August 10, 1999

CELEBRITY COYNESS IS BUSTIN' OUT ALL OVER

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

CELEBRITY BEEFCAKE: As Ricky Martin continues to be the most important human being in history, the latest deal is that the current ish of W magazine is offering photos of the Latin lothario in a state of at least partial deshabille.

“This is Ricky at home," the singer tells the mag by way of commenting on the spread. "I go home to purify and not to feel judged. At home, it's T-shirts and slippers. Onstage it's much more makeup and gel, if you know what I mean." We don't, but that's fine with us.

FLACK'S JOB HANGS BY A THREAD: One day recently, a man who does publicity work for Michael Douglas and is named Allen Bury decided to be coy with the New York Post over whether his client and his client's latest girlfriend, Catherine Zeta-Jones, are going to announce engagement plans when they throw themselves a dual birthday bash in September.

"Well, September's a long way away," Allen said.

FLACK'S JOB HANGS BY A THREAD, PART 2: The very next day, Allen apparently felt constrained to clarify matters in the pages of USA Today.

"They're celebrating their mutual birthdays," Allen says, in a markedly different tone of voice, "and that's it. They're not engaged ... and have no plans to become engaged."

PROPER CELEBRITY ATTITUDE: People, like us, who make a living by providing the public with non-news on big celebrities should give an award to Brooke Shields, who continues to cooperate by airing her ex-marital laundry in a most gratifying manner.

"I'd come home from work and want to rant and rave about what happened on the set that day," Brooke tells Mirabella magazine with reference to her problems with soon-to-be-ex-husband Andre Agassi, "and it would be just noise to him. Meanwhile, he'd come home, and there'd be nobody in the hotel room." Surely there was a mint on his pillow, at least?

CELEBRITY ATTITUDE THAT LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED: We wish we could offer a similar endorsement of Keanu Reeves, but he is letting us all down when it comes to information about his impending fatherhood. While admitting that such a blessed event is in the pipeline, so to speak, he directs his spokeswoman to name no names.

"She's not a public figure," that person says of the pregnant person in question, "and there's no need to draw more attention than necessary to her at this time." Apparently Keanu and his people have never heard of a little thing called the First Amendment.

NEWS THAT MAKES LITTLE, IF ANY, SENSE: A report crosses our desk to the effect that Paul McCartney has plans to be in Hollywood Sept. 18 for the purpose of giving a Linda McCartney Award for work on animal rights to Pamela Anderson Lee.

CRUISE 'EYES' HIGH ELECTIVE OFFICE?: Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, creator of "Boogie Nights," is understandably pleased to have received a telephone call from Tom Cruise, saying he might like to appear in Paul's next flick, "Magnolia."

"It's like getting a phone call from the president," Paul tells a reporter. "If he hadn't called I just would have assumed he wasn't gettable for me."

TALK, TALK, TALK: One famous person who was especially conspicuous by his absence at Tina Brown's Talk magazine launch party on Liberty Island a couple of weeks ago is Donald Trump. That's not to say, though, that he wasn't invited - far from it.

"I've got my invitation in front of me," he assures a columnist. "They called me four times asking if I'd come. But I wouldn't - because I'm a huge fan of Rudy." (Apparently Donald's reference is to Rudolph Giuliani, currently the mayor of New York City and a possible competitor if and when Talk cover girl Hillary Clinton runs for senator.) "They're just trying to hype this party even further."

MEDICAL NEWS: By the way, Madonna was spotted at the Talk fest with one of her ankles out of commission, having, she said, "twisted it at Sting and Trudie's house in Tuscany."

Sting and Trudie who?

“I wasn't looking when I was walking down the steps." An old medical adage comes to mind: Don't do that.

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

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