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Showbiz Tonight
First Pictures of Dannielynn and Dad; Imus` Wife on "The View"
Aired April 18, 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: Could the media focus on the Virginia Tech massacre lead to copycat killings. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And Don Imus` wife is on TV for the first time since he got fired. I`m Brooke Anderson. We`re in New York. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, daddy and Dannielynn, the very first pictures of Larry Birkhead with the baby he had with Anna Nicole Smith. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the inside story of how Larry is doing as a daddy. Will his custody battle with Anna Nicole`s mother get ugly? And what does Larry really think about Howard K. Stern?
Tonight, the secret life of Suri. It`s happy birthday, Suri, as Tom Cruise` baby turns one. But what do we really know about her life with Tom and Katie? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the revealing story, as we also ask, why in the world are we so obsessed with celebrity babies.
Hello from New York. I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson. In just a few minutes, inside Larry Birkhead`s life with the baby he had with Anna Nicole Smith, including those very first pictures.
HAMMER: But first tonight, the Virginia Tech killer, late today the startling news that Cho Seung-Hui, who shot to death 32 students at Virginia Tech on Monday, the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history, had sent NBC News a disturbing video and rambling not about what was bothering him. Just about anybody who turned on a TV or picked up a newspaper today learned the chilling details of Seung-hui`s life, how his bizarre behavior in life seemed to leave almost no one surprised that he went on a rampage.
But tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking, should we be concerned that all of the attention on Seung-Hui could give other people frightening ideas?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMMON, CNN ANCHOR: New details today are coming in about Virginia Tech and that massacre and the gunman.
HAMMER: Coverage of the tragedy at Virginia Tech has followed a pattern that in these troubled times has sadly become too family. There`s, first, the initial report.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a report of a gunman on the campus of Virginia Tech.
HAMMER: Followed by a shocking account of the death toll?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is indeed the deadliest shooting incident in the history of the United States.
HAMMER: Then a heart-breaking outpouring of grief.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a day of sadness for our entire nation.
HAMMER: And finally, all eyes go to the attacker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The shooter has been identified as 23-year-old Korean national Cho Seung-Hui.
HAMMER: The 23-year-old Virginia Tech shooter has become front page news and the media coverage has been bringing us any and all details about Cho`s lonely, troubled life, including the house he shared with his parents, testimonials from his roommates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me that he might as well kill himself.
HAMMER: And even from those he went to high school with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time I would walk by him in the halls, or things like that, he was by himself.
HAMMER: Media critic and CNN "Reliable Sources" host Howard Kurtz tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT this is all a natural response to a tragedy of this magnitude.
HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES": There`s a natural human and journalistic tendency after one of these tragedies to try to figure out what could possibly have possessed somebody to engage in these random acts of senseless violence.
HAMMER: But the irony is that Cho is now getting the attention and notoriety that he apparently did not have in life. And that leads some to wonder could the attention given to mass murderers lead an unstable person to seek this deadly infamy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you have to say to your fans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ain`t seen nothing yet.
HAMMER: A blood thirty lust for infamy is definitely something we`ve seen it portrayed in movies like "Natural Born Killers" and "Seven" where Kevin Spacey`s character gloats about the attention his serial killings are getting.
KEVIN SPACEY, ACTOR: Wanting people to listen, you can`t just tap them on the shoulder anymore.
RALPH LARKIN, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The person who perpetrates the crime is going to become notorious.
HAMMER: Ralph Larkin is an adjunct professor at New York`s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the author of "Comprehending Columbine," about the 1999 high school massacre in Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a student in our building with a gun.
HAMMER: Teenagers Eric Harris and Dillen Clebold (ph) killed 15 people, including themselves, in that shooting spree. And Larkin tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that the troubled and bullied teens knew beforehand that their homicidal rampage would attract media attention.
LARKIN: Clebold and Harris actually said that`s what they wanted to do. They even talked about who they wanted to do their film.
HAMMER: Larken tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that lonely and disturbed people can reach a horrifying conclusion.
LARKIN: People come to the conclusions that they would rather be dead celebrities than living nobodies.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, the topic has caused some hand wringing in the press before. In the late `90s, the "Chicago Sun Times" refused to put school shootings on its first page.
NIGEL WADE, "CHICAGO SUN TIMES": We thought if there`s any risk that giving front page prominence would prompt some unbalanced 15-year-old to do something similar, then we should play safe.
HAMMER: That move won widespread praise.
DR. PARK KIETZ, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: There`s, of course, nothing more irresponsible that the press could do than put the killer on the cover of a magazine or make them a hero.
HAMMER: For the record the "Chicago Sun Times" is giving the front page treatment to the Virginia Tech shootings, and media Critic Howard Kurtz tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he rejects any notion that the media should pull back on its coverage.
