Return to Transcripts main page

Showbiz Tonight

Rosie O`Donnell Maybe Done With "The View"; Savvy Celebrities Keep Their Romance, Marriages Under Wraps

Aired May 24, 2007 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


A. J. HAMMER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: The woman whose husband left her for Tori Spelling goes off on both of them. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. .
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And the startling secrets behind Britney Spears` tan. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.

HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the unbelievable and raging fire storm over Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasslebeck`s feud on "The View." Did it get way too personal?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH HASSELBACK, "THE VIEW": They`re your thoughts. Defend your own insinuations.

ROSIE O`DONNELL, "THE VIEW": Every time I defend the, Elizabeth, it`s pour little Elizabeth that I`m picking on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Tonight, who crossed the line, and we`ve just got to ask has Rosie become too hot to handle. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asks the tough questions about the shot fest heard round the world.

X rated star divorces. Tonight, the startling pornography claim as Anne Heche`s divorce gets really dirty. And we do mean dirty. And it`s not the first time porn has come up in a star divorce. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT uncovers the dirty little secret that could be ruining celebrity marriages.

Welcome to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.

ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And you know what? If you think winning "American Idol" is all about the singing, let me tell you, forget about it, because it seems you have to be good looking too. We will get to that in just a few minutes.

HAMMER: But first tonight, the war of Rosie. All I can say is, wow, the fire storm over Rosie O`Donnel`s explosive war of words with View co host Elizabeth Hasslebeck yesterday only got hotter today, with everybody asking, is Rosie done. Now Rosie was not on the show. It is a previously planned day off. So they say.

But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking, has the heat generated by Rosie become too hot to handle?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists, Elizabeth? Yes or no?

Do you believe that, yes or no?

HASSELBACK: Excuse me, let me speak.

HAMMER: Is this explosion the straw that broke Rosie`s back?

O`DONNELL: It`s just a yes or a no.

HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the nationally televised blowout between Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasslebeck on the "View" Wednesday may have been enough to send Rosie packing.

BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": And Rosie, as you can see, is off today. It is indeed her partner Kelly`s birthday.

HAMMER: Even though Rosie wasn`t on the set today, she was on her computer. Firing off responses on her blog from shocked viewers like this woman, Diane, who asked Rosie point-blank if she will be back on "The View." Short and sweet response from Rosie, no idea.

HASSELBACK: Defend your own insinuations.

O`DONNELL: I defend myself.

HAMMER: There`s no question that the unbelievable Rosie-Elizabeth shouting match, which started after a political discussion about the war in Iraq turned personal, touched a nerve.

O`DONNELL: I`m not going to fight with you any more.

HAMMER: But was it enough to make Rosie pack it in before her last day on June 21st?

HOWARD BRAGMAN, 15 MINUTES PR: I think Rosie is very angry, very upset about what transpired on the set. I do believe she is coming back. I think she`s going to honor the rest of her contract. I think it would be good for them to get some resolution.

HAMMER: But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you resolution might be tough. Rosie posted this blog after the on set eruption. "It may be time to be done. Endings are hard for all." She even agreed with woman, who told her, I would walk. Work isn`t worth that battle.

The shout fest train wreck got intensely personal when the liberal Rosie brought up criticism she had received over the weekend from some Republican pundits and her feelings that Elizabeth, a staunch Republican herself, didn`t come to Rosie`s defense.

O`DONNELL: I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying.

HASSELBACK: Did I say yes?

O`DONNELL: You said nothing and that`s cowardly.

HASSELBACK: No, no. You will not call me a coward.

HAMMER: Before we knew it, Rosie and Elizabeth were in a split screen, duking it out in what Rosie describes as Jerry Springer style. The commercial break, nowhere to be found.

JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": Is there no commercial in this show?

HASSELBACK: It wouldn`t have had as much attention if it involved men.

HAMMER: Elizabeth Hasslebeck today seemed to say what`s the fuss about? Was it because two women were going at each other? She let Barbara Walters, who wasn`t around to see the smack down play out live, do most of the smoothing over.

WALTERS: But certain people who shall be nameless unless you push me, said that we did this for ratings. Are they crazy?

BEHAR: We`re not that smart.

HAMMER: And while Barbara tried publicly to turn attention away from "The View`s" latest feud, many people are wondering what she must be thinking privately. In addition to being the co-host, Walters is the show`s creator and executor producer. That means she`s in charge of replacing Rosie, who`s gotten the credit for boosting "The View`s" ratings.

RAMIN SETOODEH, "NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE": I do think the ratings will go down next year because people are going to be tuning into "The View" expecting fireworks, expecting people fighting. If you don`t get that, if you don`t get the arguments and controversy and passion that Rosie O`Donnell brought to the show, why would you keep watching "The View?"

