U.S. actor Owen Wilson reacts to the fans as he walks the red carpet at the Australian premier of his latest movie "You, Me and Dupree" in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta, Sunday, July 23, 2006. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Paging Owen Wilson. Steely Dan wants an apology. The veteran group behind such jazz-rock hits as "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" says Wilson ripped off its Grammy-winning tune "Cousin Dupree" for his title role as a slacker in the new comedy "You, Me and Dupree."
In a 10-paragraph letter posted July 17 on Steely Dan's Web site, and addressed to Wilson's brother Luke, band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen asked Owen Wilson to appear at a show in Irvine, Calif., to apologize to the band's fans.
Wilson, in return, would get Steely Dan merchandise and a chance to party with the group.
"He would have to cop to the fact that what he and his Hollywood gangster pals did was wrong and that he wishes he had never agreed to get involved with this turkey in the first place," says the pair.
Becker and Fagen claim that "some hack writer or producer" heard Steely Dan's "Cousin Dupree," about a hormonal houseguest, and "when it came time to change the character's name or whatever so people wouldn't know what a rip the whole (insert explicative) thing was, they didn't even bother to think up a new (insert explicative) name for the guy!"
They go on to trash the movie (a "summer stinkbomb") and Wilson.
"Instant karma is a fact, Jack," the pair writes.
If karma doesn't get the actor, they say, then an apparent tough guy they know might.
"One time we saw this guy, with his bare hands, do something so unspeakable, that but, hey man, let's not even let it get that way, you know?" say Becker and Fagen.
Larry Solters, a spokesman for the band's management company, declined to comment on any details beyond the letter, including whether Wilson showed up to the July 19 concert or if legal action would be taken.
In 2001, "Cousin Dupree" landed a Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group from Steely Dan's album "Two Against Nature," which also snagged album of the year.
The group, known for a string of '70s hits, has been on tour since July 7 with Michael McDonald.
"You, Me and Dupree" co-stars Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon as a newlywed couple annoyed by Wilson's Dupree, a partier who crashes out on their couch.
Owen Wilson's publicist Ina Treciokas and Luke Wilson's publicist Mara Buxbaum both declined to comment.
Source
Model to Attend Anger Management Program
This file photo image released Friday April 21, 2006 by the Miami-Dade Police Department is a booking photo of Danish supermodel May Andersen, 23, after she was arrested on Thursday, April 20, 2006 in Miami for allegedly becoming unruly and striking a flight attendant on a plane from Amsterdam to Miami. She was examined for alcohol and substance abuse and later transported to the Dade County Jail. (AP Photo/Miami-Dade Police Department)
A Danish model accused of hitting a flight attendant on a plane from Amsterdam to Miami will participate in an anger management program under an agreement announced Tuesday.
May Andersen, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, will be allowed to take the four- to five-hour course either in New York, where she has an apartment, or in her home of Copenhagen, Denmark. If she completes the course successfully, the charges will be dropped, Assistant State Attorney Carolyn Zegeer said.
Andersen was charged with simple battery, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly intoxication after the arrest in April. She was not in court Tuesday.
"She has flown all around the world since she was discovered when she was 13 and has never been in trouble before. She has a slightly different version as to what happened than the airport people but things are different since 9/11," said her attorney, Robert Rosenblatt.
Andersen is currently in Copenhagen and has visited the United States since the arrest, Rosenblatt said. The charge has not affected her immigration status.
Had Andersen been convicted of all counts, she could have faced up to two years in prison.
Source
Elizabeth Hurley to Star in Jordache Ads
Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley poses at the Chopard young actors awards ceremony during the 59th International film festival in Cannes, southern France, on Saturday, May 20, 2006. Hurley stars in new print ads for Jordache, the company that became famous during the 1970s designer-label jeans craze. The first ad will run in national publications beginning in September and will continue through the holiday season.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
Elizabeth Hurley stars in new print ads for Jordache, the company that became famous during the 1970s designer-label jeans craze.
The ads, shot by Michael Thompson, show the 41-year-old model-actress wearing the Jordache Vintage line, sold in high-end retail stores, and the new Jordache Legacy line, launching exclusively at Macy's stores across the country this fall.
Jordache said the first ad will run in national publications beginning in September and will continue through the holiday season.
In one ad, Hurley is shown with the signature Jordache horse. Another shows her with riding gear.
"With success as an actress, model, businesswoman and mother, Liz represents everything the Jordache brand is about," said Liz Berlinger, president of Jordache Enterprises, in a recent statement. "We chose her because she is the true modern woman."
Brittany Murphy, whose movie credits include "Sin City" and "8 Mile," starred in a series of Jordache jeans print ads last year.
