America's sweetheart chooses not to lobby with the president
Operation Smile International Youth Ambassador Jessica Simpson, right, smiles as Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., address members of the media during an Operation Smile news conference on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 16, 2006. Operation Smile has treated more than 98,000 children and young adults suffering with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities around the world. The singer was on hand to tell lawmakers of the charity's work and to recount her own Operation Smile mission to help children in Nakuru, Kenya, in October 2005.
WASHINGTON -
In the nation's capital, there's a running joke about people who are "famous for Washington," implying that they aren't famous anywhere else. They're seen all around town at restaurants and events, and it's more of a bit of gossip than anything else for the capital scene.
On the flip side, there are occasions when a bona fide celebrity comes to town, and, quite frankly, the place goes nuts.
This morning on Capitol Hill, the place went nuts.
Jessica Simpson -- singer, actress, and America's sweetheart in the minds of many fans -- came to town in her new role as a spokesperson for Operation Smile, the nearly 25-year-old nonprofit volunteer medical organization that performs free dental surgery around the world.
Lobbying Congress for more money to support the group's effort, Simpson said that "our purpose in life is to smile," as hundreds of staffers, journalists, and even a few lawmakers looked on, seemingly befuddled by Simpson's star power.
In fact, Simpson's arrival created such a media scrum in the Longworth House Office Building, that it was unlike anything anybody on Capitol Hill has seen since perhaps actress Angelina Jolie appeared in a similar lobbying effort.
Simpson, known for her stylish and sometimes revealing outfits, wore a two-piece black pant-suit.
She also wore a white rose pin on her lapel and pearl earrings. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled back in a bun, with one hanging tendril.
Much to the crowd's dismay, Simpson did not take questions.
One reporter asked her why she didn't want to lobby her cause this evening with President Bush at a Republican fundraiser.
Reports surfaced Wednesday that Simpson would join the president at tonight's National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser as a guest of House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
But Simpson turned away and her press assistant immediately whisked her out of the room and through the media gauntlet of flash bulbs, cameras, and visitors screaming "There she is!"
This morning, when asked about Simpson declining the invitation, a forlorn Boehner said, "You know, I really feel like I got bagged."
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Demi & Ashton's Miracle Baby At 43!
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore
On March 9, when Demi Moore made her third visit in a month to Petit Trésor, the posh L.A. baby boutique locked its doors so she could shop in private. Demi, a source says, was especially interested in the high-end nursery furniture, asking about changing tables and an armoire.
"She was curious about delivery times for the furniture and about the colors and finishes," says the source. And although she never said who the furniture was for, she told her shopping companion, a woman in her 60s sporting a red Kabbalah bracelet, "'I like this for the baby,'" the source says. "
Demi made it sound like it was for her — and she mentioned Ashton, too. She was like, 'I wonder if Ashton would like this.'"
Well, Ashton has made no secret of how much he'd like a baby! So does Demi's shopping spree mean there's one on the way? Well, when told it would take eight to 12 weeks for the pieces to be delivered," she said she wanted it sooner!" says the source.
THEIR BABY LUSTAnd two days after the shopping trip, Demi was spotted leaving Santa Monica's Hotel Oceana. An eyewitness tells Star, "She had this big bag and she held it over her stomach. She looked like she was hiding something."
Take away the bag, though, and other observers say that Demi doesn't look pregnant, so what's her rush about the furniture delivery?
In early February, a source told Star that she and Ashton, 28, were trying to decide whether to adopt or keep trying to conceive. Now, the source says, "Demi is more serious than ever about looking into adopting."
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FCC: CBS Facing $3.6M Fine for Indecency
Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson are seen just before he pulled off the covering to her right breast, during the half time performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Sunday Feb. 1, 2004.
A government crackdown on indecent programming resulted in a proposed fine of $3.6 million against dozens of CBS stations and affiliates on Wednesday a record penalty from the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC said an episode of the CBS crime drama "Without a Trace" that aired in December 2004 was indecent. It cited the graphic depiction of "teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy." CBS said it strongly disagrees with the FCC's finding.
The program "featured an important and socially relevant storyline warning parents to exercise greater supervision of their teenage children. The program was not unduly graphic or explicit," the network said in a statement.
