The Lo Zone

[click to go to actual article]

BV Scene

Hip-hop couple Nas and Kelis partying in Miami at The Skybar Miami Beach at the Shore Club hotel... Rapper Nelly judging the finals of his 'Miss Apple Bottoms' national model search at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas... Actor Mel Jackson, singer Silena Murrell and a host of tastemakers at Ruby Foo's Dim Sum & Sushi Palace in Times Square for a book party for the Lolita Files book 'Sex.Lies.Murder.Fame.'... Kelly Rowland, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, Blair Underwood, MTV's Lala Vasquez, Dorian Gregory, Larenz Tate, Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, Karrine Steffans, Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell Martin, Jennifer Freeman, Tangi Miller and Tommy Davidson at the premiere of the DVD 'The Seat Filler' at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood... Eddie Murphy checking out 'Another Side of Cirque Du Soleil...'Zumanity' at New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas... Rapper The Game partying in the VIP area at Prive in Miami, just near BET Radio's Crystal Shaw and her group of girlfriends.

TMZ has obtained a ruling from a California Court of Appeal, issued today, rejecting Michael Jackson's claim that Debbie Rowe gave up her parental rights. In the decision, there's a revealing passage from the trial judge who commented on the marriage between Jackson and Rowe.

"It was an arranged deal from the beginning... This was not a mom and dad saying, 'Hey, let's have a family that we're going to raise.'"

[click to go to the actual article]

The excerpts on the soundtrack are read by the delicious actor MEL Jackson (not "Al").

There is, however, an Al that should have been mentioned, the great and wonderful music producer, Al "Butter" McLean, who came through like a champ when we enlisted his help. Butter found three of the artists and their perfectly-suited songs for the soundtrack (not me, I wouldn't have the first clue how!!), and the songs ROCK. I mean, really. Those of you who've heard the soundtrack know what I'm talking about.

Also, my AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING, SUPER-DUPER, RELENTLESS PUBLICIST at Amistad's name is Gilda SQUIRE (no "s" on the last name). Team Amistad has made this whole thing a dream, and Gilda just doesn't give up when it comes to making things happen. How lucky am I to have her in my corner?

And, oh yeah, Child of God was my fourth book.

Watts (Mae West) unveils the largely tragic tale of Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Academy Award. Born in 1893, the youngest daughter of freed slaves, McDaniel sang and danced to help provide for her poverty-stricken family. Her early career as a comedian and singer garnered raves. She landed in Hollywood, appearing as an extra in scores of early 1930s films. Soon speaking roles in films like Stella Dallas led to her Oscar-winning performance as Mammy in the 1939 epic Gone with the Wind. This achievement marked the pinnacle of McDaniel's career—and heralded its collapse.

[click image to enlarge]

this class sux. I sit next to a gay asian guy and a demonic psycho bitch.

John Barlow is back with another gastronomical story that's as surprising, funny and satisfying as a good belch... The British writer is something of a master at concocting what could be called "sentimental grotesques," and Intoxicated, a novel about the development of an improbable soft drink made from rhubarb, delivers a strange but irresistible mix of flavors... It's almost not fair how much he makes us care for these silly, vulnerable people... but Intoxication delivers the goods. It's the real thing.

[click image to enlarge]

CELEBRITIES know how to get their names boldfaced on Page Six: Do something stupid. But novelists have their own means of getting their books in the column: They refer to Page Six in their writing, repeatedly. In "Fabulosity" by fiercely fabulous Kimora Lee Simmons, the thin-skinned Baby Phat designer pretends she doesn't mind bad press. "For your name to be a bold-faced headline - come on!" she writes. Then, in an obvious reference to us, she says, "It says something about your status! It says something that your name would be bigger than the writer's name or bigger than the column's name on the top of the page above all the other gossiped-about people." OK. In "Sex. Lies. Murder. Fame." - a new mystery by Lolita Files - Page Six is mentioned no fewer than 10 times. The campy rip-off of "All About Eve" - featuring an immoral writer-model-rapper and the publishing upstart he leeches onto - says: "Page Six had been quiet, oblivious to everything, missing the hotbed of action right under its omnipotent nose." And ". . . not as long as there was a Page Six, whose faceless, ubiquitous spies were legion." Thanks.

