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Showbiz Tonight
Rosie O`Donnell And Elizabeth Hasselback Fight on "The View"; Lindsay Lohan`s Alcohol Issues
Aired May 23, 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: Breaking Nicole Richie news. Is she back in rehab battling a drug addiction and anorexia. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And Sheryl Crow is opening up for the first time about the not one but two very special new men in her life. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, a vicious battle on "The View." Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck go to war over the war in Iraq. And it all plays out on live TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH HASSELBACK, "THE VIEW": You are an adult and I`m certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your thoughts. They`re you`re thoughts. Defend your own insinuations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, what got the sparks flying. The curious connection to Donald Trump and why "The View" could be just days away from falling apart. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the nasty, furious fight between the ladies of "The View."
A Lindsay Lohan alcohol shocker. Tonight the absolutely unthinkable. Is the just out of rehab Lindsay getting a vodka company to sponsor her birthday party? Are you kidding me? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the outrage over Lindsay`s possible liquor lapse.
Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: Hi there everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And tonight I`ve got the shocking stories of the Hollywood`s first wives` club. Just how do so many A-list ladies deal with seeing their ex-husbands parading around with new women?
HAMMER: Got to be tough. But first tonight, what you are about to see and hear, well, calling it explosive really just doesn`t do it justice. All-out war broke out today on "The View." And I can tell you, I`ve seen Rosie O`Donnell explode before. But nothing -- I mean nothing like this. And it was all, of course, on live TV. This war was over the war in Iraq. And what made it even more remarkable is who she was duking it out with her, her own co-host. So I want you to buckle your seat belts and let SHOWBIZ TONIGHT take you along for a wild ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSIE O`DONNELL, "THE VIEW": Let me tell you why I don`t want to do it. Here`s how it gets spun in the media, Rosie, big, fat lesbian loud Rosie attacks innocent pure Christian Elizabeth. And I`m not doing it.
HAMMER: It was the blowout of all blowouts on "The View" as Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck had it out, and we mean out on live nationwide TV over the war in Iraq.
O`DONNELL: Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists, Elizabeth?
(CROSS TALK)
HASSELBACK: Excuse me, let me speak.
O`DONNELL: You`re going to double speak. It`s just a yes or a no.
HAMMER: Today`s train wreck started after Joy Behar said she wished Al Gore would run for president. The conversation quickly shifted to the war and then got intensely personal when Rosie, a liberal, brought up the criticism she received over the weekend from some Republican pundits and her feelings that Elizabeth, a staunch Republican herself, didn`t come to her defense.
O`DONNELL: I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying.
HASSELBACK: Did I say yes?
O`DONNELL: You said nothing and that is cowardly.
HASSELBACK: No, no do not, do not call me a coward. It was honest.
HAMMER: We`ve never seen honesty like this. The sparks were flying so fast and furious, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT clocked it at an uninterrupted five minutes, 33 seconds.
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": Is there no commercial in this show.
HAMMER: And by our account, for the first time in its ten year history, the show put Rosie and Elizabeth in a split screen to duke it out side by side.
HASSELBACK: They`re your thoughts. Defend your own insinuations.
O`DONNELL: I defend my thoughts. Every time I defend them, Elizabeth, it`s poor little Elizabeth that I`m picking on.
HASSELBACK: You know what, poor little Elizabeth is not poor little Elizabeth.
O`DONNELL: That`s right. That`s why I`m not going to fight with you anymore because it`s absurd. So for three weeks you can say all the Republican crap you want. I`m not going to do it.
HASSELBACK: It`s much easier to fight someone like Donald Trump, isn`t it? Because he`s obnoxious.
HAMMER: Hold on a minute. Did she bringing him up again?
HASSELBACK: It`s much easier to fight someone Donald Trump.
HAMMER: Yes, she did. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you this isn`t the first time Rosie and Elizabeth have butted heads, especially when it comes to their passionate political views. Here they are on Monday. Sound familiar.