The network can appeal the decision to the FCC. The company has 30 days to ask for reconsideration and provide an explanation as to why the network should not be held liable.
The proposed fine was among decisions from the agency stemming from more than 300,000 complaints it received concerning nearly 50 TV shows broadcast between 2002 and 2005.
Rejecting an appeal by CBS, the FCC also upheld its previous $550,000 fine against 20 of the network's stations for the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl two years ago.
Other fines were proposed for broadcasts that included an episode of "The Surreal Life 2" on The WB and an episode of a Spanish-language talk show, the "Fernando Hidalgo Show," on a Miami station.
These were the first fines issued under FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, clearing a backlog of investigations into indecency complaints. The commission issued no fines last year.
"The number of complaints received by the commission has risen year after year," said Martin. "I share the concerns of the public and of parents, in particular that are voiced in these complaints."
Responding to other complaints, the commission found that Fox Television Network had violated decency standards during the 2003 Billboard Music Awards. During the broadcast, reality-show star Nicole Richie uttered the "F" word and a common vulgarity for excrement.
"Each of these words is among the most offensive words in the English language," the FCC said. But it declined to issue a fine against Fox because at the time of the broadcast existing precedent indicated the commission would not take action against isolated use of expletives, the FCC said.
While in the past it may have been unclear what would result in a fine, the ruling from the FCC appears to put broadcasters on notice that they could indeed face fines for the "S" word.
A 2004 decision from the FCC regarding the "F" word uttered by rock star Bono during a Golden Globe Awards ceremony made clear that virtually any use of that expletive was inappropriate.
The commission dismissed complaints against a number of shows, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons."
Martin, a Republican, has long advocated a tough stand against indecency violators. Before becoming chairman last year, he complained in several cases that the agency should be fining broadcasters based on each offensive utterance, not each program.
That way, the FCC could find several violations in a program, drawing a bigger fine and sending a stronger message.
Martin is also on record supporting legislation to increase the maximum fine an indecency violation could draw. The current maximum is $32,500 per incident, but some lawmakers have called for boosting the penalty to as high as $500,000.
Federal law and FCC rules ban radio and over-the-air television stations from airing obscene material, such as describing sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, at any time.
The rules also bar stations from broadcasting indecent material references to sex or excretions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children might be more likely to be in the audience. The rules do not apply to cable or satellite.
The agency's proposed fine for "Without a Trace" covers broadcasts aired at 9 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones.
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Resolution in Ritter Death
The family of John Ritter is ready to close a chapter on the TV icon's sudden death.
A settlement agreement involving the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital where Ritter died has been reached.
Rory Hernandez, the lawyer for the hospital, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, said Thursday that the agreement was reached in principle a couple of months ago. The pact will be finalized in court, he said. A procedural hearing was scheduled for Friday.
The attorney's office for Ritter's widow, actress Amy Yasbeck, said Thursday the family had no comment.
According to Hernandez, the Ritter family and the hospital have agreed to keep terms of the deal confidential. Per the Associated Press, Yasbeck was seeking more than $25 million in damages.
Ritter, a perennial rerun favorite for his trip-ups as Jack Tripper on the 1977-84 sitcom, Three's Company, died Sept. 11, 2003--his youngest daughter Stella's fifth birthday.
The star was taken to Providence St. Joe's after falling ill on the set of his latest comedy series, 8 Simple Rules. The TV set and hospital are located across the street from each other in Burbank, California.
Ritter died within hours of being admitted to the medical center. Cause of death was determined to be an aortic dissection, also known as an aortic aneurysm. He was 54, a week shy of his 55th birthday and his and Yasbeck's fourth wedding anniversary.
Yasbeck, 42, filed the wrongful death lawsuit nearly a year later. Also named as plaintiffs were her and Ritter's daughter, and Ritter's three adult children from his first marriage, including son Jason Ritter, the ex-Joan of Arcadia star.
The lawsuit alleged that hospital staff misdiagnosed Ritter and ultimately caused his "untimely death."
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Demi Moore joins Costner psychological thriller
Demi Moore
Demi Moore is in final negotiations to star alongside Kevin Costner and William Hurt in the psychological thriller "Mr. Brooks."
