Morning Briefing:
The Boss speaks: Responding to an unattributed item in last week's New York Post reporting that his marriage was on the rocks, Bruce Springsteen has posted a personal message on his Web site refuting the rumor: "I hesitate to use this website for anything personal believing it should remain a place where fans of my music can come free of the distractions that occasionally arise with the rest of my job. However, due to the unfounded and ugly rumors that have appeared in the papers over the last few days, I felt they shouldn't pass without comment. Patti and I have been together for 18 years -- the best 18 years of my life. We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married." (N.Y. Daily News, Bruce Springsteen.net)
Cruise cobbles together a company: After a week of public scrambling following his boot from Paramount, Tom Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, have put together a financing deal with a group of investors tied to the Six Flags parks, including Daniel M. Snyder, Six Flags chairman and owner of the Washington Redskins. It's a big step down from his Paramount days, though: The deal will give Cruise $2 million to $3 million a year to cover the company's overhead, compared with the reported $10 million it had been getting from the studio. "It all feels very knee-jerk," an unnamed agency executive told the Los Angeles Times. "This feels very Plan C, maybe even Plan D. When you lose your studio deal and you get into business with amusement parks, that's a problem." (L.A. Times)
Foxy Brown cops a plea: In court on Monday to face charges she assaulted two manicurists at a Manhattan salon called Bloomie Nails, Inga Marchand, aka rapper Foxy Brown, entered a guilty plea in exchange for avoiding jail time, and almost immediately tried to take it back. Minutes after entering her plea statement, Brown returned to the judge and begged to have her plea removed, claiming she was rushed into a decision. (For the record, the assault happened back in August 2004, and Brown was in court last December to try to settle the matter.) "I'm not pleading guilty," 26-year-old rapper told the judge. "I'm innocent in this case. You were rushing me." (N.Y. Daily News)
Also:
Shocking, I know: Paris Hilton's album sales for "Paris" aren't breaking any records -- 75,000 copies sold during the album's first week on the shelves, and that number is projected to drop to 30,000 this week. (Page Six) ... On Monday, NBC issued an apology for Conan O'Brien's Emmy-opening plane crash skit, which came the same day as a plane accident in Kentucky that killed 49, saying, "The filmed opening during the Emmy telecast was meant to spoof some of television's most well-known scenes. The timing was unfortunate, and we regret any unintentional pain it may have caused." (Associated Press) ... While vacationing in Ireland with his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick fell from a horse and broke his collarbone on Sunday. (E! Online) ... Barbara Bach, the Bond girl from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and who's married to Ringo Starr, was taken to a hospital in England on Sunday after her horse kicked her, breaking her leg. (BBC News) ... Tom Arnold has filed for legal separation from his wife, political consultant Shelby Roos, after four years of marriage. (Arnold has been married twice before, and both those marriages ended after four years as well.) (People) ... "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" was No. 1 at the international box office for the second straight month with this weekend's take, bringing its global total earnings to $962.3 million -- including a Disney record of $100,000 for its debut in Lebanon. (Yahoo! News)
Money Quote:
Meredith Vieira on the media circus surrounding her old job on "The View": "I feel very sad for everything that's happened and for everybody involved. I'm proud of the work we did there, but it's not a good time in the history of that show. It's hard to watch. It sort of became a joke." (Time)
Turn On:
Tonight marks the season finale for "Rescue Me" (FX, 10 p.m. EDT), HBO airs all four parts of Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" (8 p.m. EDT), and it's the premiere of the high-end real estate reality TV series "Million Dollar Listing" (Bravo, 9 p.m. EDT).
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT): New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Richard Griffiths, Simon Schama, Jonathan Schell
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Zach Braff, the Roots
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Orlando Bloom, Carrot Top, Starsailor
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Donald Trump, Ray LaMontagne
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Andy Garcia, Lindsay Sloane, the Editors (repeat)
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Kevin Nealon, Jay Chandrasekhar, Pat Green
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Thomas Kean (repeat)
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Morgan Spurlock (repeat)
-- Scott Lamb
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