SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 20, 2000 – A serious announcement from MTV’s resident wise guy. Canadian-grown comic Tom Green, 28, of the self-titled “Tom Green Show,” is battling testicular cancer. “Entertainment Tonight” was taping an interview with the entertainer this afternoon at a hospital. Portions of it will air on Tuesday’s episode. An “ET” spokeswoman said Green, known for outrageous stunts on his show as well as the 1999 novelty hit “The Bum Bum Song,” appeared to be quite serious.
Doctors have termed Green‘s cancer as being curable.
“As a form of therapy and education, Green is preparing a one-hour special for MTV documenting his recent procedures, using his signature brand of humor to inform the public about cancer,” publicist Marleah Leslie said in a statement.
According to “ET,” Green sought medical treatment following ShoWest, the movie-exhibitors’ convention, held earlier this month in Las Vegas. He first underwent surgery last Monday. A second trip under the knife is scheduled.
Green has been romantically linked of late with Drew Barrymore. The actress was said to be with him at the hospital.
Green will next be seen on the big screen in the campus comedy “Road Trip.”
BUM PIPES: Salsa star Marc Anthony (“I Need to Know”) is scheduled to return to the stage in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, after nixing two weekend shows in St. Louis and Atlanta due to a hospital stay for a bad reaction to sore-throat medication.
UPDATE: The 28-year-old stepbrother of Leonardo DiCaprio is a free man after prosecutors declined to press charges pending further investigation of the alleged domestic violence case. Actor Adam Farrar (“Pups“) was released on Friday. He’d been held in a Los Angeles jail since last Wednesday on $1 million bail.
IRONY WATCH: In a Los Angeles court Friday, sitcom star Wallace Langham, who plays a gay man on NBC’s “Veronica’s Closet,” pleaded no contest to beating up a gay man in the bakery section of a Hollywood supermarket.
YOU MUST SUFFER FOR ART: A stuntman for “Walker, Texas Ranger” made a trip to the hospital last week after being injured on the Lone Star set of the Chuck Norris‘ CBS series. The man was said to be in good condition.
HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING: Director Anthony Minghella and producer Saul Zaentz are complaining they’ve yet to be paid for a little film called “The English Patient.” Today’s Hollywood Reporter says the two men deferred their fees to get the film made, and even though the movie went on to sweep the 1997 Academy Awards and gross $231.7 million worldwide, they’ve been told the flick still bleeds red ink.
OSCAR WATCH: Add Angela Bassett and Morgan Freeman to the presenters’ roll at Sunday’s Academy Awards.
MILESTONE: Oscar-winner William Hurt turns 50 today.
