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Showbiz Tonight
War of the Words Between Trump, Stewart; Clubs Under Investigation for Serving Alcohol to Underage Star; Kid Rock Wins Victory in Sex Video Battle; Powerball Winners Make Public Appearance; Kevin Smith Dishes on New Films
Aired February 22, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
SIBILA VARGAS, CO-HOST: And I`m Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Trump trashes Martha. Tonight, Trump`s fired up words for the domestic diva.
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: You`re fired.
HAMMER: He calls her a liar, and that`s just the beginning.
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: I`m disappointed. I`m hurt.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the latest on this shocking mogul melee.
Plus, are underage stars breaking the law? Tonight, a startling report that claims some of Hollywood`s biggest celebrities are illegally partying and drinking at clubs, and cops are just looking the other way. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates.
Also tonight, you`ll meet people who just can`t seem to throw stuff out. Their homes are a mess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have thrown my stuff away before, and I`ve actually gone back to the trash to get it.
HAMMER: And it`s turned their lives upside-down. Tonight, the obsession with keeping everything you got. A SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
EDIE FALKO, ACTRESS: Hi, I`m Edie Falko. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Hello, I`m Sibila Vargas, live in Hollywood.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer, live in New York City.
Sibila, we`ve got ourselves an all-out war going on tonight, The Donald against Martha.
VARGAS: Quite a battle, A.J.
When we first heard about the letter Donald Trump wrote to Martha Stewart about her failed version of "The Apprentice," we could hardly believe it.
HAMMER: But it turns out it`s all true. The letter, the real thing. Today the war of words didn`t die down one bit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): The opening credits of "The Apprentice" read "It`s nothing personal, it`s just business." But now a feud between the host of the original "Apprentice," Donald Trump and host of the recently cancelled "Apprentice" sequel, Martha Stewart, has now gotten very personal, very nasty and very public. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT brings you the latest.
TRUMP: It was Martha`s fault.
STEWART: I`m hurt.
HAMMER: There may be plenty of hurt to go around in the battle of these former allies. Just a few months ago, everything seemed peachy between Stewart and Trump as they teamed up to form what they hoped would be a new "Apprentice" franchise.
TRUMP: Two amazing "Apprentices": my original "Apprentice" plus "Apprentice: Martha Stewart." It just doesn`t get any better than that.
STEWART: Donald, it can always get better.
HAMMER: And they both told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that they were optimistic about their "Apprentice" collaboration.
TRUMP: I have no doubt when Martha does the show it`s going to be also tremendously successful.
STEWART: We`ve known each other and always liked each other.
HAMMER: What a different a TV season makes. NBC ended up saying...
TRUMP: You`re fired.
HAMMER: ... to Martha Stewart`s "Apprentice" after a single season, where it averaged just 6.8 million viewers a week, well below the 10.7 million viewers Trump`s "Apprentice" got.
In this week`s "Newsweek," Martha had her own explanation for the show`s failure. She says, quote, "Having two `Apprentices` was as unfair to him as it was unfair to me, but Donald really wanted to stay on."
NICKI GOSTIN, "NEWSWEEK": Martha Stewart commented in "Newsweek" magazine that originally the plan was for her to fire Donald Trump on her show and then just have her version of "The Apprentice" on air and not have Donald Trump`s.
HAMMER: The Donald did not take too kindly to that. He fired back in an open letter Tuesday that SHOWBIZ TONIGHT obtained, reading, quote, "Dear Martha, it`s about time you started taking responsibility for your failed version of `The Apprentice.` Your performance was terrible in that the show lacked mood, temperament and just about everything else a show needs for success. I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it, and your low ratings bore me out."
Ouch.
GOSTIN: If you look at the history of Donald Trump, when he gets into fights with people, he gets really nasty and vicious.
HAMMER: Trump got even nastier in the letter, taking a swipe at the stock sale that got Martha arrested. About Martha`s charge that she was supposed to fire him, he writes, quote, "Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone. The only difference is that was more obvious. Putting your show on the air was a mistake for everybody, especially NBC. In any event, my great loyalty to you has gone totally unappreciated. Sincerely, Donald J. Trump."
And Trump can`t resist a parting shot at Martha`s daytime talk show, which is still on the air. In his postscript he writes, "Be careful, or I will do a syndicated daytime show, perhaps called `The Boardroom,` and further destroy the meager ratings you already have."
Tuesday night, Trump called into CNBC`s "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch," who asked Donald the obvious question.
DONNY DEUTSCH, HOST, CBNC`S "THE BIG IDEA": Why are you so pissed off here?
TRUMP: Well, because I read a certain article over the weekend where Martha is blaming me for the failure of her show. And I`m saying give me a break. I was the only one that really touted her, myself and Mark Burnett. We touted Martha. And that`s what we got.
So I can sit back, like most people, and just say, you know, let it run; nobody`s going to notice it. Or I can attack. I just happen to be a warrior. I just happen to be somebody that believes in attacking.
