Afternoon Briefing:
Bridal pink and brown? Star magazine this week has a photo of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore all dressed in white with the headline "$1 Million Wedding of the Year!" Turns out the suit Kutcher was wearing was really pink and the dress Moore had on was actually dark brown. The color change is being condemned by other editors. "We would never do that," Martha Nelson of People commented. Us Weekly's Janice Min said, "Fabricating images is one way to lose all readers' trust very quickly." Star editor Bonnie Fuller said she had the hues altered to "better represent the theme" that "Demi and Ashton are getting married" and that it was "the first time since I've been at Star that I've changed a dress color." (WSJ.com)
"The Passion" in prime time? Mel Gibson is shopping his epic to network and cable television, hoping that someone will take him up on his offer to run the film in its entirety -- no editing allowed -- sometime after the home video release later this year. (Hollywood Reporter via Reuters)
Another kid-lit celeb: Billy Crystal joins the Hollywood kiddie book writers club -- which already includes Julie Andrews, Jamie Lee Curtis, Madonna and Jay Leno -- with his new children's book, "I Already Know I Love You," written for his granddaughter before she was born. (Zap2it)
Too close for comfort: German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has had the first printing of a thriller novel pulled for a cover change. Seems the image in the cover photo looked a bit too much like Schroeder. The contents -- a story about a chancellor who is killed by a man who blames him for the failure of his business -- were left as is. (AFP)
What to wear? Beyoncé and fiancé Jay-Z are going to dine with Prince Charles before headlining the Prince's Trust concert in early May. The menu will be all organic, from the royal farms. (Sky News)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On
Oliver Stone revises his revisionist Castro documentary tonight with "Looking for Fidel" (8 p.m. ET; HBO). His first attempt, "Commandante," was pulled by the network after much criticism (beginning at Salon) that it was too slanted; this new one has been called "more critical," though there are still doubters (read below). Stone will likely answer (OK, maybe answer) his critics as a guest tonight on "The Charlie Rose Show" (PBS; check local listings). Christopher Reeve returns in a cameo on "Smallville" (8 p.m. ET; WB)
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
More Jackson allegations: Los Angeles police are investigating an 18-year-old man's claim that he was molested by Michael Jackson in L.A. in the late 1980s. Though the statute of limitations may have run out on the claim, the allegations could play a factor in Jackson's current molestation case in Santa Barbara. (Reuters)
J.Lowdown: Three revelations from James Lipton's just-taped "Inside the Actor's Studio" interview with Jennifer Lopez: 1) Lopez's favorite swear word is "[Bleeping] whore!" 2) Upon arriving in heaven, she would like to hear God say, "Nice going, you did your best" and "There are no paparazzi here." 3) She regrets both "Gigli" and giving herself the name "J.Lo." (Rush and Molloy)
Spears show for sale: Britney Spears is reportedly shopping around a six-episode reality TV show -- "OnTourage" -- about her current tour. So far no network has made a serious play for the show, which has been priced at more than $1 million per episode. (Hollywood Reporter via Rush and Molloy) Curiously, the title is notably similar to HBO's planned replacement series for "The Sopranos" called "Entourage," which the Post's Cindy Adams previewed recently and describes as: "This all-boy sex romp could melt your cable. I've seen an advance tape. It's about four young Hollywood studs. The family-friendly nice words are the four-letter ones beginning with 'F.' The first 90 seconds talks of giving some girl a mercy 'f ---' or a 'pity f---.' And that's just the opening sequence. Forget Kim Cattrall, Howard Stern and Janet Jackson's p.r.-happy mammary gland. We're talking situations and phraseology that could grow hair on Bruce Willis."
Stone cold: New York Times executive editor Abe Rosenthal is lashing out at Oliver Stone's "Looking for Fidel," which airs tonight on HBO: "Mr. Stone is whitewashing. There's distortion. ... He never spoke in detail to any prisoner -- he never got himself into any prison. I suppose he visited the country, but he presents the results as if he never saw the Castro gulag. He should be ashamed." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Walk trumps talk: The generally hard-to-impress regulars at the Grill Room of New York's Four Seasons restaurant fell into an eerie silence yesterday when Martha Stewart walked in for lunch. Apparently the power eatery hasn't been so quiet since the first time Jackie O ate there in the early '80s. (Page Six)
Fanatics, Fools and fresh lock needed: During a party at MTV chairman and his wife Tom and Kathy Freston's Upper East Side brownstone in honor of Arianna Huffington's new book, "Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America," Huffington was "briefly trapped" inside the bathroom -- and had to bang on the door until a waiter arrived to let her out. Also in attendance, but apparently unhindered by the recalcitrant loo lock: Barbara Walters, Al Franken, Harvey Weinstein, Kurt Vonnegut and Tina Brown. (Page Six)
McCain book tour, delayed: Sen. John McCain will not be going on tour to promote his new book, "Why Courage Matters" -- at least not for a while. McCain will instead stick close to his wife, Cindy, who suffered a small cerebral hemorrhage Monday night. But don't worry too much. "According to her physician the prognosis is cautiously excellent," McCain's people told the press. (Keith Kelly)
-- Amy Reiter
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