Morning Briefing:
Vanity Fair writer gets threats from Pellicano: John Connolly, a contributing writer at Vanity Fair who helped write the magazine's new, big piece on Anthony Pellicano, has reportedly received warnings from the U.S. Attorney's Office that Pellicano has made threats against him. Deadline Hollywood reports that, according to a source at Vanity Fair, Connolly is taking the threat "very seriously." It's apparently not the first time Pellicano has threatened journalists: In 2005, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office charged Pellicano with conspiracy to threaten Los Angeles Times writer Anita Busch. (Deadline Hollywood)
Snoop arrested at airport, banned from flights: After being held overnight for being involved in a melee that injured seven police officers at Heathrow Airport on Thursday, Snoop Dogg is out on bail in London. The bust-up allegedly began after Snoop's posse was denied entrance to a British Airways first-class lounge because some of its members were flying coach, and when things got ugly, the airline staff decided to refuse to allow them to travel. And some kind of madness ensued -- the cops were called in to respond to a disturbance involving 30 people. Snoop was arrested along with five as-yet unnamed men, and British Airways has banned him from flying with the airline for life. (Associated Press)
Baldwin brother busted: Daniel Baldwin, the other other brother of the Baldwin clan, was apparently arrested last weekend in Los Angeles on drug charges. Police arrested Baldwin on charges of possession of cocaine at a motel in Santa Monica after responding to a report of a woman being threatened, but the L.A. County District Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute the case, instead passing it to Santa Monica city officials; they haven't said yet how the case will proceed. (TMZ)
"A.C. 360 Minutes"? Anderson Cooper has a deal in the works to appear as an occasional contributor to CBS's "60 Minutes," according to the New York Post. Cooper would stay at the helm of his CNN show and just do the odd bit of reporting for "60 Minutes," but his appearance might shift the demographic of the show significantly: At 39, he'd be the youngest person on the show by a decade. (N.Y. Post)
Also:
New mother Katie Holmes has dropped the "i," and is now asking family and friends to call her just Kate. (FemaleFirst) ... With Meredith Vieira leaving to fill Katie Couric's spot on the set of "Today," Rosie O'Donnell will come onboard ABC's "The View" as the new cohost. (Access Hollywood) ... Lionsgate Films just bought the movie rights to "Atlas Shrugged," and Ayn Rand fans Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are rumored to be interested in the lead roles. (Variety) ... In the midst of an ugly divorce, Charlie Sheen is now being sued by a formerly obsessed flame who claims he used her life for the basis of the crazy-neighbor-lady character in his CBS series, "Two and a Half Men." The real woman, Ursula Auburn, filed suit in Los Angeles on Thursday, seeking "not less than" $1 million in damages for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress." (E! Online) ... Time magazine managing editor Jim Kelly is planning to step down soon; he may be leaving his post as early as June. (Lowdown) ... Sharon Stone received both an apology and an undisclosed sum from British tabloid the Daily Mail for a story the paper ran last June that claimed she left her son in the car and went off for a two-hour lunch at a posh London restaurant. (People)
Money Quote:
David Spade on why going on "The Howard Stern Show" is never easy: "He doesn't do a lot of, 'Your movie's great.' He does a lot of, 'You're not good-looking, girls only date you because you're on TV, most of your movies suck, you probably killed Chris Farley, you're jealous of [Adam] Sandler, I have a caller that says he hates you.'" (Time via Page Six)
-- Scott Lamb
Turn On:
The "33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards" (ABC 8 p.m. EDT) are broadcast on Friday night, and "Cheerleader Nation" (Lifetime, 7 p.m. EDT) has its first-season finale. Elsewhere, George Clooney, Sir Ian McKellen and Rep. Barney Frank are guests on "Real Time With Bill Maher" (HBO, 11 p.m. EDT).
-- Joe DiMento
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