Gossip/Celebrity News

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Diamonds are Dolly's best friend on Oscar night

LOS ANGELES - In a sure sign that the Academy Awards have become even more glitzy, glamorous and bling-laden than ever, even down-to-earth country star Dolly Parton will be sporting diamonds this year.

Tennessee-born Parton is "not a diamond girl," usually opting instead for costume jewelry while in the spotlight, said her long-time designer and stylist Robert Behar.

But that will change on Sunday, as Parton retires the cheap stuff in favor of dripping diamonds as she walks the red carpet and performs her Oscar-nominated song "Travelin' Thru" from the film "Transamerica."

"I told her it's the Oscars; she had to wear it," Behar said. "It's the Oscars -- we're going with the real thing!"

Diamonds are the best friend of many celebrities at the Academy Awards, where the glittering stones will be set in more unusual ways this year, bedecking the arms, ears and hairdos of the who's-who of Tinseltown.

Stars searching for the ultimate in show-stopping glamour have been courted this pre-Oscar week as diamond designers showcase the classic stones updated with modern looks.

"Everyone in LA is cynical and spoiled and seen it all," said Sally Morrison, director of The Diamond Information Center, who said a $70 million display of diamonds at an invitation-only diamond event in the Hollywood Hills this week allows jaded celebrities to view the latest styles they can borrow for the big Oscar night.

Celebrity guests, including Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher and Demi Moore, ogled displays of diamonds overlooking a grotto-style pool with views of Los Angeles below.

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Carol Burnett Hooks Up with Housewives

Carol Burnett is getting Desperate. The legendary funnywoman is joining the cast of Desperate Housewives as Eleanor Mason, the stepmother of Bree Van De Kamp, played by Marcia Cross, USA Today reports.

Burnett said she thought the opportunity would be "a hoot." "I'm a soap opera fan. I've watched All My Children for a hundred years, and this, too, is a very campy soap," she said.

For Burnett, the role provided a chance to play against character, and she requested that series creator Marc Cherry make Mason "meaner." "It's more fun to have those villainous takes – like Miss Hannigan," Burnett said, referencing her role in the 1982 film "Annie."

Burnett's character is described a classic evil stepmother, who raised the young Bree after her mother was killed, says Cherry. "She's a very tightly wound, proper lady for whom appearances mean everything." The role will likely shed some light on why Bree has turned out as she has.

For Cherry, the chance to cast Burnett is a dream come true. "I learned how to be funny watching Carol Burnett," he said.

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Oscar Odds on Philip, Reese

It may not be as popular as poker, but betting on the Oscars has been going on hot and heavy this week – all in anticipation of the big show Sunday.

And anticipated in the winners circle, according to the latest tallies: Best Actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote; Best Actress, Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line; Best Director, Ang Lee, for Brokeback Mountain, which is also still favored to take the top Best Picture gold – although some pundits are saying viewers might anticipate a Crash upset, especially after it won the Screen Actors Guild ensemble acting prize.

In the actors' race, SAG winner Hoffman appears to have it in a walk, with odds of 1:7 (with some odds go as high as 1:9). His fiercest competition is Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, who's getting odds of 5:1, according to PinnacleSports.com. The long shot, at 199:1, is Terrence Howard, in the running for Hustle & Flow.

Bodog.com has Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash in Walk The Line at 14:5, while Pinnacle puts David Strathaim in Good Night, and Good Luck at 66:1.



Witherspoon, another SAG winner (as well as the Golden Globe), has a lock on her award, according to Bodog, which gives her 1:6 odds. If there's an upset, however, expect it to come from Felicity Huffman (2:1 odds), in TransAmerica. In Huffman's favor is that, as evidenced by Charlize Theron in Monster, Oscar loves actresses who transform themselves. Going against Huffman, though, is that so few people have seen her movie.

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Oscar Backstage: Clooney & Co. Captivate

As host Jon Stewart said at the outset of Sunday's 78th annual Academy Awards, "the theme of tonight's show is 'a return to glamour.'"

He was mocking the slogan, but it was especially true backstage at the Kodak Theatre, starting with the evening's first winner, a very suave George Clooney.

Having just collected the Oscar for his supporting role in Syriana, PEOPLE's veteran Sexiest Man Alive was asked what kind of love story he might contribute to Hollywood's current wave of "gay chic," as well as "what the world wants to know: Are you or are you not dating Teri Hatcher?"