HASSELBACK: So are you then calling us terrorists?
O`DONNELL: No. I just said it, Elizabeth. Are you not able to hold two concepts at once.
RAMIN SETOODEH, "NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE": I would be surprised if they come out of the show after Rosie leaves and still consider one another friends. Because in interviews they`ve always said, we`re friends, we have different viewpoints. But you could tell they`re on good terms and they like each other. And it seemed like this week they crossed the line.
O`DONNELL: You really don`t understand what I`m saying?
HASSELBACK: I understand what you`re saying.
SETOODEH: I don`t think Rosie O`Donnell likes Elizabeth. I don`t think Elizabeth likes Rosie anymore. And this is a big problem for Barbara Walters.
HAMMER: The bickering is Barbara`s problem now, but it won`t be when Rosie leaves "The View" for good on June 21st. The new problem then, ratings.
O`DONNELL: If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that Rosie`s caustic comments have boosted "The View`s" viewership by as much as 15 percent, a big accomplishment for a show in its tenth season.
O`DONNELL: There he is, hair looping, going --
HAMMER: Even though ratings are up, many people think Barbara Walters will shy away from another controversial co-host come the end of June and try to find someone more like the chair`s previous tenant, NBC`s Meredith Vieira.
SETOODEH: Even though it`s been good for the ratings, Barbara Walters, really her reputation as a journalist this year has come into question, because she`s gotten in the middle of so many fights. She was in the middle of the Donald Trump/Rosie O`Donnell fight. Donald Trump called here a liar and Barbara Walters doesn`t need that.
HAMMER: Even before today`s dust up, Rosie had said she`s itching to leave "The View." On her blog she writes, she feels like a senior in high school who wants to, quote, stay home, be done and move on. The end, Rosie says, is always rocky.
O`DONNELL: Do you believe that, yes or no?
HAMMER: And with a day like today, Rosie couldn`t be more on the money?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, if you were planning on tuning in to see what happens tomorrow, too bad. Rosie rights on her blog that she is taking the day off to celebrate her partner Kelly`s 40th birthday. Do not read anything more into it than that. It`s a birthday celebration. And I`ve got much more on this shocking all-out View war coming up at 31 past the hour. I`ll be investigating was this startling Rosie/Elizabeth battle just business or was it really personal?
ANDERSON: All right, another story that you`re not going to believe. Lindsay Lohan, who recently spent time in rehab and admits to battling alcohol abuse, turns 21 in a little over a month. So get this, Vedka (ph) Vodka confirmed to us today that somebody approached them about sponsoring her birthday party. Yes, you heard right, a vodka company. And I`ve got to tell you, whomever approached them should have their heads examined.
I mean, Lindsay is even a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, for Pete`s sake. So Joining us tonight from Hollywood, Ken Sealey, interventionist on A&E`s show "Intervention." Ken, we all know the hard road Lindsay`s had with addiction. How can anybody in their right mind think this could possibly be a good idea?
KEN SEALEY, "INTERVENTION": Obviously, Brooke, they`re not her friend. They might as well be handing her a loaded pistol and say, here, go kill yourself. Let`s play Russian Roulette. Because that`s the reality when you have a disease of addiction and then you`re out there partying at a wet bar. Ridiculous.
ANDERSON: Addiction can lead to really serious trouble down the road and especially if she continues along those same lines. You have to surround yourself with good people, don`t you think? And, you know, she`s been very open about her plans for her big night. I want to right now take a look at what she told Ellen Degeneres when she was on her talk show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, "ELLEN": So you`re going to be 21 and that`s a huge birthday. What are you going to do?
LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: I`m going to milk it, because it`s a big birthday and I think it`s been a long-time coming for some of my friends that have clubs out in L.A. They don`t have to worry about getting into trouble because I`m underage. I`m doing a party in Vegas, which makes sense, because I`ve never been able to go out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Makes sense, Vegas for Lindsay to have this party and, you know, she`s been going to clubs regularly since she got out of rehab. And I`m no expert here, but it seems to me that not only is that not a good idea, but also that it`s a terrible idea to have the birthday blowout in Vegas.
