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Showbiz Tonight
Britney Spears Kicks K-Fed to the Curb
Aired November 08, 2006 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Checking into the secret stories of sex and scandal of Paris Hilton and her family. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And Lindsay Lohan says I`m really not a party girl and thinks we`ve got the totally wrong idea about her. I`m Brooke Anderson in New York. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, inside the Britney Spears divorce shocker. Tonight SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the stunning video of Brit hitting the ice just hours after putting her marriage on ice. Will dumping Kevin Federline help her career comeback? And did K-Fed have any clue about what was going to hit him?
KEVIN FEDERLINE: I love her to death.
HAMMER: Tonight only SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the very last big interview with Federline before Brit sent him packing. She`s sexy. She`s 40. She has been called the most downloaded woman on the planet. And now she is posing nude for the very first time! Tonight, how Cindy Margolis` startling decision to take her clothes off could actually help women who have not been able to have children. Cindy Margolis right here in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. We`re coming at you from New York City and you will not see bigger or better coverage of the jaw-dropping Britney Spears divorce announcement than you will tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: A.J., for one thing, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Kevin Federline`s last major television interview before learning Britney was giving him the boot. There is so much new to share with you tonight from Britney`s apparent victory lap in public on an ice skating rink. (INAUDIBLE) whether Kevin Federline got sucker punched. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been tracking down the story behind the story, and what a story it is!
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): What was the story of the day? The Democrats` shocking takeover of Congress? Not quite. Let the hosts of "The View" pass their vote.
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "THE VIEW": How do you feel Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH: I am both shocked and devastated.
ROSIE O`DONNELL, HOST, "THE VIEW": I know, but it`s the biggest news in the country, ladies and gentlemen. Britney Spears is leaving K-Fed!
ANDERSON: It was the Britney K-Fed divorce that called for confetti on the sometimes politically divided set of "The View." It`s what everybody is really talking about. "The New York Post" even saw fit to put a picture of Britney Spears on the cover. No politicians in sight here. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has big coverage of this big story, and this first look of an apparently care-free Britney hitting the ice after her split.
Britney!
ANDERSON: We`ll have for you the reasons why Brit left Kevin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were not spending any time together.
ANDERSON: Word of a possible custody fight.
HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: I am told that Kevin Federline is making rumbles that he will challenge Britney for custody.
ANDERSON: And the $100 million dollar question. What will Britney Spears do now that she has shed K-Fed?
JULIE JORDAN, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: She felt this was the right decision.
ANDERSON: Britney Spears shocked the world with her divorce filing from Federline after just two years of marriage. And before the ink was even dry on the court papers, an apparently happy Britney hit the streets and the ice of New York City.
JORDAN: After Britney filed for divorce, she went out on the town. She went to dinner with friends, she went shopping at the Gap, and then she went ice skating at Rockefeller Center. She looked great. She was having a really good time. And I think it was important for Britney to show that this was her decision, that she feels this is the right decision to make.
ANDERSON: So what led to that decision? "People" magazine`s Julie Jordan tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT everything went downhill soon after the birth of Britney and Kevin`s second child in September.
JORDAN: He went to Vegas right after the birth of their second child for a one-year anniversary party for a nightclub and that didn`t sit very well with Britney. And also during a Halloween Party he was promoting his album, and according to witnesses, they had a really big fight and Britney actually was seen running away and crying. And then of course being in New York together, staying at separate hotels, not spending any time together, Britney had the opportunity to help Kevin promote his album and chose not to. Those were all signs of what`s to come.
ANDERSON: Wait a minute. That`s a big contrast from what Kevin Federline told us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT in his last major interview before the divorce filing.
KEVIN FEDERLINE: Everything is, you know, is great.
ANDERSON: K-Fed told me rumors of marriage trouble were way off and that he and Britney were fine.
FEDERLINE: We`re happy behind closed doors. We play with the kids and run around the house, you know. And we do stuff that normal people do.
ANDERSON: Now that it`s obvious that all was not well in the Britney- K-Fed household, how is K-Fed taking this news? TMZ.com`s Harvey Levin tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
LEVIN: He was blindsided, he did not see this coming because she didn`t really tell him.
ANDERSON: According to reports, Britney is now backed by what everyone is calling the mother of all prenups. Various reports say Kevin would get $300,000, a small piece of Brit`s estimated $100 million fortune. TMZ`s Harvey Levin thinks Kevin may try to make up the difference by challenging Britney`s request for custody of their two baby boys.
LEVIN: Maybe the way he`s decided to do it, is to say I`ll have a dog fight with you over custody and throw me some money and maybe I`ll go away before the fight.
ANDERSON: But no matter the cost, it appears Britney will be rid of the bad boy wannabe rapper Kevin Federline. And none too soon, say some Britney fans.
JORDAN: Those close to her say that Kevin was not a good reflection on her.
ANDERSON: It`s an arguable point. It used to be Brit was a force of pop music, selling more than 76 million records. But since she met and married Kevin Federline, her former backup dancer in 2004, she starred in an embarrassing candid reality show.
SPEARS: He is so cute.
ANDERSON: Appeared in embarrassingly incoherent viral home videos and become a bull`s eye tabloid target. But "People`s" Julie Jordan tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we may soon see Britney, the pop star, again.
