Associated Press)
Money Quote:
Screenwriter Ron Nyswaner on Edward Norton's push to ban the pricey gifts given out at awards shows: "Who else would kick off his Oscar campaign by depriving Academy members of their $100,000 gift bags?" (Rush & Molloy)
Turn On:
On Thursday night, reality couple Rob and Amber Mariano (both previously seen in "Survivor," "Amazing Race" and a TV special in which they were married) start their fourth reality venture, the gambling-themed "Rob and Amber: Against the Odds" (Fox Reality, 8 p.m. EST). Tori Spelling guest-stars as a gossip columnist on "Smallville" (CW, 8 p.m. EST), "Nashville Star" (USA, 10 p.m. EST) has its fifth-season premiere and "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 9 p.m. EST) returns from hiatus with a new episode.
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EST): Terri and Bindi Irwin
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Sen. Chuck Hagel, Kiefer Sutherland
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EST): Madonna, Julianne Moore, the Hold Steady
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EST): Helen Mirren, Isaac Mizrahi, Los Lonely Boys
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EST): Hilary Swank, Artie Lange, the Black Keys
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EST): Emily Watson, Ed Begley Jr., Cash Levy
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EST): Nicollette Sheridan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Gran Bel Fisher
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EST): Peter O'Toole
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EST): Judy Woodruff
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