SALON

Karen Croft

Friday, Jan 23, 2004 3:56 PM UTC

The Fix

Berlusconi banishes the bags, Prince Charles will be grilled and who's going to judge Martha? Plus: What is Harvey Weinstein afraid of?

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Afternoon Briefing:

Sorry, Silvio, but Marcello Mastroianni you’re not: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is rumored to have had plastic surgery to tighten things up around the eyes. (Reuters)

The tabloids will be sizzling: Looks like Prince Charles will be questioned this summer about conspiracy theories that have him plotting to kill Princess Diana. (Sky.com)

Lucy was turning over in her grave: NBC ran an ad for the last season of “Friends,” calling it “The best comedy ever,” but then thought better of the hyperbole and pulled the spot. Now, if they had said “Comedy with the best hair” that would have been more accurate. (CNN)

Fair trial for Martha? Maybe if they held it in Mongolia or some other place where people aren’t divided into two camps — those who want Ms. Stewart skewered and those who want to move in with her and make cookies together. Evidence that finding unbiased jurors is going to be harder than making puff pastry: This week when a juror was excused she said to Martha: “I am a huge fan of yours. Good luck.” (AP)

Harvey, babe, take a chill pill: Reports are that whenever Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein gets wind of someone working on a story about him he tries to bribe them off the case by offering a book deal. Supposedly, this happened to Peter Biskind, Ken Auletta and Keith Kelly — who all declined the offers, thank you. What’s the big guy so afraid of? (Women’s Wear Daily)

–Karen Croft

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Morning Briefing

Bennifer no more: It’s official: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have broken up. The split is said to have been mutual and has been confirmed by Lopez’s spokesperson, who said: “Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy.” (Us magazine)

Bad news for Rush: Prosecutors in Florida have turned down a deal requested by Rush Limbaugh’s lawyers in which he would have gotten probation, drug treatment and testing without pleading guilty to a felony for “doctor shopping.” Limbaugh’s attorney wrote in his plea request: “I believe this proposal would be in keeping with the public interest. The public is better served by treating addicts as patients rather than criminals.” (Associated Press)

Top 10 reasons to go on Letterman: Howard Dean went on David Letterman’s “Late Show” last night to do the Top 10 “Ways I, Howard Dean, Can Turn Things Around.” Among them: “Switch to decaf,” “Start working out and speaking with an Austrian accent,” and “Oh, I don’t know — maybe fewer crazy, red-faced rants?” (Reuters)

–Amy Reiter

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