Hollywood Agent Exaggerates!A former colleague of Hollywood superagent (and Ari Gold inspiration) Ari Emanuel says he intentionally threw tantrums when talking to Entourage producer Doug Ellin so they’d make it into the show’s script. Donna Hogan plans to make over her appearance — plastic surgery and all — so that she looks just like sister Anna Nicole Smith. NBC’s Campbell Brown may take Paula Zahn’s spot at CNN if she leaves. Jason Binn’s wife is pregnant. Dina Lohan denies saying she ever called herself the “White Oprah,” except that she did. Patti Smith is covering the Doors’ “Soul Kitchen” because a sanitation truck that almost ran her over was playing that song. Emma Thompson pissed off Will Smith when she pulled out a lit cigarette at the Waverly Inn. Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer is an investor in a lounge in Sag Harbor.
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Walter Cronkite Can’t WalkFor 90-year-old Walter Cronkite, traveling can be a serious pain. Forgetting the lay of his new room one night recently, he ran into a table and broke two ribs. His girlfriend, Joanna Simon, says he rose to answer the phone without turning on the lights in his room in England, where he was working on the documentary Legacy of War, and he spent two days in the hospital under doctors’ observation. “He’s absolutely fine, but in such pain he can’t eat, he can’t stand up, he can’t sit down, and he’s miserable,” Simon told us at a dinner screening of In the Shadow of the Moon, a documentary about the surviving moonwalkers, the former CBS anchorman was scheduled to host last night at the Plaza Athenee. Legacy production has been put on hold for four to six weeks — Cronkite’s expected recovery time. “He wanted to come tonight, but he couldn’t stand up in order to walk into the room.” Simon’s nursing duty mostly consists of giving Cronkite Tylenol now that he’s off codeine. “The codeine really knocked him out,” she explained. And that’s the way it was. —Amy Odell
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New CNN Morning Anchor Was Fox News RebelLast week’s shake-up at CNN, in which not-related American Morning anchors Soledad O’Brien and Miles O’Brien were “reassigned” within the network, marked a happy turn of events for Fox News Channel refugee Kiran Chetry, who’s becoming a co-anchor of the show. In February, Fox News accused Chetry, who’d been in talks with CNN, of demanding it fire her Fox & Friends co-anchor Gretchen Carlson. Chetry says that didn’t happen, but Fox had her escorted from the building, and her husband, Fox weatherman Chris Knowles, had to raid her office to recover her personal belongings. Knowles was released from his Fox News contract the following day. CNN president Jonathan Klein says that Chetry’s adjusting well. “I was blown away by her almost encyclopedic knowledge of CNN,” he says. “I was amazed that she was even getting reception behind the iron curtain.” Watching CNN at Fox News? That alone was probably enough to get her fired. —Emma Rosenblum
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‘Radar’ CallingA Radar editor left a cell phone on — as in, making a call to someone’s voice mail — during a meeting, and the recording showed that staff meetings are disorganized. Donald Trump is planning to build a $125 million house in Palm Beach, and the locals aren’t happy about it. Damaging tape of Britney Spears “partying” with two dancers at a club may soon surface. A play about Spalding Gray shows he wasn’t a very attentive father. Brandon Davis tells his parents he’s an art dealer; he may actually be a different type of dealer. A married TV anchorwoman is about to get dumped for having an affair.
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Someone Please Keep Diane Sawyer BusyDiane Sawyer will take over World News from Charlie Gibson after the presidential election, but how will she entertain herself till then? Frank Capra wanted to make a sequel to It’s A Wonderful Life. Rod Stewart told Rolling Stone his daughter has a serious liver condition from partying too hard; she denies it. The owner of Cafe Fuego in the East Village, who’s also the boyfriend of Halle Berry, behaves just like all the ill-behaving ex-boyfriends of Halle Berry. Billionaire Russian heiress Anna Anisimova ditches New York for the warmer climes of L.A., plans to start a perfume company. Stephen Baldwin misbehaved on an airplane. Denis Leary made fun of Mel Gibson at the New York Comedy Festival. Borat had a few issues at the Wellington Hotel when he stayed there while filming a scene for his movie. Peter Cook still likes ‘em blonde. The makers of a documentary about the difficulties American soldiers after having readjusting to life at home are unable to get the Armed Forces to show it. Stylist Rachel Zoe angered Tom Ford when she left a dinner party he was throwing in L.A. Liz Smith has some advice for Britney Spears: Go on Oprah and tell the world, “I was unconscious for two years.” Evidently, Paula Abdul is Jewish.
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Amelia Earhart, Kim Jong-Il, and Paris HiltonEleanor Roosevelt had the hots for Amelia Earhart, according to Gore Vidal. Capitol Records CEO Andy Slater is running the company into the ground, according to an anonymous letter from underlings. Shanna Moakler says she didn’t punch Paris Hilton but hates her anyway. Martin Bashir’s daughter threw up, then he anchored Nightline. Roger Ailes thinks Kim Jong-Il’s pants don’t fit. Kathie Lee Gifford will star in Annie, wear orthopedic shoes. Palm Beach thinks Donald Trump’s American flag is too big. Carly Fiorina shares an agent with Cathie Black, does her own hair. The mother of Michael Jackson’s kids got her alimony reinstated. In 1912, Picasso, Chagall, Rivera, Soutine, and Modigliani shared a Paris apartment, which someone wants to make a movie about. Sienna Miller didn’t have her I.D. at a Pittsburgh bar, so she didn’t get served. Greg Kinnear, Jimmy Fallon, or Ed Cavanaugh might star in Young Frankenstein on Broadway. Bill Clinton said he liked Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President, so Simon & Schuster is printing more. People ate lunch at Michael’s on Tuesday. One of Ted Turner’s bison burgers food-poisoned top Iraq soldier General John Abizaid. Nick Lachey couldn’t wear his hat in Houston’s.
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Stalkers, Anchors, and a Show Tune–Lovin’ GeneralStalkers are threatening Audioslave front man Chris Cornell’s children, prompting him to install a high-end security system. Diane Sawyer skipped a GMA party, either because she was sick or because she’s leaving the show. General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, went to see Hairspray. Christie Brinkley makes wake-up calls at Hyatt hotels. Ellen Barkin didn’t want to work when she was married. Quentin Tarantino has a new girlfriend, who sucked his fingers. Barbra Streisand didn’t like her suite at the Carlyle. Neither Robin Williams nor Jon Stewart is running for president. Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett went to a Titanic exhibit in San Francisco. Cheeta, Tarzan’s retired, now-74-year-old chimp sidekick, wouldn’t sit for an interview, drank Diet Coke instead. Candace Bushnell’s Sirius radio show launches today. Hillary Swank went on vacation at Donatella Versace’s house. Diddy bought an eight-foot teddy bear. Bobby Kennedy’s family likes Bobby. Three West 27th Street club owners also have roles in movies. Jimmy Buffet takes vitamins, not Ecstasy.