JORDAN: Now that she has had her second baby, she is really ready to get her new album out. She has been in the studio. She is reinventing herself. She is completely overhauling her appearance. As for Britney`s comeback, I think you can expect to see her and better than ever and, as a result, Kevin is no longer a part of her life.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: This divorce filing has cleared up a little mystery. The two had a well publicized wedding ceremony in September 2004, but according to the divorce papers that Spears filed, the couple were officially married the next month, on October 6th. So what gives? It`s another fascinating mystery in the fascinating now former couple.
HAMMER: Oh, a little confusing to me. Well besides sending shockwaves throughout the entertainment world and of course right here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the news of the Britney divorce bombshell absolutely rocked top 40 radio across the nation. With us tonight with the buzz from coast to coast, in New York Carolina Bermudez is from Z100 "Elvis Duran & The Z Morning Zoo." And in Hollywood from 102.7 Kiss FM, Jojo Wright, host of the Jo-Jo on the Radio Show. Excellent to have you both here.
CAROLINA BERMUDEZ, Z100`S "ELVIS DURAN & THE MORNING ZOO": Thank you.
JOJO WRIGHT: Hello, what`s up?
HAMMER: Well, I got to tell you, I usually get a little irked when celebrities get married and people immediately lash out, very cynically saying, this will never last. That upsets me sometimes. However, this time around, not so much. And Carolina I`m curious, among your listeners or people you`re talking to on the Zoo this morning, is there anybody out there not saying it`s about time Britney did this?
BERMUDEZ: You know, to be honest with you, there was an overwhelming response this morning and I think that people said, you know what, it`s about time, Britney. So I think people are looking forward to her comeback minus Kevin Federline.
HAMMER: And not a lot of sympathy for Kevin Federline?
BERMUDEZ: No, not really. You know Kevin has become a sort of paparazzi punching bag since he came out. So I think people are really excited for Britney to move on with her life and come back with another album and see the Britney that they always knew and they loved.
HAMMER: We just heard in our story how it appears that Kevin Federline was absolutely blindsided by this. Jojo, our Brooke Anderson spoke with Kevin just before this news broke, and she told me that, from their conversation and their time together, there was no real indication coming from him that anything was wrong. And I know you were hanging out with him recently, did you have the sense at all that, hey, he had any idea this was coming down the road?
WRIGHT: I`ve had chats with him, I think the last chat I had with him was Halloween night, the night of his record release party. He did a piece with us at Kiss FM. And I talked with him several times throughout the last maybe three or four weeks before that. So I had a lot of run-ins in the last month with Kevin, and I have a feeling that his body language, if not his own voice, would have told me that, hey, something is going on, maybe. You know we had some nice conversations. I believe, and I could be wrong, I`m not in his head, but I think he had no idea. I think it blindsided him clearly.
HAMMER: And as with Brooke, was he telling you, oh, yeah, the marriage is great, everything is fine?
WRIGHT: I recall talking to him about Halloween night, I said, what are you and Britney -- what is she dressing like for Halloween? What are the kids doing? I know they weren`t with him, because he was promoting the album, but he said he hadn`t spoken to them. And that`s an honest answer. He hadn`t spoken to them because he was on the road doing the promotion and this and that, whatever. So it seemed so normal to me, so average. And by the way, people made the comments that Britney wasn`t on the road with him promoting the CD, I think that was a strategy more so than anything else, because if she shows up they talk to her and not him.
HAMMER: Yeah, it would totally overshadow his presence there. Carolina, I imagine people were buzzing to you about the prenup, everybody`s talking about this thing, you know the reports are floating around as we mentioned that he could get anywhere from $300,000 to $10 million. Nobody really knows, apparently it`s an iron clad deal. Now Carolina, coupled with that fact and the fact that they have already had their second son and Britney`s given birth, do you think she finally felt secure enough to move on and basically this was over long before it was actually over just yesterday?
BERMUDEZ: I think she did. You know nothing says a comeback like a bob and a nice black mini-dress, so I think that she has been planning this out a little bit. And you know Britney has been pregnant for the past two years practically. So I think she was looking to shed that baby weight and say to everybody, look, don`t underestimate me, I`m not gone just yet.
HAMMER: And do you think that`s the case now Jojo, that everybody is really rooting for Britney? Because remember she was America`s sweetheart. Everybody really loved Britney Spears, but people were saying recently, and even here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we were talking about the fact that she hasn`t really done anything lately except had a couple of kids and married this K-Fed guy.
WRIGHT: I`m not a lady, but I imagine having a couple of babies would slow you done for a minute. But I think the biggest thing to me, personally, on the inside of the so-called entertainment industry, she signed back with her former manager, Larry Rudolph. And that, to me, big light bulb off that she is getting serious now. Because this guy -- when she broke up with him -- she broke up with Larry a while back and things started to take a weird turn. Now she is getting serious. She is back with Larry. She was ice skating with Larry in New York. And I talked with Larry this morning, we did a little text messaging back and forth. He couldn`t say anything official about what`s going on, but he did tell me she is fine. You know they`re having a good time. I`m sure it`s not the greatest day of her life going through a divorce, but she is doing cool. They are both going to be fine. But I think the fact to me any way, the fact that she signed with Larry Rudolph who is just a pit bull of a manager, that she is back on the right track and you guys expect to see the old Britney just sort of a 2006-2007 version.
