Morning Briefing:
Passion? Puh-lease Steven Spielberg refused to answer questions about alleged anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" during a news conference to promote the release of the "Schindler's List" DVD. Said he, "I certainly am not going to comment based on circumstantial evidence from what I've been hearing and feeling in the last seven or eight days. I think it's much too important, and I'm really too smart to answer a question like that. When I do see the film, the first person who will hear from me will be Mel Gibson and no one else." (Hollywood Reporter)
Battle of the band: Three members of Beyoncé's band -- on their way to a movie -- helped chase down a convicted felon who had just stolen the car of a 91-year-old man at knifepoint in Walgreens parking lot in Palm Beach. The old fella's wife said she and her husband had never heard of the superstar whose backup band had backed them up in the clinch: "We're more of the John Wayne generation," she said. (Associated Press)
Jer-ry, Jer-ry: Jerry Springer says he's planning to move back to Cincinnati this spring to campaign for Democrats running for office in Ohio. (Associated Press)
Enough McAuliffe? There are rumors afoot that Sen. John Kerry may oust Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe because he's more loyal to the Clintons than to him. (Page Six)
Back to the boob tube: Janet Jackson is in talks to appear on "Saturday Night Live" in what would be her first network TV appearance since her Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." (N.Y. Daily News)
May the best Bonesman win: Conspiracy theorists are apparently all keyed up about the fact that both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are former members of Yale's secret Skull and Bones society. (Kerry was class of '66 at Yale, Bush class of '68.) However, Alexandra Robbins, who wrote a book about the society, says that the politicians' fellow Bonesmen feel that the upcoming presidential election is "a win-win situation" for them. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Make no bones about this: Tina Brown calls rumors that she was in deep negotiations to head up New York magazine before talks broke down over editorial control and the job went to former Timesman Adam Moss "wildly exaggerated." (Lowdown)
Edie and Stanley no longer a team: Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci, who bonded while appearing in the Broadway production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" in 2002, are no longer an item. Tucci's rep has confirmed the split. (Rush and Molloy)
Money Quotes:
Katie Couric on complaints about her decision to interview former New York Times fabricator and plagiarist Jayson Blair (on "Dateline NBC" in Friday and "Today" on Monday): "I can understand that this is a highly emotional issue, particularly for people at the New York Times. I can understand why they would be upset about that. On the other hand, our job is about talking to scoundrels and saints. If we based all of our interviews on people who are doing good in this world, sadly we'd be sorely limited." (Associated Press)
Blair in an excerpt from his Couric interview: "I wouldn't want there ever to be another Jayson Blair." (Associated Press)
Larry David displaying little enthusiasm for wife Laurie's political activism: "It's bad for comedy! I've begged her to go back to her maiden name. I don't need all the attention from it. Stop dragging me in!" (Elle via Lowdown)
-- Amy Reiter
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