SEALEY: It`s one of the biggest party cities in the world, Brooke. And here she is, she`s going to go out there and party it up? If she was really serious about her recovery, what people do in recovery to celebrate birthdays and celebrate things that happen in their lives is go to something like the Deepak Chopra Center down in San Diego and relax and heal and get some spiritual guidance and love and take care of yourself and not try to kill yourself with the thing that`s killing her.
ANDERSON: Exactly, stay away from that. As we said, we don`t know who approach Svedka Vodka about doing this. Earlier today they wouldn`t confirm nor deny they were sponsoring the party. But then later in the day they did come back to us to say they were not sponsoring it. I would have to think that somebody finally came to their senses and said, are we crazy to do this? Do you think somebody finally woke up?
SEALEY: I`m so happy to hear that people are going to start setting the bottom for her and putting out the consequences and saying, you know what? You may want to do this but we`re not going to support this behavior anymore. And that`s some of the tools that we teach when we do interventions is let`s pull the bottom and make it really rough for her. So if people boycott the party and don`t show up because they know that she is an active alcoholic and they don`t sponsor it, these are the things -- and it turns out to be a flop, then it`s a win-win scenario.
Then she doesn`t have to die from the disease of addiction, but it`s not her fault, Brooke. The number one symptom of the disease of addiction is denial. She`s just living in denial. What we have to do is, as the outsiders, the publicists, the managers, the agents, everybody has to come together and say, enough is enough. Lindsay, we`re not supporting your addiction anymore.
ANDERSON: Good advice. Ken Sealey from A&E`s "Intervention," thanks for your insight.
HAMMER: And Brooke, another young star whose battled addiction is Paris Hilton`s buddy Nicole Richie, as we all know.
ANDERSON: Yes, she even went to rehab at one time.
HAMMER: Well coming up next, there are these startling reports floating around now that Nicole is actually back in rehab and that she`s very sick, also fighting an eating disorder and a drug addiction. I`ve got the SHOWBIZ Truth Squad to sick on that coming up next.
ANDERSON: Also A.J., I`ve got Sheryl Crow opening up for the very first time about the brand new men -- yes, I said men, as in more than one -- in her life. And that includes the never before seen revealing pictures of her with one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, is there a real sequel that we needed to see the third version of?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: "Spider Man," "Die Hard," "Shrek," what gives. There are so many movie sequels out this summer. So I have to ask, is Hollywood slacking? Aren`t there any good original ideas out there anymore. I`ll be investigating that coming up next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson. Time now to call in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Truth Squad. Now this is where we get to the bottom of Hollywood`s juiciest rumors. Tonight, is Nicole Richie very sick and back in rehab? Both "Star Magazine" and the "National Enquirer" are reporting that "The Simple Life" star, who is also facing DUI charges, is battling anorexia and is addicted to painkillers. They say she entered the Beaumont Treatment Center in Southern California on May 11th and has been in and out ever since.
Now, Nicole has been in rehab before for heroin, but has always denied having an eating disorder. So we checked in with Nicole`s publicist who flat out told us, quote, she is not in rehab nor was she recently. She did go visit her therapist but is sober. Sobriety is an ongoing process. So, no, Nicole Richie, not in rehab. But that statement didn`t address the eating disorder reports. So stay tuned.
HAMMER: All right, so I`m a big fan of some of these big movie franchises, the "Spider-Mans," the "X-Mens," the "Die Hards." I even like the "Shrek" movies. But, you know, with so many sequels and prequels, whatever, we`re asking where`s the new stuff, all those fresh and original ideas? And it`s got us here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT wondering, why does it seem that all of those Hollywood writers and producers are probably spending a little too much time tanning in the sun and not enough time banging out good scripts?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, MEDIA BY THE NUMBERS LLC: Fourteen sequels set for the summer of 2007.