"Thanks for those important questions," Clooney carped, though he did dignify the questions with answers. For gay chic, he said, he'd contribute a Batman sequel. As for the Hatcher query, he said respectfully, "I never talk about my personal life."

On a more serious note, as one whose movies embrace socially relevant themes, Clooney said: "I think what's important is that we are starting now to reflect, two years later, some of the social and political issues that – for the first time, probably since Watergate – are concerning us. We did it in the '30s, we did it in the '50s, we certainly did it in the '60s and '70s, and we'll probably continue to do that ... to reflect society, not truly lead it."

Finally, pressed by a Taiwanese journalist about the directors' race, which includes the winning, Taiwanese-born maker of Brokeback Mountain, Clooney (who was also in the running, for Good Night, and Good Luck) joked: "Is this about Ang Lee? Let me tell you something right now – I don't like that guy. At the last award show I was at I caught him stealing. So take that home, and you tell everyone."

Reese Witherspoon, clutching her Best Actress Oscar for having played the real-life June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, kept the glamour theme going with her vintage silver beaded gown, which she described as being "very light ... it's an original Dior from 1955. I found it in Paris. And it's mine, which is nice."

Describing her day today, Witherspoon did not make it sound glamorous, however. "I woke up, fed the kids, changed a lot of diapers, then got my hair done, got my makeup done, got my nails done, and I was out the door."

What she couldn't remember was a June or Johnny Cash tune that seemed appropriate to her victory. "None of their songs were celebratory enough. " She also admitted that "my mind's a big blank. I just found out that my husband (Ryan Phillippe)'s movie (Crash) just won (Best Picture)."

When it was time for Capote Best Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman to face the press, he looked at all the waving hands and said, "This is like an auction." He said winning an Oscar is a "nerve-wracking moment," though he would not describe it as a "highpoint. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with millions of people watching you." He also said that he's had high points all through his career, "for personal reasons."

As for the bet he made with a friend that he'd bark his acceptance speech should he win, Hoffman said of his moment on the podium: "I literally lost all control of my bowels up there. I was swimming in my head. I was lucky to get out what I could."

The Constant Gardener supporting actress winner Rachel Weisz, who is expecting a baby in the spring, said: "There are a few names" that she and her companion, director Darren Aronofsky, are considering. "We don't know if it's a boy or a girl, (but) Oscar isn't amongst them, for sure."

She also said that she didn't think winning the Oscar in some way made up for her losing the British Academy Award in her native country, where she was categorized as a leading actress. "Reese Witherspoon absolutely deserves to win the Best Actress prize," she said.

As for future plans, "Having a baby, that's the next for me," she replied to a question whose answer was plain as the nose on her face – or the bump in her belly.

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee spoke up in support of his Best Actor nominee Heath Ledger, who lost the Best Actor prize to Hoffman. Calling Ledger's performance "not only remarkable, but a miracle. Some people tell me he reminds them of a young Brando."

Asked if he thought Brokeback was bypassed as Best Picture because of its gay theme, Lee said: "I don't know. I really don't know. In (terms of) box office, it did the best of all five movies. But I really don't know."

Lifetime achievement honoree Robert Altman came clean on the Oscar stage to having had a transplant 11 years ago, when he received the heart of a female in her 30s. Asked why he finally decided to break the news, the 81-year-old M*A*S*H and Nashville director said: "I don't know, it just occurred to me. I kept it a secret because I thought no one would hire me. There's such a stigma in this town."

One other confession backstage: Rapper Juicy Jay, whose real name is Jordan Houston and whose "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from Hustle & Flow, took Best Song, said, "We completely changed the song for the (Oscar) show. We (cleaned up) the lyrics. Had to. My mom was watching."

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Paula Abdul's Airport Security Breach

While fans are wondering what to make of Paula Abdul's strange behavior Thursday night on American Idol, a federal agency is trying to decide who's responsible for sneaking the judge past an airport security checkpoint at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport earlier that day.

In a dash to make her Los Angeles flight – and her American Idol live gig later that evening – Abdul and a companion were reportedly ushered past security and onto the Southwest Airlines plane, which resulted in all the passengers being re-screened once the flight landed in L.A., the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Transportation Safety Administration said the security lapse was reported to the TSA while the flight was in the air.