HAMMER: Love her or hate her, Rosie gets people to tune in. "The View`s" viewership is up 15 percent since she signed on last September.

HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: She raised the bar. And now that show is incendiary. And they just can`t go back to where -- Nobody can go back to where they were a year or two years ago. TV doesn`t work that way. They have to step it up.

BRAGMAN: If you watched "The View" when they got in the fight. First of all, they did not cut to commercial. They put on the split screen with Elizabeth and Rosie. They loved the controversy. My money is on Whoopie Goldberg right now. She`s a person of color. She`s got very controversial views. She`s a big-time celebrity like Rosie, and I think she could be the spice that they need on "The View" to keep that kind of energy going.

HAMMER: But what about Rosie`s future?

O`DONNELL: Big fat lesbian loud Rosie.

HAMMER: Despite her ratings history, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has got to ask whether her public feuds and controversial comments have made her just too hot to handle.

BRAGMAN: I think syndicators will beat the pushes to get a deal with Rosie O`Donnell right now. She has the ability to generate huge ratings. She has a very loyal and defined fan base. I think she`s gotten huge potential.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: But while Rosie O`Donnell certainly has the potential, tonight SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking whether Rosie may have actually shot herself in the foot as she moves on from "The View." Joining me tonight from Hollywood, the man you just saw, Howard Bragman of 15 Minutes PR, also in Hollywood tonight, Nadine Mendoza, senior correspondent from TV Guide. Nadine, Howard, it`s nice to see you both.

And Howard, I`ve got to say, I agree with you. People are obviously lining up to hire Rosie. She`s a great opportunity for somebody. But if you look at what`s going on in the marketplace right now, everybody is a little sensitive. Everybody is a little politically correct. They are trying to avoid controversy more than ever before.

So could all of what`s happening now with her actually back fire on her as she moves on?

BRAGMAN: I don`t think so, A.J. It`s a different world. When I was a kid, if you knew what side of the story a journalist was on, they were considered a bad journalist. Now we know what side of the story the whole network is on. I think a point of view is very welcome these days. Rosie has been a success with "The View." She`s been a success with her own show and there are people lining up to be in business with her. Because she`s a huge audience drawer.

And I don`t expect her to be on Fox. But there`s plenty of people that would welcome a Rosie O`Donnell show right now.

HAMMER: I think so as well. Then again, there are people out there today since this fire storm erupted yesterday saying too hot to handle. What do you think, Nadine?

NADINE MENDOZA, TV GUIDE: I agree with Howard. She changed throughout the course of her career. At the beginning when she had her daytime talk show, she was the queen of nice. Nobody ever saw any other side to her. She has joined "The View." She has back more political. But she`s very open and she`s very accessible and there`s something about her that audiences really love.

I think maybe she`s lost some of her more conservative fans in audience, but she`s certainly gained the respect I think of men and maybe other people who wouldn`t normally watch "The View."

HAMMER: I have a great deal of respect for the fact that she gets on that show every day and does speak her mind and she`s not afraid to and I think a lot of that probably comes from the fact that she sees it as the fact that she has nothing to lose. As you mention, Nadine, she was always called the queen of nice. Now she`s really gone 180 degrees for some people anyway, and has alienated lots of people, including possibly every Republican in the country by what she said yesterday on "The View."

Let`s take a look at some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Every time I defend them, Elizabeth, it`s poor little Elizabeth that I`m picking on.

HASSELBACK: You know what, poor little Elizabeth is not poor little Elizabeth.

O`DONNELL: That`s why I`m not going to fight with you anymore because it`s absurd. So for three weeks you can say all the Republican crap you want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Howard, what do you think? We do have a lot of Republicans in this country, a large constituency. Could she have alienated a large population?

BRAGMAN: I`m not thinking she had a big Republican base to begin with. She wasn`t exactly the poster child and she wasn`t invited to the convention, to speak. No, Rosie does have a point of view and people respond to it. People like that she has a point of view. She`s going to be just fine.

HAMMER: I guess what I`m saying is that her appeal used to be more broad, back when she was doing her own daytime talk show.

HAMMER: This was the job she was hired to do. "The View`s" real momentum and the show is best when it is controversial. This is the job she was hired to do. When she had her own show, it was much broader. It was a little fluffier and she has the ability to adapt. And this is not the only Rosie that we saw yesterday is not the only Rosie that exists. And she`s very mutable and very smart about what she has to do when she gets on the air.

HAMMER: Well, keeping in mind, of course, that what she does now is just a small component of what goes on "The View" every day. The formula is working with her and her other co-hosts. Nadine, we have seen the ratings go up with Rosie there, but again as just a piece of the puzzle. Do you think all Rosie all the time could actually be too much? I have to imagine that her fan base has certainly changed, as you mentioned.