HAMMER: Martha attacked back late last night, issuing a statement that read, quote, "The letter is so mean-spirited and reckless that I almost can`t believe my longtime friend Donald Trump wrote it."
STEWART: Before we get to my first guest, I want to address what`s happening with Donald Trump.
HAMMER: And on her daytime show this morning, Martha brought up the spat.
STEWART: I`m disappointed, I`m hurt and I`m really very upset at my longtime friend. And that`s really all I want to say. Enough about it.
HAMMER (on camera): Sure, Donald Trump is no stranger to public feuds. This guy has taken shots at everyone from former New York Mayor Ed Koch to current President George W. Bush. But this Martha melee comes at a particularly opportune time for The Donald.
TRUMP: And who will be the apprentice?
HAMMER (voice-over): The fifth season of Trump`s "Apprentice" debuts on Monday, not a bad time to get your name and your show onto the front pages.
JAMIE BUFALINO, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Any publicity is good publicity, especially when Donald Trump is involved. He doesn`t really shy away from getting his name in the papers.
HAMMER: And whether or not this is the really end of a friendship or a publicity driven clash of ego driven titans, this feud may be almost as entertaining as a contentious boardroom session.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it was very clear.
GOSTIN: It`s fun to read. Everyone loves reading about a feud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Here`s a big shocker, the sniping continues. Trump is now saying he never wanted there to be an "Apprentice" spin-off in the first place, and he relented only because NBC wanted it.
Martha Stewart is pointing out that her daytime show, the same one that Trump dissed, has just been nominated for six Daytime Emmy awards.
VARGAS: Well, now we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Donald rips into Martha: was he out of line? Vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. And send us your e-mail at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts later in the show.
HAMMER: Well, tonight big news to tell about in our "Legal Lowdown." There`s now an investigation into some underage A-list celebrities like singer Jessie McCartney. The question: are hot clubs in hot water for letting them in and possibly letting them drink?
And Kid Rock wins a small victory against a company trying to sell his explicit sex tape.
Live in Hollywood, Harvey Levin, managing editor of the entertainment news site TMZ.com.
Hello, Harvey.
HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Hey, A.J.
HAMMER: Well, let`s get into it now. TMZ.com photographed 19-year- old singer and actor Jessie McCartney. Let`s throw that picture up. He`s in a 21 and over hot spot in L.A. There he is in this place called Mood.
Now you can see he`s holding a beer. It`s not clear, obviously -- it`s a still photo -- not clear that he`s drinking it, but he`s got his hands wrapped around it.
And as a result of this investigation that TMZ is doing, I mentioned, on underage drinking in Hollywood, California state agency that enforces underage drinking laws actually told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that they have now launched an investigation. So this is a pretty big deal. Fill us in on it.
LEVIN: Yes, let me tell you what`s going on. We`ve been looking at this for about a month now. We have video of lots of underage stars going into some of Hollywood`s biggest night clubs.
And you know, the club in question here, it`s called Mood. It`s a very hot club. And we`ve got video of stars going in. And they`re not allowed because you can`t let somebody in 21 and under.
In terms of Jessie McCartney, one of the TMZ staffers saw him drinking that beer. So you know, the picture itself is pretty telling.
But we did an investigation and found that Mood, this night club, has never once been cited by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of California. Not once. What this board seems to focus on are these mom and pop liquor stores. And they go out and they do these sting operations on them, putting decoys in the liquor store to buy booze when they`re underage.
But they`re not focusing on any of these night clubs where it`s just frankly flagrant, A.J. And it`s really an issue of whether these stars are, if you will, getting celebrity justice treatment.
HAMMER: And what the reason is that the cops seem to be turning the other way.
We need to point out, by the way, that we called Jessie`s record label, Hollywood Records. No comment from them. We called Mood. Nothing from them. We didn`t hear back from them.
And this investigation went on to find out it`s not unusual for underage -- other underage stars, not just Jessie McCartney. I mean, there are quite a few that you`ve actually seen out there in these clubs.
LEVIN: Yes. We have video of Lindsay Lohan, who is 19 years old, going into Mood. We`ve got video of Mary Kate Olson going in. We`ve got video of Frankie Muniz, who is 20, coming out. So these stars not only go in, but they`re given this kind of VIP treatment.
And we had a promoter tell us, "Look, there are a lot of these clubs that want these underage celebrities, because it makes the club hotter." But they`re basically doing it because they`re allowed to get away with it. And the ABC, frankly, has just never focused on this. And the only reason, frankly, they`re doing it now, A.J., is because we put calls into them beginning a month ago, and they realize their feet are now to the fire.
HAMMER: And Harvey, I should also point out here we put calls into Lindsay Lohan`s people and Frankie Muniz`s people and also did not hear back from them.
All right. Well, let`s move on to Kid Rock. In a small victory today, Kid Rock has this Internet video, or a video he`s trying to keep off the Internet. It`s this explicit sex tape, I guess, that allegedly shows him and rocker Scott Stapp from the band Creed having sex with a bunch of different women. Tell us about the victory he scored today.
