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Showbiz Tonight
Inside Look at Britney`s Rehab; Anna Nicole Fight Continues
Aired February 26, 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 shocking new claims about the remains of Jesus, and that he had a son. Why "Titanic" director James Cameron is right in the middle of it. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And Al Gore`s movie wins an Oscar. Well, will he choose Hollywood or the White House? I`m Brooke Anderson. We`re in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the battle over Anna Nicole Smith`s baby. Tonight, is there a shocking deal in the works between the fight`s biggest enemies? Will the baby be traded for big bucks?
Plus, another huge court decision in the battle to finally bury Anna Nicole. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is everywhere, from Florida to the Bahamas, as the Anna Nicole saga takes even more strange twists and turns.
Britney`s rehab battle. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes you inside the secret world of Britney Spears` rehab. What`s she going through? Is her rehab center ridiculously luxurious? Tonight, a revealing look as SHOWBIZ TONIGHT explores the controversial question, is Britney Spears suffering from a serious mental illness?
ANDERSON: Hi there everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson.
HAMMER: And I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in Hollywood, the night after the Oscars, and coming up, from Ellen to Al Gore, to issues of race, it was truly an Oscar night perhaps unlike any Hollywood has seen in some time.
ANDERSON: That`s right, A.J. You and I were in the thick of it all and that is coming up. But first, the wild and wacky Anna Nicole Smith drama. Today, so many new developments that it was almost hard to keep up. There was a late day decision by a Florida court that, in effect, prevents Anna Nicole, again, from being buried. And the paternity battle over her baby, a shocking report that a deal could be made between the most bitter enemies in the fight, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Anna Nicole Smith may be gone, but a new battle --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Security please --
ANDERSON: And a new front are opening up in a three-way fight for the baby, and a lonely court fight for the body, that the tragic starlet left behind. Anna Nicole`s ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, and her estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, arrived at a Bahamas courthouse for a custody hearing for Anna Nicole`s baby daughter, Dannielynne. Birkhead is saying he`s the little girl`s father and he wants a court, any court, to order a DNA test to prove it.
LARRY BIRKHEAD, EX-BOYFRIEND OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH: I hope I get to see her and have her soon.
ANDERSON: Anna Nicole Smith`s companion, Howard Stern, says he`s the father, and has the birth certificate to prove it. Each wants custody, and so does Anna Nicole`s mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the natural place to come and ask the court system to award custody to the grandmother.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT brings you the latest, as the Anna Nicole fight goes international.
MARY MURPHY, TV GUIDE: The media fascination is on all continents.
ANDERSON: In the Bahamas, CNN`s Rusty Dornin sets the stage for the media mad house that accompanied the latest Anna Nicole court hearing.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a sample of the madness surrounding the courthouse for the guardianship hearing for Anna Nicole Smith`s baby daughter. Get a look at the crowd. There`s a lot of people who are tourist here, that have just been hearing about it on the news and want to see what happens.
ANDERSON: Stern has resisted Birkhead`s efforts to get a paternity test to settle the daddy issue. But are they about to settle some of their differences?
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: Over the weekend there were settlement negotiations between Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern.
ANDERSON: Harvey Levin, of the celebrity news website TMZ.com, tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT the two parties are talking.
LEVIN: They are negotiating, I`m told. Exactly what is going on financially with Dannielynne and with Anna Nicole`s estate, and Howard K. Stern could end up with a role there. And if Birkhead is the dad, it may be that Howard K. Stern, in some ways, controls the purse strings and is the trustee, perhaps, of Dannielynne, certainly the estate.
ANDERSON: That would be a big estate. For more than a decade before her death, Anna Nicole had been fighting the family of her late oil magnate husband, J. Howard Marshall, for a piece of his half billion dollar estate. That legal fight has to end sometime, and when it does, Dannielynne could inherit Smith`s share.
But Levin tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that Stern may have more than a financial motive for ending this fight for Dannielynne.
LEVIN: This has been awfully embarrassing for Howard K. Stern on many levels, and certainly a personal level, having nothing to do with Dannielynne. And my guess is he really does not have the stomach to continue this for very long.
ANDERSON: Meanwhile, back in Florida, Virgie Arthur is waging a separate, lonely battle to win the right to bury her daughter in her native Texas.
ROBERTA MANDEL, VIRGIE ARTHUR`S LAWYER: Grant us, for a mother, the ability to bury her child.
ANDERSON: Arthur`s attorneys are trying to have a court overturn the decision that allowed Smith to be buried in the Bahamas.
JUDGE LARRY SEIDLIN, FAMILY COURT JUDGE: And I hope to god you guys give the kid the right shot.
ANDERSON: You remember Florida Judge Larry Seidlin made that decision after a circus-like court hearing. Word is his emotional antics on the bench --
SEIDLIN: Causes me to lose more hair than I already lost. Don`t test me anymore.
ANDERSON: -- has TV executives reportedly, including CBS, mulling a permanent TV gig for him.
