Morning Briefing:
Whitney's undies to go up for sale: At an auction in Irvington, N.J., next week, big-time Whitney Houston fans will get the chance to bid on some of the star's more personal belongings -- like this Atelier Versace beaded cat suit with animal motifs or one of her 13 Dolce & Gabbana bustier bras. As Page Six reports, Houston is auctioning off the clothing, as well as various musical instruments and other showbiz props -- including assorted Bobby Brown music awards -- but her rep insists it has nothing to do with the back taxes she reportedly owes on her $6 million New Jersey estate: "Many artists get rid of the old stage equipment and costuming they don't need any more. That is what is happening." (Page Six, A.J. Willner Auctions)
Moss denies all: Despite Tuesday's reports that Pete Doherty and Kate Moss were bound in a nonlegal wedding ceremony over the holiday weekend in Thailand, Moss' spokesperson said his client is still officially single. "There has not been any kind of marriage ceremony in Thailand. She is on holiday," said rep Stuart Higgins, who called the reports of the wedding that appeared in British newspapers "entirely false." (Associated Press)
Beyoncé out of musical Oscar contention: With Jennifer Hudson grabbing a lot of the spotlight for her role as Effie in "Dreamgirls," there was at least the consolation for Beyoncé Knowles that her song "Listen" -- one of several new original songs added to the movie version of the musical -- was considered a strong Oscar contender. But alas -- as the Los Angeles Times' awards blog the Envelope points out, an obscure new Oscar rule stipulates that a nominated song can have only three names attached to it for credit. Beyoncé shares songwriting duties with Henry Krieger, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler on "Listen," and the Oscar music branch has decided only those three will be qualified for the award if the song is nominated. (The Envelope)
CNN sorry: Calling it a "bad typographical error," CNN apologized Tuesday for the blunder that led to the broadcast of a graphic confusing Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden (as we reported yesterday). "We want to apologize for that bad typo," Wolf Blitzer said during CNN's morning show. "We also want to apologize personally to Sen. Barack Obama. I'm going to be making a call to him later this morning to offer my personal apology." Obama's press secretary, Tommy Vieto, responded: "Though I'd note that the 's' and 'b' keys aren't all that close to each other, I assume it was just an unfortunate mistake, and don't think there was any truly malicious intent." (Associated Press)
Also:
More rumors that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz are splitting up after the shiny couple spent Christmas apart. A source told Star magazine that Timberlake was spotted out with another woman and was reportedly overheard telling friends, "Me and Cameron? We're done." (Rush & Molloy) ... "Wicked" set a Broadway record in the week between Christmas and New Year's by selling $1.8 million worth of tickets, the highest-grossing week of any Broadway show ever. Meanwhile, productions of the witch-themed musical in other cities also broke regional records: London's West End (nearly $1.7 million), Chicago ($1.3 million) and Toronto ($1.5 million). (Variety) ... At the top of the New York Times bestsellers list for this week: "For One More Day," Mitch Albom (fiction), "The Audacity of Hope," Barack Obama (nonfiction). (N.Y. Times) ... The judge in the dispute over Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn's paternity has set a deadline for a DNA test -- Smith has until Jan. 23 to submit her baby for testing to determine if the father is Smith's current partner, Howard K. Stern, or ex-flame Larry Birkhead. (TMZ)
Money Quote:
Ewan McGregor -- whose own penis has shown up in at least four of his movies, most recently "Young Adam" -- on how films in the U.S. so rarely show male nudity: "You're quite safe from penis shots in America because American people don't have penises, so you can't see them in film." (MTV News)
Turn On:
Wednesday night brings a raft of new shows -- the series premieres of both "Knights of Prosperity" (ABC, 9 p.m. EST) and "In Case of Emergency" (ABC, 9:30 p.m. EST) air, while "Beauty and the Geek" (CW, 8 p.m. EST) and "According to Jim" (ABC, 8 p.m. EST) have their season debuts. Also, "The King of Queens" (CBS, 8 p.m. EST) goes on winter hiatus, PBS presents "Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens" (check local listings), and college football bowl season continues with Notre Dame and LSU facing off in the "Allstate Sugar Bowl" (Fox, 7:30 p.m. EST).
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EST): James Brown's widow, Tommie Raye Hynie, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Little Richard and others
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): John F. Burns, Hilary Swank
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EST): Matt Lauer, Artie Lange, Augustana
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EST): Justin Timberlake, Masi Oka, Matisyahu
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EST): Placido Domingo
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EST): Kate Walsh, Clark Gregg, Skyler Stone
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EST): Courteney Cox Arquette, Andy Dick, Twilight Singers
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EST): Ben Stiller (repeat)
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EST): Robert Schneider, Chris Funk (repeat)
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