HAMMER: You heard that right, 14 movie sequels in one summer season. Another one of this, another one of this, and another and another. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT says, are you kidding us? Doesn`t Hollywood have an original idea anymore? Why is Hollywood churning out so many sequels.
PETER TRAVERS, FILM CRITIC, "ROLLING STONE": Hollywood in summer is about money, lots of it.
HAMMER: Lots of money indeed. Just take a look at "Spider-Man 3," the first in a long line of sequels this summer.
TRAVERS: "Spider-Man 3" became the biggest opening weekend in movie history, making 151 million dollars.
HAMMER: That`s right, the biggest weekend opening ever and the biggest reason why studios keep making these sequels.
DERGARABEDIAN: It makes financial sense, even if the audience, on the one hand, is saying, gee, there is not a lot of originality.
HAMMER: It`s true, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can confirm there isn`t a whole lot of originality coming to a theater near you. In fact, summer of 2007 should really be called the summer of three-quels. There`s --
DERGARABEDIAN: "Shrek 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" --
JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR: Why should I sail with any of you?
HAMMER: And we wouldn`t dream of excluding --
DERGARABEDIAN: "The Bourne Ultimatum," which is a third installment.
HAMMER: And of course --
DERGARABEDIAN: "Ocean`s Thirteen," which is a third installment.
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: I know what that makes me want to do.
HAMMER: Yes, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT knows what this makes us want to do. Question why, with all the creative non-working talent in Hollywood with original ideas, the thousands who work in the movie industry aren`t there any pitch meetings that would make "Entourage`s" Ari Gold proud?
JEREMY PIVEN, ACTOR: Are you kidding me, you were brilliant.
TRAVERS: I mean, really, is there a real sequel that we needed to see the third version of? No.
HAMMER: And if doing a third follow-up to an original idea isn`t enough to boggle the mind, there`s always rehashing an old original idea that Hollywood seems to like doing.
Remember Bruce Willis as John McLean battling the bad guys with machine guns and his bare hands in the 1988 film "Die Hard?" Sure, it did well at the box office. There was even a "Die Hard 2" and even "Die Hard With a Vengeance" in 1995, but that was 12 years ago. So why bother bringing back an old story with an aging actor. Uh, sorry Bruce!
TRAVERS: The only reason could be that they are saying, Bruce, your last few movies just weren`t making it. So maybe they still like you in "Die Hard." So let`s give it a test. And what`s this one about? Live free or Die Hard? Cyber terrorists! Hey, how hip, how now, you know, how desperate!
HAMMER: And if the new "Die Hard" isn`t sign enough that these are indeed desperate times in Hollywood for a novel idea, how about releasing a sequel without the original star. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you there isn`t just one but two films this summer that are doing exactly that.
JIM CARREY, ACTOR: Lord, I need a miracle.
HAMMER: Remember Jim Carrey in "Bruce Almighty?" He`s not even in the sequel, "Evan Almighty." This new one stars "The Office" star Steve Carell. In fact, the two don`t even share the same character name, and the roles are very, very different! So why would Hollywood even call it the same thing?
TRAVERS: The Almighty means we`ve got a sequel, and then everybody feels comfortable. Oh, OK, it`s a sequel. My goodness, I can`t risk the idea that somebody would be showing something original. I don`t know. My head would come off.
HAMMER: And come to think of it. Cuba Gooding Jr. replacing Eddie Murphy in "Daddy Day Camp?" Is this for real?
CUBA GOODING JR., ACTOR: The Daddy Day Care brand means a lot.
HAMMER: Cuba, you said it! With hundreds of millions of dollars spent on marketing and promoting movies, a brand means everything. So much so, Hollywood would do a sequel of the 2003 film "Daddy Day Care" without the original star, Eddie Murphy.
Hollywood, come on! Did you think audiences would forget? And after all, Cuba Gooding Jr. isn`t even known for his comedic roles. What gives?
DERGARABEDIAN: I don`t know if it`s so much about the casting. I think it`s more about the concept in that case.
