The Fix

Arnold starting to look like a Kennedy, Gwyneth says Ben makes life tough and does Meg Ryan have a new face? Plus: Clint Eastwood has something to say.

Published October 8, 2003 1:36PM (EDT)

Californians are nothing if not experimental. Now we can experiment with having an action star as our governor. That concept is surreal enough, but the shock came in seeing all those Kennedy teeth and jaws up there with Arnold Schwarzenegger as he gave his acceptance speech. We are used to seeing Maria Shriver next to her husband but those icons of the Democratic dynasty Sargeant Shriver and Eunice Shriver hugging a Republican? It sends shivers down the spine.

So, let's change the subject. Did you hear what Gwyneth Paltrow told Diane Sawyer about Ben Affleck? She broke up with Ben in 2000, saying they had different value systems. Now she adds that the guy "makes life tough for himself ..." and "has a lot of complication" and she hopes he sorts things out. He does have a lot of "complication" -- and its initials are J.L. (ABC News)

And in the shallowest part of the pool, funny lady Kathy Griffin is yapping about everyone's plastic surgery, after admitting to having work done herself. She says Meg Ryan has had so much work done that she's starting to look like someone else and "Melanie Griffith will look you in the eye and say, 'No, I haven't had any work done -- I'm just so in love.' And Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of control with the skin peels and everything. I mean, look at him -- his eyebrows are barely on his face." (MSNBC)

Clint Eastwood knows what it's like to go from acting to politics -- and how the two are connected: "To be a politician you have to be up in front of people, to be a charismatic performer and a great communicator. Ronald Reagan was a great example," he said yesterday. When he heard that Arnold had won, he offered his congratulations and said "Now the nightmare begins." (Ananova)

-- Karen Croft

Money Quote I
Maria Shriver -- yesterday, before her husband was voted in as California governor -- on her life: "I'm just glad things are back to normal today -- a carpool in the morning, lunch with my family, a carpool in the evening and dinner with my family -- what could be better than that? I feel very blessed." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)

Money Quote II
Sharon Osbourne on all the bleeping work she's had done: "I had my face lifted, my neck lipo'd, my old bum lifted 'cause it was kind of down here somewhere, I had my arms lipo'd, my hips lipo'd, a tummy tuck, a leg lift -- I bet none of you have heard of a leg lift. It's like pulling up a pair of socks, that's what they do to your skin. I had my boobies lifted 'cause I looked kind of like Miss National Geographic 'cause they were like down here. So anybody who wants to know anything about plastic surgery, just call me, OK, 'cause I know everything." ("The Sharon Osbourne Show")

Best of the Rest
Page Six: One for the better late than never file: Chuck Wepner, the boxer who inspired the "Rocky" movies, is suing Sylvester Stallone for a cut of the films' profits. Says Wepner, "But I never made one red cent ... I finally realized that after 30 years, I had to do something"; Britney Spears disses Yankees Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada at N.Y. club on night of their playoff victory; Mary Tyler Moore abruptly fires publicist for making her look like a diva in the press; Woody Allen and Mariah Carey said to each be shopping tell-all autobiographies; and a blind item that paints all too vivid a picture: "WHICH detested divorce lawyer threw a wild, drug-fueled party before his recent marriage? The litigator was parading about his loft wearing only socks and showing off his leather outfits and sex toys."

Rush and Molloy: State Dept. refuses to permit film shoots in Cuba, possibly onaccounta Oliver Stone's favorable documentary on Castro, "Comandante"; collection of Tupac Shakur's writings and photos released, describe liaison with famous woman who is bisexual and "so into her career that we don't have much time together" as well as a possible prison visit from Madonna; Britney Spears still denying relationship with male dancer with pregnant wife; Michael Stipe thanks Al Franken "for giving the band a real good book to read this summer"; Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton have baby boy; PETA sends note to Siegfried and mauled Roy saying, "The only natural thing that happened on that stage was that this majestic animal lashed out against a captor who was beating him with a microphone because he wouldn't do a trick."

Boldface Names: Annie Leibovitz on motherhood: "It has been an adjustment"; Jay McInerney on his old life as a hedonist: "I was in nightclubs, staying out to 5 a.m. with models and coke straws up my nose"; and McInerney on his new life as a bon vivant: "Now that George Plimpton is dead, somebody needs to fill the role."

--Amy Reiter

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By Salon Staff

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