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Patrick Swayze an inspiring surprise

By Laura | Saturday, September 6, 2008, 04:23 PM

Patrick Swazye’s surprise appearance at the EIF “Stand Up To Cancer” fund-raising special impressed a nation of television viewers and a stage full of fellow celebrities.The special aired on CBS, NBC and ABC Friday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m.

The actor, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year, came out on a darkened stage during the opening segment, receiving a standing ovation when the lights came up.

“He looks amazing,” former basketball player Charles Barkley told People magazine. “For me, seeing Patrick Swayze, someone who is actually fighting this disease, was the best part of the show. Seeing him in person was amazing.”

Swayze smiled and danced in the wings through the show with his wife, Lisa Niemi. As Melissa Etheridge and Sugarland sang the last song, Swayze approached Barkley and the two had an animated conversation.

“He just came up to me and said, ‘Hi,’ ” said Barkley. “We talked about how he was doing. He said he’s doing well. He said that he’s even gone back to work.”

Swayze stayed on stage long after most of the crowd had thinned out — chatting with Fran Drescher and other cancer survivors. But no one was more impressed than Noreen Fraser, one of the show’s producers and a stage-four breast cancer survivor.

“I just had to thank him for his appearance. His appearance put this event over the top,” an emotional Fraser told People. “He told me, ‘There was no way I was going to say no to this.’ “

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Dane Cook drops load on new digs

By Laura | Saturday, September 6, 2008, 10:39 AM

A TMZ exclusive report displays a nice photo gallery of “comedian” Dane Cook’s new $7,078,412 Hollywood Hills house. Home. Mansion. Whatever. It’s nice.

What’s even nicer is that Cook’s dog, a miniature pinscher named Beast, can poop anywhere he wants — which he did anyway, leading to their eviction from an L.A. apartment complex.

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See Britney rehearse NEW moves!

By Laura | Saturday, September 6, 2008, 09:43 AM

She looks good, no? Better than last year, right about this time …

Perhaps this will be the last MTV push to get people buzzing about Sunday night’s Video Music Awards, at which Britney Spears was maybe, maybe not, going to perform. Looks like she’ll be there in some form or another, opening the show she stole last year — and not in a good way.

Brit is, again, nominated for a slew of awards (Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year for “Piece of Me”), but this is nothing new: She’s been nominated 17 times before and has yet to win one Moonman.

The VMAs will air live at 9 p.m. Sunday on MTV, hosted by Russell Brand. Tune in for him, if nothing else.

Video: Britney's Back!

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Artists ticked off at GOP’s song choices

By Laura | Friday, September 5, 2008, 02:37 PM

This campaign season, Republicans have been using some songs from artists who wouldn’t have given permission if asked, and some who have spoken up to ask that their songs not be used in the future. This proves that any publicity isn’t always good publicity — until you make an issue of it, and then it’s great.

Here’s the no-playlist:

Van Halen — Right Now: Van Halen management says band had no idea McCain was planning to use “Right Now” during his big entrance in Dayton, saying, “Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given.”

Jackson Browne — Running on Empty: If the whole episode strikes a nostalgic tone, it’s because famous musical artists and Republican presidential candidates have butted heads in the past. Bruce Springsteen publicly complained when Ronald Reagan used “Born in the U.S.A” during his campaign in 1984.

Heart — Barracuda: The Wilson sisters condemned the usage, adding that Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have sent a cease-and-desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign, according to CNN. “We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music,” the group said in a statement.

Orleans — Still the One: Proving that campaign vetting should be across-the-board extensive, McCain sparked the ire of the song’s co-writer, the founding member of Orleans and current New York congressman, John Hall.

Frankie Valli — Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You: Warner Music Group (WMG) appears to have demanded that YouTube remove “Obama Love,” a montage of press fawning over Sen. Barack Obama that had been posted on Sen. John McCain’s official YouTube channel. “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group,” says a message on YouTube.

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Readers dump “US” over Palin cover

By Laura | Friday, September 5, 2008, 07:27 AM

Three celebrity weeklies — OK!, People and Us Weekly — featured Sarah Palin on their cover, but one of those magazines is reportedly losing subscribers because of it.

Us Weekly, which unlike People and OK!, chose a rather caustic cover line (“Babies, Lies and Scandal”) is said to have lost thousands of subscribers in just the first 24 hours following the printing of the issue. We got this report from MSNBC.

“I’m hearing it’s 5,000, maybe more,” says one well-placed source in the industry. Another source claimed that as many as 10,000 readers have already cancelled their subscriptions. A spokesperson for Wenner Media, which publishes Us, says “it is completely false that we are losing 10,000 subscribers.” As for the 5,000 estimate, the spokesperson only said “that is false, too,” but wouldn’t comment further.

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Hulk Hogan divorce a very expensive mess

By Laura | Friday, September 5, 2008, 07:12 AM

We love us some dirty divorce details, so when TMZ posted the legal documents just released in the Hulk and Linda Hogan (real names Terry and Linda Bollea) we couldn’t help but fire up the printer. Poor Hulk.

According to the document, Hulk pulls in $56,708 a month. Trouble is that he’s spending $104,451 a month, equalling a monthly deficit of $47,743. Still, he puts his net worth at $32.4 million.

As for Linda, she says she spends $7,258 on clothes, $7,502 in maid service, and, of course, $6,100 a month on vacations. Linda drops $2,464 on pool and lawn service (not including the pool boy) and $1,374 in pet expenses. She’s currently pulling in $40,000 a month in support.

We’d clean her house — and take care of her dogs too — all for 8K a month. Linda — call us.

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Lance on sex: “I never got any complaints!”

By Laura | Thursday, September 4, 2008, 04:10 PM

Somebody at The Huffington Post took a break from politics and typed in this excerpt from the October Men’s Journal magazine profile of “alpha bachelor” Lance Armstrong, whose last three public girlfriends have been Kate Hudson, Tory Burch and Sheryl Crow. They typed it in before the article was available online, it excited them so much. Here we go:

These days he’s unapologetic about his reputation in the tabloids as a (kind of nasty word) hound, linked to designer and socialite Tory Burch, Ashley Olsen (whom he denies dating), and, until recently, Kate Hudson. “I’m a 36-year-old single guy who is completely open and honest with every woman in my life,” says Armstrong. “As long as you’re honest, and no one’s getting played or let down, then you’re being fair.”

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