I know you're all terribly disappointed by the news that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez will not take their first dance as husband and wife atop a Plexiglas-covered swimming pool on a sprawling California estate this Sunday as planned. The official word, of course, is that the wedding is being postponed "due to the excessive media attention," which bride and groom felt would compromise "the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives .. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends ... When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realized that something was awry."
No, you're not the only one wondering how attention from the media could have surprised the perpetually paparazzi-plagued couple. In fact, as soon as the delay was announced, the whispering as to whether something else might be up began. "I think they have cold feet," one wedding guest told the New York Daily News. "Friends have been urging Ben to take it slow. They were under too much pressure. I think the romance will survive. But Ben is having real second thoughts."
One "family member" told the National Enquirer that Jennifer was the one having doubts: "Jennifer had a bad case of the jitters. She had a lot of heart-to-heart talks with her mother and sisters over whether she should go ahead."
Then again, American Media editor Bonnie Fuller says she thinks the whole thing might be a ploy to throw the press off the sugary scent of wedding cake elsewhere. "I think it's at least 50-50 that the wedding will still take place this weekend but perhaps in a different location," she told the Associated Press.
In other news ... '50s heartthrob Tab Hunter ("Damn Yankees," "Lust in the Dust"), now 72, has decided to come out and announce that he's gay in his forthcoming memoir, due for release in 2005. (File it under "better late than never.") ... Arnold Schwarzenegger has been endorsed by his mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who says, "I think he'd be a very good governor," and is set to appear on "Oprah" with wife, Maria Shriver. ... And 50 Cent dodges a bullet when two gunmen open fire on his entourage at a Doubletree hotel in Jersey City, N.J., just down the road from where his rival Ja Rule is shooting a movie.
Best of the Rest
Page Six: Melissa Etheridge and girlfriend Tammy Lynn Michaels set for commitment ceremony this weekend in Malibu with Al and Tipper Gore in attendance; Christina Aguilera accused by someone in Britney Spears' camp of doing "all of Britney's sloppy seconds ... Everything she does is something Britney has passed on; Bebe Buell writing another tome, "The Book of Rock 'n' Roll Etiquette," which she says will tell would-be groupies and others "how to behave [backstage] in any situation, a behavioral bible for the entertainment industry. I'm going to show how you can have class in rock 'n' roll"; "60 Minutes" producer Don Hewitt on President Bush: "George Bush speaks too loudly and doesn't carry a big enough stick."
Rush and Molloy: Uma Thurman's brothers lash out at Ethan Hawke for wronging their sibling by allegedly carrying on with a 22-year-old woman while filming in Montreal. Says one, "I want to kill him ... He's a piece of s---. I can't believe what he's done to my sister"; recently divorced Sharon Stone also down on marriage: "I've always been like a hippie, so I didn't really want to get married ... [ex-husband] Phil [Bronstein] really wanted to do it. He's square"; Carrie-Anne Moss and husband, Steven Roy, announce the arrival of their first child.
Boldface Names: Christopher Trumbo, son of Hollywood 10 member Dalton Trumbo, on blacklisting today: "The voices of what I call the radical right have never disappeared. But I think Ann Coulter is preferable to Joseph McCarthy. I prefer the echo to the reality."
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