"We're conducting an internal investigation to see who exactly was responsible," TSA spokeswoman Jessica Altschul tells the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the airport says that the person who led Abdul past the checkpoint and onto the Southwest flight didn't work for the airline, but for an airport tenant. The airport spokesperson said the worker couldn't be identified because of the ongoing investigation.

Representatives for Abdul have yet to issue a statement.

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Jon Stewart saves sharpest Oscar wit for politics

LOS ANGELES - Acerbic comedian Jon Stewart made his debut as Oscar host on Sunday with lots of good-natured jokes about gay cowboys and Hollywood excess while aiming his sharpest barbs at his two favorite targets -- journalists and politicians.



Stewart, 43, drafted by Oscar producers to help spark greater interest in an awards show that has declined in the TV ratings, was largely even-handed in his political humor, mocking both Hollywood support for Democrats and Republican Vice President Dick Cheney's recent hunting mishap.

He also presented a montage of faux campaign ads featuring best-actress nominees attacking each other.

But he drew some of the evening's biggest laughs with an homage to "Brokeback Mountain," a love story about two gay sheepherders, presenting a collection of old western film clips in a way that suggested many of Hollywood's biggest cowboy stars were in the closet with the door ajar.

In one piece of footage, John Wayne is shown delivering the line, "I'll have you spread-eagled on a wagon wheel."

Stewart, who regularly skewers the Washington establishment as star of the satirical newscast "The Daily Show" on U.S. cable TV, kept his opening monologue fairly light, contrary to some predictions that he might prove too provocative for Hollywood's biggest insider event.

His first line on the stage of the Kodak Theater took a self-deprecating jab at his own spare film credits.

"Tonight is the night we celebrate excellence in films, with me, the fourth male lead in 'Death to Smoochy,"' he said, following a pre-taped opening sequence with cameos by past emcees Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman, all turning down this year's hosting job.

Then, in an allusion to Hollywood's traditional place as a bastion of liberal-leaning causes, he touted the Oscar telecast as a rare "place where you can watch all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic Party."

A few moments later, Stewart took aim at the opposite end of the political spectrum with a joke about Dick Cheney's recent quail-hunting mishap and Bjork, an Icelandic singer who once raised eyebrows by attending the Oscars in a garish swan-like outfit.

"I do have some sad news to report," Stewart said. "Bjork could not be here. She was trying on her Oscars dress and Dick Cheney shot her."

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Director Altman reveals heart transplant at Oscars

LOS ANGELES - Legendary film director Robert Altman revealed on stage at Sunday's Academy Awards that he was only alive to collect his lifetime achievement award thanks to a heart transplant he kept secret for over a decade.


"I always thought this kind of award meant that it was over," Altman, 81, said. "I'm here, I think, under false pretenses. I think I have to become straight with you. Ten years ago, 11 years ago I had a heart transplant, a total heart transplant."

"I got the heart of, I think, a young woman who was in about in her late 30s. By that kind of calculation you may be giving this award too early because I think I've got about 40 years left," he said.

The director of such movies as "MASH," "Gosford Park," "Nashville" and "The Player" told reporters backstage that he kept the transplant secret, fearing he would not be hired to work again.

"I didn't make a big secret about it. I thought maybe no one would hire me again," he said adding that heart problems have "such a stigma."

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Dana Reeve Dies of Cancer at 44

Dana Reeve, the widow of Christopher Reeve who worked tirelessly with her husband to improve treatment for spinal-cord injuries, has died of lung cancer. She was 44.

Reeve died late Monday, Kathy Lewis, president and CEO of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, said in a statement.

"On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and staff of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, we are extremely saddened by the death of Dana Reeve, whose grace and courage under the most difficult of circumstances was a source of comfort and inspiration to all of us," Lewis said. "Dana will always be remembered for her passion, strength and ceaseless courage that became her hallmark."

Reeve, a nonsmoker, announced her cancer battle last August, just 10 months after losing her husband. "Now, more than ever, I feel Chris with me as I face this challenge," she said at the time. "As always, I look to him as the ultimate example of defying the odds with strength, courage, and hope in the face of life's adversities."
Her announcement came at the end of a particularly difficult time, in which Reeve lost her mother following surgery for ovarian cancer, and Christopher in October 2004.

She seemed to be making progress in her battle against the disease, however, during one of her last public appearances in November, at a fund-raising gala in New York for the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

"I was married to a man who never gave up," she said. "He taught me so much about courage and about going forward. He really was in this with me."