LEVIN: Well, basically, he got a temporary restraining order from the judge, who said that there might be an argument here that his right of privacy was violated. And his lawyer came into court and said even rock stars have the right of privacy. So you know, at least temporarily this is blocked.
But it really is crazy when you think about it, A.J. How do all of these tapes get stolen? I mean, of all thing to kind of leave out there that, you know -- how are all these sex tapes stolen from these rock stars?
HAMMER: And I know that this is the same company that he`s involved with this legal dispute with that got the Paris Hilton sex tape out. So you know, there is some coincidence. I don`t know. You know, we`ll continue to follow the story, and I`m sure Kid Rock doesn`t want it out there at all.
Harvey Levin, managing editor from TMZ.com, thank you as always.
LEVIN: See you, A.J.
VARGAS: Well, we know the person or persons that are a whole lot richer tonight. Hear from the winner, or winners of the record-breaking Powerball.
HAMMER: Plus, why Kevin Smith is playing a moose, an animated moose. We`re going to also have something about his long awaited singles (ph) to the cult classic "Clerks". Kevin Smith, live in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. That`s coming up next.
We also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have thrown my things away before, and I`ve actually gone back to the trash to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP0
VARGAS: Tonight you`ll meet people who just can`t seem to throw stuff out. The obsession with keeping everything you got, a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report, still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VARGAS: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Sibila Vargas live in Hollywood. And you are watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
It is everybody`s fantasy, to win a lottery so big, so fantastic, you can go in to work and tell your boss, "See you." Today eight lucky folks who work in a Nebraska meat packing plant are just those guys. Today they revealed they are the winners of the Powerball and the biggest lottery jackpot ever, $365 million.
After all is said and done, the payout, taxes, they`ll each pocket $15.5 million and, needless to say, they are ecstatic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GEHLE, LOTTERY WINNER: You never dream of something like this happening, and a bunch of cameras. I`m not used to it. Makes me nervous. But -- but it`s just -- it`s amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you from Nebraska?
ROBERT STEWART, LOTTERY WINNER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is your family excited for you?
STEWART: Definitely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you single?
STEWART: No.
ERIC ZORNES, LOTTERY WINNER: I`m just a little excited. I mean, that`s about all I can say. What can do you with that kind of money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your life going to change? Are you still working?
ZORNES: No. I been retired for about four days now.
MICHAEL TERPSTRA, LOTTERY WINNER: What are you going to do? "I`m going to buy an island; I`m going to buy an airplane." Reality, gee, not a fan of flying, don`t really like water. I have no idea what I`m going to do.
CHASTITY RUTJEN, LOTTERY WINNER: We haven`t had much time to really think about what we wanted to do. We only been thinking about getting that ticket turned in. So now we can step back and see what we want to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything come to mind yet or is it still a blur?
RUTJEN: It`s still a blur. We`re still thinking we`re going to wake up from a dream or something, and it`s not all true. Trying to grasp the fact that we`re millionaires now, so...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: They are some lucky people. The chances that they would hit were slim; one in 146 million are some tough odds and they beat them. Congratulations.
Tonight I want to get into a "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with a guy who probably feels sometimes like he won the lottery, Kevin Smith. He`s an actor. He`s a director. We`ve known and loved him since he brought us the indie film, now cult classic "Clerks," and he`s someone we consider a very good friend here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Kevin Smith, joining us live from our Hollywood studios.
Always a pleasure to welcome you to the program, Kevin.
KEVIN SMITH, DIRECTOR: Always a pleasure to be back. I did feel like a winner until I saw those cats walk away with $22 million dollar apiece. Now I feel like a loser.
HAMMER: But you know what? Your jacket says you`re a director, so you can`t be doing all that bad.
SMITH: I have to -- I have to identify myself. But isn`t it nice that those cats won`t be having to pack meat in a can anymore? Good for them.
HAMMER: And it was really interesting to listen to them in their press conference today, saying, "You know what? I`m going to actually try to keep the money and not throw it all away."
SMITH: Hopefully, they won`t all be dead within the year.
HAMMER: Now -- now with this new movie you`re involved with, "Doogal," are you going to be getting another jacket that says "Moose," because you`re voicing a moose, Kevin?
SMITH: Yes, this time around -- I`m typecast. We need you to play a large character. And I was like, said, "All right, I think I can pull that off."
HAMMER: How do you feel about the characterization of being a moose?
SMITH: You know, it was -- I went in there looking to give them, like, a little Robin Williams type performance, over the top animated. And they said, "Just do your voice. You`re not talented enough to be a character." So what you`re hearing right now, that`s my voice as a moose.
HAMMER: Nice vote of confidence from the folks there. Well, you`re working with some pretty talented people: Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Jon Stewart among them. He`s the villain in this movie. And Jon Stewart getting set for a very big gig. A week from Sunday, he`s going to be hosting the Oscars. What do you think about that? What`s your take?
SMITH: I`m not familiar with that show. What, is that like some kind of new WB/UPN combo.
HAMMER: You may get invited one year to the Academy Awards, Kevin.