HAMMER: I do think a lot of people are excited that she`s coming back and it looks like back with a vengeance. Vengeance against a particular guy. Carolina Bermudez, Jojo Wright, thanks a lot for joining us tonight, really appreciate it.
BERMUDEZ: Thank you.
WRIGHT: Thanks guys.
HAMMER: Now, we have this story covered like no other entertainment news show. In just a couple of minutes, how does this K-Fed dumping fit into Britney`s makeover and career comeback? We`ll get into that. And coming up at 31 past the hour, more of Kevin Federline`s last big interview just before the big break up. It`s right here only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Well, we check into -- I`ll take this. We`re going to check into the Hiltons.
ANDERSON: We are.
HAMMER: And we`re going to check out stories of sex and scandal. Not just talking about Paris here. That`s coming up.
ANDERSON: No, we`re not. Also, she is sexy, she`s in her 40s and now she`s posing nude! How Cindy Margolis` startling choice could actually help women who have not been able to have children. Plus we`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEDERLINE: You see all the negative stuff, I mean everybody has got to know that behind closed doors everything is, you know, is great. It`s not always what they say it is.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Did poor Kevin Federline have any clue he was about to get dumped? We`ve got more of the very last big interview K-Fed did and it`s only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Plus, will divorce help or hurt Britney Spears` career? That`s coming up next.
(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 something that made us say, "that`s ridiculous!" There are plenty of people who would tell you that pretty much from the start Britney Spears` marriage to Kevin Federline was ridiculous. But I`m here to tell you there`s something else that`s ridiculous -- Kevin Federline trying to kick start a music career using the nickname K-Fed. But of course now that Britney is saying adios to Kevin Federline, a whole bunch of creative nicknames have been floating around, I want to pass a few by you right now. Her soon to be ex-is now being called, most appropriately, K-Fed-Ex. You`ll be hearing that a lot. Some are saying Brit left him because she was K-Fed Up. And now, without her, he is K-Fed Alone. All of those names, along with K-Fed to begin with, we say, "that`s ridiculous!"
HAMMER: All of those pretty clever. Ok, out of all the tabloid reports, rumors and crazy things we have heard about Brit and K-Fed, nothing, and we mean nothing, beats this chitchat about time travel we found on Youtube from their short-lived reality show, Chaotic, check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITNEY SPEARS: What I`m trying to say is, do you ever feel like you -- have you ever seen "Back to the Future?"
FEDERLINE: Uh-huh.
SPEARS: Is that possible, to time travel speed?
FEDERLINE: No.
SPEARS: Yes it is Kevin.
FEDERLINE: Ok, but not that we know of.
SPEARS: Maybe, I think people can do that, I think some people are ahead of us.
FEDERLINE: Maybe. But they would never tell the world.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Certainly not Nobel Prize physics-winning stuff there. Now SHOWBIZ TONIGHT had the last major TV interview with Federline just before Britney decided to dump him. I sat down with Kevin and asked him to explain all this time travel talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEDERLINE: Yeah, you know, I mean that wasn`t our fault, like we didn`t put the extra footage out there, you know. Somebody must have got a hold of something and I mean, you know how that goes. But, I mean, you know, we were having fun. We were getting to know each other and I mean, yeah, we talked about some weird stuff, but, I mean --
ANDERSON: Who doesn`t, right?
FEDERLINE: Exactly, exactly. When you fall in love, I think there is a point in that that you go back to when you`re like 12 years old and you start acting like kids again, you know.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON: Ok, well, it didn`t seem like they were joking. So, Brit, if you want, we`ve got the keys to that "Back to the Future" time traveling (INAUDIBLE) if you need them. And it`s really silly stuff like that that seriously hurt Britney`s image. But now that she has kicked out K-Fed, what does she need to do to become the Britney that we once all knew and loved? With us in New York is advertising and branding executive Richard Kirshenbaum and in Hollywood, big time celebrity publicist Howard Bragman. Welcome to you both. Doing well, thank you. Now Howard, I want to begin with you. You`ve seen it all before, celebrities going through breakups, the failed marriages, stalled careers. If Britney were your client, what is the one thing out of the box that she has got to do to turn this thing around?
HOWARD BRAGMAN, FIFTEEN MINUTES PR: I think she started really turning it around the other night when she did her Letterman appearance. She looked great. She was very understated in her dress. She was funny. And she looked like she got rid of a 185-pound tumor. So I think she`s really starting great right out of the box.
ANDERSON: Got rid of more than the baby weight, huh?
BRAGMAN: A lot more than the baby weight actually.
ANDERSON: And Richard, you know, as he mentioned she went on the late night talk show. She is already well on her way to showing the world that she is free, she`s ready to move on. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT obtained this video. Let`s show it to you, of Britney skating in the world famous Rockefeller Ice Skating Rink just hours after the divorce announcement, after the bombshell. I think we`re going to get it hopefully pretty soon. Here it is. What kind of message does that send, Richard? Because I find it hard to believe that something like that is not clearly orchestrated. This is Britney Spears, you don`t just go ice skating every day.
RICHARD KIRSHENBAUM, KIRSHENBAUM & BOND PARTNERS: Well you know, I come from a Madison Avenue perspective, you know from a sponsorship point of view. And clearly they want to see she`s out, she`s about, she`s dating, she`s still attractive. But you know from a sponsorship point of view, she is just divorced, she is a mom. I don`t know, it doesn`t send a great message to me from a Madison Avenue sponsorship point of view.