MURPHY: I`d watch a show if he was on it.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT decided to go to TV Guide critic Mary Murphy to gauge Seidlin`s star potential.
MURPHY: He certainly is a character larger than life and could maintain his own television show if they shot it within a three-day period. If it goes over three days, who knows, he might have another meltdown right in the middle of his own series.
ANDERSON: It`s just proof positive that everything this Anna Nicole case touches turns into an outlandish, hyper version of reality that`s impossible for anyone to turn away from.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Now, keep in mind, while all this is going on, Anna Nicole Smith`s body is still lying in a refrigerated room at the Broward County Florida medical examiner`s office, and this is almost three weeks after she died.
Meanwhile, Larry Birkhead is breaking his silence. In an interview with "Access Hollywood," Larry Birkhead tells Tony Pods (ph) this whole thing has just been surreal to him, and that he really hasn`t been able to absorb it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRKHEAD: Because the images are still so constant on the television and everywhere, and everybody is talking about it, it just really hasn`t hit me. I haven`t had time to really grieve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has it hit you at all, practically, that you will never see her again?
BIRKHEAD: I`ve thought about it, and I don`t really think it`s really going to hit me until I have my daughter and look around and see that she`s not there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tony Pods` interview with Larry Birkhead will air tomorrow night on "Access Hollywood." And with me tonight, from Los Angeles, attorney and advocate Gloria Allred, in New York, host of Court TV`s "Hollywood Heat," Ashleigh Banfield. I appreciate you both being with us tonight. Late today, ladies, we got yet another ruling in the Anna Nicole Smith saga. The Florida circuit court of appeals ruled today that Smith still can`t be buried.
Gloria, is this thing ever going to get solved?
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY AND ADVOCATE: It will get solved, A.J., and this was the right decision. They needed to seek a stay, that is, stop the removal of the body until the court of appeals has an opportunity to hear this case. They did seek it. The court of appeals issued it. So Anna Nicole is not going to be buried tomorrow or probably any time very soon, until the court of appeals hears a full argument as to the mother`s case.
And the mother has a strong argument to make that she is the next of kin, that perhaps she is the one who should have been able to decide where her daughter was buried.
HAMMER: Ashleigh, is that essentially how you see it? Because it is going on and on, and every time I say that, I come back a couple days later and say it`s going on and on.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, COURT TV ANCHOR: That`s always the story in Florida when it`s litigation, you know. Whether it`s election 2000 or Anna Nicole Smith 2007. But yes, essentially what Gloria said is right. Basically what the mother of Anna Nicole Smith says is this judge, Judge Seidlin, followed the wrong law when he made his ruling. We want him to follow a different law. And it`s up to the Fourth Circuit to make that decision.
HAMMER: And as we saw a moment ago, TMZ.com reporting that Stern and Birkhead are meeting and actually talking about some kind of a deal, a deal that might actually give Larry Birkhead custody, with Stern getting control of Anna Nicole`s estate. Gloria, I don`t know about you, but this kind of smells of baby for money to me. What do you think?
ALLRED: Well, it`s not a surprise that they would talk settlement. It`s always best if parties can resolve a matter without have a court, that is a stranger, essentially, decide it for them. It may be that, in fact, Howard K. Stern knows that any DNA test is probably going to establish Larry as the father. And, if he is the father, then Howard K. Stern may lose control of basically the baby`s assets, which is whatever the child would inherit from her mother. And so maybe he thinks this is the time to cut a deal, let Larry have the child, but let him, Howard K. Stern, control the assets, to the extent that he can.
HAMMER: And speaking of any DNA tests, of course we haven`t been able to get Howard K. Stern to submit to one yet. Let`s roll out this little piece of videotape, because it seems what started this whole deal making mess is this cup that Stern`s attorney Krista Barth took after Birkhead left the witness stand. And our crack producer Erin Russom (ph) picked up this little piece of video. Word is that she could have had it tested for DNA, possibly to determine that Birkhead is the father.
Ashleigh, I know Court TV spoke with Krista. What did she tell you?
BANFIELD: We had her on our show. We posed it to her. We said, what`s the business? Is it monkey business? Did you take the cup? Is the cup still around? Is it missing. She said, definitively, no, I didn`t take the cup. I did not take the cup out of the courthouse. I simply stacked the cups and got them ready for whoever was going to clean up the courtroom later.
HAMMER: Oh, she was just helping them clean up, huh?
BANFIELD: That`s what she said.
HAMMER: At the same time, I happened to notice, and maybe by direction, maybe just because he`s being a neat guy, Howard K. Stern always taking his cup with him when he left the stand.
BANFIELD: Well, funny, I actually asked the attorneys for Larry Birkhead, I heard that you had taken Howard K. Stern`s cup. And they sort of deflected that and said, we had heard that someone took a cup, but it wasn`t us.
HAMMER: Gloria, I`ve got to ask you, if you were Stern`s attorney, and you knew that after all this grand standing, that Larry Birkhead was, in fact, the father, you had the factual evidence right there, from maybe from a cup, what would you be instructing Howard K. Stern to do right now?