MENDOZA: Well, I think that if you are a fan of hers, you`re going to tune in. If you`re curious, you`re going to tune in. If you already are predisposed to not agree with her, to find her over the top, to find her too stride dent at this point, you`re not going to tune in, no matter what kind of show she has. But she`s a proven commodity. People love her because she`s accessible.

She seems like somebody you grew up with. She seems like somebody you know. What`s interesting is the way this is being portrayed is Rosie attacking Elizabeth. But I think this is very much an emotional give and take between the two of them yesterday.

HAMMER: I think it was a good show case for Elizabeth as well. Real quickly, Howard, only a few seconds left. Rosie has made it very clear she`s done. She`s pretty much had it and could be completely finished with the show as of now. What should she do? Should she go back on Monday, make nice and go out with the last couple of weeks with a big smile on her face? Tell us, PR guru.

BRAGMAN: Truly Rosie has the power and the money to do whatever she wants. If she asked my opinion I`d say go finish the three weeks, have a hug, make nice. And let`s get it over with.

HAMMER: Let`s everybody get along. Howard Bragman of 15 Minutes PR, Nadine Mendoza, senior correspondent for TV Guide, thank you both.

ANDERSON: And now we want to here from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Rosie versus Elizabeth, did "The View" feud get too personal? Vote at CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT. Send us e-mail at SHOWBIZTONIGHT@CNN.com. And you can also vote on the question of the day by sending a cell phone text message to 45688. To vote yes, write SHOWBIZ yes; to vote no, write SHOWBIZ No. Once again, send the text to 45688.

HAMMER: Well Anne Heche`s divorce is getting really, really nasty. She`s saying her ex had a little porn habit. Of course, this isn`t the first time this particular topic has come up in celebrity divorces. We will be taking a look at the dirty little secret that may be ripping star couples apart, that at 31 minutes past the hour.

ANDERSON: Also, have you heard, there`s a new "American Idol" out there. But Jordan Sparks is entering the music biz at a tough time for women -- when it seems sex appeal may be more important than talent. We`re getting into that next. We`ll also have this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER: I love tanning because it`s my time to escape from the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney`s in room seven right now. What she`s doing is called the cocktail tan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: The startling secrets behind Britney Spears` tan. Really, how does she get that glow? That`s coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. It`s time now for another story that made us say that`s ridiculous. This prom time, some high school kids pool their money and rent a limo to take them to the prom. Some will borrow mom and dad`s car.

Check out these clever kids in Virginia. They tooled on over to their prom on this John Deere tractor. Students say they just wanted to do something different. I say mission accomplished. That`s different and that`s ridiculous.

ANDERSON: Tonight America has a new "American Idol," Jordan Sparks. But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that while she sure can sing, it may also have a lot to do with how she looks. Some 70 million people voted and chose Sparks over Blake Lewis last night. But here`s what we want to know how much of that had to do with the fact that Jordan is an attractive 17- year-old?

If she weren`t as good-looking, would she still have won? Here with us tonight from Los Angeles, AccessHollywood.com correspondent Laura Saltman and from New York, the executive editor of "Rolling Stone Magazine," Joe levy. Laura, Joe, welcome.

Hi, Laura, you were there back stage at "American Idol" last night. You have covered "American Idol" extensively, would you agree that good looks to many people are just as important as good singing?

LAURA SALTMAN, ACCESSHOLLYWOOD.COM: No question about it. Jordan is a gorgeous girl. If she didn`t look like that, she probably would have been gone. Because if you remember during the beginning of the season, she definitely stumbled a bit with her singing. She definitely was not the best singer.

Every weekend she got more and more attractive with the longer hair and the better outfits. She kept getting further and further.

ANDERSON: Yes, it seemed that she had an appeal for the viewers. Joe, I don`t think it`s a coincidence that so many new successful singers are beautiful, are stunning, and to look more closely at this, I took a look at the billboard Top 40. You`ve got Avril Levine. You`ve got Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Shakira. What`s your take on this whole thing?

JOE LEVY, "ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE": This is nothing new in the entertainment industry. It`s not limited to pop music. You would see it on the movies and television. Good looking women and good looking men go further. It`s not a new story at all. You could go back to the story of the Supremes, dramatized in "Dream Girls," where the good looking singer who is not as great a singer as the other one gets pushed to the front and the other singer, who is let us say big boned gets pushed to the back.

ANDERSON: Well, Laura, I want to talk about that, because "American Idol" this season does seem to me to be a perfect example of this. Melinda Doolittle was fantastic. Simon kept saying she should make it to the finals. She should win. When she was voted off, Even Simon said are you kidding me? If she weren`t a 28-year-old woman with curves, do you think possibly she could have been named the new Idol, had she looked more like Jordan?

