The Fix

First Word

Advertisers bolt from Coulter: After Ann Coulter's speech last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, in which she called presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot," a number of advertisers have pulled their ads from the pundit's Web site, according to CNN (watch Coulter's speech on Video Dog). Verizon, Sallie Mae and NetBank all removed their advertising from AnnCoulter.com Monday, saying they weren't aware their ads were even showing up there until they began receiving complaints from customers, many of them spurred by blogs like DailyKos.com, which posted the contact information for a number of advertisers who appear on Coulter's site. (CNN)

Defendant Diddy: Sean "Puffy/P. Diddy" Combs is being sued by a man who claims the hip-hop mogul "unlawfully attacked, assaulted and battered" him at a post-Oscars party a few weeks ago. According to court documents, Gerald Rechnitzer says he returned to the party, at Teddy's nightclub at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel, from the bathroom to find Diddy talking to his girlfriend. At one point, the erstwhile rapper allegedly turned to Rechnitzer and said, "What the fuck you looking at dude? I'll smack flames out of your ass!" and followed up the threat by punching Rechnitzer (described in the suit as "five feet, seven inches tall") in the jaw. (TMZ)

White noise ... Simon Cowell says he has little patience for the antics of Britney Spears: "I don't know what's going on in Britney's head but my attitude is I couldn't care less. She should go back and live with her mum for six months." (The Scoop) ... Us reports that Hugh Grant didn't show at Liz Hurley's (right) wedding over the weekend. "Liz called him the day before begging him to come, but he insisted it would not feel right," a source tells the mag. "He didn't want to detract any attention from her big day." (Us Online) ... David Beckham's injury over the weekend will sideline him for six weeks, but isn't going to affect his upcoming move to Los Angeles. (People) ... "Seinfeld" writer and producer (and "Borat" director) Larry Charles is returning to network TV after signing a two and half year deal in the middle seven figures with ABC to write and direct. He's currently working on an untitled comedy pilot for HBO featuring Kanye West. (Variety)

Talker

The incredible shrinking book section: In a piece on why standalone book sections have been disappearing from the nation's newspapers, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Los Angeles Times will announce sometime this spring that even its book review can't withstand the pressure and will be folded into another section. With the exception of the New York Times, whose overall revenue from books was up 10 percent in 2006, the books sections at the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and San Diego Union-Tribune are all being squeezed by too few ads. Part of the reason, writes the Journal, is the increased cost of making sure books get prominent placement at megastores like Barnes & Noble: "One publisher says that chain bookstores can charge $1 or more per book to stack titles in desirable locations." ("Scarcity of Ads Endangers Newspapers' Book Sections," Wall Street Journal)

Buzz Index

• Top entertainment story on Digg: "Watch 300 seconds of '300,'" MovieWalah.com
• Most viewed on Yahoo News: "9 U.S. Soldiers Killed North of Baghdad," Associated Press
• Top story on Technorati: "Darwin's God," New York Times
• Top story in the International Herald Tribune: "Kremlin Critic Shot in Front of His Maryland Home"

; )

"The Official Britney Spears Webpage": Where you'll learn important Britney facts like, "1. Britney Spears is a mammal. 2. Britney Spears fights ALL the time. 3. The purpose of Britney Spears is to flip out and kill people." (via Boing Boing)

Judgment

The new music: For the New York Times' new blog about contemporary music, the Score, composer and Bang on a Can founder Michael Gordon has a long post today about what drew him to new (or "contemporary classical" or "weird") music: "If you are an aficionado of contemporary classical music you probably have had similar experiences explaining to your friends and co-workers what kind of music you listen to. For those who are confused, the question that might come to mind is, 'Why would you want to write weird music?' Or more simply put, 'Why would you want to write music that most of the world doesn't listen to?'" Gordon (you can listen to an excerpt of his "Decasia" here) says that the primary draw, for him, is simple: to make music that hasn't been heard before. Explaining the impetus that led to the formation of new-music group Bang on a Can All-Stars in 1987, he writes: "We wanted to send a simple message: This music is being made now. If you read books by living authors, if you see dance by living choreographers, this is the musical equivalent." ("What Kind of Music Is This Anyway?" N.Y. Times)

Numbers

Bestsellers:
No. 1 new fiction on next week's New York Times list: "Innocent in Death," J.D. Robb
No. 1 new nonfiction on next week's New York Times list: "The Audacity of Hope," by Barack Obama
No. 1 seller on both Powells.com and Amazon.com (despite not coming out until July 21): "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," by J.K. Rowling

Turn On

On Tuesday night, you can say hello to the debut of "Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll" (the CW, 9 p.m. EST), bid farewell to "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" (Oxygen, 10:30 p.m. EST), which ends its second season, or just kick back and let the warm glow of "American Idol" (Fox, 8 p.m. EST) wash over you.

Talk

Fix contributors: Heather Havrilesky, Scott Lamb, Kerry Lauerman, David Marchese, Laura Miller, Andrew O'Hehir, Amy Reiter, Stephanie Zacharek

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