Trimspa defends Anna Nicole Smith
The American Music Awards may be over, but the buzz over Anna Nicole Smith‘s odd behavior at the Sunday night event isn’t.
The hubbub began when the newly svelte Smith stepped on to the stage to introduce hip-hop artist Kanye West. “Like my body?” the former Playboy model turned Trimspa spokesperson slurred while attempting to strike a pose. West’s band, meanwhile, was cued to start playing before Smith was able to finish stumbling through her preamble, which host Jimmy Kimmel dubbed the “performance of the night.” Smith‘s eccentric conduct snowballed during yesterday’s post-show coverage, leaving many speculating on the entertainer’s condition and her continued association with Trimspa, the diet plan that helped her shed close to 70 pounds. The star of the reality series The Anna Nicole Show told Entertainment Tonight reporter Kevin Frazier she takes two pills a day to maintain her weight. “Clearly, last night’s award ceremony has become more about Anna’s introduction of Kanye West than about who won the prized awards, which is unfortunate,” Alex Goen, founder and CEO of Trimspa, said in a statement Monday, adding: “Like all our customers, we stand by Anna. More important, we stand with her as our friend.” Smith‘s weight loss garnered media attention with Trimspa’s TV ad campaign, in which she tells paparazzi on a red carpet how she lost all that weight: “Trimspa, baby!”
David Lee Roth training as paramedic
Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth is reportedly training to become a paramedic. The AP reports Roth, 50, has been riding along with ambulance crews in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn several nights a week. “I have been on over 200 individual rides now,” Roth told the New York Post Tuesday. “Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me.” Roth, who said he did not want the neighborhoods he was working in named so that he would not draw attention to himself or co-workers, even saved the life of a heart attack victim several weeks ago in the Bronx by using a defibrillator. “You would never know you were dealing with a rock-‘n’-roll guy,” Roth’s EMS consultant and tutor Linda Reissman said. “His commitment really is touching. He wants to help people.”
Polanski wants to sue Vanity Fair from abroad
Lawyers for Roman Polanski, who lives in France, will ask England’s highest court Wednesday to overturn previous court rulings barring the director from suing Vanity Fair via video link from Paris, Reuters reports. Polanski wants to sue the magazine over an article that claimed he propositioned a woman in a New York restaurant on his way to the funeral of his wife, actress Sharon Tate, who was murdered in 1969. But Polanski is scared to come to Britain for fear of being extradited to the United States as a fugitive from justice. In 1977, Polanski pleaded guilty in a California court to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl, but fled the country before sentencing. The Court of Appeal ruled last year Polanski should not be allowed to testify from Paris because it would be allowing him to use judicial process when it suits him, but avoid it when it does not.
Garrett absent from Raymond honoree bash
The cast and crew of Everybody Loves Raymond were honored at the Museum of Television and Radio’s annual fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Hotel Monday night–minus co-star Brad Garrett, The Associated Press reports. Garrett’s conspicuous absence was a reminder of last year’s bitter salary dispute between CBS and the cast, who secured generous increases for the show’s 10th and final season. CBS chief Leslie Moonves joked: “Negotiating with Doris (Roberts) is like negotiating with your mother … You can’t win. Negotiating with Brad (Garrett) is like negotiating with John Gotti.” Star Ray Romano, one of TV’s highest-paid performers with a per-episode salary of more than $2 million, said of Moonves: “Like my father, I go to him when I need money.”
UPN brings back TLC
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, the remaining members of the hip-hop trio TLC, have teamed up with UPN for a reality series titled, R U the Girl With T-Boz & Chilli. Reuters reports the series will focus on resurrecting the ’90s group–who tragically lost their third member, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, in 2002 after she died in a car crash–and will go through the rigorous challenges of finding a replacement who will join them for a concert and recording session. “We want to find someone with the right chemistry and magic to work with us,” Watkins and Thomas said. “We have been blessed with great success, and this is a chance for our fans to join us as we give someone a once in a lifetime opportunity to fulfill their dream.”
More on reality television…
Former supermodel Rachel Hunter is set to join TBS’ reality series The Real Gilligan’s Island as pampered movie star Ginger, the AP reports. Hunter, who is also Rod Stewart’s ex-wife, “shares the flightiness and aloofness of Ginger,” a statement on the TBS Web site said. The series features several stranded castaways, including a skipper, first mate, professor, movie star, millionaire and his wife, who must pool their resources to get themselves off of a deserted island–including challenges modeled after episodes from the original 1960s series Gilligan’s Island. The show also stars Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann, the pretty but unworldly young woman from Kansas.
Peter Fonda files suit against clothing company
Actor Peter Fonda has sued Dragonfly Clothing Inc. for more than $123,000, claiming the clothing company violated a licensing agreement that allows it to market apparel bearing his image, the AP reports. According to an amendment agreement attached to the lawsuit, the Fullerton, Calif.-based Dragonfly failed to pay Fonda guaranteed minimum royalties. Dragonfly markets clothing bearing the logos or likenesses of a number of famous personalities, including Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, James Dean and others.
Kit Bowen contributed to this report.