SALTMAN: I don`t think it`s a curve thing. She was a little short thing. I think it had a lot more to do with her age factor. She was 28. She had sort of the parent vote rather than the child vote, the teenager vote. That`s really what "American Idol" is about. It`s about the teenagers who are voting and texting. There was some jokes early on. Lot of people were saying she looks like Shrek. I heard that so many times.

She has a little bit of a neck. There were some mean spirited stuff out there. So I think it had a little bit to do with her downfall. I think if she were younger with that amazing voice she would have probably gone a lot further.

ANDERSON: She as got an incredible voice, and I think she will go far, despite the criticism that she received. And Joe, you mentioned the men. You say that better looking men sometimes go further, but I have to tell you, when you look at "American Idol" and the guys who have won, whether it be Rubin Studdard or Taylor Hicks, I don`t think anybody is going to say that they won because of their looks.

So at times do you think there is a double standard?

LEVY: A double standard in the entertainment industry? I`m shocked. I refuse to believe this. Yes, there is something of a double standard and just the same, you may not find Taylor Hicks attractive, some people do. Rubin Studdard, sure. But look at Ryan Seacrest. He`s a pretty guy.

ANDERSON: I`m going to stop you right there. I think Taylor Hicks is very good looking, but maybe he doesn`t appeal all across-the-board to everybody.

LEVY: Apparently he appeals to somebody. He won that show. Let`s give Jordan her due. She was certainly the best singer in the finals. She was one of the best singers in the competition. And, as has been mentioned, it`s not just about her looks. It is about her age. She was appealing to teenagers. She was appealing to moms who had teenagers at home.

She was great TV and that`s something Melinda didn`t have. She looked great. She had personality on TV. It wasn`t just that Melinda was different looking or older. She was quiet and shy.

ANDERSON: You`ve got to be accessible. You have to get the viewers to love you because that`s the votes that are going to count. OK, Laura Saltman, Joe Levy, thank you both for your insights.

HAMMER: So Brooke, as you remember, there were some pretty tough times on the set of "Grey`s Anatomy" after Isaiah Washington used an anti gay slur. Well, now he has done a public service announcement for gay rights. It`s pretty powerful. We will have your first look at it. You won`t want to miss it, next.

ANDERSON: Also, Anne Heche`s divorce gets really, really nasty. She`s saying her ex had a little porn habit -- and this isn`t the first time this has come up in celebrity divorces. We`re going to take a look at a dirty little secret that may be ripping star couples apart, still ahead.

We`ll also have this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some celebrities are smart to keep their relationships undercover because they know that as soon as they are on the front page, as soon as they declare we`re a couple, they are under the spotlight

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: IF falling in love is such a great thing, why do so many star couples keep so hush-hush? That`s coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: "Grey`s Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington is trying to make up for his controversial anti-gay remarks through a new public service announcement. Washington was under fire earlier this year after using an anti-gay slur in reference to his cast mate T.R. Knight.

It all started with a highly publicized on set fight. The controversy Escalated after Washington repeated the word at a Golden Globes press conference. Washington took time form the hit show and later apologized for his remarks. As part of his rehab, he met with leaders of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation, or GLAD, and the idea for this new ad campaign came out of that meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAIAH WASHINGTON, ACTOR: Words have power. Power to express love, happiness and joy. They also have the power to heel. When you use words that demean the person because of their sexual orientation, race or gender, you send a message of hate, a very powerful message. But we all have the power to demand better from one another and ourselves.

We have the power to heal and change the world with the words we use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: ABC decided to debut the PSA before tonight`s episode of "Gray`s Anatomy." Fellow Gray`s star Katherine Heigl has been very outspoken about the controversy, at one point even saying Washington just shouldn`t speak. Heigl spoke about it again on the Ellen Degeneres show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHERINE HEIGL, "GREY`S ANATOMY": I just felt like in that moment I wasn`t trying to make a politically correct point. I wasn`t trying to make a political point at all. I was simply trying to say, in light of us all being human beings in this whole race together, we should be kinder and more compassion at and it is never right to actively seek to hurt someone`s feelings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Great message, and you can see the rest of Heigl`s interview Monday on Ellen.

HAMMER: Anne Heche`s divorce getting really nasty. She`s saying her ex has a little porn habit -- not the first time this topic has come up in celebrity divorces. We`re taking a look at the dirty little secret that may be ripping Hollywood star couples apart, next.

ANDERSON: Also, explosive new information from the woman whose husband left her for Tori Spelling. She`s really going off on both of them. That`s coming up. We`ll also have this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEARS: I love tanning, because it`s my time to escape from the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney is in room seven right now. What she is doing is called a cocktail tan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: But how does she get it? We`ll tell you coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(NEWS BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for a Thursday night. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.

ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And you`re watching TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.

HAMMER: Brooke, you and I know this all too well, secrets are hard to keep in Hollywood, right?