SMITH: That`s never going to happen, sir. I`ve got a better chance of winning that lottery, that Powerball than I do of ever being on that stage
HAMMER: But you know, it`s funny that you say that, because you come from the indie world. What did it cost you to make "Clerks"? What was it, 12 years ago since it came out?
SMITH: "Clerks" 12 years ago cost me 27,575 bucks to make.
HAMMER: All right. Well, it`s a little different than that, going into the Oscars this year. But if you look, if you combine all of the budgets from all of the best picture nominations, all the films that were nominated in that category, not even a portion of what a movie like "King Kong," which got very little recognition, cost to make. What do you -- what do you make of the fact that these somewhat art house films got the kind of recognition that they`re getting this year?
SMITH: I wish -- I just wish the heck I hadn`t set the first film in a convenience store. I wish I`d put it on a mountain and had a couple of gay cowboys really going at it.
HAMMER: But see, now you`ve been inspired by that. Now you`re getting into an independent film with a gay theme? You`re on that bandwagon.
SMITH: Are you saying that "Doogal" is a gay themed independent film?
HAMMER: No, I was actually talking about -- I believe the name, is it "Gay Bars"? Is that the name of the film?
SMITH: There`s a flick we produced called "Small Town Gay Bar." Just played at Sundance, a documentary that my friend Malcolm Ingram but together. A title like "Small Town Gay Bar" doesn`t leave much to the imagination. As you suspect, it`s a film about a shark, a giant shark that terrorizes a small fishing village.
Not really. It`s about small town gay bars in rural Mississippi.
HAMMER: We`ll be looking for Academy Award nods for that. But now we`re also looking forward to "Clerks II." Is it still called "Passion of the Clerks?"
SMITH: No, we dropped the "Passion of" part. It`s just flat-out "Clerks II." So the movie`s strong enough to be just "Clerks II."
HAMMER: What was your budget for this one?
SMITH: This summer we had about five million bucks to play with. Which is nice. You can pay the cast and the crew and put people up and get me some equipment and what not. But not enough money to get into, like, trouble like "Jersey Girl" kind of trouble, you know?
HAMMER: Won`t get in trouble again?
SMITH: No, at five million bucks, nobody could go see it at the movie theaters and we`d still make money on video. So...
HAMMER: I understand you`re absolutely thrilled with it. Real quick, because we`ve got to go, what`s the expected release date for "Clerks II"?
SMITH: August 18 for that. Friday, this Friday for "Doogal": cartoon, me, pimping a G-rated movie. Who`d have thunk it. And then later on, August 18 the unrated "Clerks," because I don`t think we`re going to get a rating on it at all. Too intense.
HAMMER: Kevin Smith, always a pleasure to see you.
SMITH: Thanks for having me, Hammer.
HAMMER: Appreciate you keeping the language clean, too.
SMITH: Hammer, don`t hurt them, Hammer.
HAMMER: You can now -- you can now hear Kevin voicing a moose -- certainly is my call (ph) -- "Doogal" in theaters on Friday, as Kevin mentioned.
VARGAS: Well, if you`re a fan of ABC`s hit show "Lost" you know there`s some type of monster on the lose. But what you might not be aware of is how dangerous this monster has already proven to be, a fact that maybe was "lost" on star Matthew Fox when he stopped by the "Late Show with David Letterman."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, CBS`S "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Now, I want -- I don`t want to give away too much about the show. It`s just now in the middle of its second season?
MATTHEW FOX, ACTOR: Yes, it is.
LETTERMAN: We have a clip here. Do you know what we`re going to see from the show?
FOX: No, I don`t.
LETTERMAN: I think it features you, and I think you`re -- you don`t know where you are. And -- well, anyway, I think it`s self-explanatory. I think it`s coming up next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That`s surprising, the show is always full of unexpected plot twists.
Well, coming up, how a co-worker who had a sex change inspired Dolly Parton`s Oscar nominated song in tonight`s "SHOWBIZ Showcase."
VARGAS: Also, Edie Falko plays the multi-tasking mob mom of "The Sopranos." How she`s handling real-life motherhood. And will she reveal any secrets about the hit HBO show? Find out in the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Plus, we`ll also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bought these lamps at a friend`s yard sale. Wonderful lamps. I`ll use those some day. Here they are, seven, eight years later
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: This man hasn`t let anyone in his home for more than 30 years old. But tonight, we`ll take you inside and show you just why he can`t throw anything out. It`s a startling SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VARGAS: Tonight, your first look at Dolly Parton`s new music video. It`s called "Travelin Thru," and it`s off the soundtrack of "Transamerica," the movie that Felicity Huffman got a best actress Oscar nomination for playing a transsexual.
Parton will be performing the song at the Oscars. She`s nominated for best song. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: Parton says she was inspired by a co-worker who was once a woman, and now a man. "Transamerica" is about a preoperative male-to- female transsexual who takes on the road with her estranged teenage son.
On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" we got to find out if Dolly would ever want to make the switch herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, NBC`S "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Do you ever think it would be fun to be a man?