ANDERSON: Oh, really? So you don`t think maybe she could gain some sympathy?
KIRSHENBAUM: I think she`s a mother, I think she`s going through a divorce. You know, she`s not Paris Hilton, she still has children and it`s a trying time, I think. I don`t think it was a good move.
ANDERSON: Absolutely a trying time. And she has to plan those public appearances because she`ll get swarmed by the paparazzi.
KIRSHENBAUM: Exactly.
ANDERSON: Ok, and Howard, from the beginning, when she hooked up with K-Fed, people were like, what is she doing with this guy? Is it important that going forward, the person that she dates next be, I don`t know, the anti-K-Fed, for lack of a better term?
BRAGMAN: Well I think it`s not hard to find an anti-K-Fed. That would be probably somebody with a job or a career.
ANDERSON: Howard, that`s --
BRAGMAN: I`m sorry.
ANDERSON: That hurt.
BRAGMAN: I don`t think it`s going to be hard for her to do that. When you`re dating and you`re a celebrity, you`re playing offense, and you can get some really good publicity or you can get some really bad publicity. I think a lot of people thought she made a bad choice with K- Fed and I think she has a chance to redeem herself. So I think this is a real opportunity that she shouldn`t screw up right now. And she has to be -- Britney has had a challenge with knowing when to keep things personal and when they should be public. And I think this is a real opportunity for her to learn what`s public and what`s private and when to flaunt a relationship and when to keep it discrete.
ANDERSON: What she should let the public in on and what she shouldn`t.
BRAGMAN: Exactly.
ANDERSON: Richard, I want to ask you about this, another thing that`s hurt her image, her mothering skills have come into question. A lot of people have criticized her ability as a mother, there was the incident with baby Sean Preston in her lap in the car and not in a car seat. The incident where she almost dropped the baby. How important is it for her to show the world that she is a great mother in order to rehab her image?
KIRSHENBAUM: Hugely important. She needs to reconnect with a large part of her fan base by showing she is still a great mom. That`s really important. And, I mean, again, from a Madison Avenue point of view, we need to see that. We have really high expectations for her, but she needs to come through on that.
ANDERSON: She has got a lot to prove first.
KIRSHENBAUM: Exactly.
ANDERSON: All right Richard Kirshenbaum and Howard Bragman, thank you both so much for your insight.
And, remember, just ahead on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Kevin Federline`s very last big interview just before he was smacked up side the head with divorce papers. And only SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has it. That`s coming up at 31 past the hour.
HAMMER: And yet more celebrity split stuff. Ryan Phillippe speaking out for the very first time since his shocking breakup with Reese Witherspoon. That`s next.
ANDERSON: And we check into the Hiltons and check out juicy secret stories of sex and scandal. Plus, we`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was sick of him. She drop-kicked him. And I think, from his point of view, he was stunned because he thought this marriage was just going fine.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Did poor Kevin Federline have any clue he was about to get dumped? More of the very last big interview K-Fed did with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, just before Britney booted him to the curb, only here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Ryan Phillippe is finally speaking out about his shocking split with Reese Witherspoon. The couple announced they were separating last week after seven years of marriage. Here`s what Ryan tells "People" magazine. "I`m not a perfect person, but I`m not guilty of a lot of the things I`ve been accused of. My priority is and always has been the health and safety of my family." There have been reports that Ryan cheated on Reese. Read more in this week`s "People" magazine, it`s on newsstands on Friday.
HAMMER: Lindsay Lohan says I don`t party all the time -- really. Coming up why she thinks we`ve totally got the wrong idea about her. We`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEDERLINE: You see all the negative stuff, but, I mean, everybody has got to know that, like, behind closed doors everything is, you know, is great. It`s not always what they say it is.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Did poor Kevin Federline have any clue he was about to get dumped? More of the very last big interview K-Fed did just before Britney booted him to the curb and it`s only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: She`s sexy, she`s in her 40`s and now she`s posing nude. How Cindy Margolis` startling choice could actually help women who have not been able to have children. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, coming right back.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY: Hi there, good to see you. I`m Kathleen Kennedy, here`s your HEADLINE PRIME NEWSBREAK. Democrat Jim Webb is calling himself Virginia senator elect, and the Associated Press is projecting him the winner, with a razor-slim lead over Republican incumbent George Allen. Webb gathered about 7200 votes more than Allen, out of more than 2.5 million votes cast. The first time in 12 years the Democrats have seized control of both Houses of Congress.
President Bush says he is surprised by the Democrats strong showing in the midterm elections. Former CIA director Robert Gates is being tapped to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who is stepping down after six years in that position. Rumsfeld is the longest serving Bush cabinet member.
And FEMA crews will assess flood damage in western Washington next week. A three-day drenching storm left homes and businesses submerged and two people dead. That`s the news. I`m Kathleen Kennedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for Wednesday night. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in New York.
ANDERSON: Yes, we are. I`m Brooke Anderson, and this is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
You know, A.J., Lindsay Lohan has a reputation of being a girl who likes to go out and have a good time.
HAMMER: Yes, she does.
ANDERSON: .being a party girl. But she`s saying everybody`s got the totally wrong idea, the wrong impression .