ANDERSON: Right.

HAMMER: But we do know some stars actually manage to live their lives far away from the prying eyes of the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some celebrities are smart to keep their relationships undercover because they know that as soon as they are on the front page, as soon as they declare, we`re a couple, they are under the spotlight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: You are so right, Doctor Judy. Coming up -- from Julia and Danny to Beyonce and Jay-Z to J-Lo and Marc Anthony. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes a look at Hollywood`s biggest stars couples and how they manage to keep their love lives under wraps.

ANDERSON: You know what, A.J., I think Britney Spears could take some notes from them on how to stay out of the spotlight.

HAMMER: You think?

ANDERSON: But you know what, she`s not ready to lay low just yet, unfortunately.

BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER: Is my toenails look bad right now. Hello?

ANDERSON: No, this isn`t Britney`s latest meltdown. Coming up -- you`re going to see Britney`s fascinating beauty drama as it unfolds, from pedicures to naked spray tans. Britney`s not hiding a thing. That is still ahead.

But first, Britney knows a thing or two about divorce but we can tell you that her split with Kevin Federline has nothing to do with pornography. But it seems these days she may be in the minority. Because SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you about a disturbing new trend, porn. It keeps coming up in some of Hollywood`s biggest and nastiest divorces. The latest example, Anne Heche`s divorce. Joining me tonight in New York from the law firm of Chemtob, Moss, Forman and Talbert, matrimonial lawyer and family lawyer, Susan moss.

Susan, good to see you.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY & MATRIMONIAL LAWYER: Hello.

ANDERSON: Hello, there. Now, we know that Anne Heche`s husband recently filed for divorce basically saying Anne is an unfit mother, has some issues, if you know what I mean. But Anne has now fired back with court documents of her own saying that her husband, who was a stay-at-home dad did nothing but play ping-pong, backgammon poker, and view porn online all day. Seems to me this is a classic case of retaliation.

MOSS: Well, it certainly does seem that way, but in divorce cases internet porn is everywhere. Its like the new pet rock and for good reason. With technological advances, divorce lawyers can find out even if you visited a site just once. You can bet if your divorce lawyer finds out about it, it`s going to be in the papers.

ANDERSON: Does that hold up in court, though? Will a judge make a decision based on a porn allegation?

MOSS: Absolutely. Even though your father had play boy, your husband now has Google. And I`ll tell you something, it still scares judges when you have young children and you have evidence that somebody is watching pornography.

ANDERSON: Then there`s the case of Denise Richards, Charlie Sheen. Denise accused Charlie of prostitution, pornography featuring underage girls, underage gay boys. Charlie has denied this. Now, Denise never said he did this when the kids were around, so why would the children be at risk?

MOSS: Because when judges hear the words pornography or gambling, they get very nervous. And her hope was that if you throw enough mud, something might stick.

ANDERSON: Something might stick. Well, unlike Denise`s allegations, country singer Sara Evans claim that her husband, Craig Shelski (ph) was watching porn and her oldest child caught him watching the porn. Shelski (ph) has denied this. But if it were proven to be true, is this a situation where he would have no chance to gain custody?

I mean, a child sees you watching porn?

MOSS: He`s going to have -- he would have had very little chance of getting custody and that`s because now he`s on the defensive. And he`s going to have to prove that he`s the better parent and that mom is unfit because there`s been a lot of mud and apparently that mud stuck.

ANDERSON: Again, Craig denied it. And you know, Susan, look, when it comes to divorce, there are a lot of really nasty allegations. You mentioned the gambling. There`s also drugs that come up. Pornography, again, if the court finds all three to be true, what`s the worst? What have you seen to be the worst and the most damaging?

MOSS: Well, the worst is certainly when a parent looks at pornography when a young child is around. And when that happens, oftentimes the judges will lead to a supervised visitation order, which means that a parent could no longer see their children alone but have to have a third party present. And that can be very damaging for a relationship between a child and parent.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. And from your experience, Susan, in bitter divorce battles, do parents sometimes just throw dignity out the window and reveal all of these nasty things and make these ugly allegations when otherwise couples might want to keep a lot of this stuff quiet?

MOSS: Well, you know, we see good people at their worst. And when they are at their worst, things can get really, really ugly. You are seeing that with Anne Heche. She`s even making the allegation that her husband goes to all types of strip clubs. The good news, though, is that he didn`t ask for his child support in singles.

ANDERSON: Right. They are not holding back. They are going head to head. Susan Moss, thanks so much for being here.

MOSS: Thank you.

HAMMER: Tori spelling and Dean McDermott may be "In Love" now, but the start of their affair was shocking, especially to McDermott`s then- wife, Mary Jo Eustace.