At the time Dana's pal Susan Sarandon, said, "She sounds really good. She's in a great frame of mind."

Reeve stoically stood by her husband's side after a May 27, 1995, horse-riding accident left the Superman star a quadriplegic. Following Christopher’s death, she took over as head of the New Jersey-based Christopher Reeve Foundation, which works to raise money and awareness for spinal-cord injuries.

She and Christopher have a 13-year-old son, Will.

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Friends Remember Dana Reeve

Friends and admirers remembered actress and activist Dana Reeve, who succumbed to lung cancer on Monday. Here are their comments:

"The brightest light has gone out. We will forever celebrate her loving spirit."
– Robin Williams

"Despite the adversity that she faced, Dana bravely met these challenges and was always an extremely devoted wife, mother and advocate."
– Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton

"Teresa and I loved them both, and we are deeply saddened by Dana's passing. She was a steadfast partner to her husband, a loving mother, a talented artist, and an amazing caregiver who showed incredible grace fighting for her husband and then for her own life."
– Sen. John Kerry

"She showed us all the true power of love. (She was) an unflinching optimist, who never let anything get her down, and if she did she never showed us."
– close friend Jane Seymour

"She was a woman with an incredible heart who really put herself out there to help people with disabilities and especially those who are caregivers – something she knew a lot about."
– Kathy Lewis, president of the Christopher Reeve Foundation

"(Dana was) a beautiful and talented woman … We celebrate her life."
–Roger Rees, Director of the Williamstown Theater Festival where both Dana and Christopher performed

"I thought that after everything that she had gone through with Chris that she would have time to smell the flowers and be in the sun. But apparently that was not meant to be."
– Sen. Diane Feinstein

"Dana was an elegant and graceful woman, and she left this world the same way. She was at peace."
– Michael Manganello, Christopher Reeve's former assistant and vice president of the Christopher Reeve Foundation

"Dana Reeve used the great personal challenge of her husband's paralysis to work so that other families would not have to endure the same pain. By bringing hope to the sick and disabled with the miraculous potential of stem cell research, she has helped to continue the mending and renewing of the world that is possible through science."
– House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

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Uma Thurman and Boyfriend Split

It's over for Uma Thurman and hotelier Andre Balazs, according to a statement issued by the Kill Bill actress.

Speculation about the couple's breakup began at the Oscars, when Thurman turned up at the ceremony alone. The news was confirmed in a statement from Thurman's publicist Robert Garlock, who accompanied the star to an Oscar party.

"Unfortunately, it is true," the statement read. "But we remain close friends."

It's an about-face from Thurman's recent statements about her relationship with Balazs, who owns such properties as New York's Mercer Hotel and the Chateau Marmont and the Standard in Los Angeles.

In the February issue of InStyle magazine, Thurman said, "Everyone constantly taunts you that rebound relationships aren't a good idea and that they don't work. But mine is working, surprisingly."

Thurman, who most recently appeared in The Producers, praised Balazs, but also took a shot at ex-husband Ethan Hawke, with whom she split in 2004 following his much-publicized affair.

"It's lovely to have a man in my life who's cute, intelligent, interesting and complicated, and very supportive," she said.

Thurman says she and Hawke, who have two children, remain cordial.

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Teri Hatcher Reveals Sexual Abuse

Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher has revealed that she was sexually abused by an uncle – something that has haunted the actress for 35 years.

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Hatcher describes how she carried her horrible secret with her until the 2002 suicide of a 14-year-old girl who also was molested by the uncle, Richard Hayes Stone, Reuters reports.

Afraid that her uncle might avoid prosecution, Hatcher recounts how she found out about the case in newspaper stories and was "blown over by this girl's pain," the actress said. "I thought, 'Boy, that's really close to being me.'"

Santa Clara, Calif., Deputy District Attorney Chuck Gillingham says it was Hatcher's testimony that eventually led to a guilty plea from Stone and a 14-year prison sentence.

"Without Teri, this case would have been dismissed," Gillingham tells Vanity Fair.

Hatcher said that she kept the abuse, which took place when she was 5, a secret from everyone, including her parents. She last saw Stone when she was 8 or 9 years old.

