Morning Briefing:
Inside the Cruise breakup: Variety on Thursday has a look at the messy details of the Cruise/Paramount divorce, which is likely to include custody battles over projects Cruise still has in development, and the New York Times writes that not everyone is taking Viacom president Sumner Redstone's side in the split. Creative Artists Agency president Richard Lovett, whose company represents the lion's share of talent in Hollywood, told the Times, "Paramount has no credibility right now. It is not clear who is running the studio and who is making the decisions." As Fox 411 reports, the news puts Cruise collaborator Steven Spielberg in an awkward position: His DreamWorks studio is under the Paramount umbrella, making it impossible for him to work with Cruise. On Wednesday, Fox 411 said the main reason for the split was actually Paramount's financial woes, but now TMZ puts forth the theory that the main problem was that "Redstone is as nutty as Cruise," citing a source who said, "Sumner used to wear the same pair of movie-theater-usher pants -- you know, the ones with the stripe down the side -- day after day with an unmatched suit jacket." (Variety, Fox 411, TMZ)
Paris' hacking skills, revealed: The news last month that a mysterious hacker had gotten into Lindsay Lohan's BlackBerry and was sending people nasty voice mails seemed at the time like a feat somewhere beyond the reach of Paris Hilton's technical abilities, but now all is explained: SpoofCard, a calling card service that lets you mask your Caller I.D. number (and even lets you choose a fake voice) announced on Tuesday that it has suspended Hilton's account. Saying that it has stopped more than 50 accounts because of "unauthorized access to voicemail accounts," the company "confirmed that Paris Hilton was among the terminated customers, and that Lindsay Lohan was among those whose voicemail accounts were broken into." Lohan's rep said all the information was being sent to Lohan's lawyers. (Page Six, SpoofCard.com)
Also:
Could it be splitsville for Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa? Sources tell Page Six that the couple, together for almost 20 years, are "on the rocks and virtually living separate lives." (Page Six) ... "Survivor" announced yesterday that in the upcoming season the castaways will indeed be divided by race -- the 20 contestants will be split into the white tribe, the African-American tribe, the Asian-American tribe and the Hispanic tribe. (Washington Post) ... Christina Aguilera's "Back to Basics" album came out at the top of this week's Billboard chart, selling 346,000. It's Xtina's first No. 1 album since her self-titled debut in 1999. (Billboard) ... "Stargate SG-1," recently dropped by the Sci-Fi channel, is hoping to get picked up by another channel, and a spokesperson vows, "This is not the end of the 'Stargate' franchise." (Associated Press) ... Paris Hilton's video for "Stars Are Blind" has been given an 'Adult' rating by India's Central Board of Film Certification, meaning it cannot be broadcast anywhere in the country. (People)
Money Quote:
Madonna on hubby Guy Ritchie's musical tastes: "My children adore all that I do, they love dance music. My husband isn't a great fan." (Perez Hilton)
Paris Hilton on Ricky Gervais after he turned down her offer to appear on his show "Extras," which has seen appearances by Ben Stiller, Samuel L. Jackson and Kate Winslet in the past: "I guess he's obviously scared of starring alongside an A-lister." (ContactMusic)
-- Scott Lamb
Turn On:
Terry Moran investigates the AIDS epidemic in the documentary "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" (ABC, 10 p.m. EDT), and "American Eats" (History, 10 p.m. EDT) looks into the legacy of barbecue. Also, NBC offers up three "Office" (8:30 p.m. EDT) repeats.
On the Talk Shows:
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Conan O'Brien
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Mark Wahlberg, M. Ward
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Kevin Spacey, Taylor Hicks (repeat)
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Matthew McConaughey, Kristin Davis, James Hunter (repeat)
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Denis Leary, Lewis Dix, Matt Goss
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Martin Short
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Janna Levin
-- Lamar Clarkson
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