Now for the first time, we`re actually hearing from Dean`s ex about what it was like being dumped for Tori Spelling. Eustace wrote about the moment she found out her marriage was over in a new book obtained by "People" magazine, Eustace describes that conversation with McDermott.

She writes, "I know something is wrong. `Have you met someone?` I ask. He nods yes. `Is it Tori Spelling?` He nods. `We`re soulmates,` he says. `She loves me unconditionally.` `what conditions?` I scream, `you`ve only known each other three weeks.` I look down at my baby daughter. `We just adopted a baby.` `I`m not leaving the kids,` he says. `I`m leaving you.`"

Eustace and McDermott have two children together. The essay is part of a new anthology Eustace wrote called, "The Other Woman." Spelling and McDermott are now married and are parents to two-month old son, Liam. The new couple`s reality show "Tori and Dean In Love" just got picked up for a second season on Oxygen.

Tori and Dean`s affair was the worst kept secret on the set of the TV movie they did together, even though for months, they publicly denied it was happening.

Pay attention, because SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is about to reveal something, there are other Hollywood couples who still keep their love lives top secret. Some even deny their hook-ups, refusing to appear together in public. So why do some of Hollywood`s biggest celebrity couples keep their romance undercover? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: For some megastar couples public displays of affection are no big deal. Come on, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, do it again. But for other star couples, PDAs are a big no-no. Julia Roberts has never walked the red carpet with her husband Danny Moder. Beyonce and Jay-Z rarely pose in public either. In fact, when SHOWBIZ TONIGHT recently sat down with Beyonce she told me she`s never talked about a relationship because to her mystery is important.

BEYONCE: Any of my personal business. I just felt like my family and my friend knew, but I just was uncomfortable with talking about too much information because I feel like mystery is important.

HAMMER: So what gives? Why are some stars undercover lovers keeping their relationships under wraps?

DAVID CAPLAN, STAR MAGAZINE: In general celebrities keep their relationships under wraps because either they have had a real tumultuous (ph) past in the tabloids. That their new relationship coming off the heels of a really public split. Or they say to themselves I`m more of an actor not necessarily, quote/unquote, a "celebrity".

HAMMER: Since the stars are our expertise, let SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tell you why the celebrities have gone undercover. Reason No. 1, burned by the public romance. We`re kicking it off with actress and music diva Jennifer Lopez, two very high profile romances, one with Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, and the other with music mogul P. Diddy. Two very public break ups.

CAPLAN: Jennifer Lopez and her relationship with P.D. was all over the tabloids, and really across the country.

HAMMER: High profile, indeed. Lopez was with Sean P. Diddy Combs in 1999 when gunfire erupted in a New York City nightclub. Spotlight on his high profile trial proved too much. Their relationship soon fizzled.

JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Some celebrities are smart to keep their relationships undercover because they know that as soon as they are on the front pages, as soon as they declare, we are a couple, they are under the spotlight.

HAMMER: And declare she did with Ben Affleck. You couldn`t open a magazine or turn on the TV without seeing them together. Soon after their engagement, the relationship imploded. She blames the media.

CAPLAN: So, now with Jennifer and Marc Anthony it`s complete 180 degrees. You rarely see them. She rarely talks about the relationship. It`s just they are the mysterious Hollywood couple now.

HAMMER: As for Affleck, he to learned his lesson. His marriage to Jen Garner is kept under wraps.

CAPLAN: They live a very quiet life. He doesn`t want anything to do with scoring himself a headline in the tabloids and the TV shows.

HAMMER: And another actress you don`t see going out as much as before, Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts. That`s because she got burned by reason No. 2, the public split.

She was the "Runaway Bride" publicly splitting from Kiefer Sutherland and later Lyle Lovett. This time around, hiding from Hollywood, and keeping it quiet, is what the love doctor ordered.

KURIANSKY: She`s happily married to Danny Moder. She`s got her two terrifically adorable twins, a new baby on the way, and she cares about family first. So Hollywood doesn`t matter for her anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Another reason that stars keep their romances undercover is because they want to keep focus on their work, and not on who they are dating.

ANDERSON: Someone who has been very much in the public eye and not laying low is Joey Fatone who came this close to winning "Dancing With The Stars" this week. Up next, the former `N Sync boy band star is dishing about life in Hollywood big-time.

Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEARS: My toenails look so bad right now. Hello?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Britney`s beauty emergency caught on tape. Coming up -- we`ve got a look at a fascinating new reality show that reveals at least one of Britney`s best kept beauty secrets.

ANDERSON: A kiss with George Clooney up for auction? Well, one woman was willing to fork over some big bucks for a close encounter with Clooney. But why is the mega-star pimping himself out? The story still ahead on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Are you ready for some train-wreck TV? Tonight, Britney`s beauty emergency caught on tape. We have your first look at the new reality show that exposes at least one Britney`s beauty secrets how does she stay so tan? Here`s your first look at "Sunset Tan."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the celebrity comes and the paparazzi finds them, it`s kind of a circus.