"That's a victim thing; you ask yourself, 'Am I just crazy? Did I make all this up?' Somehow it might be easier to accept that you're crazy and made it all up than to admit that it happened, and how awful it was," she said.

Hatcher never discussed her involvement in the case, even after Stone's sentencing, nor does she discuss it in her upcoming memoir, Burned Toast.

But Hatcher says she's been haunted by the abuse her entire life and she finally realized it would be better to get it out in the open.

"I'm 41 years old, and it's time for me to stop hiding," she said.

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Beckhams settle libel case over marriage claim

LONDON- British soccer and pop music celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham reached a settlement on Thursday in their libel case against a newspaper that said their marriage was on the rocks.


The Beckhams had brought the case against the News of the World, which published interviews with their former nanny purporting to reveal details of their private life.

At an earlier court hearing, the paper's lawyers said it would try to show the couple were "cynically and hypocritically" misleading the public by pretending their marriage was perfect.

Lawyers for the Beckhams said they would argue that they were in fact happy and that the newspaper had hurt their reputation by writing otherwise.

Both sides issued statements on Thursday saying they had reached a confidential agreement to withdraw the case. Neither would elaborate.

Questions about the Beckhams' marriage became front page news in Britain in 2004 when Rebecca Loos, a former personal assistant of David Beckham, claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the England soccer captain.

The Beckhams have remained among Britain's most talked-about celebrity pairs even though David has moved to Spain to play for Real Madrid and his one-time Spice Girl wife has struggled to restart her pop music career.

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Blond Bond stirred by criticism, but not shaken

NASSAU, Bahamas - Is the next James Bond too blond for Her Majesty's Secret Service? Stricken by heat rash? Licensed to kill but not licensed to drive the famous stick-shift Aston Martin sports car?

Hounded by mounting criticism -- even a threatened boycott -- for picking a blond actor to play the part of the world's most famous dark-haired spy, the makers of the next James Bond movie "Casino Royale" this week assured 007 fans that ruggedly handsome Englishman Daniel Craig will be everything they have come to expect, and perhaps more.

Yes, Craig did lose or chip a tooth during filming in Prague, but it did not stop production, the actor told reporters. No, he did not suffer from excruciating heat rash in the Bahamas. And of course, an Englishman is perfectly capable of driving a manual gear car.

"You go mad if you believe any of it (the criticism)," Craig, 38, told reporters on Wednesday after distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment Co. and producers EON Productions invited journalists to the Bahamas movie set to counter some of the Internet and newspaper nattering.

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Will and Grace star returns to NY stage in June

NEW YORK Eric McCormack, a star of the long-running television program "Will & Grace," will appear in the US premiere of a new Neil LaBute play, taking over a role played in London last year by another well-known television personality, "Friends" star David Schwimmer.

McCormack, who plays Will Truman in the NBC situation comedy about a gay man and his best friend, will play "Man" in "Some Girl(s)," about a soon-to-be-engaged man who pays a last visit to four ex-girlfriends, the producers said on Friday.

The play is set to open on June 8 at the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theater. It will be directed by Jo Bonney, who also directed LaBute's critically acclaimed "Fat Pig" in New York in 2004.

That was the story of a man who reluctantly falls in love with a fat woman but is embarrassed by her size.

LaBute, whose film directing credits include "Nurse Betty" and "Possession," is best known for his 1997 film "In the Company of Men," the controversial story of two men who plot to humiliate a naive deaf woman for fun.

The series finale of "Will & Grace" is due to air on May 18, the day after McCormack starts previews of the new play.

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Jackson ordered to close Neverland

LOS ANGELES -Michael Jackson was ordered to shut down his Neverland Valley Ranch on Thursday by California authorities who have fined the pop star $169,000 for failing to pay his employees or maintain proper insurance.

Jackson's sprawling ranch in the central California foothills was closed, at least temporarily, by an agent of the State Labor Commissioner after the office discovered that his worker's compensation policy had lapsed in January.

"We went out there this morning and issued a stop order to the security guard at the front gate," state Department of Industrial Relations spokesman Dean Fryer told Reuters. "We asked to be escorted in to meet management, but we were refused and turned away, so we gave the order to (the guard)."

Fryer said local animal welfare officials had been asked to care for the inhabitants of Neverland's zoo.

He said that Jackson could reopen the ranch if he obtains workers compensation insurance but may face legal action by the state if he fails to pay the back wages.