ALLRED: Well, first of all, I would want my client to come clean with me. If he doesn`t really believe that he is the biological father, forget the presumption that he is the father under Bohemian law, either because of the birth certificate or because he co-habited when the child was born with Anna Nicole Smith, but I`d have him come clean with me.
Look, if you didn`t sleep with her at the time of conception, please tell me now, because we need to know this in order to know what our next step should be. That`s what I would be doing.
HAMMER: Well, hopefully they are having a good consultation, perhaps about just that. Gloria Allred, Ashleigh Banfield, thanks, as always, for joining us.
BANFIELD: Nice to see you.
ALLRED: Thank you A.J.
ANDERSON: A.J., everybody is talking about this shocking James Cameron Jesus controversy.
HAMMER: Oh, yes. It could up-end Christianity as we know it, should it be true.
ANDERSON: It`s really unbelievable. Coming up, startling claims about the remains of Jesus and that he had a son. What "Titanic" director James Cameron has to do with it. We`ve got him right here. We`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She needs to go into a retreat for about a year and find who she is, away from attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: The biggest stars with advice for Britney Spears. Plus, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes you inside the secret world of her posh rehab center.
ANDERSON: And who would have thought an Al Gore film wins? Jennifer Hudson wins, but is a fashion loser. And Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, all in one room. The Oscar stories everybody is talking about.
But first, what did you think of Ellen`s hosting and everything else about the Oscar show? It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, the Oscars, do you think the show was boring? Go to CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT. Send us an e-mail, SHOWBIZTONIGHT@CNN.com. And remember, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is the only entertainment news show that lets you express your opinion on video. To send us a video e-mail, just go to our website, CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. You`re watching TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. Tonight, inside the secret world of Britney Spears in rehab. Just days after she went berserk, shaved off all her hair, and the "New York Daily News" posted a front page photo of her attacking a car with an umbrella, Britney finally checked into Promises Treatment Center in California. So far she is sticking it out, her third trip into rehab.
So, what`s it like in there and will it be enough to tame Britney`s wild ways? With us tonight from San Francisco is Dr. Tara Fields from A&E Intervention, and Bradley Jacobs, senior editor for "US Weekly." He joins me here in Hollywood. Dr. Tara, Bradley, welcome to you both.
OK, Bradley, I want to start with you, because Promises not inexpensive. I mean, this place can cost more than 40,000 dollars a month. It is pretty luxurious isn`t it?
BRADLEY JACOBS, "US WEEKLY": yes, it is, 500 thread count sheets, gourmet chef, it`s nestled in the hills of the Santa Monica mountains, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Brook, I think I might want to check in there for a couple of days after the Oscars, because it has a spa like feel.
ANDERSON: Me too. It sounds like more of a vacation than rehabilitation to me Bradley. It is absolutely beautiful, looking at it. And Dr. Tara, I`ve got to ask you, is such a luxurious place the right place to rehab? I mean, some might say you really need to tough it out, say, at a Betty Ford Clinic or somewhere similar.
DR. TARA FIELDS, A&E INTERVENTION: You know, there is nothing wrong with some pampering. And if somebody has something else going on, maybe it`s severe psychiatric disorder, they do need to be fed well and they need some massages and they need nurturing, but the most thing is that they are getting the right kind of care finally, so that they can recover from whatever the issue is, not just alcohol, but it can also be a serious psychiatric disorder, and you need the right kind of staff. And that`s what`s going to really be the most helpful in the long run.
ANDERSON: And, Bradley, we had Danny Bonaduce on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT recently, and he said that he scrubbed the toilets, he did chores during rehab. I can`t imagine Britney Spears is scrubbing toilets. That`s not what she is going through in there, is she.
JACOBS: No, well, "US Weekly" interviewed the CEO of Promises a little while ago, and he described basically an average day at Promises. You wake up around 7:00. There is a meditation group. You talk about your affirmations for the day. Then there is breakfast and everyone goes to the gym. Then, at around 11:00, you start your group meetings. There are several of them in the afternoon. And then you work with a counselor.
You also work with a family therapist, if you need that. They tailor the training to each specific person there. Then there is dinner and more holistic activities like yoga, and just more meetings after dinner. It`s what it seems like. It`s not scrubbing toilets, but not laying around the pool either.
ANDERSON: Exactly, not all relaxation, but some work in there as well. That`s reassuring. Now Dr. Tara, her soon to be ex-husband, Kevin Federline, has made two visits to her since she checked in, and People.com is reporting that he even brought the kids. That`s really an important part of rehabilitation, isn`t it.
FIELDS: Absolutely, you know, Kevin Federline could really turn into the good guy as a result of her getting healthy, because, if he says, listen to me, I really want you to get healthy. I care about you. Don`t worry about custody battles. I give you my word that I`m not going to go to the attorneys. Because for her to really say, I feel safe here, I can take the time off to finally get well, she can`t be worrying about something like that.