HAMMER: Concept? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT says this concept needs a correction.
DERGARABEDIAN: When people are spending 10 or 11 dollars on a movie ticket, it`s kind of like there is a comfort factor there that, hey, I kind know what I am gonna see. So there is a little bit of built-in expectation that they are going to be satisfied with what`s going to appear on screen.
HAMMER: Yes, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT gets that. People want to satisfied for ten bucks at the movies, but would it be so bad if there were just a little itty bit of originality in the summer movie season?
DEPP: Did no one come to save me just because they missed me?
HAMMER: We think not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And even more proof that Hollywood may be out of fresh new movie ideas; according to "Entertainment Weekly," the "Incredible Hulk" begins shooting in Toronto this July. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT executive producer, Dave Levine is going to be heading to the theater at warp speed to see the new Star Trek film just in time for Christmas 2008.
ANDERSON: Well, there are follow-up movies, and then follow-up Hollywood hookups. So you`d think Shar Jackson, the woman Kevin Federline dumped for Britney Spears, would really hold a grudge, right? Well, you`re in for a surprise. I get her to really open up about K-Fed, next.
I`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first wife is hard. Try being a first wife in Hollywood. Every time your man dates someone else or marries someone else, you have to see it on the cover of every magazine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The first wife, the starter wife, whatever you call them, it`s so hard for these Hollywood ladies to see their ex-husbands start new lives with new wives. How do they deal? I`ve got that coming up.
HAMMER: And there was a big deal today on "The View." Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck at each other`s throats. Explosive fireworks that everybody is talking about. We`re going to show it to you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, I gotta tell you, I didn`t know what to expect when I sat down with Shar Jackson. She`s the woman who had two kids with Kevin Federline. Then K-Fed left her for Britney Spears. I was pretty surprised because Shar did not trash him at all. She even says she`ll be there for him as he goes through his painful divorce from Britney and that he`s a wonderful dad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Is he a good father.
SHAR JACKSON, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF KEVIN FEDERLINE: He`s an amazing father.
ANDERSON: And is that important as an ex, as you`re helping these other people to keep them in your lives and to have that friendly relationship.
JACKSON: Definitely. Kevin is such an amazing dad. Honestly, that`s one of the reasons I fell in love with him, because he came into my life and took on the father role, even before Corey and Caleb were thought of, I had two that were already there. And he came in and loved them like they were his own. And I was like, OK, I might have to hang out with this guy for a minute.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: She was so friendly, so nice, so open. By the way, you can catch Shar in her new reality series called the "Ex-Wives Club," beginning this Monday on ABC.
Well, A.J., Shar never walked down the aisle with K-Fed, but you can bet it wasn`t easy for her to see him parade around with Britney Spears.
HAMMER: No.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jen famously said that Brad was missing a sensitivity chip when their relationship ended. And that was clear by how quickly he entered into a full-fledged family with Angelina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It was pretty quick. Straight ahead, I`ve got a special shout out to the Hollywood first wives club. How these women dealt with seeing their ex-husbands hookup with someone new.
I can also tell you that rocker Sheryl Crow has not one, but two men in her life right now. Plus, I`ll show you the very first intimate pictures of Sheryl with one of them. And they are beautiful photos.
HAMMER: Yes, but there was nothing intimate, Brooke, about what was going on "The View" today. And that`s why we`re here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT because we need to show you what you didn`t see. Rosie O`Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck nearly ripped each other`s heads off. And it was for real. And it wasn`t pretty. I`m going to show you the very explosive fireworks. Everybody`s talking about it. And we will show you what happened coming up next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. You are watching TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Well, Brooke, coming up tonight, we know divorce is hard enough in the world, but imagine going through a divorce under the bright spotlight of Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL DOBSON, "STAR" MAGAZINE: If you think being a first wife is hard, try being a first wife in Hollywood. Every time your man dates someone else or marries someone else, you have to see it on the cover of every magazine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That cannot be easy. Coming up, the Hollywood first wives` club. How stars deal with seeing their ex-husbands start new lives with new stars.