Source
Rod Stewart's New Album Returns to Rock
Rod Stewart performs at Madison Square Garden in New York in this Oct. 19, 2005 file photo. Stewart returns to rock with his new album, "Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time," set for release this fall. (AP Photo/John Smock, File)
Rod Stewart returns to rock with his new album, "Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time," set for release this fall. Stewart's first rock album in over eight years follows four volumes of his "Great American Songbook" series of standards albums, J Records announced Monday.
Tracks include Bob Dylan's "If Not for You," Van Morrison's "Crazy Love," Bob Seger's "Still the Same" and John Fogerty's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," which will be the first radio single from the album, the record label said.
The album will be released Oct. 10.
Over his 40-year musical career, Stewart has churned out multiple raspy-voiced rock hits including "Maggie May," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," "Forever Young" and "Tonight's the Night."
The 61-year-old singer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year. His 2004 album, "Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III," won Stewart his only Grammy.
Source
Kevin Federline to Close Teen Choice Awards
Kevin Federline attends the launch party of Stride Gum in this June 21, 2006 file photo in New York. Federline will close the Teen Choice Awards, performing his single "Lose Control" for the first time on network television. The show airs Aug. 20, 2006 on Fox. (AP Photo/Kristie Bull/graylock.com)
Britney Spears' hubby has a new gig. Kevin Federline will close the Teen Choice Awards, performing his single "Lose Control" for the first time on network television. The show airs Aug. 20 on Fox.
The 28-year-old singer, known to some as K-Fed, is expected to release his debut hip-hop album, "Playing With Fire," in August. Federline married Spears in September 2004. They have an infant son, Sean Preston, and she is pregnant with their second child, due this fall.
Spears recently won a retraction and apology from the National Enquirer in its British edition for reporting that she was ready to divorce Federline.
Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook will host the eighth annual show that presents surfboard-shaped awards to celebrities in categories such as Choice Sleazebag, Choice Hissy Fit and Choice Hottie.
Nelly Furtado and Timbaland will perform their No. 1 hit single, "Promiscuous," on the live telecast, the network said Monday.
From now until Aug. 11, voters can cast their ballots at various online sites for the hottest celebrities in film, television, music, sports and fashion.
Source
Brinkley's Husband Says He Was Stupid
Christie Brinkley talks to reporters as she and her husband Peter Cook arrive for the last commercial flight of the British Airways Concorde at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, in this Oct. 24, 2003 file photo. The estranged husband of Christie Brinkley has until now kept silent about recent reports that he had an affair with a teenage employee while married to the supermodel. Now his reportedly desperate apology is receiving a very public airing. "This is an aberration," Peter Cook said through a lawyer, according to a column by Cindy Adams that was published Tuesday July 25, 2006 in the New York Post. "I'm sorry. I'm contrite. I'm stupid. Foolish. No excuse." (AP Photo/Ed Betz, File)
The estranged husband of Christie Brinkley has until now kept silent about recent reports that he had an affair with a teenage employee while married to the supermodel. Now his reportedly desperate apology is receiving a very public airing.
"This is an aberration," Peter Cook said through a lawyer, according to a column by Cindy Adams that was published Tuesday in the New York Post. "I'm sorry. I'm contrite. I'm stupid. Foolish. No excuse."
Adams wrote that the 47-year-old's words were provided to her by his attorney, Norman Sheresky.
"I love my wife. ... For a lifetime I've tried to prove how much I love her," Cook said, according to the article.
Sheresky said that Cook, the model's fourth husband, is hoping for a reconciliation with Brinkley, 52.
"He got involved, in over his head somehow, and he wants to make it up to her for the rest of his life," said Sheresky, who also defended Cook as a "man who loves his wife and who loves his children."
Brinkley's publicist, Elliot Mintz, told The Associated Press early Tuesday that he did not believe she would ask him to issue a response.
"This is not the way for people to have a discourse or a discussion about private matters," he said.
The couple's separation exploded in scandal earlier this month when 19-year-old Diana Bianchi claimed Cook had seduced her shortly after hiring her to work at his architecture firm.
The teenager's lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, described the relationship as consensual, but claimed Cook's role as employer and his gifts of a car, money and jewelry could possibly constitute sexual harassment.
"The idea that the other person involved didn't knowingly consent to this relationship is garbage," said Sheresky, who quoted Cook as saying, "I took no advantage."
A message left for Tacopina at his office early Tuesday was not immediately returned.
Days after Bianchi came forward, a 29-year-old woman told the Post that Cook had proposed marriage to her when she was 19, a month before he became engaged to Brinkley.
According to the report, Sheresky said that Cook would respect Brinkley's wishes, whatever the result.
"He hopes there's no divorce. IF she wants one, and he certainly hopes this doesn't happen, but IF it will not be nasty," Sheresky said, according to the Post. "She can have whatever she wants."
Source