Because, you know, deep down inside, regardless of how it looks to the outside world, she is a mother. And if he says to her, I give you my word, then really that`s going to help her do the kind of work she needs to deal with the pain, to get the kind of treatment that she desperately needs, and come out of there as a good mother, a great artist and a good person who can live her life with some peace.
ANDERSON: Dr. Tara, some people have suggested that she might be going through post-partum depression. You know, others say maybe bipolar. You`ve alluded to this sort of thing, and you`ve had experience with these kinds of cases. What are your thoughts?
FIELDS: Well, you know, listening to some of the things that have gone on and the -- what really appears to be almost manic stages, the shaving of the hair, always having the Red Bull, the caffeine, not sleeping, the kind of anger -- I really started thinking -- and it was also based on what they were saying "US Magazine," that this is someone who really may be in a manic state.
Normally I`m the first one to say, it doesn`t matter why somebody is drinking or doing drugs, you know, if they have pain, what was going on at this point it`s the alcohol. I`m going to say the opposite with Britney. At this point the alcohol is secondary. If she has a serious psychiatric disorder, and it`s her brain chemistry, the most important thing is getting it diagnosed.
ANDERSON: Getting help.
FIELDS: Correctly. That`s right, getting her on the right meds, yes.
ANDERSON: I couldn`t agree more. We are going to have to wrap it up there. Dr. Tara Fields, Bradley Jacobs from "US Weekly," thank you both so much for your insight. We really do appreciate it.
And the stars had a lot to say about Britney when I caught up with them at the Oscars. Straight ahead, some really candid advice for Britney as she struggles to clean up her act in rehab. That`s at 35 past the hour.
HAMMER: Brooke, there is startling new claims that Jesus`s remains were actually found.
ANDERSON: Yes, truly unbelievable.
HAMMER: Well, coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`re going to tell you how James Cameron is right in the middle of all of this. The "Titanic" director is right here. Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: And the Oscar goes to "An Inconvenient Truth."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Who would have thought Al Gore, from 2000 presidential loser to Oscar winner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Well, at last night`s Oscar Helen Mirren took home the best actress award for her controversial role as Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen." In case you aren`t familiar with the film, it is a blistering look at how the monarchy supposedly responded to Princess Diana`s death in 1997. Today, on Oprah Winfrey`s annual day after Oscar show, Mirren hinted that she might actually be invited to Buckingham Palace to meet her royal highness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TV TALK SHOW HOST: I heard that you were going to have tea with the queen. Is that true?
HELEN MIRREN, "THE QUEEN": I don`t know. I doubt it. I mean, there is a rumor, but I really doubt it.
WINFREY: Well, if you have tea, wear this dress.
MIRREN: She will think I`m terribly over dressed if I wear that.
WINFREY: Do you know if she has seen it or not, and do you care?
MIRREN: Oh, I care. I care, but I don`t know. And I don`t think I ever will know. I`m sure she has, because who could resist really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK, so SHOWBIZ TONIGHT looked into this a bit more. There were reports that the queen had invited Mirren over for tea, but Mirren`s publicist said, no way. There would be no tea for two, though the queen`s people say, quote, they are looking into a number of options.
HAMMER: So Brooke, did you happen to check Jack Nicholson at the Oscars last night? Take a look at this video here.
(CROSS TALK)
HAMMER: Jack and Britney, the same hair stylist. Well, actually Britney is her own stylist. Coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`re going to investigate why Nicholson shaved it all off, and Britney was on the minds of many at the Oscars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She needs to go into retreat for about a year and find out who she is away from attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The biggest stars with advice for Britney Spears. They really open up about her rehab battle.
HAMMER: And the shocking James Cameron Jesus controversy, startling claims about the remains of Jesus, and that he had a son. Why the "Titanic" director is right in the middle of it. He is right here with us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m Brooke Anderson.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in Hollywood tonight.
ANDERSON: We certainly are, A.J. And tonight, advice for Britney Spears from stars at the Oscar parties. Hollywood has been buzzing since Britney shaved her head and went into rehab. And that capped off months of bizarre behavior and wild partying. It just seemed like her life was spiraling out of control.
At the Oscar parties, we caught up with all the big stars, including Sharon Osbourne and Oscar winner Alan Arkin. And they had similar words of wisdom for Britney.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN ARKIN, ACTOR: She needs to go into a retreat for about a year and find out who she is away from attention. I mean, you - you have an identity apart from what other people think of you. And she`s got to find out what that is. And that`s the only way she can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0
SHARON OSBOURNE, ENTERTAINER: It`s heartbreaking. It - she`s had two babies, one after the other. Unfortunately, her marriage broke down. I mean, she`s obviously very, very depressed. She just needs to be with her family. She needs to be away from the limelight. She needs time - time to herself with her family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Sharon Osbourne also told us she thinks Britney might be suffering from postpartum depression.
