Tracy Morgan All Wrong on Jimmy Fallon
Tracy Morgan was always pissed that his Saturday Night Live co-star Jimmy Fallon usually cracked up during sketches. He was always “laughing and all that dumb [bleep] he used to do,” Morgan complains to Penthouse, according to “Page Six.” “He wouldn’t mess with me because I didn’t [bleep]ing play that s–t. That’s taking all the attention off of everybody else and putting it on you, like, ‘Oh, look at me, I’m the cute one.’ I told him not to do that s–t in my sketches, so he never did.” Which is kind of the opposite of how we feel. We loved the fact that Jimmy could not keep a straight face in any sketch co-starring Horatio Sanz, and that sometimes he made his fellow cast members crack up too. In fact, one of our favorite sketches of all time owes most of its humor to Jimmy’s uncontrollable giggling. If Fallon ever does end up replacing Conan, we hope it becomes a schtick. ‘Cause that’s kind of all he’s got.
‘Saturday Night’ Friction [NYP]
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Here’s … Billy?Billy Crystal is looking to take over a late-night talk show. Jimmy Fallon proposed to longtime girlfriend Nancy Juvonen. Brett Ratner won’t make as much money from Rush Hour 3 as he could have because it didn’t meet expectations at the box office. A White House staffer didn’t recognize David Beckham and asked if he was a friend or relative of the president. Val Kilmer dropped out of playing Adolph Hitler in Hebrew Hammer 2 because he was either scared or too bloated. Staffers at now-defunct Green Stone Media are complaining that the site won’t file for bankruptcy because founders Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem don’t want to be embarrassed.
company town
Is Murdoch Starting to Sweat?MEDIA
• With the deadline set for 5 p.m. tonight, the Bancrofts’ vote on the Dow Jones deal remains too close to call. [WSJ]
• Jimmy Fallon is apparently the lead contender to take Conan O’Brien’s place once Conan jumps to Leno’s time slot. Yikes. [Broadcasting & Cable]
• Is Jane Pratt’s new project a Gwen Stefani magazine? [Fashionista]
• Late-night talk legend Tom Snyder is dead at 71. [AP via NYT]
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Gore ’08!Michael Moore may support Al Gore for president. A theater in the HBO building was named for former network chief Michael Fuchs, and Fuchs gave a weird, bad, awkward speech at the ceremony. Jerry Seinfeld is very excited about his upcoming Bee Movie. 50 Cent is very excited about playing a drug dealer opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in his upcoming movie. A lot of racehorse owners are not pleased with Eliot Spitzer’s plan for Aqueduct to be government-run. David Burke took home $10,000 after beating Bobby Flay and Sam Talbot in a poker tournament in Aspen. Jimmy Fallon wants to lose weight. “Utter pandemonium” broke out, says a “Page Six” source, after Debra Messing, Mike Nichols, and other guests were rained upon during the Public Theater’s premiere of Romeo and Juliet in Central Park. (Actually, we thought it was pretty fun.) Ian Claus dedicated his first book to Chelsea Clinton.
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Wang vs. WangDesigner Vera Wang is suing another Vera Wang for copyright infringement. Bonnie Fuller is looking to branch into TV, and her NYU film-student son may be involved. Silly Billy, the clown from weird documentary Capturing the Friedmans, now goes the name by Dr. Blood. André Balazs and Naomi Campbell might be dating. An upcoming bio of Condi Rice claims she’s accrued power personally but not professionally. The broker for Bob Guccione’s East Side mansion (current asking price: $50 million) quit. Ellen Barkin reiterates that she regrets marrying Ron Perelman. Gisele will jump ship to H&M when her contract with Victoria’s Secret expires. Court TV is going through a rebranding process.
company town
Speak, Models!FASHION
• Turns out models can speak — at least in Ridley Scott’s new Prada movie. [Fashionista]
• Bottega Veneta has designed the interior of a penthouse suite at the St. Regis. [British Vogue]
• Model Paulina Porizkova has joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars. [Flypaper]
• Naomi Campbell left Premier Models, where she’s spent most of her career, for IMG. [All Company News]
party town
Exhaustion Sets In at ‘Gotham’ Gala• Gotham Magazine Gala. Capitale, 130 Broadway, nr. Grand St., 7 p.m. Truly an overflowing cornucopia of party fruits and sponsorship vegetables, this event is billed as Gotham’s “Seventh Annual Gala” and a retirement party for Tiki Barber; it’s sponsored by Cadillac, the luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet, and a London hotel called the Rushmore; entertainment will be provided by D.J. Cassidy, the “Chez-Zam Entertainment Group,” and the “Fifty-Person Rhythm & Rhyme Marching Band.” Scheduled to be exhausted by all of the above are Spike Lee, Ice T, Jon Bon Jovi, Nina Sky, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
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The Greatest Love of All Is Buying Someone’s UnderwearLove Whitney Houston? Then head to Livingston, New Jersey, next week, when an auction of Whitney memorabilia — undergarments and all — will take place. Tommy Lee and Kid Rock might come to blows now that Tommy is hooking up with Pamela Anderson. (They almost did on New Year’s Eve, but Kid showed up at the wrong room.) Bob Dylan would do well not to sue Harvey Weinstein over Factory Girl, as Dylan was threatening, now that the Weinstein Co. has acquired the rights to the singer’s biopic. If you spent $250 to hang out at Stereo on New Year’s Eve, you probably felt pretty dumb when you were kicked out of the club to make room for John Mayer and Jessica Simpson. (Simpson also took a little spill earlier in the evening, but so did her ex-boyfriend’s current squeeze, Vanessa Minnillo.) Celebrity “starvicist” (the Post’s nickname, not ours) Rachel Zoe is, fittingly, hawking a new, “slimmer” Samsung cell phone. (However, it’s our scoop, not the Post’s.) Producer Scott Storch gave Lindsay Lohan $1 million in diamond jewelry, though some say “he just wants to do her music.” Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz call it quits, but J-Timbs already has another lady on the go. Jimmy Fallon was a major dud as host of Eliot Spitzer’s inaugural concert. Mira Sorvino partied at a club with her 2-year-old and 6-month-old on New Year’s Eve. Denzel Washington turned down a love scene with Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief out of loyalty to his female black fans. Coming soon to a theater (or, more likely, DVD, or YouTube) near you: Brian De Palma’s first-ever film, which had a fairly limited release (one theater!) in 1968. The Giulianis, James Wood, and Jessica Alba all vacationed at the same Bahamas resort. Is Britney Spears in danger of being dropped by Jive Records? Cindy Adams thinks that’s why she “fainted” in Vegas. Billy Joel has recently recorded his first song since 1993’s “River of Dreams.”
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Luca’s Mommy, Dearest?
If Madonna is adopting a baby from Malawi, his name is Luca. Joan Crawford had crabs. Dustin Hoffman bought vegetables at Fairway. Steve Wynn put his elbow through a Picasso. Screech’s sex tape is “quite humorous and, at times, arousing.” James Baker ate at ‘21.’ Horace Mann students made fun of their teachers. Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar partied with drag queens for their movie, Volver. Jimmy Fallon went to the Empire State Pride Agenda dinner last week; Anderson Cooper did not. City comptroller Bill Thompson is learning to speak Spanish. Harvey Weinstein hosted a Bobby screening; famous people attended. Keith Olbermann may have had a one-night stand with a woman who now blogs about it. Liz Smith thinks Garvey’s, in the theater district, has good nachos.