Not Even Remotely About Eve (But Still Great Fun!!!)

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a campaign contributor during a weekend quail hunt on a friend's South Texas ranch, local authorities and the vice president's office said Sunday.

The wounded man, 78-year-old Harry Whittington, was in intensive care at a Corpus Christi hospital after being hit by several pellets of birdshot Saturday afternoon, hospital spokesman Peter Banko told CNN.

"I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger," Spears said in statement released late Monday.

"I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us," she said. "I love my child and would do anything to protect him."

"These pictures were taken in a very peaceful context, in which photographers exhibited no aggressive behavior," the agency said in a statement released to Access Hollywood. "We believe that the pictures speak for themselves."

Media Take Out has learned that Star Jones and Al Reynolds marriage may be on its last legs.

Al Reynolds and Star Jones have been frantically touring the country to promote Star's new book, Shine. However, the busy schedule and pressure to sell books is taking its toll on the usually happy couple - causing them to fight constantly. According to sources close to the couple, this weekend the fighting exploded. A close friend to Ms. Jones says, "Star is so upset with Al that she's not even wearing her wedding ring."

Media Take Out has confirmed that the last few taping of ABC's The View, Ms. Jones has NOT been wearing her wedding ring. Developing...

ANTHONY Bourdain, watch your back! Jeff Henderson, executive chef at Las Vegas' Bellagio, learned how to cook while in prison for coke-dealing. Now he's written a memoir. Rights to "From Cocaine to Foie Gras" were snatched at auction last week by William Morrow for Henderson's tale of running a big San Diego drug operation, and then learning how to sling more than hash in jail from the how-to tome, "Becoming a Chef," by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.

The wife of rapper and actor DMX was ticketed for allegedly driving 106 mph on Interstate 684 in northern Westchester, State Police said.

Her husband was clocked at 104 mph in December 2004.

State Police said Tashera Simmons, 34, was stopped early Sunday morning in a 2000 Mercedes-Benz traveling north on I-684 in a 65-mph zone with four children who were not wearing seat belts.

Game: So I was like, "Yo, nigga, fuck that. I know my man Dan is cool. He wouldn'ta been caught up in no bullshit 'less he knew it went down for real."

Dan Rather: Why, thank you, The Game. Uh...is that...is that...is 'The Game' what you prefer being called, or should I drop the article and just, uh, call you 'Game'?

Game: What article? You wrote a article about me? What, it was sum'n bad, but now that you talkin' to me and you know I'm cool, you gon' drop it?

Dan Rather: No, no, no. I didn't write an article about you. I was talking about the article 'the.'



Game: (stares blankly)


Dan Rather: (nervous) You know, like, um, uh, like a preposition or a conjunction. 'The' is an article, and I wasn't sure if you preferred the use of it or not when being addressed.


Game: So you gon' mail it to me?



Dan Rather: (confused) Mail what to you?



Game: The article. You said you wasn't sure how I want the letter addressed.

Dan Rather: Nooooo, I didn't say anything about a letter. I meant the "The" in front of "Game." Should I keep the "The," or should I drop it altogether?

Game: (laughing) Nigga, you crazy!! You a funny muhfucka. All that time I been seein' you on tv since I was a kid, I'an know you had jokes. You alright, nigga!! (holds out fist to Dan for a pound)


Dan Rather: (blinking rapidly at both the N word and the extended fist)



Game: Yo, nigga...gi' it to me!! (extends fist closer to Dan)


Dan Rather: (stares at the fist. bumps it with his own, front-to-front, like a battering ram, instead of on top. nervously awaits response. Game smiles. Dan breaks into a wide grin.)


Game: That's what I'm sayin'!!


Dan Rather: What? What did you say? Did I miss something?



Game: (laughing) Nigga, you crazy!! You cool as hell. (leans in, whispering) Yo, you ever smoke dro'?



Dan Rather: (blinks rapidly)

· The marketing department has been hit hard, and an operative expects it to get nasty in distribution.