KURTZ: It`s about a half an inch away from blaming the media and frankly, it`s ridiculous. Of course there should be heavy coverage of these kinds of tragedies. And the idea that people will then go out and buy guns and shoot other people, I`m just not buying
HAMMER: And as that story becomes a laundry list of disturbing behavior and missed signs, Kurtz feels something good can come out of all this coverage.
KURTZ: Maybe, just maybe, it will help, yet again, sensitize school administrators and parents and friends and colleagues to try to intervene when somebody is exhibiting serious signs of mental illness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What were the warning signs for the Virginia Tech killer?
HAMMER: All part of a nationwide media examination of what led to the Virginia Tech massacre and how this type of tragedy can be prevented in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: While there is so much focus on the gunman, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that ever since the shooting, we have seen so many students thrust right into the spotlight, on television, telling nationwide, if not worldwide, audiences about the horror they`ve gone through. One example, Virginia Tech student Zach Petkowitz (ph), who`s being called a hero for barricading a classroom door to try to stop the gunman.
Here`s what he told the host of CNN`s "American Morning," Kiran Chetry, who asked him about his heroism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: As many have been saying, your quick thinking may have saved many lives. What do you say when people are calling you a hero today? It`s tough.
JACK PETKEWICZ, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: Just glad I could be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP
HAMMER: SO SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking, how can these students deal with the tragedy while they`re also facing the obvious glare of the TV cameras. Sell we have somebody who knows. He`s Craig Scott. He became an unintentional face of the Columbine high school massacre in Colorado after his sister was killed and he survived. I spoke with Craig Scott from Denver, Colorado, and he told me how he got through it all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: So Craig, we`ve seen many students from Virginia Tech on TV over the last day, including Jamal Alberghouti (ph), who shot that incredible video on his cell phone camera of what was taking place. You went through the Columbine tragedy back in 1999. Something very similar happened to you.
You yourself were in the school at the time of the shooting. You lost your sister Rachel, and suddenly you found yourself sharing your grief with the world. How did you deal with that?
CRAIG SCOTT, COLUMBINE SURVIVOR: Well, I dealt with it mostly by sharing and by talking about it. And I think the biggest thing that helped me get through my tragedy and what me and my family went through was my faith and my family. But one of the things that we were able to do after the Columbine tragedy happened was -- I know when a tragedy like that happens, it seems unimaginable.
But we tried to find the good that could come out from it. And the event itself is not good, but we were able to find a good that could come out from it. And we were able to do that by sharing my sister`s story, because she was a very kind, compassionate person. So I travel a lot in schools across the country trying to stop things like what happened in Virginia and try to stop violence in schools by creating an atmosphere of kindness and compassion in schools, and have been effective in doing that.
HAMMER: And here you are on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT right now and you`ve spent plenty of time on TV. Jamal, who I mentioned who shot that cell phone video, has really become the unintentional face of these events at Virginia Tech. So you can really understand, I imagine, what he`s going through right now, being on TV quite a bit while at the same time trying to cope with events in the wake of the tragedy, as you did back when Columbine happened.
Is it the kind of thing when you`re going through that, and you were making the appearances back then on TV, that didn`t really sink in until much later, what was actually happening?
SCOTT: I think so. I think it was in looking back that I saw how being on TV or being -- getting a lot of national press, how that was affecting my life or how that was affecting other people`s lives. And I think that being here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, what`s important to me is really, I think there`s a lot of entertainers and story-tellers and a lot filmmakers and people that watch this show and one of the things that I feel is important as far, as the entertainment industry and the media industry, is to know that what we see, what my generation sees, what the students at Virginia Tech and what the students at Columbine saw, what they see -- what we see through the media affects us on a daily basis.
And one of the things that I challenge when I go into schools is for students to choose positive influences, because the shooters at Columbine were very influenced by violence through the media and they dwelled on it. And so I challenge them to choose positive influences and actually now not only do I do traveling and speaking, but I get to work on films. And I have a heart to make and tell stories that inspire people and tell stories of noble characters.
I know, just in a whole, after meeting thousands and thousands of students across the country and really across the world, that media is constantly affecting us. So I think there`s a sense of responsibility that goes with somebody that has a power through media, whether that`s through entertaining or whether that`s through the news media.
HAMMER: Absolutely, because we`re bombarded with these images constantly. And hopefully this will provide a much-needed wakeup call. Craig Scott, thank you so much for being with us.
SCOTT: You`re welcome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Tonight, we`re clearing up an "American Idol" controversy that everyone is talking about. Some people are saying that Simon is insensitive to the Virginia Tech tragedy because of something that happened on last night`s show. Take a look at what happened after Chris Richardson performed. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON COWELL, "AMERICAN IDOL": It was so intentional.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve done it every single week --
COWELL: That was intended to sing nasally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously. But I do -- my hearts and prayers go out to Virginia Tech. I have a lot of friends over there. Be strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: As you can see, Simon rolls his eyes after Chris mentioned the shootings. But Idol`s executive producers says Simon was talking to Paula, so he didn`t even hear what Chris said, and was not rolling his eyes at that. The producer also says, quote, "everyone at American Idol feels compassion for those affected by this tragedy. We opened the show with those thoughts, and Simon later expressed sincere condolences on behalf of the judges, recognizing the challenges we all face in dealing with this horrible event."
