The Fix

Brad and Angelina's baby to be born in Namibia? Republican pol hustled by Hustler? Plus: Federline says he's married "for the fight."

Published April 17, 2006 1:30PM (EDT)

Morning Briefing:
Africa birth for Angelina? The Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie baby rumor du jour has it that the couple are planning to have their baby in Namibia, where they're currently holed up in an out-of-the-way luxury resort. The governor of the province where the couple are staying, Samuel Sheefeni Nuuyoma, claims that he recently shared breakfast with them, and told the South African Sunday Times -- which has the first photos of the couple in Namibia -- that "they are having the baby here and they talked about giving the child a Namibian name." (Sunday Times of South Africa)

Hustled by Hustler? The author of a forthcoming memoir about his time as an editor at Hustler magazine, called "Prisoner of X" -- the same book that reportedly has all the details of the rumored Jane Fonda/Ted Turner sex tape -- says that the magazine was lying when it claimed back in 1998 to have proof that House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston had been having extramarital affairs. Coming at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Hustler's publicity forced Livingston to retire. "We actually had nothing on Livingston," the book's author, Allan MacDonell, now tells Page Six. "An elected Republican office holder from Louisiana passed us the phone number of a woman who was supposedly Livingston's girlfriend. But when we phoned her, she cursed us and hung up." (Page Six)

Cruise knows Holmes likes cupcakes, laughing: Diane Sawyer interviewed Tom Cruise last Friday, and though there was no couch jumping, parts of the interview were no less eerie for being calm. In this excerpt, Cruise seems unable to conjure up anything remotely vivid when asked about "the little things" he's learned about Katie Holmes, instead retreating to details familiar to anyone who reads a lot of magazines. He also appears to confirm the story that he has reached Operating Thetan, Level VII, one of the highest states of Scientology consciousness. (Video Dog)

On the baby names of stars: The New York Times Styles section over the weekend had a long piece about just why celebrities tend to come up with names like Apple (the name Gwyneth Paltrow has given her daughter) or Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee's son) for their offspring, and it floats two very different competing theories. On the one hand, psychologists think it might be a desperate bid for self-expression: "Perhaps subconsciously, they say, stars seize the opportunity of parenthood to express their obsessions, ambitions and inner quirks in a way that is, for a change, unscripted and not stage-managed by publicists." Or it might possibly be a kind of escalating names race: "But as regular people -- the sort who wait in line at restaurants and pay for their own clothing -- try to catch up, the stars are pushed further into the realms of obscure names, in an effort to stay ahead of this particular fashion curve." Whatever the reason, stars are sticking by their choices. Penn Jillette, whose daughter is named Moxie CrimeFighter, told the paper: "Everyone I know with an unusual name loves it. It's only the losers named Dave that think having an unusual name is bad, and who cares what they think. They're named Dave." (N.Y. Times)

Also:
Bringing in an estimated $41 million, "Scary Movie 4" broke the Easter weekend box office record, and also managed to be the biggest debut so far for the Weinstein brothers -- they released it under their company's Dimension label -- since they left Disney. (Box Office Mojo) ... Neil Young has announced that the entirety of his next album, which just finished recording last week, is a broadside against President Bush and the war in Iraq; to be called "Living With the War," it includes the track "Impeach the President." (The Independent) ... Ex-Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters has decided to move his summer concert in Israel from Tel Aviv to a small Jewish-Arab town held up as a model of peaceful coexistence. (Haaretz) ... ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox each filed an assortment of appeals in federal courts on Friday, all hoping to reverse the FCC's recent spate of heavy fines. CBS, for instance, is asking that the $550,000 fine imposed for "Nipple-Gate," as well as the $3.6 million imposed for a totally nonexplicit teen sex orgy episode of "Without a Trace," be overturned (E! Online)

Money Quote:
Kevin Federline on the sanctity of marriage and how his relationship with Britney Spears is nothing like what Nick Lachey had with Jessica Simpson: "My situation is different. I ain't gettin' no divorce. I don't believe in that shit. Once you get married, you're in it for the fight." (3 a.m. Girls)

-- Scott Lamb

Turn On:
NBC's "Celebrity Cooking Showdown" (9 p.m. EDT) premieres, as do Lifetime's original telefilm "The Accidental Witness" (9 p.m. EDT) and CNBC's "American Made" (8 p.m. EDT).

-- Joe DiMento

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