· Everyone’s wondering about the fate of Grey’s first big Paramount hire, Gail Berman. She apparently emerged from a long closed-door meeting and sent her assistants home for the day, either a sign of the world’s greatest boss or the world’s greatest ex-boss. [Update to update: We hear the assistants are still at battle stations. Faulty intel or dedicated assistants? What’s going on over there?] Currently on the Gail Berman Rumored Replacement Tote Board are DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg and Walter Parkes, or Universal’s Stacey Snider (a rumor everyone’s been hearing for at least a week).

“Brokeback Mountain” may be “the gay cowboy movie” in common parlance and its success is being touted as a breakthrough for gay themes, but the award-winning creators of the film made no reference to its subject matter or significance at the Golden Globes where it garnered four trophies—best dramatic film, Ang Lee for best director, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for best screenplay, and Gustavo Santaolalla for best song. The film did not win any acting awards.

In reviewing the Globes show, the Hollywood Reporter wrote, “There’s no requirement that an award winner mutter so much as a word about the message or theme of the movie. Still, it seemed strange that the winners for ‘Brokeback Mountain’ said nothing about the struggles of gay people or that Philip Seymour Hoffman omitted even the mere mention of Truman Capote, the character he played.” Hoffman won best actor in a drama for “Capote.”

[...]

Nevertheless, “Brokeback” is on track for Oscar gold. Stephen Spielberg is said to be upset that Universal is promoting Ang Lee’s film over his “Munich.” A source told the Drudge Report, “Gay romance is easier to sell to the Academy than a complex study of an Israeli assassin.” Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning out gay playwright, co-wrote the Globe-nominated screenplay for “Munich.”

Felicity Huffman, who won best dramatic actress for “Transamerica,” praised, “the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation, and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are,” but did not use the word “transgender” in reference to her character.

The Gays are not going to be ignorrrrrrrred, Dan!!!

“I was asked to go onto a program that was going to have James on it, and then I was going to be joined by Frank Rich and Richard Cohen to talk about ‘Truth in America.’ That was the program,” Ms. Talese said by phone this past weekend. As she was walking onto the set of the special live broadcast, however, she was informed that the theme of the show had been changed to something called “The James Frey Controversy.” Ms. Talese was surprised.

A spokesperson from Harpo Productions said that the company had no comment.

So yet another “truth”—this time from the jaws of Harpo itself—is called into question. Ms. Talese might never have agreed to appear on the show had she known Ms. Winfrey’s full intentions. The resulting televised spectacle was less a dissection of the lies that comprise modern American life and how they led to Mr. Frey’s fabrications, than an opportunity for Ms. Winfrey to vent her anger on Mr. Frey and Ms. Talese—in essence, on the entire book business.

Suddenly called upon to defend the troubled industry she’s worked in for decades, Ms. Talese faltered.

There is a maxim that every author of fiction eventually learns:

THE women of South Beach have two words for Halle Berry: Watch out! Berry's new man, Versace model Gabriel Aubry, is so popular with the opposite sex, said our source, "he makes [Berry's ex] Eric Benet look tame." Benet is a self-confessed sex addict. While Berry went to pal Angela Bassett's baby shower last weekend, Aubry was in Miami where he drove his vintage Camaro convertible and "chased young women" around the clock. A source said, "He wants to be famous, and he will use Halle to get there. He has a place on the beach and he pretty much chases whatever is around."

I don't know if anyone has ever met Mrs. King before, but I was fortunate to do so "unexpectantly" in 1985, when I was a Valet Attendant for the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta. It was a normal hot & muggy day at work when this shiny, burgandy Chrysler LeBaron pulled up under the hotel canopy. I went around the driver's side to open the door and lo & behold, she was driving and I was in "total"...I mean TOTAL shock!!!

Here's a woman, that in all my life, to that point, I've only seen her in newspapers, magazines and t.v. but to see her before me, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The First Lady. The Queen. I was in just in awe...

She had a kind of regal radiance that as hot as it was, humidity and sweat, feared her. It was like, surreal. But I gather myself together and parked her car in our VIP section. It was only one moment, but I'll treasure it forever.