HAMMER: I`m glad they were able to clear that up, because a lot of people thought Simon was being insensitive. Not the case. Don Imus` wife has come out of hiding. You heard me right. Deirdre Imus has shown up on TV for the first time since the her hubby got fired. What was she doing? Well, we`re going to show you exactly what happened. That`s coming up.
ANDERSON: Plus baby Dannielynn with daddy. We have the first pictures of Larry Birkhead with his daughter, and the inside story of what he really thinks about Howard K. Stern. Also this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re more interested in celebrity babies than ever right now. And it has to do with Suri and Shilo. They were born around the same time. They both had not one, but two A list parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Guess who`s turning one? Coming up, the secret life of Suri Cruise, but why in the world are we so obsessed with celebrity babies anyway? I want to know. That`s why SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: And welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson in New York. Tonight, the exclusive first photos of Larry Birkhead and baby Dannielynn together. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has them. "OK Magazine" was the first to score the pictures of Larry Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith`s daughter.
This comes after seven months of court battles between Birkhead, the late Anna Nicole and Howard K. Stern, finally ending with the DNA proof that Larry was indeed the baby`s father, is indeed the baby`s father. With me tonight in New York, Sarah Ivens, editor in chief of "OK Magazine." Good to see you Sarah.
My first question, where were these pictures taken and when were they taken? Beautiful backdrop.
SARAH IVENS, "OK MAGAZINE": Absolutely. They were taken in the Bahamas on Saturday. It was a really, really hot day. I was down there for the shoot. So we have to keep covering Dannielynn in sun block and things like that to protect her. It went really, really well. As you can see, it was done at a private residence. We had them in the pool, in the sea. It was just beautiful.
ANDERSON: I`m relieved to see that she looks healthy. She looks happy. She`s grown. Question, was Howard K. Stern there?
IVENS: I can`t tell you that.
ANDERSON: OK, we can draw our own conclusions from that. But that leads me to this, Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern, after all these court battles, it was really surprising to me what Larry Birkhead told "OK Magazine" about Howard. He said this: "Even Howard`s been helpful. It seems unlikely, but he`s been a great help." He then goes on to say later, quote, "I feel sorry for Howard."
Sarah, the two of them were bitter enemies. Do you think they`ve made their peace?
IVENS: I think Larry is trying to be the good guy. You know, for the moment Howard still has the baby. So he has to be good to the man that`s looking after his child, definitely. And I think, as a new dad, he`s got a new respect for Howard, because the baby is healthy, lovely, looked after and he`s been doing that since Anna Nicole died? It`s Howard. So he has to have some kind of respect for him, yes.
ANDERSON: Well I`m glad to hear that that situation is working out between those two. And Larry even talks about Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole`s estranged mother, who`s going to be back in court in the Bahamas on Friday. She still wants some sort of custody of this baby. Here`s what Larry said, quote, "If she wants to be a grandmother, that`s fine. I have a mother that wants to be a grandmother, and she`s not asking for all these things. So it`s kind of puzzling. My mom would like to see the baby on certain days, but she`s not going to keep my to a schedule."
It seems that he`s saying here, Sarah, Virgie, you want to be a grandmother, fine, but custody, it ain`t happening.
IVENS: Absolutely. I think that`s what he`s saying. And that`s the correct thing to say. I mean, he`s the dad. He should be with the child all the time. And why does she want the baby? Does she really suddenly want to become a mother again herself? I don`t know. We could draw our own conclusions about why she wants the baby so much.
ANDERSON: He makes a good point about his own mom wanting to be a grandmother as well, and not taking him to court.
IVENS: Yes, and the family there with him in the Bahamas at the moment, they`re a lovely, decent, nice family.
ANDERSON: So they were there at the shoot?
IVENS: Not on the shoot, but they were in the Bahamas. We spent the weekend with him and the family were around. It was great.
ANDERSON: He has been very careful about what he has said publicly, and he`s made sure that the public sees him as this really nice guy. Do you think that`s one reason he posed for the pictures so soon with Dannielynn? Because it just makes him look like a loving doting dad.
IVENS: Well, first thing, I think he is actually a really good guy. I`m cynical, I`m a journalist. But spending three days with him, he`s actually a nice guy. And secondly, there would be a price on this baby`s head. Everyone, all the paparazzi want the first picture of him with the baby. That`s the killer shot. You know, that`s what everyone wants. So I think that there would have been a price on his head. He`s a photographer. He trusts "OK." He knows "OK." And I think he just wants to get them out there as quickly and nicely as possible.
ANDERSON: And very quickly, the money he gets going to what?
IVENS: A trust fund for Dannielynn. Yes, you know, I was the one signing off the contract, so I know that`s where the money is going.