HAMMER: The talk of this year`s Oscars: surprises. Sure, it was great that Martin Scorsese finally won a director`s Oscar for "The Departed," and Jennifer was named best supporting actress for "Dreamgirls."
But I`ve got to ask you something: who ever would have thought that we`d be saying, `Al Gore, an Oscar winner,` in the same breath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: And the Oscar goes to, "An Inconvenient Truth."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us who made this film - Laurie (ph), Lawrence (ph), Scott (ph) and Leslie (ph) did so because we were moved to act by this man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That Oscar moment wasn`t the only thing that got people buzzing.
Joining me tonight in Hollywood, Paul Degarabedian, the president of Media By Numbers, and Tom O`Neil, from theenvelope.com
Good to see you both.
I mean, think about it, Tom. Imagine - now let`s flash back in our minds seven years ago. If somebody had said to you that Vice President Al Gore, who was at the time in the presidential race against George Bush, would have had a film he did win an Oscar - he would be sharing the stage with an openly gay Melissa Etheridge, he would be sharing the spotlight with Leonardo DiCaprio - it all just kind of makes your head spin, doesn`t it?
TOM O`NEIL, THEENVELOPE.COM: You know, the diversity of America all in one play.
And, you know, he deserves an Oscar for the performance he gave last night. Because at first, he was very funny and engaging when he did with the little shtick about whether or not he`s running for president. And then he really hit it out of the park later when he won the award and looked so presidential as he gave us this inspiring talk about saving the planet and ourselves.
HAMMER: And - and of course, Gore`s big Hollywood profile has now sparked all kinds of speculation that he might actually jump into the presidential race and give it another try.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson did ask Gore about just that last night. Let`s look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I`ve said before, I don`t really have plans to run for office again. But I am involved in a different kind of campaign to persuade people of the urgency of this climate crisis. It is the overriding moral challenge of our time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: All right, Paulie D., so he`s not running. OK. But he`s hanging out at Oscar parties. I mean, Jerry Seinfeld, for goodness sake, awarded his film the Oscar.
Is he a new Hollywood darling?
PAUL DEGARABEDIAN, PRESIDENT, MEDIA BY NUMBERS: I think he is.
I think this was a giant love letter to Al Gore last night. And certainly, by "An Inconvenient Truth" winning the Oscar, that was just a feather in his cap. And I liked at the end, where he was with Leonardo DiCaprio, and he was kind of teasing the audience like he was going to make some big announcement - people were, like, holding their breath.
So he definitely knows how to work the camera. He definitely did it last night.
HAMMER: If - if Al Gore was only doing shtick when he was running for president, we`d be in a much different situation perhaps now.
But let`s move on and talk about somebody else who has certainly come a long way. When Ellen DeGeneres came out 10 years ago, her career took a hit. Let`s face it. It wasn`t going so well for a little while there.
Now, of course, she was hosting the Academy Awards. I think she did a fine job - Tom.
O`NEIL: I do, too. As a matter of fact, I thought her shining moment was when she ducked down with - with Clint Eastwood and had Spielberg take her picture. You saw - they did this little riff there.
But what that was was, that was our glimpse at the annual family reunion of Hollywood. And it`s about those little intimate moments. And that`s what was missing from the two years, with Chris Rock and with Jon Stewart - they didn`t have that connection with the audience.
HAMMER: And the best gauge of how an Oscar host does is whether or not they`ll be asked back. After the Academy Awards last night, Paul, you and I were talking about the fact, you think she`ll get the invite again.
DEGARABEDIAN: Yes, I think so. I mean, she did a fine job. She was really great with the audience, a lot of interaction. It gave her a chance to shine, and also a - a chance for Hollywood to show how much they like Ellen now, as compared to, like you said, when her career may have taken a hit a few years ago.
Totally about diversity last night, from the acting categories, directing. The - the audience itself, it was all about that.
HAMMER: Well, let`s talk more about the diversity, because much was made, of course, of the fact that this year, a record five black actors were nominated, two winners: Forest Whitaker, of course, for best actor; Jennifer Hudson, best supporting actress.
Last night, that was a great score. Still, we had the chance to catch up with Spike Lee, and he told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that he still doesn`t think enough has been done.
And here`s what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: That`s just in front of the camera. There`s still - we`re - we`re still not in those gate-keeping positions in the studio and the - the Hollywood studios. That`s when the landscape`s going to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: So what do you think, Tom? Does - does Spike Lee have a point?
O`NEIL: He really does. Look, they didn`t even nominate "Dreamgirls" as best picture this year because they didn`t get it. This is a group of older white guys, entrenched establishment.
And what`s remarkable about these two wins, though, this year - there`s - there`s great hope here for Spike, because when - before when they gave Oscars to Halle and to Denzel, they had to. Remember, there was such a hubbub about how stingy Hollywood had been to black actors.
This year, they wanted to give it to them. They thought they deserved it. And I thought that was, obviously, the new (ph) approach.
HAMMER: And real quickly, older women also getting a nod. Helen Mirren, 61 years old, winning for best actress.