HAMMER: Really?
ANDERSON: .of her. Yes, Lindsay Lohan defending herself, coming up, in her own words.
HAMMER: Also, Brooke, is it possible that we all have the wrong idea about Paris Hilton? Is it possible we should have sympathy for Paris Hilton?
Coming up, we`re going to take you inside the House of Hilton. There`s sex, there`s scandal, and we`re going to talk to the guy who did some investigating to find out exactly.
ANDERSON: Do we really want to go inside?
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: But first, the most comprehensive coverage of the Britney Spears-Kevin Federline divorce shocker continues now. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s got Kevin Federline last major television interview before learning Britney was giving him the boot.
Tonight, did Kevin Federline get sucker punched with the news? Well, just judge for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: It seems that so many couples in Hollywood have problems. What advice would you give them?
KEVIN FEDERLINE, ENTERTAINER: Well, you know, I don`t know what it is. Like, I`ve - I`ve sat and actually tried to think about it, and - and figure it out because it`s - it`s such - I mean, it`s tough. I mean, plain and simple, especially if you`re in the media everyday.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Oh boy, you can say that again. That`s Kevin Federline, the former backup dancer, aspiring rapper and now future ex-Mr. Britney Spears talking to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT in his last big TV interview before the divorce filings.
I sat down with K-Fed in what was, at the time, a no-holds-barred discussion about his life with Britney.
FEDERLINE: The only one that I can really go to that understands any of it.
ANDERSON (on camera): So your best friend (INAUDIBLE)
FEDERLINE: Definitely.
ANDERSON (voice-over): It`s fair to say that best friends is now probably a bit of a stretch.
HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: He did not see this coming because she didn`t really tell him.
ANDERSON: Britney dropped a bombshell Monday night by deciding to kick K-Fed to the curb and ask for sole custody of their two young boys.
LEVIN: She dropkicked him. And, you know, I think from this point of view, he was stunned, because he thought this marriage was just going fine.
ANDERSON: He really did. K-Fed repeatedly told me, just days before Britney filed for divorce, that his marriage was hunky dory.
FEDERLINE: I - I love her to death, you know? It`s - it`s - it`s crazy. It`s something that I can`t explain.
ANDERSON: OK. So that`s what K-Fed was thinking. As for Britney - well, as Borat would say.
SASHA BARON COHEN, COMEDIAN: Not so much.
LEVIN: She was really upset in this marriage because he was disengaged. And that was the problem here. And ultimately, she just got sick and tired of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britney!
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT obtained this video of Britney Tuesday night - the same day she filed for divorce. She bundled up, rounding the world-famous ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza. A little shaky on her skates, but as far as we can tell, happy as can be.
JULIE JORDAN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: After Britney filed for divorce, she went out on the town. She went to dinner with friends, she went shopping at the Gap and then she went ice skating at Rockefeller Center. She`s not at home feeling sorry for herself.
ANDERSON: You got that right. Look how smiley Britney was Monday night at "The Late Show With David Letterman."
(CHEERING)
BRITNEY SPEARS, ENTERTAINER: I was - I`m in town, and I`m such a huge fan.
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Oh..
ANDERSON: She made a surprise appearance, showing off her post-baby body, and sporting a trendy new hairdo - no mention of a marital meltdown.
But had we looked at the tape with a fine-tooth comb, we would have realized that the pop princess wasn`t wearing her wedding ring. We didn`t notice at the time, but maybe Kevin did.
JORDAN: When all this was happening, Kevin was in Toronto promoting his new album. And those who saw him said that, you know, he was not about K-Fed, he was about K-Dad. He was shopping for baby clothes. He was very subdued. He was missing his family. You know, but he seems realized depressed, almost on the verge of tears.
ANDERSON: A much different Kevin than I spoke with. Wearing his wedding ring, he was all smiles when he talked to me about his wife and kids. He told me all those rumors about his excessive partying and their marriage being on the rocks are just that -rumors.
FEDERLINE: You see all the negative stuff, but, I mean, you - everybody`s got to know that, like, behind closed doors, everything is - is - you know, is great. It`s not always what they say it is, you know? I mean, we - we - we`re people, too. We`re - we`re happy behind closed doors. We play with the kids and run around the house, you know? And - and we do stuff that normal people do.
ANDERSON: That was Kevin just days before getting dumped.
Even though Britney skipped out on several promotional events for his album release, including his big New York City party, he just didn`t seem to see the divorce coming, and may have found out about it when TMZ broke the story.
LEVIN: I`m told that he found out about the divorce when TMZ published the story. So it`s not like Britney Spears was saying, Honey, it`s not working out. She was saying, you know, Next.
ANDERSON: It`s hard to know what`s going to be next for Kevin, who just days ago sang Britney`s praises to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
FEDERLINE: I`m - I`m like her biggest fan as - as a husband.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And, you know, A.J., K-Fed told me that he wanted to be the breadwinner. He didn`t want Britney to have to be the breadwinner. He wanted to support her and support his family and give to them what they`ve, you know, given him.
So that`s what he was doing, working towards this music career with this new CD.
HAMMER: Well, with - with that new CD dead on arrival - I - what was it like, 5,000 copies sold? I don`t think that`s going to happening. And he`s certainly not going to be paying alimony.