ANDERSON: OK, well she will be well-taken care of.
IVENS: She will.
ANDERSON: OK, Sarah Ivens from "OK Magazine," thank you so much. And you can pick up that issue of "OK" with the first exclusive pictures of Larry Birkhead and Dannielynn. It`s on news stands tomorrow.
HAMMER: And now we want to hear from you for our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Here`s what we`re asking, celebrity babies, should stars keep their kids out of the spotlight? You can vote at CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT or e-mail us at SHOWBIZTONIGHT@CNN.com if you have more to say.
ANDERSON: And Dannielynn isn`t the only baby in the spotlight. Guess who`s turning one year old today? None other than Suri Cruise. All right, but what do we really know about her life with Tom and Katie? The secret life of Suri coming up.
HAMMER: Plus Don Imus` wife comes out of hiding. Deidre Imus showing up on TV for the first time since her husband, Don Imus, got canned. We`re going to show you exactly what happened.
ANDERSON: Yes, we will. And another star scandal is starting to bubble over, not over nasty words, but a public display of affection. Coming up, why Richard Gere is in even more trouble for doing some smooching. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Did Don Imus get a raw deal? As you no doubt remember, Imus got fired last week for his comment about the Rutgers women`s basketball team. Now a poll shows that the majority of people, 55 percent, think he should not have lost his TV and radio gigs. In the "USA Today" poll 38 percent say the firing was justified; 46 percent say Imus should have been just suspended. And nine percent say there should have been no action against him whatsoever.
Also today, Imus` wife was on TV for the first time since the scandal broke. She has a book out about how to clean your house with natural products. I want you to check out how she was introduced today on "The View."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": Deirdre Imus was booked on "The View." She`s been on with us before and she was booked before the incident with her husband Don. This Sunday is Earth Day. It`s a day in which we focus on saving our environment. And Deirdre is passionate about being Earth friendly, even when it comes to your cleaning products. Please welcome back the author of "Green This," Deirdre Imus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: And we`re not going to show you the whole segment because that was it. Deirdre went on to demonstrate how to get stains out with lemon juice. But to everyone`s surprise -- and that`s useful information - - They didn`t ask her anything about her husband. She also has canceled her national book tour.
ANDERSON: It was pretty surprising to see that. OK, another celebrity scandal is brewing. This one isn`t about nasty words, but a little public display of affection. Straight ahead, why Richard Gere is in plenty of hot water for kissing an actress.
HAMMER: Plus Iesha Tyler (ph) gets real about body image. She has absolutely had it with the obsession with being skinny. And she is doing something about it. That`s coming up in the interview you will see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re more interested in celebrity babies than ever right now and it has to do with Suri and Shiloh. They were born around the same time. They both had not one, but two A-list parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Guess who`s turning one? Coming up, the secret life of Suri Cruise, but why are we so obsessed with celebrity babies anyway? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates that. Stay with us.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Guests: David Caplan, Jennifer Birn, Aisha Tyler, Molly Shannon
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson. We are in New York, and you are watching TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Brooke, we`ve been talking about this Richard Gere`s public display of affection in India causing all kinds of outrage.
ANDERSON: Yes, provoked a lot of anger, and it`s just escalating.
HAMMER: Well, we can tell you it has gotten much worse, and we`ll get into that coming up in a bit.
ANDERSON: Also, A.J., we see star babies on the covers of all of these celebrity weekly magazines all the time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL DOBSON, "STAR" MAGAZINE: We`re more interested in celebrity babies than ever right now. And it has to do with Suri and Shiloh. They were born around the same time; they both had not one, but two A-list parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Tom and Katie, Suri; Brad and Angelina, Shiloh. Even Madonna`s newly adopted baby boy. We go totally ga-ga. So tonight, we`ve just got to ask: why is everybody so obsessed with celebrity babies?
Speaking of obsession, one of the cutest celebrity babies out there, Suri Cruise, is celebrating a big milestone. TomKat`s little tom kitten turned 1 today. Time flies, right? The most undercovered, tucked-away baby out there is probably fast asleep after her big birthday bash. And as she counts sheep, we at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT take a look back on the year that was, and what we know about the littlest Cruise.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Happy birthday, baby. As little Suri Cruise turns 1 year old, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking: what do we really know about one of the most famous babies in the world.
BEN WIDDICOMBE, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well, of course, Suri Cruise is about to turn the big 1. Even though she may not be aware of it, she has been in the celebrity business for her entire life.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that little Suri became a public obsession even before she was born.
Mom Katie and proud papa Tom, still not married at the time, just couldn`t contain themselves when it came to their baby. Here`s what Tom told ABC`s Diane Sawyer exclusively just days before Suri was born.
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: You know, I can say with Kate, it`s - I - just to have this with her is really beautiful.
DOBSON: Whether it`s intentional or not, it`s hard to say, but Tom and Katie really drummed up a lot of interest in Suri by talking about her while they were pregnant. So it really got the world interested.
