The Fix

Madonna's bodyguard brings baby home. Vince faithful to Jen? Plus: The many regrets of Clooney.

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

Morning Briefing:
Madonna sends in her team: Madonna's personal assistant and bodyguard returned to Malawi early Tuesday morning to pick up her newly adopted son, 13-month-old David Banda, and bring him to the U.K. Madonna's private jet flew the entourage from Malawi to Johannesburg, South Africa, and from there to London. While groups in Malawi continued to attempt to block the adoption, which they claim violates the country's rules on international adoptions, Madonna's rep told reporters, "Madonna and Guy [Ritchie] have been granted an interim injunction of baby David by the courts in Malawi. This interim adoption grants David's new parents temporary custody for 18 months during which they will be evaluated by the courts of Malawi per tribal customs of the country." (Daily Mail, the Sun)

Vince no cheater? Vince Vaughn wants the world to know he has never cheated on Jennifer Aniston, and he's willing to litigate to prove it. In a statement released through his lawyers in London, Vaughn said he's filing a legal complaint against Brit tabloids the Sun and the Daily Mirror and the New York Post for running a story that he'd been spotted making out with an unknown blonde at London's Old Vic theater a few weeks ago. "Ms. Aniston and Mr. Vaughn had not ended their relationship either at the material time or since," according to the statement. "The suggestion that he was having a passionate embrace and kiss, or has ever been unfaithful to Ms. Aniston, are false." (People)

The Wiki wars begin: Larry Sanger, one of the original co-founders of Wikipedia, is on the eve of launching a rival Internet encyclopedia. Sanger's version aims to structure knowledge in a more traditionally authoritative way, relying on experts, but will still have an open submissions process for article entries, plus a group of volunteer "constables" who will act as mediators between the two. "The latest articles don't represent a consensus view," Sanger says of Wikipedia's current structure. "They tend to become what the most persistent 'posters' say." (FT.com)

Also:
Rapper Fabolous was shot in the leg during an incident outside Sean "Diddy" Combs' restaurant in Manhattan early Tuesday morning -- he's in stable condition at a hospital, but was arrested by police after loaded guns were found in the car he left the scene in. (Associated Press) ... The late Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin's 8-year-old daughter is going to star in her own wildlife show for kids starting next year on the Discovery Kids network -- the show's working title is "Bindi, the Jungle Girl." (Associated Press) ... Lindsay Lohan was served papers in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Friday by a legal processor pretending to be an autograph-seeking fan. "The processor ran up and acted like a fan," an observer told People. "When Lindsay took the papers, the processor said loudly, 'You've been served.'" The papers were a subpoena for Lohan to give a deposition in a fraud lawsuit against her mother, Dina. (People) ... In a speech on Monday, Viacom and CBS president Sumner Redstone spoke out against the Federal Communication Commission's rules on indecency, blaming them for creating "a great deal of fear." (Hollywood Reporter) ... Britney Spears is sponsoring a contest -- the fan who sells the most copies of husband Kevin Federline's new album, "Playing With Fire," will win a party with the couple for the record's Halloween release. Second prize: The sneakers Federline wore to the recent Teen Choice Awards. (The Scoop) ... After two years of dating, Nicky Hilton and "Entourage" actor Kevin Connolly have split up, and a friend of Hilton's tells Us magazine she dumped Connolly on Monday because she suspected he has been cheating on her. (Us Online).

Money Quote:
George Clooney on costars he laments not pursuing: "I do have regrets in my life -- I regret that Michelle Pfeiffer was married when we did 'One Fine Day.' And that Julia [Roberts] and Catherine Zeta-Jones were married, too. Also Matt Damon, but that's a different story. I'd like a crack at him." (Rush & Molloy)

Turn On:
The "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" (VH1, 9 p.m. EDT) airs on Tuesday night, followed by the debut of "Ice-T's Rap School" (VH1, 11 p.m. EDT). Elsewhere, Rosie O'Donnell returns to her cameo role on "Nip/Tuck" (FX, 10 p.m. EDT) and "Inked" (A&E, 10 p.m. EDT) has its second-season finale.

On the Talk Shows:
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Mikhail Gorbachev
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Julianne Moore, Opie & Anthony, a Top Ten List with CNN anchor Kyra Phillips (repeat)
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tim Burton, Barry Manilow
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Tina Fey, Steven Wright, kazoo virtuoso Barbara Stewart
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): James Woods, George Eads, Heartland (repeat)
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): John Stamos, Bobcat Goldthwait, Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Amy Sedaris
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Richard Dawkins

-- Scott Lamb

Get more of the Fix here.
To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.


By Salon Staff

MORE FROM Salon Staff


Related Topics ------------------------------------------