MrsQ
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Member since 6/06 11378 total posts
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Qiana
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Gossip
NORMALLY peppy Cameron Diaz was looking a bit bleary-eyed on the "Today" show yesterday at 7 a.m. promoting her new PG-rated film "Shrek the Third." Before telling Meredith Vieira that "it's like high school and celebrities are the popular kids," the head cheerleader was at the Box on Christie Street for a live R-rated sex show - and stayed until 4 a.m. One spy told Page Six the show was "two topless girls rubbing slime on each other and wrestling, followed by a simulated 'sex show' conducted behind a silk screen. Cameron was staring the whole time."
TIME Warner had to get rid of HBO boss Chris Albrecht last night for beating up his girlfriend early Sunday morning - because the media giant had already shown extraordinary leniency to him 16 years ago, insiders say.
Sources said Albrecht resigned after Time Warner president Jeff Bewkes, the heir apparent to chairman Richard Parsons, told his longtime friend he had to resign or he'd be fired.
A source familiar with the matter said Bewkes is deeply saddened by the situation but felt cutting Albrecht loose was his only recourse. "The situation had spiraled to a degree where Jeff felt he had to do something," said the source.
"With great regret, at the request of Time Warner, I have agreed to step down," Albrecht said in a statement. "I take this step for the benefit of my Home Box Office colleagues, recognizing that I cannot allow my personal circumstances to distract them from the business."
Albrecht, 54, was arrested Sunday at 3 a.m. outside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas after he allegedly punched and choked his girlfriend, Karla Jensen, a reporter for Telemundo and HBO, following the De la Hoya vs. Mayweather fight.
The former stand-up comic went on leave of absence Tuesday, informing colleagues he had been sober for 13 years, but "Two years ago, I decided that I could handle drinking again. Clearly, I was wrong."
Jensen is apparently declining to press charges, but the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that this wouldn't be the first time, if the allegations are true, Albrecht had beaten up a woman. In 1991, HBO paid a settlement of at least $400,000 to Sasha Emerson, a subordinate at HBO who had just broken off an affair with Albrecht. Both were married at the time.
"Albrecht allegedly assaulted Emerson in her office in Century City when she told him she had been dating someone else," the Times reported. "Albrecht allegedly threw her from her chair to the ground."
One source said HBO execs now acknowledge they never should have covered up the incident. "There wasn't as much sensitivity then to the issue of violence against women," said one. Emerson now works in L.A. as an interior decorator.
Sightings
JOSH Hartnett and his new flame, Helena Christensen, singing karaoke at Star Lounge
Red Faces, Red Carpet
LINDSAY Lohan wasn't the only one uncomfortable that her mother, Dina, was working the red carpet for "Entertainment Tonight" at the "Georgia Rule" premiere Tuesday in New York. Lindsay's co-star Jane Fonda was visibly disturbed when Dina asked her, "So, what was it like working with my daughter?" One witness said, "That was a stupid thing to do. Jane publicly criticized Lindsay's behavior last year." Fonda told "Access Hollywood" during filming: "Lindsay's so young and she's so alone out there in the world in terms of structure and, you know, people to nurture her." After Dina's first question to Fonda fell flat, Dina pressed on and asked, "It's so hard for young stars today with the paparazzi and press - do you have any advice for my daughter?" Fonda - who the witness said seemed "taken aback and appalled not just by Dina being on the carpet but by the questions" - snapped, "If you screw it up now, you don't get another chance!" and turned on her heel and walked off. A rep for Fonda said, "We kept all interviews short because the press line was long."
Jennifer Lopez has reportedly beefed up security in response to ugly threats on her life.
According to a friend, an animal-rights extremist has been sending letters threatening 'to kill her in public, just like the slaughtered animals whose fur she wears."
Yikes!
The source says J.Lo initially dismissed the notes, which have been arriving for a month, as lunatic junk mail. But husband Marc Anthony isn't taking the matter lightly.
"He has hired two off-duty police officers, in addition to her usual security team, to watch over Lopez whenever she makes public appearances," says the pal.
Lopez's spokeswoman shot the story down as "untrue." She said: "[Lopez] has had the same security team she has always had."
But a rep for PETA (who we trust is not sending the threats) said yesterday: "All violence is wrong. But J.Lo needs to stop the real violence she promotes and subsidizes rather than give herself extra protection she doesn't need."
Lindsay Lohan almost didn't make it to her movie premiere alive Tuesday night.
A taxi nearly mowed down the "Georgia Rule" star when she blithely scampered across W. 54th St. to sign autographs. Horrified fans watched as the driver slammed on his brakes, stopping 5 feet short of the actress.
The cabbie and his shaken passengers idled for several minutes, staring as the carefree Lohan communed with her admirers. Eventually, she found her way back to the Ziegfeld Theater, where she faced a new threat: reporters grilling her under hot lights about her partying.
Naturally, they brought up that letter in which "Georgia Rule" producer James Robinson warned she'd be fired if she missed another day of production.
"I knew that I did something wrong," she admitted. "I took care of that. It was blown out of proportion."
We asked her mother, Dina, about that News of the World claim that a video captures her daughter snorting cocaine - and about The National Enquirer's claim that Lindsay takes tabs of Ecstasy imprinted with a little blue Smurf.
"We don't read the tabloids," Dina said. "There's so much fabrication. We all live in glass houses, and if you don't know somebody, you really don't know the truth."
Robinson said, "I started out being p-d off [at Lindsay], but it worked great. … From that day on, she didn't miss any time. ... She is not a little *****, she's a nice, decent person [and] a fantastic actress. She just likes to stay out late."
Garry Marshall, "Georgia Rule's" director (and ex-Daily News copy boy), said: "When they're young, they don't listen right away. [But] we ended up great friends."
After the screening, everybody headed to the China Club. There, between trips to the bathroom, Lindsay showed Jane Fonda how to get down, Lohan style.
"Let's dance!" the 20-year-old told the 69-year-old as the speakers pumped out hip hop. And though she plays the grandmother of Lohan's wild-child character, Fonda still shows the benefits of "feeling the burn" and shook her booty impressively.
Fonda also agreed that Linds is fundamentally a good kid. "We were on schedule, we were on budget, everybody got along," she told us. "It was fun."
Why should Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger give a moment's thought to Paris Hilton's plea that he reduce her jail sentence? The Hilton family might feel the Gov owes them. Our review of campaign contributions shows that her grandpa, W. Barron Hilton, and Hilton Hotels gave a total of $59,600 to Arnold's campaigns between Sept. 3, 2003, and May 9, 2006. Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Aaron McLear, tells us: "The governor makes decisions on what he believes is in the best interest of the people of California," not the Hiltons. But McLear says they have made no formal petition to Arnold, adding, "There are legal remedies for her to pursue before the governor would become involved in this." Meanwhile, Paris has swapped lawyers, ditching Howard Weitzman for Richard Hutton, a specialist in DUI cases. Hutton yesterday issued a statement in which Paris said, "I am ready to face the consequences of violating probation. No one is above the law. I do not expect to be treated better than anyone else who violated probation. However, my hope is that I will not be treated worse."
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