Now I understand you - you`re all chummy with the guy now, because in addition to sitting down with him that day, later that night, you were hanging out at his listening party, where they were playing that CD.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Well, one thing we did not see was Britney Spears at this CD listening party on Friday night, hours after I had spoken to him. And I thought that was really odd, considering the fact that he had just told me that they were each - on - each other`s biggest fan, each other`s biggest cheerleader.
But no, we didn`t see her all night. He was hanging out with friend. Seemed to be in good spirits though.
HAMMER: Did - did you get to hear any Britney music, or was it .
ANDERSON: We did.
HAMMER: .pretty much all Kevin Federline?
ANDERSON: We - yes, the DJ did play one of her songs, and everybody went crazy, you know, elbowing Kevin. Like, Kevin, it`s Britney, this is exciting. Everyone was singing, dancing along. But Kevin was pretty much stone-faced. He.
HAMMER: Oh really?
ANDERSON: Yes, he didn`t seem like he was having a good time. And he had been rapping all night, rapping along to his own songs.
So it - clearly there was a little bit of trouble in paradise that.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: .perfect as you said it was.
ANDERSON: Exactly.
And, you know, Britney`s divorce is the big news of the day, and not just here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. This morning on "The View," Rosie O`Donnell started the show saying she was overjoyed. And Elizabeth Hasselbeck says she was shocked and devastated. You know, it seemed like they were talking about the election.
But then take a look at what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O`DONNELL, "THE VIEW": It`s the biggest news in the country, ladies and gentlemen. Britney Spears is leaving K-Fed!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
O`DONNELL: Let me just say on behalf of a happy America, welcome back Britney! We love you!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Rosie says she just couldn`t resist, and that she was cooking up the confetti bit all night.
HAMMER: Well, we want you to know that we want to know what you think. For our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day," it`s kind of like our own exit poll going on here. "Britney Dumps Kevin: Did she do the right thing?" Let us know what you think at cnn.com/showbiztonight. Our e-mail address is showbiztonight@cnn.com.
And remember, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is the only entertainment news show letting you express your opinion on video. Look right into your video camera or your webcam, whatever you got, give us a piece of your mind through video e-mail. So simple to do. Just go to the Web site, cnn.com/showbiztonight. That`s where we have all the details. All you have to do is click, attach and send. Keep it under 30 seconds, and watch your video e-mails, only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: She is known as the most downloaded woman on the planet: Cindy Margolis. She`s 40, fabulous, and now for the very first time, she`s posed nude.
This mother of three takes it all off in the December issue of "Playboy," and opens up about why she waited until now to pose nude, and about her heartbreaking battle with infertility.
Cindy Margolis is with me now in New York.
Cindy, great to see you.
CINDY MARGOLIS, "PLAYBOY" COVER MODEL: Thank you.
ANDERSON: You look lovely.
MARGOLIS: Oh, thanks, Brooke. So do you.
ANDERSON: Always - why thank you very much.
Now I want to know: you are the most downloaded woman on the planet.
MARGOLIS: I love the way you say that.
ANDERSON: Well, it`s - it`s - it`s huge.
When you were given that title, did it creep you out at all that, Hey, a lot of people could have you on their desktops?
MARGOLIS: No.
ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) no.
MARGOLIS: No, I thought it was great to kind of be the pioneer of the Internet, like the first person on TV or radio to go down in history as being, you know, the first model to be on the Internet I think is kind of cool, and the Guinness Book of World Records. This is something I can tell my grandchildren about.
So, no, I was very proud to actually hold that title. Because, of course, today, everyone and your dog has a Web site. So - but, you know, back when I started in 96, no one what a download or, you know, the Internet was.
So, you know, it wasn`t really Al Gore, it was me that invented the Internet.
ANDERSON: You were the pioneer.
MARGOLIS: I was the genius.
ANDERSON: And, you know, all those years, you had a lot of sexy poses, but you never took off your clothes until now. Age 40, you took off your clothes for "Playboy." Which by the way, you - you don`t look 40 years old.
But tell me, why now?
MARGOLIS: Oh, well, that is true. You know, to be named the most downloaded, for keeping my clothes on, I always prided myself for being the only one who didn`t take it off. And of course, my Web site was, you know, girl next door and wholesome and sexy and anyone could come see it.
But, you know, I`ve really been close with "Playboy" over the years, and Mr. Hefner`s been always great, and he`s called me every year, and I`ve graciously declined. But when he called me on my 40th birthday to wish me a happy birthday, and to still make me an offer, I was, like, Wow, he still wants me at 40?
And I just thought that was great. That was an empowering moment, you know? And I thought, if I was going to do it before for gratuitous reasons or money or, you know, for my career, I would have done it, you know, when I was 25 and looked better, before my three children, and, you know, all that stuff.
But I just thought, You know what? Now it`s only something that`s inspirational; that you can have three children, be married and still be sexy, confident and pose for "Playboy."
ANDERSON: Doing it for different reasons.
MARGOLIS: Yes.
ANDERSON: And some of the proceeds from the sale.
MARGOLIS: Yes.
ANDERSON: .of this issue go to your charity.
MARGOLIS: Exactly.
ANDERSON: .and also to Resolve, a national infertility association.
MARGOLIS: Correct.
ANDERSON: And that really hit home for you, because in 1998, you were named one of the most beautiful people in the world on the same you found out from your doctor that you were infertile.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: It must have been devastating.
