To print this page, select "Print" from the File menu of your browser salon.com > People May 11, 2000 URL: http://www.salon.com/people/col/reit/2000/05/11/npthurs Stripper mauled Paula Jones "that kind of girl" after all; but Mike Tyson, "upset" by stripper's advances, not that kind of boy. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Amy Reiter Too bad that phone-psychic gig didn't work out. Paula Jones is fixing to pull a Darva Conger and doff her duds for a photo spread in what her publicist, David Hans Schmidt, terms a "major men's magazine." According to the New York Post, President Clinton's cash-strapped former accuser reportedly has her heart set on Penthouse, the magazine that, back in 1994, ran grainy candids of her snapped by a former boyfriend. This time, though, Paula reportedly stands to receive a tidy six-figure sum for her efforts -- which, according to a magazine spokesman, may include more than "only" posing. A spokeswoman for Penthouse confirmed that the magazine was in talks with Jones, but said the magazine had yet to decide in which issue Paula's pics might appear. So much for "I'm not that kind of a girl." - - - - - - - - - - - - The apple of her own eye "At the age of 43, I have never felt better in my life. Much more grounded, and very sexy. I feel like a juicy piece of fruit." -- "Once and Again" star Sela Ward on her own special ripeness, in More magazine. - - - - - - - - - - - - Tyson's next round Has someone been tinkering with Mike Tyson's meds again? The trouble-prone boxer's back in the ring with the law after a topless dancer filed a police report in Las Vegas Tuesday accusing him of smacking her in the chest and cursing at her. According to the Associated Press, police were called to Cheetah's, a topless club, on Monday night when dancer Victoria Bianco complained that Tyson had assaulted her. After speaking with people at the club, however, the officers decided Bianco's allegations were unfounded. "They had no indication a crime had occurred after speaking to her and everyone else," said police spokesman Steve Meriwether. "Later, she came in and filed a crime report for whatever reason. That's her decision and we will investigate it." Tyson's lawyer contends that his client never hit Bianco, but was upset because she offered him a private dance. I assume the offer doesn't still stand. - - - - - - - - - - - - What, no gift for the funny lady? "I'll send her a really nice card and pray that she likes it." -- Josh Brolin on what he'll send his stepmother, Barbra Streisand, for Mother's Day, in Entertainment Weekly. - - - - - - - - - - - - Juicy bits Modesty may be the best policy, but it apparently holds no appeal for Tom Cruise. In the June issue of Vanity Fair, the actor tells writer/director Cameron Crowe that he gets paid $20 million per film "because I'm worth it, and they should pay me that much." But, he says, he's not in it for cash. Oh, heavens no. In fact, he says, he has "never done work for money, ever." After Michael Caine joked in his Oscar speech about Cruise's whopping price tag, "I went home and I thought about it. And I thought, 'Is this what [people think]? ... Because I take it for granted that no one thinks that.'" Now why would we think that? Be still our achy-breaky hearts. Billy Ray Cyrus is taking to the small screen in a PAX TV comedy-drama called "Doc." He'll play a Montana physician who follows his girlfriend to NYC, gets dumped and finds work at an HMO. PAX president Jeff Sagansky told USA Today that the country singer "nailed" the role. And Cyrus claims the part "was written for" him. "This is how I felt when I first sang 'Achy Breaky Heart,'" he says. And that's a good thing? So how did the stars of the upcoming CBS miniseries "Jesus" feel when they were granted an audience with the pope last November? "Frightened," says Jacqueline Bisset, who plays Mary. "He came in with two cardinals -- two fierce-looking cardinals, I thought. They looked like eagles to me. But he seemed quite gentle and frail," Bisset told the Winnipeg Sun. "And then somebody said to him ... 'This is the actress who's playing the Madonna.' And he gave me ... an assessment look. And it was quick, but it went right through me. I felt it. Do you know what I mean?" No, and we hope we never do. salon.com | May 11, 2000   - - - - - - - - - - - - About the writer Amy Reiter is a staff writer for Salon People. For more columns by Amy Reiter, visit her column archive.