The story follows a man (Costner) with a murderous alter ego (Hurt). Moore will play a tough detective whose devotion to her craft catches the attention and respect of the serial killer she is hunting, which leads to a symbiotic relationship.
An April shoot in Louisiana is being planned. Bruce Evans is directing the MGM project.
Moore is one of the stars of Emilio Estevez's ensemble political-cultural drama "Bobby," which is set for a fall release via the Weinstein Co.
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Trial to Decide Fate of Charles' Journals
Prince Charles
Prince Charles won a court judgment Friday to block publication of further extracts from his journal, but the High Court ordered a trial to determine whether other journals should stay private a decision that could compel Charles to testify.
Charles' office, however, said the prince would not be required to testify in the next stage of the case, which it expected to be brief.
Judge William Blackburne said Charles could claim damages for the publication of the Hong Kong journal by the Mail on Sunday newspaper, and seek a permanent injunction to protect that journal.
However, the judge said he was unwilling to bar publication of seven other journals reportedly sold by a former employee without knowing what they contain.
"The judge has indicated that he would like to read the journals before reaching a final decision. This will entail a short further hearing on points of law," said Michael Peat, principal private secretary to Charles and his wife, Camilla.
"The prince of Wales will not be required to give evidence. In short, an excellent outcome," Peat said in a statement released by St. James' Palace.
Charles, 57, sued the publisher of The Mail on Sunday, which in November published portions of the diary kept during a 1997 trip to mark the return of Hong Kong to China.
The prince's lawyers said the document, intended for distribution to a few close friends, was leaked by a former palace employee. They claimed invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.
The newspaper contended that publishing the diaries is in the public interest because they reveal the political beliefs of the man who would be Britain's head of state as king.
The judge said there was "every reason" to conclude that Charles was also entitled to an expectation of privacy for the other seven journals, but was unwilling to grant a summary judgment without knowing what the journals say.
"For all the court knows, circumstances may arise which may make disclosure an entirely appropriate exercise of the defendant's right of freedom of expression," Blackburne added.
Publication of the prince's sometimes curmudgeonly political opinions and the claim by a former aide that Charles often wrote to politicians to offer his "dissident" opinions also raised questions about the role of the monarchy in modern Britain.
Charles' caustic comments about Chinese officials in the Hong Kong journal drew particular attention.
"For the handover this hall had been transformed into a kind of Great Hall of the People of Peking. After my speech the (Chinese) president detached himself from the group of appalling old waxworks who accompanied him and took his place at the lectern," Charles wrote.
"He then gave a kind of `propaganda' speech, which was loudly cheered by the bused-in party faithful at the suitable moment in the text.
At the end of this awful Soviet-style display we had to watch the Chinese soldiers goose step onto the stage and haul down the Union Jack and raise the Chinese flag.
The ultimate horror was the artificial wind which made the flags flutter enticingly."
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Judge Delays Ruling on Spears Suit
Britney Spears
In the case of Britney Spears' alleged sex tape, a Beverly Hills judge wants to see more.
More information, that is, before she rules on whether to dismiss the pop star's $20 million libel suit against Us Weekly, calling it "a very close case," Los Angeles City News Service reported Thursday.
Spears, 24, sued the magazine in December over an Oct. 17 "Hot Stuff" column that mentioned a sex tape featuring her and husband Kevin Federline.
The article said that the couple acted goofy while screening the purported romp for their estate-planning lawyers, all of whom "either laughed or [were] disgusted by it."
The Chaotic couple showed it to their reps because they had been afraid that the "raunchy footage"--a duplicate from Spears' and K-Fed's private collection--would go public, the column claimed.
Instead of saying, "Oops, I did it again," Spears vehemently denied the item, saying there was no laughter, disgust or goofiness and no viewing party. In fact, there was no tape whatsoever, she said.
Attorneys from both camps were in court Thursday to hear Judge Lisa Hart Cole's ruling on Us's motion to have the case thrown out, filed Feb. 21 by the magazine's attorney, Alonzo Wickers.