ANDERSON: Oh boy is that an understatement. And the on April 18, 2006, "it" happened.
(BABY CRYING)
ANDERSON: The birth heard round the world. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was the very first entertainment news show to break the news.
HAMMER: It has finally happened. The biggest baby story in the world right now: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are parents.
ANDERSON: But then they mystery began. Suri was not seen for nearly five months, and a media frenzy followed as everyone asked, `Where`s Suri?`
WIDDICOMBE: The media was (INAUDIBLE) in the gates and saying, `Well, we want to see pictures. We want an interview. We want the baby now.`
DOBSON: It was a huge topic on all the different networks, in all the magazines. Everyone wanted to see this baby.
ANDERSON: But that didn`t happen. No interviews, no pictures, no nothing. Which led to conspiracy theories: was there really even a baby? Even Suri`s birth certificate was questioned.
DOBSON: People were digging up her birth certificate and talking about who signed it and what it meant. People wanted to see Suri Cruise the way people have never been interested in anything else before.
WIDDICOMBE: People who have said, `Oh, the baby`s really Asian. She`s` - they`ve said, `Oh, L. Ron Hubbard`s frozen sperm impregnated Katie Holmes, and L. Ron Hubbard is the real father.` There`s been crazy gossip about Suri.
Suri, for her part, has been blissfully unaware of most of this.
ANDERSON: But the craziest ended when the littlest Cruise made her post-natal debut on the cover of the October issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine. And just like that, little Suri was a superstar.
DOBSON: "Star" magazine reported that all publicists should learn a lesson from the way Tom and Katie handled Suri. Because they got her this major magazine before anyone else had even seen her, made her a superstar without her even having to be in any films.
ANDERSON: So now, one year later, what do we know about Suri? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that Tom and Katie are making sure she gets to know her stepbrother and stepsister.
DOBSON: We know that Suri`s spending lots of times with her siblings, Tom`s two kids that he adopted with Nicole Kidman, Isabella and Connor, who are 14 and 12. The three all live in the same home.
ANDERSON: But the fame of baby Suri is making it hard for Mama Katie to go out publicly with her.
WIDDICOMBE: Katie I think is now cloistered with baby Suri, and can`t really go out and interact the way she used to.
ANDERSON: So where is Suri celebrating her first birthday? Reportedly with Mama Katie in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she is filming her first big movie since giving birth to Suri. And the Cruise family is trying to put the craziness of the past year behind them.
WIDDICOMBE: Katie as of this week has new PR representation. Tom, of course, fired his sister, LeAnne Devette, who is a fellow Scientologist and who was widely blamed for Tom`s PR meltdown, and his current image is, you know, poop.
And so he has new PR representation now. So I think that we`re going to see a normalization of the Cruise family in the media.
ANDERSON: And that normalization means we`re likely to see even less of little Suri than we do now. But that`s not likely to end the fascination we have with one of the world`s youngest celebrities.
DOBSON: And we`re going to be following her life throughout. Once she gets her driver`s license, they`ll be headlines and when she graduates. There`s the prom. Whatever Suri does will make news.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Love that driver`s license there.
Baby Suri just one of the celebrity babies that we just can`t get enough of. From Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt`s clan, Britney Spears` young boy, even Madonna`s soon-to-be adopted son David, why are we so obsessed with celebrity babies?
Well, here with us tonight, "OK!" magazine`s society editor, Jennifer Birn.
And "Star" magazine`s deputy New York bureau chief, David Caplan.
Good to see you both.
DAVID CAPLAN, "STAR" MAGAZINE: Thank you.
ANDERSON: David, what it is about celebrity babies that people just can`t get enough of seeing?
CAPLAN: There`s really the superficial aspect to it that in the case of, say, Suri Cruise, we just really want to know, `What is the spawn of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes going to look?` Everyone is, like, dying to see these photos. And that really is the first in - everyone wants to know, `Oh my God, what`s this baby going to look like? Is it going to have Tom`s eyes? Is it going to have Katie`s hair?` And that really is what drives so many readers to the weeklies.
ANDERSON: Well, I want to talk specifically about the different babies.
And I do want to go right now to baby Dannielynn, Jennifer. We, you know, reported earlier, "OK!" magazine had the shots with Dannielynn and her biological father, Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole`s daughter, of course.
But the frenzy began before she was even born. Why the interest from the beginning?
JENNIFER BIRN, SOCIETY EDITOR, "OK!" MAGAZINE: I think the whole thing is just - you can`t even script something like this, it`s such a soap opera.
I mean, there was "The Anna Nicole Smith" show because her life is just such a comedy of errors. And she - Anna got pregnant, and then she took off, went to the Bahamas halfway through her pregnancy, and then Larry was here, `It was my baby,` and people from Zsa Zsa Gabor to Howard Stern were coming out of the woodwork - everybody was this baby`s father, it just..
ANDERSON: Yes, people had likened it to a soap opera.