ANDERSON: That`s got to be incredibly difficult A.J. And here`s one way not to get divorced. Don`t get married, if it`s not right. The happily single Sheryl Crow has a new man in her life -- her newborn baby son. And she says she feels no pressure to walk down the aisle.
Straight ahead, we`ll show you some very cute baby pictures and hear what else Sheryl has to say about how life has changed now that she is a mom.
HAMMER: More on the all-out war on "The View" today. To say the ladies of "The View" totally lost their cool would be a positive understatement as liberal Rosie O`Donnell and conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck made a political debate painfully personal today. In fact, at one point, Rosie said she didn`t want to continue the debate anymore because the media spins it as big, fat lesbian Rosie attacks innocent pure Christian Elisabeth. That`s personal. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, it didn`t end there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O`DONNELL, THE VIEW: Do you believe that I think our troops are terrorists?! And you would not even look me in the face, Elisabeth, and say --
ELISABETH HASSELBECK, THE VIEW: What are you talking about?!
O`DONNELL: No, Rosie. I can understand people how might have thought --
HASSELBECK: I asked you?
O`DONNELL: Why don`t you take this opportunity like I`m six?
HASSELBECK: Because you are an adult and I am certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your -- they`re your thoughts. Defend your own insinuations.
O`DONNELL: I defend my thoughts.
HASSELBECK: Defend your own thoughts.
O`DONNELL: Every time I defend them, Elisabeth, it`s poor little Elisabeth that I`m picking on.
HASSELBECK: You know what, poor little Elisabeth is not or poor little Elisabeth.
O`DONNELL: That`s right. That`s why I`m not going to fight with you anymore because it`s absurd. So for three weeks, you can say all the Republican crap you want. I`m not going to do it.
HASSELBECK: it`s much easier to fight someone like Donald Trump, isn`t it? For you --
O`DONNELL: I asked you, if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying.
HASSELBECK: Did I say yes?
O`DONNELL: You said nothing and that is cowardly.
HASSELBECK: No, no, no! No, no, no.
O`DONNELL: Nothing.
HASSELBECK: Do not call me a coward, because number one, I sit here every single day, open my heart and tell people exactly what I believe.
O`DONNELL: So do I, Elisabeth.
HASSELBECK: Do not call me a coward, Rosie.
O`DONNELL: It was cowardly.
HASSELBECK: It was not cowardly, it was honest.
(CROSS TALK)
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": Is there no commercial in this show?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: It was like the cameras weren`t even there. Joining us tonight, from Los Angeles, Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ.com. In New York, Ali Gazan, writer for "TV Guide".
Ali, Harvey, it`s good to see you both. You know these two have obviously fought on this show before.
Harvey, could you believe how absolutely downright nasty and personal this all got today?
HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: No doubt, A.J., it was personal. And I`ve got some moles over there. And what I`m hearing is, you know, Rosie has really kind of changed, and she really is a short-timer. And she`s acting that way right now.
As a matter of fact, during commercials -- and even today -- she gets into it with audience members. She goes down, she talks to the audience, and this week, a couple of times, some members questioned her politics and she launched on them during commercials. So it was not reserved for Elisabeth.
HAMMER: It`s great to have an opinion, but it`s almost with her impending departure from the show as if she`s checked out, and anything is fair game. And a lot of people, Ali, saw this today as a case of Rosie just being a bully. Do you think she crossed the line here?
ALI GAZAN, WRITER, "TV GUIDE": She definitely seemed to be attacking Elisabeth a little bit more personally. It wasn`t just about politics. It was about, you didn`t defend me and this is how I`m being presented, personally, in a bad way in the public media. So, it definitely seemed like -- it was like a big sister/little sister fighting, where the big sister was kind of bullying the younger one.