Is Hollywood waking up to the idea that that`s a good - a good thing?
DEGARABEDIAN: I think it is a good thing. And also, Alan Arkin. I mean, these are older actors and actresses being honored. And, you know, the work - it`s about the work, not about the age or the color. It`s about the work, and ultimately that`s it.
HAMMER: And we need to keep that in mind.
DEGARABEDIAN: Absolutely.
HAMMER: Paulie D., Tom O`Neil, thanks as always for being with us. See you at the Academy Awards next year.
Well, of course, in addition to the Oscars last night, there was big controversy today of literally biblical proportions with a new documentary by "Titanic" director James Cameron, claiming that bones of Jesus may have been found. This is a shocking claim that truly could shatter the core belief of Christianity.
And that belief, of course, being that Jesus was resurrected to ascend to heaven.
James Cameron stopped by the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT studios earlier today, and we spoke about his controversial documentary.
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HAMMER: So for a lot of people, this whole thing you`re doing is - is almost incomprehensible. These bones were found back in 1980 in a town in Jesus. They found a - 10 small caskets in all.
As simply as you can, please, explain why you think some of these bones could actually have belonged to Jesus.
JAMES CAMERON, DIRECTOR: This project was brought to me by a filmmaker in Canada named Simcarat Yakobovich (ph). And when he presented the evidence, I - I found it pretty compelling, at - in the early stage of the investigation, which was two years ago.
Basically, what had been found in 1980 and - in East Tapiot (ph), in - in Jerusalem, was 10 actuaries (ph), and six of them were inscribed. And there was a Jesus, son of Joseph; there was a - a - a Mary, "Maria." Another Mary that was a - a variation on - on the name "Miriam," "Mariamne" (ph), a Greek - Greek variant.
There was a "Matthew," and there was another "Joseph," a "Jose" (ph). And there was a "Juda," son of Jesus - Jesus.
So the archaeologists at the time concluded, these are very common names. It`s like finding a tomb with a kind of a "Joe" and a "Sam" and a "Charlie." And so they - they didn`t really consider that this could possibly, conceivably be the - the holy family, the - the New Testament family.
And I - because I think it is inconceivable. You know, it just doesn`t seem possible on its face.
So this investigation, the - the - the - that, you know, is in our documentary film, kind of goes to the second level, and - and drills down and looks at, Is this really possible? Runs the statistical analysis on the likelihood of this name cluster ever really taking place, if it wasn`t them.
HAMMER: Right, but based - but based on - but based on all of that, evidence aside, you - you`ve even said yourself the - that the statisticians have found that the odds of this actually being correct, a couple million to one.
Now considering that this is something.
CAMERON: No - no - this is a confusion that I - that I.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: OK, please clear that up.
CAMERON: It`s a couple of million to one that it`s not them.
HAMMER: OK.
CAMERON: That - that`s - that`s the Charlie Pellegrino (ph) - Dr. Charles Pellegrino`s finding.
Andre Ferver (ph), who`s the - the head of statistics at Toronto University, he`s done a more conservative analysis - very, very conservative. It throws out most of the things that, you know, kind of were arguable or questionable, and goes just with the simple, basic facts of the names.
These names are there. There`s no argument about the names. The - they were - they were - they were in Situ (ph) by - by archaeologists. And even Dr. Ferver`s analysis, it`s - the - the least probability is a 1 in 100 that it`s not Jesus` family. And his higher bound is a 1 in 1,000 chance that it`s not.
HAMMER: So - so James, if this is proved to be true, it really does challenge the whole idea of the resurrection of Jesus.
CAMERON: You know, it`s interesting. I`m not a - I`m not a theologian, so I`m not really sort of qualified, other than to just give you kind of what - what - what I know, and most of that`s kind of from - from Sunday school.
But - so, you know, take this with a grain of salt. But it seems to me that the resurrection per se is not challenged. Jesus could have - could have been resurrected, and according to the gospels, there were - he spent 40 days in his resurrected form, or in - actually in - sometimes appeared as a child, sometimes appeared as a man. There seems to be this idea that - that he was corporeal and non-corporeal.
But even if one assumes that he was corporeal, that his body rose - right? He was - he was on earth continuing his ministry in a sense, and - and assigning his - his missions to the - to the - to the apostles to go out and spread the word for 40 days.
At the end of that time, the question really is, what happens at the ascension? And that`s - that`s the area where people are going to - I think are going to have problems. Because if he left his body behind, that`s problematic for certain sort of more dogmatic or orthodox interpretations. Other people, I think - other Christians, I think, are perfectly comfortable with the idea that he left his body behind when he went to heaven.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is set to air next weekend on the Discovery Channel.
ANDERSON: When the Oscars were over, we were just getting started. We saw all the big stars at the after-parties: Madonna, Tom and Katie, Gwyneth Paltrow. And we have your VIP pass, straight ahead.
HAMMER: Plus, a new look for Jack Nicholson. Of course, we`re used to seeing him in the shades. But what about that bald head? Was it a show of support for Britney Spears? That`s also a-head, so to speak.