BIRN: Correct.
ANDERSON: And you mentioned, you know, Suri Cruise. People wanted to know, `What are Tom and Katie going to spawn,` as you put it.
You know, do you think another reason people are fascinated is because they really kept this baby under wraps for about five months? Everyone`s curiosity was, you know, raising and - and they`ve kept it under wraps since a good bit.
Do you think that`s part of it?
CAPLAN: I mean, absolutely. Everyone likes to essentially solve a mystery. And with Suri Cruise, we saw that the mystery was solved. What did Suri look like? Out comes the "Vanity Fair" cover.
And you see that with other celeb babies, like Britney Spears` second child. Same thing, with Jaden, he was a little bit more of a mystery than the first child. He appears, and everyone`s like, `Oh my God, that`s what the baby looks like?` So it generates so much interest.
ANDERSON: Yes, but do you think with Britney Spears` babies, Sean Preston and Jaden James - we haven`t seen much of those little tykes. But do you think it`s partly because a lot of people are really concerned about the welfare of those kids, maybe because of all of her recent troubles?
Jennifer, because of the rehab, because of the divorce - do you think that may be why?
BIRN: I think it`s that, and how much time is Britney really spending with those children to have her be out with them? Are they at home with the nanny all day? I mean, that just is more intrigue and more the questions that everyone wants to know, that are making people wanting to see the babies more.
ANDERSON: Well, we can`t talk about celebrity babies without talking about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt`s expanding brood.
You know, everywhere they go, the frenzy follows. The paparazzi and the media. Why do you guys think there is such a fascination?
BIRN: Well, it`s two of Hollywood`s most beautiful people together and acting - doing all (INAUDIBLE). They`re raising a family. So people want to see - like, they`re - they`re so untouchable to so many people. To just see that they actually take their kids to the park and do things that we do - I think people love to see that.
ANDERSON: And maybe relate with it.
CAPLAN: Yes, I mean, I think with Angelina Jolie, it`s - these are not - this is not a traditional family. This is still not a couple that has just four kids. They`re adopted; they`re from other parts of the world. They`re all over the country, and people are just, like, `How does this woman make it work?`
And the interest that we have, really, with Angelina is also not so much about the kids, but the focus is on Angelina as a mother. And everyone is just, like, `How is she doing this? She`s looking really thin lately; she`s stressed from, you know, having so many kids.`
So with Angelina, it really raises all these other questions.
ANDERSON: All of that, and the two of them manage to put out movies at the same time. It`s unbelievable.
And let`s talk about Madonna`s little boy, David, that she`s adopting from Malawi. She`s actually in Malawi; has been in Malawi recently with David and her daughter, Lourdes. You know, the media was all over her; people were obsessed with getting those photos.
Why the fascination?
BIRN: Well, like everything Madonna seems to do, it`s controversial. People have been trying to adopt children from this country for years, but she does it in a week. So I think it`s the controversy surrounding it, and.
ANDERSON: Yes, and she got a lot of criticism.
BIRN: Yes.
ANDERSON: From adopting groups, saying maybe she was skirting the laws.
BIRN: Yes, and that`s kind of unexpected for Madonna. She has her two kids; they`re growing up. She`s still on tour. It looks like she`s going into that next phase of her life, a little calmer phase. And then she goes and starts over and adopts a child.
ANDERSON: So what do you think?
CAPLAN: Yes, I mean, it`s interesting; with adopted children, you really a different coverage in the press. Because clearly these stars have been working for several months, but they only really announce a few weeks before they actually get the child. So when it happens, we`re obsessed with it.
In the case of Madonna, it was a matter of weeks. And of course, it becomes so controversial, because we`re like, `Oh, were they avoiding the laws?` Same thing with Angelina Jolie when she adopted her newest child, Pax. Very similar issues.
ANDERSON: People want to see those photos, want to see those babies.
CAPLAN: And - every - exactly.
ANDERSON: I`m obsessed with all babies, not just celebrity kids.
David Caplan, Jennifer Burns (ph) (sic), thank so much -Birn, rather. Thanks for joining us.
And we`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "Celebrity Babies: Should stars keep their kids out of the spotlight?"
Keep voting, cnn.com/showbiztonight. Write to us, showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`re going to read some of your e-mails tomorrow.
And you can now stay on top of the latest and most provocative entertainment news stories and find out what we`re working on by signing up for the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsletter. Go to our Web site, cnn.com/showbiztonight. Click on the left-hand side of the page, where it says "newsletter." Click to sign up. We will e-mail you the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsletter every single day.
HAMMER: Speaking of celebrity kids, former "Saturday Night Live" star Molly Shannon`s got a couple of rug rats of her own. Tonight, she tells me if she`ll ever let her kids into the media spotlight. My revealing chat with Molly is coming up.
ANDERSON: Don`t call them rug rats, A.J.
