Now why didn't Jesse Jackson think of this?
The ever-reliable Scottish Daily Record is reporting that tennis great Boris Becker has alleged that a woman who may have borne him a daughter stole his sperm (after an oral sex encounter) and impregnated herself with it in an extortion attempt involving the Russian mafia.
"She would have had 10 minutes maximum" to redistribute the sperm, one "fertility expert" told the paper.
Becker, however, has released a statement saying the wacky reports, also put forth by the German newspaper Bild, are -- surprise! -- total fabrication.
"There has been the wildest speculation about criminal forces, Russian mafia and other sensationalism," Becker says. "All that is not true."
Well, except for the paternity suit part. "There is a baby called Anna. And a DNA test will prove who is the girl's mother and who is the father."
And that may take a little longer than 10 minutes ...
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Send in the clowns ...
"My life is definitely a circus, but I'm not the ringmaster."
-- Jennifer Lopez on her hectic, high-wire life, in Fashion Wire Daily.
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Temper, temper!
You've been going over it again and again in your mind: Just where did Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger go wrong?
Basinger's people would like you to blame Baldwin's temper.
"Kim is more passive and Alec is more aggressive," one friend tells Us Weekly. "They have a pretty stormy relationship."
The friend cites one night in early December, three days before their split, when Baldwin publicly blew his stack at Basinger at a snazzy Hamptons restaurant.
"You never do what I tell you!" witnesses couldn't help hearing Baldwin bellow. "What is it about 'listen' that you don't understand?"
(No wonder she's afraid to go out of the house.)
And the couple's troubles were no secret to Basinger's family either. "I have known for a year and a half that she was thinking about this," the actress's father, Don Basinger, blabs to People magazine. "Alec has this anger where he reaches down for something that hurts, something that may have happened a year or two ago, and then abuses Kim with it."
But when Baldwin started to blow in front of their 5-year-old daughter, Ireland, papa Basinger says, "Kim finally said, 'Well, I'm not going to put up with that!'"
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Daddy dearest?
"I'm still a little selfish. I'm sure I'll fuck them up somehow."
-- Brad Pitt on why he and Jennifer Aniston (whom he lovingly refers to as "Golden") are not planning to pop out the progeny just yet.
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Juicy bits
How desperate are the Republicans to get big names at the Inaugural parties this week? (Throwing around the names Kelsey Grammer and Sly Stallone can only get you so far.) Capitol Services catering is providing "live statues" -- people dressed up in period costume, standing stock still -- for several Inaugural events. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington will be among the "living statues" in attendance at the South Carolina Inaugural Ball. Guess that's one way to ensure that Strom Thurmond will have someone his own age to talk to.
Breaking up may be hard to do, but Meg Ryan has apparently gotten the hang of it. USA Today has confirmed rumors that Ryan split with Russell Crowe in mid-December. Proof of life after spouse?
Great news for the ladies. Marilyn Manson is back on the market. Manson and his fiancée, actress Rose McGowan, have called off the wedding and made a beeline for splitsville. "There is great love, but our lifestyle difference is, unfortunately, even greater," McGowan said. And he had his dress for the big day picked out and everything!
Together again: Kathie Lee Gifford and Regis Philbin. Gifford told a group of TV critics that she and her former cohost shared a friendly dinner the other night, their first meeting since she left "Live!" last spring. Who paid? "Who do you think?" Gifford said. "My sweatshops do really well." Hey, now ...
"Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" and Cybill Shepherd may be out of a job. Variety reports that Columbia TriStar Television may ditch Shepherd as the host of the troubled TV show based on the self-help bestseller in an attempt to revive it. But don't cry for Shepherd just yet. The actress says she hasn't given up hopes of a career in politics. "I want to serve," she recently told USA Weekend magazine. "It makes me feel good about myself." And hey, if the political career doesn't work out, she can always moonlight as a waitress.
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Miss something? Read yesterday's Nothing Personal.
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