ANDERSON: And she may have been a hit at the Oscars, but was Jennifer Hudson a fashion miss? We have your complete Oscar fashion wrap-up, next.
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ANDERSON: Some absolutely gorgeous dresses there on the red carpet.
But, of course, with the hits, come the misses. And joining me to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly, celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, and style expert Mary Alice Stephenson.
Good to see you both.
MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, STYLE EXPET: Hi, Brooke.
ANDERSON: Let`s start - let`s kick it off with the ugly, shall we?
All right. Everybody talk to me about the Oscar de la Renta number that Jennifer Hudson had on at the - on the red carpet.
Now it just didn`t seem age appropriate. It seemed matronly for her.
STEPHENSON: No, you know, it just didn`t look right. That python bolero wasn`t right.
You know, Oscar de la Renta is a red carpet star.
ANDERSON: Right.
STEPHENSON: His designs are worn by the most fabulous, fashionable women. And it just wasn`t right this time.
I did, however, love the dress she changed into, the Robert Cavale dress, later on in the night. And that, to me, was what she should have worn the whole on.
ANDERSON: I did, too. And, you know, she told me at the Governor`s Ball - she said, `This is how I feel comfortable.` She said, `That red carpet dress, that was chosen by someone else.` So bottom line, she said, `Don`t blame her.`
PHILLIP BLOCH, CELEBRITY STYLIST: But the amazing thing is, it was the fit. It was just the fit on Jennifer Hudson that didn`t work. And she works with the stylist. You put the right bra under there; you put a wonder bra under there to kind of give her cleavage. You put something under that`s going to shape the body.
ANDERSON: This, to me, has been a good red-carpet lesson for Jennifer Hudson. Go with your gut, what you feel good in.
OK, let`s move to something that looked really great, I thought: Penelope Cruz, the pale-colored dress. She seemed to just float down the red carpet. What do you think?
BLOCH: And it`s amazing, too. It was Versace. It was gorgeous.
And the thing about Penelope is, she`s very tiny and petite. And yet, that was a lot of dress. And it really, really worked on her. I thought it was elegant; it was very a la Sarah Jessica Parker.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHENSON: I thought the bodice fit perfectly, and it was nice to see the - the voluminous bottom.
And I would like the hair and the makeup to be a little more dynamic. But I did love the dress.
ANDERSON: Speaking about Jennifer Lopez and dynamic, she had the jeweled neckline. She also said - had the lighter color.
STEPHENSON: She was wearing Markesa (ph), lilac. It was a beautiful dress. She was wearing Lorraine Schwartz (ph) jewelry that I know Lorraine was working on the night before.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: Lorraine Schwartz is the hardest-working jeweler in Hollywood.
STEPHENSON: Yes, absolutely.
ANDERSON: Talk about waiting until the last minute.
BLOCH: It`s always that way. I`ve worked with J.Lo before many times, and she loves to do it at the last minute; she loves the excitement. She always wants to see what else is out there.
STEPHENSON: It`s very ethereal, diaphanous. Jennifer really gets fashion.
We just recently worked with her on "Harper`s Bazaar." I did her cover for "Bazaar." She gets it. She understand fashion like no other.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: You know, she changes it.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: She does. You`re right. She changes her styles.
And Gwyneth Paltrow seems to get fashion. But last night in a burnt orange, what do you think?
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: (INAUDIBLE) I was with Zac when she came on the screen, and he was like, `Oh, that`s lipstick.` I was kind of calling it shrimp bisque, but.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHENSON: I think that Zac Posen dress went on the - the runways in New York for fall-winter.
ANDERSON: Right.
STEPHENSON: About two - two weeks ago, Gwyneth found out she was coming to the Academy Awards, and saw that, loved it, put it on.
The great thing about this dress is that we`ve seen Gwyneth since she`s had her babies look a little bit more esoterically fashion. You know, wearing great designers, but it - it was a little bit over the top, a little darker colors.
Really, she`s showing off this incredible body. She looks better than she`s ever looked.
BLOCH: She looked very womanly.
STEPHENSON: She does. Womanly, sexy.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHENSON: And she`s not trying to look like - quote - unquote - "old Hollywood glamour." She looks modern. She looks the way a - a red- carpet star should look.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Very classic there.
What did you think about Nicole Kidman? A lot of women shy away from red on the red carpet.
STEPHENSON: I thought - you know, that was a Balenciaga dress, Nicolas Gastier (ph) for Balenciaga. He`s one of the most talented designers out there today.
I actually - actually absolutely adored that dress. I got it. I think that - that some people might not.
When you saw her on the red carpet, you said, `Wow`.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: I - I just thought it was so amazing because she usually wears the pale kind of muted colors the last couple seasons, the peaches and the grays. And this was just impact. I loved it. And she did the bow a la Charlize Theron last season. I mean, I loved it.