The motion reads that Spears' lawsuit is trying to punish or discourage free speech and calls Us's report on Spears' alleged concern over the alleged tape's release "a matter of public interest."
Although hearing about the couple's intimate exploits sounds about as appealing as another chorus of "PopoZão," Spears apparently is adamant about wiping the very idea of the tape from the record. Her lawsuit reads that the article was "a despicable work of fiction comprised of blatant lies from beginning to end."
Us Weekly's motion also suggested that, even if the "Toxic" singer can prove the story is untrue and defamatory, "she cannot show that Us Weekly published the story with constitutional actual malice," or, that the mag knew it was false or recklessly published it regardless of whether it was true.
Us turned down the singer's request for a retraction, according to Spears' lawsuit.
The court has given Spears' attorney, Martin Singer, until Apr. 6 to depose more potential witnesses. Cole, however, denied Singer's request Thursday to take depositions from Ian Drew, author of the column in question, or from his alleged source for the story.
"We think they purposefully avoided the truth here," Singer told Cole in court. The attorney is claiming that Drew broke Us procedure by waiting to call Spears' New York publicist for comment on the item until after 5 p.m. on Rosh Hashanah eve (which arrived later than usual, in early October) last year. Singer contends that the writer should have called him or phoned Spears' Beverly Hills reps.
Us countered the accusation in court with assurances that Drew "had a credible source" and that he had no reason not not to believe the tip, considering Spears' "highly sexualized public image."
The next hearing is scheduled for May 3.
Actually, tales of Spears' sexiness have for the most part been replaced by stories of marital woe, unshed baby weight and premature driving lessons for her baby son.
The singer's marriage seems to be proving that money can't buy happiness--especially if your husband is reportedly squandering the fortune you raked in as a teen pop sensation and you have to put him on a budget (which is exactly what Spears has had to do to rein in Federline's spending, according to ITV.com).
Spears, who is currently vacationing in Hawaii, is set to appear in an Apr. 13 episode of Will & Grace.
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Brangelina Wedding Rumors Spread in Italy
A view of U.S. Actor George Clooney's Villa Oleandra in Laglio on Lake Como, Italy, Thursday, March 16, 2006. Movie stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are rumored to be planning to marry at the Villa this weekend. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Speculation spread once again that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would wed on these Italian shores perhaps this weekend. George Clooney is a friend of the Hollywood couple and his lakefront villa in the town of Laglio is cited in Italian news reports as a credible location for such a ceremony. Saturday has been mentioned as a possible date.
Clooney's press representative, Stan Rosenfield, told The Associated Press on Thursday: "Rumors are rumors."
Pitt's representative, Cindy Guagenti, declined to comment.
Reports about an impending wedding at the northern Italian lake were rife last year, but quickly fizzled out after Clooney denied his friends were scheduled to marry at his villa.
Meanwhile, Monica Mantero, the wife of Laglio Mayor Giuseppe Mantero, said Thursday her husband could marry the couple on an hour's notice.
"There's a lot of movement at the villa, a lot of people there. We were expecting Clooney today but he didn't show up," Monica Mantero told the AP.
She said Pitt and Jolie hadn't fixed a date with her husband, but that "even if they contacted him an hour before he could still marry them."
Mantero, who lives across from Clooney's villa, said preparations taking place on the grounds were the ones routinely done ahead of the actor's arrival and that a reception in the garden didn't seem to be in the works.
"I can tell you Clooney isn't here (in Laglio), because whenever he's here a motorboat is tied up to his dock and there's no motorboat. I'm looking right now from my window," said Mariuccia Riva, whose husband's boatyard often rents boats to Clooney's guests.
Jolie who starred alongside Pitt in the 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is expecting his child this summer. Pitt and Jennifer Aniston divorced last fall.
Another rumored location for the marriage is a luxurious hotel in the nearby town of Cernobbio that often hosts stars and international conventions.
"We don't have any booking under their name, but if they show up we'll be happy to take them in," said Annamaria Duvia, a spokeswoman for the Villa D'Este resort.
"Of course I can't rule out they've booked under a false name," she told the AP.
Giuseppe Salvioni, a spokesman for Cernobbio city hall, said there was no official indication of an upcoming ceremony.
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