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: Me? No!
LENO: Did you ever wonder what that would be like?
PARTON: No, I wouldn`t want to be a man. There`d be nothing to lift and separate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: But even if she became a man, she`d still want to wear all the makeup. I`m certain of it.
Lisa Marie Presley gets married in a secret ceremony. We`ve got the very first pictures of her wedding, next.
VARGAS: Also more on the Trump versus Martha mogul melee. The Donald`s diss on Martha Stewart, just in time for the new season of "The Apprentice." More than just a coincidence? Hmmm, we`ll investigate, next.
HAMMER: Tonight you`ll meet people who just can`t seem to throw stuff out. The obsession with keeping everything they`ve got. It`s a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report on this startling illness. That`s still to come. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, 31 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
VARGAS: And I`m Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. You`re watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
HAMMER: All right, Sibila, Martha versus the Donald. You know, Donald Trump announced and wildly promoted the new Martha Stewart spin-off of his show, "The Apprentice." His show was very successful. He said her show would be very successful; it wasn`t.
So Martha said, well, Donald is really to blame here. And Donald said, well, Martha is to blame. The show sucked. It`s essentially what he said. Letters are flying back and forth. They`re all fired up about it. We`re going to get into it and tell you what was said and what it all really means in just a few minutes.
VARGAS: Not a good thing to piss off the Donald. I wouldn`t want to be on his bad side.
(LAUGHTER)
Not a good thing, that`s right.
And also, we have another story that would probably make Martha Stewart`s skin crawl, A.J. It`s about two hoarders. And this is a story that you have to see to believe. Their homes are wrecks, and they`re destroying the people around them. That`s coming up a little later.
But first, here are tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
Tonight, your first look at Lisa Marie Presley`s wedding photos. Presley married music producer Michael Lockwood last month in a secret ceremony in Japan. Tonight, we can show you the picture from "People" magazine.
Priscilla Presley walked her daughter down the aisle, and the guests, as well as the wedding party, wore kimonos.
Some James Bond fans are calling for a boycott of the new Bond movie, "Casino Royale." They`ve started a Web site, CraigNotBond.com, protesting the casting of Daniel Craig as the new Bond. They say he`s not tall, dark and handsome, as Bond fans have come to expect from the likes of Pierce Brosnan.
And the war of the words between Donald Trump and the Martha is heating up. Trump says that Stewart`s version of "The Apprentice" was a mistake and that Stewart should take responsibility for her, quote, "failed show." That`s after Stewart said her show should have been the only "Apprentice" and was supposed to start with her firing Trump on the air.
HAMMER: So it`s the battle of the bosses, but has Trump crossed the line? Joining us live from Hollywood, Craig Tomashoff. He`s the West Coast bureau chief for "TV Guide." Joining me live here in New York, Sarah Bernard, a contributing editor for "New York" magazine.
This is crazy.
SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: It is crazy.
HAMMER: I love this story. I can sink my teeth right into this. I actually spoke with Donald Trump just as he had first announced Martha Stewart "The Apprentice." And, of course, you know, he was in his best spin mode, but he was saying how great Martha was going to be. He was very excited about it. He thought this was going to be the greatest thing and a great complement to his show.
So I`m wondering: Is he kind of covering his butt here? And, Craig, let me put this out to you. Donald didn`t have a great season with his last season of "The Apprentice." It didn`t do all that well. And so now it seems the finger-pointing is going to her, because, you know, him saying she had an inferior product here. What do you think about that?
CRAIG TOMASHOFF, TV GUIDE: I think, you know, the timing -- strangely, Donald`s next "Apprentice" is coming on the air in just a few days. So, you know, nice timing for him to start getting into this.
I think he`s just doing what he does. This is what we expect of him. It takes a lot to actually make Martha look like the sympathetic one, so I think we have to give him credit for that. I think it`s -- in a way, this is just -- even though he`s complaining about her, it`s all about him. And that`s sort of the goal, just makes it fun.
HAMMER: And what do you think about that, Sarah?
BERNARD: Well, I was thinking -- just how you were describing, right in the beginning, in September, when they were promoting the show, I was remembering all those times where they had these publicity stunts. And they were talking about how fantastic the other was. They were almost, like, embracing, practically in the commercials.
But, you know, we probably should have seen this coming a little bit, because it is the two biggest egos -- I mean, two of the biggest egos in New York City. How could they possibly have let one take over for the other? And how could Donald really have stepped aside and ever let Martha fire him? I mean, I don`t know really if that was the plan or not, but it`s just it`s so improbably.
HAMMER: The other thing, let me just point out, that is not getting a lot of play here, and I think is important to point out, is the fact that Donald Trump was one of the executive producers of "Martha Stewart: The Apprentice." Well, in his letter, he quite clearly says that he thought this show was terrible right from the beginning.
So wouldn`t you say, Craig, that he has some responsibility to bear here?
TOMASHOFF: It`s actually interesting to me, because he prides himself on the guy with the best business decisions. You know, he`s the guy who knows how to do this.