(CROSSTALK)
MARGOLIS: In part, and that`s why I try to, you know - posing for "Playboy" is actually posing for a purpose. And, yes, all the proceeds will go to help people have their miracle child. Because I was infertile and I went through in vitro fertilization seven times. And it`s so heartbreaking to everyone out there who thinks they`re going through it alone. And I`m just trying to make it more mainstream so we can talk about it. Because half the time, it`s actually a male problem as well.
So if you`re having trouble.
(CROSSTALK)
MARGOLIS: .don`t realize it. And as a woman, if you want a child, and that`s all you want in your heart and you can`t have one, it`s - you know, it`s devastating. And your self-esteem is so low, and here, it looked to the world, like, Oh, you know, she looks great. But no, on the inside I was dying. And you know, I hit rock bottom. And I just, you know, thought, Oh, my husband`s going to leave me, and I can`t have children. And it was just such a devastating time for me.
And as I said, it took me seven times before I was blessed with my son, Nicholas (ph), who is now four years old. And I was a high-risk pregnancy. And after that, I wasn`t able to conceive. And my beautiful twins were born via surrogate. And people don`t understand surrogacy, and so I just want to speak out about it, because it`s so important.
ANDERSON: And you`re writing about a book about your struggles.
MARGOLIS: I am.
ANDERSON: Coming out next year.
MARGOLIS: Coming out in October.
ANDERSON: And you say one of the things that - that hurts people who struggle with these problems is Hollywood. It - it adds to the shame that people feel.
MARGOLIS: It`s true.
ANDERSON: Why do you say that?
MARGOLIS: Well, it`s - because you turn on, you know, the TV and it looks like everyone in Hollywood is getting pregnant, and you`re 45 and you`re 50 and you`re having twins, or some macho celebrity is 60 and, you know, everyone`s getting pregnant. And you`re at home thinking, you know, What is wrong with me?
And here I am in Los Angeles in my fertility office, and there`s A- list celebrities, you know, signing confidentiality agreements. And they will come up to me, like, Why are you talking about this? I`m like, Because you`re not. You need to speak out about it. It`s not something that we need to hide or be ashamed of. I mean, this is having our precious baby.
So I just want to everyone to know there are options: fertility, surrogacy, adoption. It`s so important that we speak out about it, because it affects millions and millions of Americans every year. It`s nothing to be ashamed about.
However you can have your baby, there`s options out there. But if it comes via FedEx, at least you have your beautiful, miracle baby.
ANDERSON: What a great message you have. And you seem like a very loving, devoted mother.
MARGOLIS: Yes.
ANDERSON: Cindy Margolis, thank you so much.
MARGOLIS: Thank you for having me on.
ANDERSON: And the December issue of "Playboy" magazine featuring Cindy is on newsstands now.
HAMMER: Well, you`ve heard of a bridge over troubled water. But what about trouble over a bridge? There`s a bit of a brouhaha brewing in West Virginia that made us say, "That`s Ridiculous!" And that`s next.
ANDERSON: Plus, is Lindsay Lohan really all about partying? Lindsay opens up about her reputation for being a dance-all-night, late-to-the-set party girl, coming up.
HAMMER: And it`s everything you ever wanted to know about Paris Hilton, and probably some stuff you never wanted to know. We`ve got the guy who wrote a tell-all book about Paris and her family, on the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
It`s time now for yet another story that made us say, "That`s Ridiculous!"
In Huntington, West Virginia, some residents are seeing red over a pink bridge. Take a look at this. The mayor gave a guy permission to paint a bridge pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Seems like such a good idea.
But not everybody is thrilled with the pink bridge. And while these naysayers are saying they`re not a guest - against breast-cancer awareness, the bridge is historic, and the mayor really shouldn`t have let it be painted without asking the public`s permission.
Turns out one guy was so angry he got out of his car and he actually threatened to beat the painter up. Are you kidding me? It`s just a bridge.
Getting violent over a pink bridge? Now "That`s Ridiculous!"
ANDERSON: Lindsay Lohan says people who think she`s just a party girl have it all wrong. Lohan was on Oprah promoting her new movie "Bobby." She told Oprah Winfrey that the tabloids missed the mark in the way they portray her.
Take a look at what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: So tell me this - you have this huge reputation for being a big party girl.
LINDSAY LOHAN, ENTERTAINER: Oh, I hate that (INAUDIBLE).
WINFREY: Is that true, or not?
LOHAN: No. No. I - I - I mean, I`ve been acting my whole life. This is what I love to do. And I`m very lucky and blessed to be able to do that.
I`m 20 years old. Is it a crime to go and, you know, dancing with friends? It`s not.
WINFREY: Yes.
LOHAN: It`s - I - I have a life, and I have my family and I have work. And I have those three things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Lindsay`s "Bobby" co-star Emilio Estevez was also on the show. He said Lindsay was great to work with, always on time and that the media focus on the negative because it sells.
HAMMER: Well, Paris Hilton is yet another celebrity who sells lots and lots of magazines because she`s almost always out at clubs or posing on a red carpet.
But is Paris really the person everyone thinks she is? In this new book, "House of Hilton," Jerry Oppenheimer uncovers the crazy details all about Paris` parents, Kathy and Rick, and some famous celebrity connection that will absolutely shock you.
