Celebrity Scoop
Sally Jesse Raphael is planning to sue a tabloid for printing a story claiming that she had a mental breakdown. Revealing her lawsuit plans in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," the longtime talk show host said there isn't a shred of truth in the newspaper report.
Raphael said she's taking legal action because the false report, which said she was in the hospital, is harming her reputation and her effort to get back on the air. Wearing her trademark red glasses, Raphael said it's ridiculous to suggest that the cancellation of her show would have caused her to fall apart, as she's lost jobs many other times and in this case, was quite ready to kiss the show goodbye.
Michael Jackson will be making an unpaid appearance in Santa Maria, California, but it's not a benefit. The Gloved One is to testify in the trial of a lawsuit in which he is being sued by concert promoter Marcel Avram. Avram is suing in connection with two concerts he says Jackson was supposed to give on different sides of the International Date Line, to usher in the year 2000 and the end of the 20th century. The civil trial begins this week.
Imagine this: the Emmy awards deserting network TV. The Wall Street Journal reports the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is threatening to move the awards show to HBO, after the big four broadcast television networks refused to offer a higher price for the rights to broadcast the program. A switch to cable for the Emmy awards would not be without a touch of irony, since only a few years ago the Academy didn't even allow entries from programs shown only on cable. If HBO does ace out the networks, they could choose to fight back by withholding video clips and telling stars of network shows to boycott the awards show.
"Dawson's Creek" star Joshua Jackson is due in court next month on a misdemeanor charge, as a result of an incident last weekend at the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game in Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say the actor was drunk, grabbed a security guard around the neck and hit him, and caused more trouble later when, arriving in jail, he refused to take a blood test.
Moby, who is spending this holiday season speaking out in favor of sparing the lives of turkeys, is also in favor of extending human lives. The techno artist is among over a dozen celebrities and pop groups who have taped spots for a European Union anti-smoking campaign aimed at teens. The "Feel Free To Say No" ads will air on MTV Europe and national television networks. They'll also be shown in 5,000 theaters when "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" opens this Friday.
If you've secretly wondered what goes on in the brains of those guys who cancel your favorite TV shows and greenlight the new ones, you may want to hightail it to California. Legendary TV programmer Fred Silverman is ready to share some of his secrets, as a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television. Silverman's many programming hits included "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "All in the Family," "M*A*S*H*," "Laverne & Shirley," and "The Love Boat," and as an independent producer, his credits include "Matlock" and "In the Heat of the Night." His 15-week course on programming television begins in January.