Turn On:
If you have the stomach for it, you can watch CNBC's "The Age of Wal-Mart: Inside America's Most Powerful Company" (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST). Or you can check out the debut of yet another reality show: "The Club," about the remaking of a Las Vegas hot spot, on Spike TV at 9 p.m. EST.
Morning Briefing:
Politics in vogue: She may live in London, but that's not preventing Madonna from commenting on the post-election mood in the United States, which she says is "becoming very divided." "People are becoming very polarized," she said in an interview on BBC radio this week. "We have people who don't want to think, and who just want to guard what is theirs, and they're selfish and limited in their thinking and they're very fearful in their choices." As for the war in Iraq, Madonna said, "I just don't want American troops to be in Iraq, period. My feelings are 'can we just all get out?' ... There's global terror everywhere and it's absurd to think you can get it by going to one country and dropping tons of bombs on innocent people." (BBC Radio via AFP)
Aromatherapy: Also not in favor of war, but with a novel way to prevent it: Dustin Hoffman, who has this to say in the December issue of Playboy: "If a lot of dogs are on the beach, the first thing they do is smell each other's a--. The information that's gotten somehow makes pacifists out of all of them. I've thought, 'If only we smelled each other's a--, there wouldn't be any war.'" (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Still on the peace train? Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, may have been unceremoniously deported by the U.S. as he tried to enter the country on a flight from the U.K. a couple of months back (the Department of Homeland Security said some of his contacts as an active Muslim rendered him suspicious), but don't cry for him. Not only was he handed the 2004 "Man for Peace" award by Mikhail Gorbachev on behalf of a group of Nobel Prize winners at a ceremony in Rome on Wednesday, but he also says his American fans have reached out to him in droves. "I have got more apologies from Americans since that time than you can count," Islam said shortly before accepting the peace award. "So, I'm quite satisfied with the spirit of most people and probably it was a mistake." (Reuters, Associated Press)
Also: Liza Minnelli has filed a $250,000 lawsuit against the longtime personal assistant who has accused her of beating him during drunken rampages, accusing him of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty (Reuters) ... Nicky Hilton and money manager Todd Meister have ended their three-month marriage and had it annulled, though they insist they're still "good friends" -- and yes, she did return his $1 million heirloom diamond ring (Reuters and Page Six) ... "Apprentice" rejectee Raj Bhakta is rumored to have hooked up with no less than three of his fellow cast mates, including archrivals Stacy Rotner and Jennifer Crisafulli (Page Six) ... Star Jones has informed staffers at "The View" that she's planning to take her fiancé Al Reynolds' name following their wedding on Saturday. Says a source, "She wants to be called Star Reynolds -- no hyphen, nothing. She is dropping Jones completely" (Page Six) ... During an interview Tuesday on "Imus in the Morning," Sen. Zell Miller said of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, "The more Maureen Loud [sic] gets on 'Meet the Press' and writes those columns, the redder these states get. I mean, they don't want some highbrow hussy from New York City explaining to them that they're idiots and telling them that they're stupid." To which Dowd has responded, "I'm not a highbrow hussy from New York. I'm a highbrow hussy from Washington. Senator, pistols or swords?" (Page Six) ... Janet Jackson is being honored as an African-American role model by 100 Black Men tomorrow night. Asked about her infamous Super Bowl "costume reveal," the group's president said, "An individual's worth can't be judged by a single moment in that person's life, [but] I hope we don't have any surprises!" (Rush and Molloy)
Money Quote
Colin Firth on agreeing to play Mark Darcy again in the sequel to "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason": "I don't think anyone recalls ever having said 'Yes' to this job. It was something that, you know, there was a momentum that happened and it seemed inevitable. Not unlike getting your draft papers really." (JoBlo.com)
-- Amy Reiter
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