And that long train of the bow was so elegant.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHENSON: I also think it was very modern that she didn`t ham it up with crazy, over-the-top jewelry on the ear. I liked the simplicity of the makeup.
That cup (ph) has 335 diamonds. That cup was made by her stylist, Lorraine Scott (ph).
ANDERSON: Talk about making a statement.
STEPHENSON: There she is with Naomi in - in Escada.
ANDERSON: Naomi looked beautiful as well.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: (INAUDIBLE) on Naomi`s (INAUDIBLE)
ANDERSON: Yes, the (INAUDIBLE) is not so good.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: All right. Jessica Biel wore hot pink. What did you think of this? Also Oscar de la Renta.
BLOCH: Yes.
STEPHENSON: You know, I thought the dress itself was gorgeous. The color was spot-on. I love that hot color. It`s going to be big for fall.
BLOCH: And the back was gorgeous.
STEPHENSON: And the gorgeous. And she`s very elegant, which was Oscar de la Renta does best.
I think it was the hair, the makeup and some of the jewels. You need a "wow" moment. (INAUDIBLE) are kind of muted.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOCH: This was her time to really shine, and she didn`t capture the moment. She could have walked out as a style last night.
ANDERSON: We will have to end it on that one. But thank you both so much for the talk.
BLOCH: My pleasure.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: .good to see you.
STEPHENSON: Good to see you.
HAMMER: We`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "The Oscars: Do you think the show was boring?" Let us know what you thought of at cnn.com/showbiztonight.
And you got more to say? We want to hear from you at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll check out some of your e-mail tomorrow.
And remember, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the only entertainment news show where you can express your opinion on video. If you`d like to send us a video e- mail, go to the Web site. It`s cnn.com/showbiztonight.
ANDERSON: So we had to wonder at the Oscars, what`s up with Jack`s hair, or lack thereof? Was it a show of support for Britney Spears? We`re going to get to the bottom of Jack Nicholson`s bald head, coming up.
And stay right where you are, because we have your VIP pass to the one of the hottest after parties around. Madonna was there, Tom and Katie, and you will be, too, next.
Stay with us. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
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HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I am A.J. Hammer, along with Brooke Anderson. We`re just basking in the post-Oscar afterglow here in Hollywood.
ANDERSON: Yes, we are basking, A.J. It was definitely a long night last night, although a thrilling one.
And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was all around town at the hottest Oscar after- parties. And we weren`t the only ones.
One of the biggest parties was the Vanity Fair bash, where we saw everybody from Madonna to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. All the big stars come out for this party.
And we caught with Gwyneth Paltrow. And she told us how the Oscar experience has changed for her since she has become a mom. Listen to this.
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GWYNETH PALTROW, ACTRESS: It`s still thrilling and fun, I think. It doesn`t make me as nervous as it used to make me. My kids have given me a lot of grounding. So I`m just enjoying it more.
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ANDERSON: Good for her, A.J.
And, you know, I love the Oscars, because it`s really a chance for the stars to shine, and really let their hair down.
HAMMER: And yes, let their hair down, leading into Jack Nicholson`s appearance at the Oscar. It had us all wondering, is he showing a sign of support for Britney Spears?
Nicholson showed up with this new look, completely bald. Letting his hair down. Turns out he isn`t following the Britney trend. He actually shaved his head for a movie role. Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are filming Rob Reiner`s film called "The Bucket List." It`s about two terminally ill friends who leave a cancer ward so they can do all the things they`ve always wanted to do before they did. Sounds like a great film, too. The movie will be out in November.
ANDERSON: On Friday, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." It was this: "Anna Nicole Smith`s Body Custody: Did the judge make the right decision?"
Eighty-one percent of you say "yes"; 19 percent of you say "no."
And here are some of the e-mails we received:
Judy from Canada writes, "The judge was right. It is clear that Anna wanted to be in the Bahamas with her son. Let her go to rest in peace."
Janet from Alabama says, "The judge is a joke. His intentions are all self-serving. He is a disgrace to our justice system."
HAMMER: Here is what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.
Anna Nicole`s baby drama: who`s the father? Well, we`re going to bring in someone who says he knows just by looking at pictures of the baby and the potential dads. A fascinating new angle to that story tomorrow, right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also tomorrow, models and eating disorders. It`s not just women, and it`s not just anorexia and bulimia. We`re going to meet a former male model who has written a book about his struggle with binge eating. It`s an affliction that is much more common than other eating disorders. That`s tomorrow in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
That is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer. Thank you so much for playing host to me out here in Hollywood. I`ve had an amazing time.
ANDERSON: Did you have a good time?
HAMMER: I got to hop the red eye back to New York.
ANDERSON: Well, safe travels to you. It`s been great having you out here this weekend and today.
HAMMER: Thanks, Brooke.
ANDERSON: I am Brooke Anderson.
"GLENN BECK" is next. Stay tuned. That`s right after the latest headlines from CNN Headline News.
Keep it right here. Take care.
HAMMER: And you can`t beat the weather. Come on.
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