SPEARS: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s her put her in for a 10.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. And then we`ll get her the mystic (INAUDIBLE).

SPEARS: I love tanning because it`s my time to escape from the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney`s in room seven, right now. What she`s doing is called a cocktail tan. She`s doing a 12-minute high pressure tan followed by the spray tan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Britney, are you ready?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t believe Lisa gets to spray Britney Spears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on back. How dark do you want to be today?

SPEARS: And my toenails look so bad right now. Hello? I totally need a pedicure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks amazing.

SPEARS: It looks fresh, too, sexy. I like it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye, honey. See you soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: I don`t know what to say about that, other than "Sunset Tan" premieres Monday on E!

HAMMER: Well, Britney Spears certainly is doing all she can these days to get in shape and she might want to try and do a little more dancing, after all it worked out just great for Joey Fatone. Joey also lost a lot of weight as he danced and spun his way to, well -- almost -- the top on "Dancing With The Stars" until Olympic speed-skater, Apollo Anton Ohno stole his thunder in this week`s finale to win the competition.

But it`s not the end for Joey, he is getting his spray tan on and going on tour this summer with "Dancing With The Stars" -- I`m kidding about the spray tan.

Joey Fatone, good to have you here in New York.

JOEY FATONE, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": Good to be here.

HAMMER: And congratulations.

FATONE: Thank you. Thank you. It was wonderful. It really was a great experience. Even though I didn`t win, the greatest thing was I got do a little bit of Nutri-System and losing weight.

HAMMER: Look at you! I`m saying, look at you! Charles, do we have a - - I think we have a picture of a before and after that we can take a look at.

FATONE: Oh, do you? That`s scary.

HAMMER: Let`s see, because -- clearly, now how much weight did you lose?

FATONE: I lost -- I want to say from like 30, like 25 to 30 pounds. It`s crazy. It`s ridiculous. I look swollen.

HAMMER: I`ve got to say, it`s not as dramatic as it sounds.

FATONE: You haven`t seen the side angle over here.

HAMMER: We`re missing out on the third dimension of that.

FATONE: Oh, yes.

HAMMER: Now, was it the dancing, really? I mean, you mentioned Nutri-System.

FATONE: Yes, what it was, I Nutri-System two weeks prior to training with Kim Johnson, my dance partner. I dropped like six pounds in two weeks. It`s great because it`s a gradual thing, it`s three pound a week. When you are doing this cardiovascular workout in a sense and where you`re not -- because I haven`t lifted weights, or didn`t do anything. I was just basically really, you know, focusing on doing -- learning these routines.

When you are doing that, you`re not thinking of the cardio. We`re working five, six hours a day. You are sweating and you really want to get these dance things. Later on you start going, OK, well these pants need to be taken in. And every week, literally, they put these pants on they sized me from the very first time, they had to keep taking it in, taking it in. It was just like, wow!

HAMMER: That`s nice.

Now, had you wanted to lose weight before joining up with the show and this gave you sort of the magic bullet, sort of the impetus to actually get it done?

FATONE: Yes, it really did. I went to Super Bowl and they have the kind of free gift place area, that`s where I saw Nutri-System for the first time actually. And it was something that -- I`ve never really tried any diets before, at all. So, I didn`t think -- you know, I`m like they do the diets and they don`t work. It actually tastes good. That`s the cool thing about it.

And then doing, like I said, doing the cardio, that`s the thing about it, lot of cardio, lot of cardio. I don`t know what`s going to happen 100 percent. I`m sure might slow down a little bit. Obviously I`m not going to be doing as much training as I did during the show.

HAMMER: You also adapt a healthier lifestyle.

FATONE: Smaller proportions.

HAMMER: And you`ll keep at it. Good for you.

HAMMER: We were just watching the crazy video of Britney Spears getting her big spray tan on. Of course, you, like Britney, were very young when you hit massive superstardom, on a level that most people will never know.

FATONE: That`s right.

HAMMER: And actually Britney Spears used to open up for you guys.

FATONE: Yes.

HAMMER: I have to believe that you have some sort of an understanding as to how things can kind of spin out of control like that.

FATONE: Yeah, you can. I`m just glad that I was really, you know, my parents taught me well, right from wrong. I`m from Brooklyn, New York so I`ve got a little wise attitude, but not too much. You start to watch and you start to see other people and how they react as they get to that height and that realm.

I`ve always just been really grounded. My feet on the floor. Anybody who ever asks about me, I`ve always been the same way, right out of high school. Because that`s when it happened, you know. We started right after high school with N`SYNC. I was always just the same way. I just -- you kind of balance it, and you see where it can take you. You see what happens when it gets to your head. Or not even get to you head, but you start to live a certain lifestyle. And you start to get older and go, I`m invincible. And that`s not the case.