All right, I know you also have a really provocative with Aisha Tyler. She was David Schwimmer`s girlfriend on "Friends." Aisha took off all her clothes, completely naked, to make a bold statement about weight and body image. She`s right here, next.
HAMMER: And we have much more on the outrage over Richard Gere`s public kiss. Things have gone from bad to worse. We`ll tell you exactly what`s happening, coming up next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson in New York.
Well, we told you about all this outrage in India over Richard Gere`s kiss. Tonight, it`s getting worse. People are going to court over it.
So here`s what happened: Gere playfully smooched big-time Indian actress Shilpa Shetty - you see it here - at an AIDS awareness event. And then, all hell broke loose. People got really angry; they took to the streets, burning Gere and Shetty in effigy. Scary. Apparently some aren`t so big on public displays of affection in India.
Now three lawyers have filed court complaints saying the kissing was - quote - "obscene." We know that these types of cases against celebrities are pretty common in India. Shetty said people are overreacting. We reached out to Gere`s people again; still, no comment.
HAMMER: It is time now for the "SHOWBIZ Weight Watch," where we cover Hollywood`s obsession with body image like no other entertainment news show.
Tonight, Aisha Tyler completely naked. I`m not trying to be sensational; you heard me correct. The actress who used to play David Schwimmer`s girlfriend on "Friends" is bearing it all as part of a dramatic statement about body image.
She wrote an article called "Real Women, Real Bodies." It`s in the news of "Glamour" magazine.
Aisha Tyler, it`s great to have you here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
AISHA TYLER, ACTRESS: Oh, thank you. I`m happy to be here.
HAMMER: You have talked about - and in this article, you write about the fact that you have freaked out on the scale. You have been overly concerned with your own body image at - at times. And now here you are posing nude for "Glamour" magazine.
Why - why in the world did you do this?
TYLER: Well, part of it was therapy for me, I have to admit. I mean - you know - you know, saying - being able to say, `Yes, I don`t have a perfect body. We are so obsessed with being perfect in Hollywood.` And so part of it was me trying to be comfortable with my own body, and also saying to women out there, celebrities are not perfect, and just stop trying to emulate us. We don`t have perfect bodies; trying to show real body, trying to be proud of it.
It`s obviously - people get so (INAUDIBLE) - `Aisha`s nude!` But, you know, it`s not - it`s not like a "Playboy" shot. It`s more like the Dove campaign (INAUDIBLE).
HAMMER: Yes, but you are not wearing any clothes. Quite true.
TYLER: Yes, you can see my bottom a little bit.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMER: But - but also, even - even on a more serious note, you were compelled to write this article because of what we have seen happening in the modeling industry, and - and quite honestly with the death of a model because of an eating disorder.
TYLER: Mm-hmm. That - that - a lot of it was precipitated by that, by the woman who just starved herself to this by this incredible downward trend of - of actresses` weight in Hollywood. And by a fear that there are young girls and young women who are - who are reading - you know, reading and watching what we do, and trying to - you know, look this way, and - and really being concerned about that.
They`re - they`re finding now that there are girls as young as 8 years old who are developing eating disorders -- anorexic 8-year-olds. I mean, think about - that`s a third-grader who`s already dieting. And it`s just - it`s - it`s an epidemic now, and I really wanted to speak out to tell women kind of about the perspective of someone inside the Hollywood machine who is just as affected. I mean, there`s just as much pressure on me to lose weight everyday, and I`m fighting it, and I`m trying to live a strong life and take care of myself and be healthy and try to be an example to other women.
Stop thinking about being thin, and start thinking about living a strong life, living a healthy life.
HAMMER: But - but the question is, even if there is this - and - and we know it has existed for years - this dissatisfaction people have with their bodies, how do you really compel them to turn the corner to not have this dissatisfaction? It seems like one of those things in life that is just so easy to talk about, but when it comes right down to it, you see a picture on the cover of a magazine, and you say, `Oh, I - I really do want to look like that.`
TYLER: And it`s everywhere. And I`m - and I`m - I`m not even immune it.
I mean, part of it was being honest in the article about the fact that, yes, I`ve been on the scale; I`ve freaked out; I`ve had my moments of thinking like, `Guys, got to lose five pounds or I`m going to die.` Being honest about that, that we`re all - we all share that.
But it really requires you to just make a choice. You know, think about all the time that we spend obsessing about our weight, dieting, freaking out about clothes and about the way we look. Think about if you channeled half of that energy - not even all of it, but half of it - into doing something else with your life.
HAMMER: Yes.
TYLER: Volunteering, spending more time with your family, learning a language, chasing some dream you`ve had that you`ve never pursued because you`ve been so much time obsessing about you look in the mirror.
I mean, to - I`m just - I`m coining somebody else`s phrase here, but I think the Lance Armstrong campaign, Live Strong - what if instead of thinking about living thin, we all decided to live strong, and live strong, healthy life? It`s - it`s not something that`s going to happen overnight, but does require us to start to look at how we think about ourselves and stop making ourselves crazy. And that was the point of the article.