I mean, the whole premise of "The Apprentice" is, you know, you`re the smart guy, you can figure out what everybody should do before they do it. This kind of undercuts that a whole lot.
But I think, when you look back, if you look back a year ago when everybody heard that these two were going to be working together, you know, it`s sort of like having the in-laws over for drinks. You know it`s going to end badly. You just want to sit back and wait for -- it`s Freddie vs. Jason, you know? You don`t have any rooting interest; you just want to enjoy the good battle.
BERNARD: But, honestly, there were some things about Donald`s letter. He was actually pointing out that Alexis Stewart, Martha`s daughter, was practically mute on the show and never really said much. Now, that is really harsh for him to mention, because obviously she`s there for many reasons, you know, trying to support her mom.
But he was also kind of right. I mean, there were legitimate problems with the show, one of them being that the other sort of henchmen in the boardroom were really boring.
HAMMER: Yes, so Martha also, because she was selecting who those people were, bears some of the blame. I just want to point something out from this letter, because the letter was really quite mean.
He made some very, what I consider, unfair comments about her stock sale that ultimately landed her in jail. But let me read one of the quotes from the letter. As his postscript, he says, "P.S. Be careful, or I will do a syndicated daytime show, perhaps called `The Boardroom,` and further destroy the meager ratings you already have."
So, Craig, he not only has belittled her here; he has actually threatened Martha Stewart.
TOMASHOFF: Yes. And actually sort of ignoring one fact to me, that her daytime show is actually doing pretty well and got nominated for daytime Emmy awards...
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: Got nominated for six daytime Emmys.
TOMASHOFF: He`s sort of ignoring the fact that she`s actually doing pretty well with that show. And, I mean, I`m a little surprised. I mean, nobody is used to the ego of the Donald taking over. This is a little bit more extreme, but I just can`t help but think, you know, that there`s a little bit of self-serving interest here...
HAMMER: Sure.
TOMASHOFF: ... because who`s not going to watch next week, you know...
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: That`s exactly it. And I`ve got to wrap it up. But yes or no, Sarah, you know, "The Apprentice" fires up next week. Is this all just a big publicity stunt?
BERNARD: I think I got to say yes. We got the Donald baby coming up. We got the show. We got a lot of things that, you know -- he needs our attention.
HAMMER: Not just a giant conspiracy theory that we`ve put together here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Craig Tomashoff joining us from -- where are you joining us from again?
(CROSSTALK)
TOMASHOFF: This would be lovely Hollywood.
HAMMER: From Hollywood. And Sarah Bernard here in New York. Thanks for being with us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Sometimes I just lose my mind.
That leads us to our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Donald rips into Martha: Was he out of line? Keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight or write to us at showbiztonight@CNN.com. We`ll get into your e-mails a bit later in the show.
VARGAS: Coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHLEEN HASKIN, HOARDER: People have thrown my things away before, and I`ve actually gone back to the trash to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: An amazing look inside the secret world of people who can`t throw things away, and how the compulsive hoarding takes over their lives and their homes.
HAMMER: And a new role for Edie Falco that`s a far cry from how you`re used to seeing her look as Carmela Soprano. Edie Falco coming up in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VARGAS: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news show. I`m Sibila Vargas.
Tonight, an amazing look into the world far beyond standard packrat behavior. For some people, hoarding everything from knickknacks to newspaper clippings can become kind of a sickness. And pretty soon, it takes over their lives and their homes.
Here`s CNN`s Ted Rowlands for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the outside, this home seems to fit its suburban Illinois neighborhood. But inside, you immediately see that Kathleen Haskin has a problem.
KATHLEEN HASKIN, HOARDER: My paperwork`s over in this direction. Some of this is books that I just recently got, because I definitely hoard books.
ROWLANDS: Kathleen is a hoarder. Nearly every room in her house is stacked with things she`s collected and won`t let go, clothes she`s never worn, presents she`s never given, knickknacks, furniture. It`s endless.
HASKIN: I also hoard -- I love tapes. I love music. I like any self-help, self-development things, so I have a lot of tapes. Haven`t put all the holiday decorations away yet, so I`ve got a pile there. You know, the things have a tendency to get knocked over.
ROWLANDS: There`s laundry on the floor, some of it clean. The kitchen is overflowing. Even Kathleen`s bed is full of stuff.
(on-screen): How do you sleep in this bed? Where do you -- how do you do it?
HASKIN: Well, what I usually do, when it`s time to go to bed, I just move this stuff. This stuff I put on the bed as I`m sorting, but I just move everything off, usually, like this.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Kathleen says last summer she slept outside on this swing because her house was so full. She says over the years people have tried to help her.
HASKIN: People have thrown my things away before, and I`ve actually gone back to the trash to get it, to retrieve it, and brought back the whole trash bag in and gone through it. And one time I even climbed in a dumpster because they through my things in a dumpster.
ROWLANDS: Kathleen is a nurse, twice divorced, and mother of five. Her 13-year-old daughter is the only child still living at home. Kathleen says her hoarding has not affected her job but has hurt her family.
