March 14, 2000

Brad Pitt, Oscar to be in same room at same time

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

BRAD 'N OSCAR: We are very relieved and gratified to inform you that Brad Pitt has definitely agreed to appear as a presenter on this year's Oscar telecast, after several high-suspense months during which his involvement in the show was far from certain, even, dare we say it, in doubt.

Our breath comes easier as we see in USA Today that the show's co-producer, Lili Fini Zanuck, notes for the record that Brad will be a "show" as opposed to a "no-show."

"I think he had a change of heart," Lilli says. "He got tired of us begging him in the national press, on TV. Finally, I guess he relented. We couldn't be more thrilled."

Which goes double for us.

"He was one of the first people we went to."

Thanks, Lili, but that's all the space we have for Brad.

HEY, NORTON! Speaking of male movie stars who are prone to accelerate female heart rates, here's Edward Norton giving W magazine his thoughts on colleagues who like to sulk in the media spotlight.

"Without naming names," Edward observes, "It's so supremely ungrounded to do the miserable prince of darkness pose, where you agree to do an interview and then sit down and mumble ... to be rude and uncivil and inarticulate, and then allow yourself to be naked on the cover of Vanity Fair with your arms spread wide and your hair thrown back...."

At approximately this juncture, gossip dowager Liz Smith - from whose column we are filching this third-hand info - rushes in to state, both parenthetically and categorically, "It's NOT Brad Pitt." But how can she be sure?

DEPARTMENT OF ANTICLIMAX: Not long ago, pop star Michael Jackson had all but packed his overnight bag in preparation for a trip to Warsaw, Poland, where he was slated to engage in talks with officials about his dream of opening an amusement park in their city. Something untoward must have happened, though, because before Michael could even embark for Poland word came down that the whole project was a wash. A Michael
spokeswoman named Elizabeth Mather tells the press that her strange-looking employer is "very disappointed," and we'll bet that's an understatement.

THE NAME GAME: Below are interesting names of semi-interesting persons associated with highly interesting celebrities. Choose the correct match.

Roffredo Gaetani is

1. Madonna's masseur.
2. A consultant on The Sopranos."
3. Ivana Trump's latest boyfriend.

Sibi Blazic just got married to

1. Lili Fini Zanuck.
2. Edward Norton.
3. Christian Bale ("American Psycho").

Thomas Ropelewski, a writer, was recently in a film credit dispute with:

1. Bret Easton Ellis over "American Psycho."
2. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration over "Mission to Mars."
3. Rupert Everett over "The Next Best Thing."

THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING YOU: The answer to all three questions is 3. (A footnote: Rupert wanted co-writing credit for the above-named romantic comedy co-starring Madonna, but the Ropelewski fellow begged to differ, winning agreement from the Writers Guild of America. And you thought you had it rough.)

THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT: Somewhat to our surprise, Jennifer Lopez apparently is still in dire need of celebrity lessons. Here she has been favored with great, thoughtful advice from every quarter of the media in the wake of certain rocky patches encountered by her high-profile romance with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs - and what does she have to say about it?

"Their opinion of what my heart should do," she recently told a VH1 interviewer, "is not really my concern." Maybe commentators can file a class-action lawsuit against her.

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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