HAMMER: Well, and we have seen so many people make themselves in crazy in Hollywood, all of the super-skinny types that - that seem to obsess about this.
But as somebody - and you mentioned, you have felt the pressure of being out there in Hollywood. Has - has there ever been a time where you didn`t get a role because you needed to lose a few pounds, according to the person who was doing the casting?
TYLER: I imagine that there has been. And I - and it`s - it`s come up before, you know?
It - conversely, you do see these women who kind of waste away to nothing, and all of a sudden they seem to be extraordinary popular. You think, `God, what if - if I dropped another 20 or 30 pounds, maybe I would, you know, be on the cover of every magazine.`
The fact of the matter is that those girls are not happy girls; they`re sick. You know what I mean? And I`m not going to name any names, but you`ll see women in a magazine, they`ll look one way, and you see them in person - I - I took my husband to Fashion Week, and he was like - he couldn`t believe - he was, like, `I`m a little sick right now. Like, these girls are not hot; they all look like they need to be held down and force- fed a hamburger,` you know?
HAMMER: Yes!
TYLER: So, yes, the pressure is there, and I`ve felt it and I`ve heard it. And I - and you have to fight it. And it`s not easy. I - I don`t want to sit up here and say, `It`s easy` - be like, `Oh, it`s easy for you; you`re a celebrity.` And it`s so easy to say, `Oh, you know, stop worrying about your weight.`
I don`t look at it, you know, that kind off-handedly at all. But I think it really requires that we decide to stop making ourselves nuts.
HAMMER: I appreciate your healthy attitude about it.
TYLER: Oh, thank you.
HAMMER: And I appreciate you coming on, Aisha Tyler.
And you can read her article, "Real Women, Real Bodies," in "Glamour" magazine, on newsstands now.
ANDERSON: All right. I`m a big Molly Shannon fan; she was so funny on "SNL." Remember her as Catholic schoolgirl Mary-Katherine Gallagher?
Anyway, A.J. went one-on-one with Molly, and got some pretty revealing stuff out of her. Would she ever let her kids get into show business? That`s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: I love Molly Shannon! I think she is so funny. You, of course, remember her from "Saturday Night Live."
Well, she is now starring in the film "Year of the Dog." It`s a movie executive-produced by Brad Pitt. And when Molly stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, I asked her how she keeps things together at home with her kids, being a big star and all, and if she`ll ever let them get into show business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOLLY SHANNON, ACTRESS: It`s something that I - I really keep - keep them out of, and probably will continue to, unless they`re older and they`re like, `I want to go to MTV!` You know, if it`s fun. But I would never - I - I - I feel like I have very good boundaries with that, and I - I - I would - I would not them to - to ever feel, you know, unhappy about something if - I would never get them into show business, for one. If - you know, people have asked, like, `Would you ever want them to be in the business?` I`m like, I would never, never, ever.
HAMMER: So if they came to you and said, `I - this is really in my soul and in my heart and I really want to pursue this`?
SHANNON: I`d be like, `Do plays and do theater in college. And then maybe when you graduate` - if they really wanted to do it professionally.
HAMMER: Right.
SHANNON: .then do it then.
HAMMER: But we`re not going to see them at 7 years old and they`re - you know, in a corn flakes commercial or anything like that?
SHANNON: Never. Nope.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: That sounds like a good plan.
By the way, "Year of the Dog" also stars Laura Dern and Regina King, and it`s in theaters now.
ANDERSON: Yesterday, in the wake of the horrific Virginia Tech massacre, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "Hollywood and Violence: Is it time to tone it down?"
Pretty one-sided here: 79 percent of you say, `Yes, it is`; 21 percent say, `No, it isn`t.`
Here are some of the e-mails we received:
J.J. from Alabama says, "Toning down the violence will not make any difference. I mean, you act as those people can`t choose their own actions."
But John thinks, "Hollywood needs to just tone it down. In movies, actors have 30 guns and they all shoot each other. Is that necessary?"
We do appreciate your e-mails.
HAMMER: (INAUDIBLE) I`d love to hear from you.
Now let`s find out what is coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Star couples and addiction. Tomorrow, we have a revealing look at how celebrity husband and wives handle a shocking, painful admission: that their spouse is an addict. How do they deal? How do they make their marriage work? We`ll talk about that tomorrow.
Also coming up tomorrow, former CBS News "Early Show" co - co-host Renee Siler. Her dramatic decision after both of her parents got breast cancer, she decided to have a double mastectomy, so she could try and reduce her own risk. Renee`s going to be right here, and she`ll be telling us her courageous and very emotional story. That`s going to be tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Yes, very brave of her.
HAMMER: That`s something a lot - a lot of people should tune in to - to hear.
ANDERSON: That`s right.
HAMMER: Well, that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thank you so much for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: Have a great night, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson.
"GLENN BECK" is coming up next, right after the latest headlines from CNN Headline News.
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