Author Jerry Oppenheimer joining me in New York.
Nice to see you.
JERRY OPPENHEIMER, AUTHOR, "HOUSE OF HILTON": Thank you. Thank you for having me.
HAMMER: So you got to straighten this out for me, Jerry, because over the years, we`ve seen all of the nonsense that surrounds Paris Hilton. In the back of our heads, we`re all thinking, it doesn`t really matter what she does, what kind of trouble she gets into, she`s always got that Hilton money, that big inheritance to fall back on.
What you uncovered is the fact that that`s not so true. She`s not a big heiress that we all make her out to be.
OPPENHEIMER: Yes. The media and Paris herself and her family has made her the heiress with millions of dollars coming to her at some point in time.
What I discovered in 18 months of research into this book was the fact that, in fact, she is not the heiress we all think she is. Most of the Hilton fortune was put into a foundation many, many years ago by her great- grandfather, the eccentric hotel empire builder.
So Paris really has to work. As - as one of her family members told me, in the Hilton family, she has to work her tush off.
HAMMER: Yes.
OPPENHEIMER: Because if she wants to live the Hilton hot lifestyle, it`s not coming from any great endowment from anyone.
HAMMER: Well it`s interesting, because we talk here on this show that she is one of these people who is just famous for the sake of being famous. In fact, it was her great-grandfather who said, Nobody deserves anything unless they work for a living.
OPPENHEIMER: Exactly.
HAMMER: And despite the fact that she is getting slammed all the time for should - just being out there making money for waving around on the red carpet, she is working her tush off. She - she does have a perfume line, and she has her music. And she`s making a lot of money doing all that.
So does she kind of get a bad rap?
OPPENHEIMER: No. In fact, in a way, Paris has inherited her - her great-grandfather`s entrepreneurial spirit.
But once again, she has to do this. She`s an exhibitionist. She`s been pushed out there by a very aggressive, ambitious stage mother. Her mother, Kathy Hilton, had been a child star herself, had been a model.
One of the things that the world doesn`t really know: she was taught by her mother, marry rich and become famous. Well, she wasn`t bankable to become famous, so at the age 20 in 1979, she married Rick Hilton, married into the Hilton dynasty. And taught her daughter the same things she was taught by her mother, which is get out there, be a celebrity, be a star.
And sadly, Paris was forced into a role that in any other family, she might not have been pushed into.
HAMMER: Well, yes. And being a star for maybe the wrong reasons, in some cases.
You mentioned being an exhibitionist. I got to ask you about this, because obviously Paris has been caught up in this scandal or that scandal, whether it`s been the car accidents, or - or this fight in a nightclub.
The most infamous of all the scandals was that sex tape that got out there with Rick Solomon. Now you uncovered that her parents are actually proud of the sex tape. Do I have that right? Because that sounds nuts to me.
OPPENHEIMER: Absolutely correct. Everything Paris has done, including the sex tape, they approve of.
Paris` parents wanted her to have this fame. They - they moved from Los Angeles to New York, and at 14 and 15 years old, they put her in the nightclubs. They allowed her to walk around the way she`s been photographed walking around by the paparazzi. And she made the tape. And once that tape came out, it launched her. She became the "It" girl, the new millennium, $20 million rolled in last year from all these different endorsements she has and all these products.
All because she appeared performing sex in a - in a video. And they - they find no problem with it. I`m sure they weren`t thrilled.
HAMMER: That`s so strange to me. I`m sorry.
OPPENHEIMER: It`s a bizarre group of people.
HAMMER: You know, not - not - not only one person has suggested in the past that, you know, maybe she`s not the - the brightest bulb in the lamp.
But do we have her wrong as far as that`s concerned?
OPPENHEIMER: I think Paris has three main attributes: she knows how to get attention; she knows how to spin the media like a pro; and the exhibitionism. All that today makes a celebrity.
I mean, you - you have on your show Lindsay Lohan and people like that. That`s the new celebrity. And Paris was the first for the new millennium.
HAMMER: Jerry Oppenheimer, I appreciate you sharing all of this with us.
OPPENHEIMER: Thank you.
HAMMER: And her parents are proud.
The book is called "House of Hilton." There it is. You`ll find it in stores now.
ANDERSON: Last night, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day."
"Stars on the Campaign Trail: Do they influence how you vote?" Four percent of you say yes; 96 percent of you say no.
Here`s some of the e-mails we received:
Eric writes, "Celebrities are always their ideas. This leads people to simply vote against whatever they are campaigning for."
And Sarah says, "I am frightened to think that anyone would look to a celebrity to make important decisions, such as voting."
Thank you for e-mails.
Hang tight; SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is time now to find out what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And tomorrow, Richard Pryor`s daughter Rain Pryor`s going to be here. She`s out with a brand new book all about her dad, the legendary comedian. Rain Pryor has harrowing stories about neglect, abuse and her emotional search for her father. Tomorrow, in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also tomorrow, a disturbing and riveting new documentary that goes inside an eating-disorder clinic to tell the story of four young women who are literally dying to be thin. We`ll have the producer of "Thin" tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in New York.
ANDERSON: Glad to have you back, A.J. I am Brooke Anderson. Thanks for watching.
Glenn Beck is next, right after the latest headlines from CNN Headline News. Keep it here.
END