Her son, Abraham, left home at the age of 14 to live with an older sister. Kathleen says, before he left, he told her he wished that she was a drug addict.
HASKIN: He actually said to me, "I wish you were, because then they`d have a reason to take me away from you." That`s how strongly he felt about the clutter.
PETER BELANGER, SON: We`re all trying to help my mom progress in her situation, trying to get her out from the hole that she`s in.
ROWLANDS: Kathleen`s son, Peter, is at college. He`s planning to move in with his mother during his summer break. He says the mess may be an issue.
BELANGER: You don`t want to take the average person to your house and show, "You know, this is what my house looks like."
ROWLANDS: Kathleen is by no means alone. It`s estimated that hundreds of thousands of others in the United States are suffering from the same problem, including Richard Duffield. Richard has not allowed anybody into his house in 33 years, until now. He`s allowing us to see it for the first time.
Richard`s hoarding problem is with paper.
RICHARD DUFFIELD, HOARDER: Mainly books, trade papers, "Variety," "Hollywood Reporter."
ROWLANDS: Richard lives alone in Los Angeles. For years, he has been saving newspaper articles, magazines and any other document he finds interesting.
DUFFIELD: This is a file of opera reviews.
ROWLANDS: Richards says he has a problem with procrastination.
DUFFIELD: I bought these lamps at a friend`s yard sale. Wonderful lamps. Really, I`ll use those someday. Here they are, seven, eight years later, because I`m too busy getting more or avoiding them.
ROWLANDS: Richard also avoids his kitchen which he says he hasn`t used for six years.
DUFFIELD: Around the year 2000, it became of no interest to me, and obviously too cluttered, and too much bother, and I went about my business and ignored it.
ROWLANDS: Richard also ignored his roof. For years, it was leaking, but instead of getting it fixed, Richard said he just put buckets down to catch the water. Richard says he wanted to fix his roof but couldn`t decide who he should hire.
DUFFIELD: I went and had estimates, but then deciding which one, which one will it be? I might make a mistake.
ROWLANDS: Both Richard and Kathleen acknowledge they have a problem. Kathleen says she used to keep a clean house. She`s not sure if her problem is due to heredity. She says she has an aunt who broke her hip stumbling over clutter. Kathleen bruised her ankle the same way the day before our interview.
HASKIN: I don`t even really know what I hit it up against.
(LAUGHTER)
ROWLANDS: Kathleen says she buys most of her stuff from dollar stores and garage sales, constantly fighting the urge to buy more.
HASKIN: I`m going by, like, three different thrift stores and two dollar stores. And it`s just like, you know, if an alcoholic is going by a bar, they want another drink. It`s like, "I want to go in. I want to buy more."
ROWLANDS: Kathleen is trying to help herself through an Internet self-help group but acknowledges she hasn`t made much progress when it comes to cleaning her house.
DUFFIELD: I threw away 60 empty boxes a month ago from the living room. It looks like a lot in there now, but there were 60 more.
ROWLANDS: Richard said it was a big decision to let us into his home after keeping it a secret from family and friends for 33 years. He is seeing Karron Maidment, a therapist with the UCLA obsessive-compulsive disorder program.
KARRON MAIDMENT, UCLA OCD PROGRAM: What`s your anxiety level there?
DUFFIELD: Seven, eight.
MAIDMENT: OK. It hasn`t been that high for a long time.
DUFFIELD: That`s right.
ROWLANDS: Richard`s therapy is focused on teaching him how to get rid of things he thinks are important.
DUFFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) best friend.
MAIDMENT: We want people with compulsive hoarding to throw away things that feel special or important and see if it really is as catastrophic as they think it`s going to be.
ROWLANDS: According to some experts, hoarding is the most difficult obsessive-compulsive disorder to treat, with only about half of those who seek treatment having success. Richard says throwing some things away is so difficult he actually has a physical reaction to it.
DUFFIELD: You feel a constriction in the throat, a fast beating of the heart, something in the stomach, sometimes a bit of nausea.
ROWLANDS: Since getting help a few months ago, Richard has made progress. He`s cleared a hallway and his bedroom of clutter. And after getting four estimates, he finally hired someone to fix his roof.
Kathleen says she works a few hours a week clearing different zones in her house. She`s hoping that eventually, with the help of her Internet group and a few close friends, she can someday get her house in order and her family back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Well, we are glad that they are getting help. That was CNN`s Ted Rowlands for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: It`s time now for a "Showbiz Sitdown" with Edie Falco. You know her, of course, as Carmela Soprano on the hit HBO series, "The Sopranos." And right now, in fact, she`s working on the final season of the show.
Well, I caught up with her to talk about being a mob boss` wife, being a new mom, and her role in "Freedomland." That`s the big-screen thriller that she`s in with Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore. In it, she plays a children`s rights advocate searching for a young boy.
And apparently, I was the first one to tell her that she was the only actress that the film`s director wanted for this role. Check out her reaction here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Did you not know that?