HAMMER: No, and I think you see that with a lot of big stars whether it`s Britney or Lindsey or Paris. And they get into all kinds of trouble. And it`s about keeping the right people around you and staying grounded.

FATONE: Right.

HAMMER: As I mentioned, you`re hitting the road. "Dancing With The Stars", you probably haven`t gone on a tour in this grand of scale since you were doing N`SYNC.

FATONE: Oh, yeah.

HAMMER: Tell me what you expect. Because it`s a different time in your life.

FATONE: Totally different. It`s going to be cool, because I think a lot of in N`SYNC fans are going to come to the show because I`ve gotten a lot of e-mails from people. And obviously they`re a lot older now, some of them are college, and some of them are past college. Then you have "Dancing With The Stars", where there`s an older demographic as well. I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

Because this is more like, because you know, I was on the tour bus with Lance and a bunch of my friends and buddies hanging out. This is like I have my daughter with me, I have my wife with me, and actually it`s funny because Joe Shea (ph) is going to have his kid out there, and so it`s so is Joey Mac is going to have his wife. So, it`s a lot of fun.

HAMMER: It`s a family affair.

FATONE: Exactly.

HAMMER: Congratulations. You look great.

FATONE: Thank you.

HAMMER: Have fun with the tour this summer.

You can catch Joey on the "Dancing With The Stars" tour when it kicks off June 20.

ANDERSON: Yesterday, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. It was this: Bible-toting Paris Hilton, is it just a publicity stunt? And 99 percent of you say yes, this is a complete publicity stunt; only 1 percent of you say no. Here are some of the e-mails we received.

Julie from Arizona, "The books in her arms with both titles in view... come on! If my last name was Hilton I would be disgraced."

Lisa from South Carolina says: "Of course it`s a publicity stunt. Why else would Paris be carrying books backwards so that we can see the titles?"

I couldn`t agree more.

HAMMER: What some women would do just for a chance to get close to George Clooney. Now, imagine the price for a kiss. One lucky woman had enough cash to make a winning offer. Find out what George Clooney is pimping himself out for, coming up next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

Tonight, George Clooney on the auction block. The "Ocean`s 13" star put himself up for bid to raise money for AIDS research. One women paid a mere $350,000 for a simple kiss from Clooney.

The smile on her face says it all -- it was well worth it -- $350 grand. Acting as auctioneer, Sharon Stone was the one raising the bids for a kiss with Clooney. In all, they raised $7 million.

HAMMER: Nice going, George.

Well, the producer of the new "Pirates Of The Caribbean", opening this weekend, is promising visual effects like you`ve never seen before. Jerry Bruckheimer says "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World`s End" is some of the best filmmaking he has ever been a part of. And when he stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, I had to ask him about the new addition to the cast, the one that everybody has been talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER (on camera): One of the things a lot of people are buzzing about, of course, is the fact that the great Keith Richards finally making his appearance in the film as Johnny Depp`s father.

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, FILM PRODUCER: I`ve heard that. I`ve heard that.

HAMMER: And, of course, Johnny very famously fashioned his character, so he has said, after Keith Richards. How difficult was it to get the great Rolling Stone guitarist in this movie?

BRUCKHEIMER: He`s a friend of Johnny`s. He loved the first "Pirates" and second "Pirates" and certainly wanted to be in it. He`s got a career, and his career is a musician. He`s touring around the world. It was really difficult to find dates because they were on tour when we were filming to kind of coincide with our filming. But we finally worked it out.

HAMMER: And does he have just a great work ethic? Was he well behaved on the set? Jerry, did he earn his paycheck from you?

BRUCKHEIMER: You know, he was so enamored with the process. We had this fantastic set we were filming on that he`s a part of. And he just hung there the whole day and just had a blast. He had his family there, and loved his costume, and just enjoyed the whole process.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World`s End" is in theaters tomorrow.

And it is time now to see what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

Tomorrow, it`s "Prescription for Rehab". We are taking an in-depth look at addiction in Hollywood. Are stars addicted to addiction? What does it take to successfully beat it?

We`ll also take you inside a rehab center for the rich and famous tomorrow on a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Prescription for Rehab."

Brooke, I know you had a chance to spend a little time at that one particular rehab center.

ANDERSON: I did.

HAMMER: It is fascinating. It looks like a five-star hotel.

ANDERSON: It certainly does. Looks can be deceiving, though. We are going to have some inspiring stories, some tragic stories, and also hopeful stories in the show tomorrow.

HAMMER: Looking forward to that. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.

"Glenn Beck" coming up next, right after the latest headlines from "CNN Headline News." Take care.

END