EDIE FALCO, ACTRESS, "THE SOPRANOS": I don`t -- you know, this is how I learn stuff, from you guys.
HAMMER: I`m here to educate you.
FALCO: Because -- I know -- I knew none of this. I knew none of this. That`s nice to hear.
HAMMER: I`m here to fill you in. So having heard that, though, was it the same sort of thing for you when you actually got the script, you looked at it and said, "Oh, I got to do this"?
FALCO: Absolutely. You know, there were a million things going for it. You know, the writing is so good, so smart, and the movie is complicated and unpredictable. And you don`t know what kind of movie it is. You don`t know where it`s going.
HAMMER: So now you are shooting films and you are shooting "The Sopranos" in the final season, but now as a working mother. What has it been, just over a year since you adopted your son, Anderson?
FALCO: That`s right. That`s right, yes. You know, I`m not the first woman to try to have a job and a child. So I can`t say my problems are all that unique, but it does present certain challenges. But, you know, what it also gives you is this little guy to come home to at the end of the day. So, you know, its rewards far outweigh the challenges.
HAMMER: And did motherhood come naturally to you?
FALCO: You know, much to my surprise, actually.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMER: Really?
FALCO: It did. Well, you know, we`re sort of hardwired for it, you know what I mean? And after I read all the books and talked to all the people, I realized, "Oh, wait a second. I know what I`m doing." You know, you kind of get out of the way. It happens very naturally.
HAMMER: I always wondered if your maternal instincts ever kicked in with your castmates on "The Sopranos," because you`ve been playing a mother for years, of course.
FALCO: Yes, I found that very surprising that, in fact, they did. To watch these kids go through what they go through on the show, and to watch them literally grow up in front of our eyes, I thought -- you know, at first, it was nerve-racking, because I wasn`t a parent. And to suddenly be a parent of teenagers, I thought nobody is going to buy this. But it does. It does kick in very quickly, our sort of, you know, maternal stuff.
HAMMER: You guys are shooting the last season of "The Sopranos." You`ve been working on it, I know, for, what, about a year now.
FALCO: Yes.
HAMMER: And you still have a bunch of episodes to shoot. What are the emotions like on the set? Is it starting to get a little sad?
FALCO: You know, we`ve been asked that a lot lately. So the more we`re asked it, the sadder it gets.
HAMMER: Oh, I`m sorry. I don`t want to make you sad.
FALCO: So thanks for bringing it up. No, actually, we`re all -- you know, we do have a great deal of work in front of us, so I think it`s really -- we`re still in work mode. We have a ways before we start to realize, you know, that the profundity, if you will, of the show ending. It`ll be almost 10 years.
HAMMER: Fans are always mistaking actors for the characters they play. I`m sure that has happened quite a bit with you and Carmela. Can you share a fan story, somebody walking down the street, and a conversation they may have had with you or something that may have happened?
FALCO: You know, there`s lots of them. There`s lots and lots of them. A woman invited me -- came screaming up to me in a parking lot in New Jersey, you know, nails a-blazing, you know, and said, "Carmela!" And she invited me to a pajama party that weekend with her and all of her friends who were trailing behind her, quickly clicking their heels.
It was very surreal. But, you know, if they knew who they were actually inviting, you know, they would be bored out of their minds. I really have very little in common with them.
HAMMER: Oh, come on now.
FALCO: Well, you know, I travel in different circles, you know, so...
HAMMER: I imagine you do.
FALCO: It`s a huge compliment, a huge compliment, but always a little bit jarring.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, when it comes to secrets from the set of "The Sopranos," Edie, like her other classmates, won`t crack. She did tell me that her parents constantly try to get information out of her, but with no luck. If they can`t get it out of her, I guess we can`t either. And as you pointed out to me, do we really want to know what`s going to happen anyway?
The new and final season of "The Sopranos" will start up on March 12th. "Freedomland" in theaters now.
VARGAS: Well, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Donald rips into Martha: Was he out of line?
The vote so far: 58 percent of you say yes; 42 percent of you say no.
Some of the e-mails we have received. Randy from New York writes, "She blames him for her show failing. He`s simply defending himself by letting her know why it failed."
And Christopher from Ontario writes, "I can`t help but find it ironic that this quarrel erupted just in time for Donald Trump to promote the next `Apprentice.`" Apparently, he`s not alone.
Keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight. And we will be right back
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: It`s time to see what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. Here comes your "Showbiz Marquee."
Well, we watched her grow up on television as Carol in "Growing Pains." And then she had a very public battle with an eating disorder. Tracey Gold`s going to join us live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.
And coming your way on Friday, Cuba Gooding, Jr., whose real name is pronounced Cuba. You may remember him from "Jerry Maguire" and one of the most exuberant acceptance speeches ever at the Academy Awards. Now he`s back with a new movie called "Dirty." We`re going to find out about that and more, Friday night on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. We hope to see you then.
And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
VARGAS: And I`m Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. Stay tuned from the latest from CNN`s Headline News.
END