HAMMER: You watch this, and you`re wondering, why have this discussion on television? Maybe, the way this show works, it was sort of free association from what Joy was doing before that. But at one point, while all this is going on, Joy Behar is practically pleading to take a commercial break. But, of course, the producers just kept it going, which you can kind of understand. And I believe for the first time in the 10 years this show has been on the air, they put Rosie and Elisabeth in the split screen.
Certainly very compelling, Harvey, and certainly train-wreck TV. Do you think the producers are sitting there watching saying, man, we`re going to be sorry when Rosie leaves in a few weeks because we`re not going to have any kind of heat like this?
LEVIN: Oh, yeah. And I think they`re still in ratings. And you can bet that -- you`ve got to turn that down on my ear, they`re just screaming. It`s just -- it really is just unbelievable that they were doing this.
But the bottom line is, people are going to tune in tomorrow to see if they do it again, and that`s TV is all about.
(CROSS TALK)
HAMMER: Yes, but I have to interrupt you, Harvey. I`m going to tell you, Rosie O`Donnell is not going to be on "The View" tomorrow. And a lot of people might read into that, oh, maybe she was asked the day to take the day off. She`s written on her blog, that tomorrow she`s taking the day off to celebrate with her partner, Kelly, who`s turning 40. So, just be aware, they may not say anything tomorrow, but they may.
LEVIN: Maybe what they`re banking on is not that many people read her blog, but a lot of people are going to be "baited and switched" tomorrow.
HAMMER: No, good point. People will probably tune in, in any event. Let`s take another look. Because it`s kind of hard to resist. Literally every TV here at CNN was cranking up watching this today. Let`s take another look at how personal this got.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Every time I defend them, Elisabeth, it`s poor little Elisabeth that I`m picking on.
HASSELBECK: You know what, Poor little Elisabeth is not poor little Elisabeth, OK?
O`DONNELL: That`s right. That`s why I`m not going to fight with you anymore because it`s absurd. So for three weeks, you can say all the Republican crap you want. I`m not going to do it.
HASSELBECK: It`s much easier to fight someone like Donald Trump, isn`t it? Because he`s obnoxious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Ah, got to bring Donald the Dump Truck into this.
Now, Ali, whenever Rosie and Elisabeth have fought in the past, which has happened plenty of times, they have always said, it`s just part of the give and take; it`s part of what happens on "The View." They remain friends, they`ve only been friends since the show started.
Now, after Elisabeth announced that she was pregnant, Rosie went on television, said she wouldn`t fight with her anymore because she didn`t want to harm the baby. No matter how they spin it, even if they`re saying they`re still friends -- I don`t know, it was pretty rough there. Do you think the friendship could be over? Maybe Rosie is just going to walk away and never look back in a couple of weeks?
GAZAN: I definitely think there`s going to be tension between the two of them for the next few shows. But I don`t necessarily think their friendship is over. I think it`s like with any two friends. You know, somebody doesn`t have your back. You get really angry and you have a big blowout. You let things settle a little bit and then you come back together. And I sort of expect there to be some sort of on-air reconciliation.
HAMMER: Yeah, maybe they`ll do a little kissing and making up, when they`re both back on.
GAZAN: Exactly.
HAMMER: Real quickly, Harvey, obviously we all know that Rosie redefined "The View" when she joined up at the beginning of the season. What do you think, when she`s gone, back to what it once was when Meredith Vieira was there and there was a little more peace in the air?
LEVIN: You can`t do it. She raised the bar. And now that show is incendiary and they just can`t go back to -- nobody can go back to where they were a year or two years ago. TV doesn`t work that way. They have to step it up. I said it to you before, I really think the person to replace Rosie O`Donnell -- and I really mean this -- is Alec Baldwin.
HAMMER: I think that would certainly get people`s attention. I don`t think that`s going to happen. Harvey Levin, Ali Gazan, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
GAZAN: Thank you.
LEVIN: Thank you.
HAMMER: So, Brooke, I have to say, after that big feud on "The View", I think what we all need is a nice baby story. What do you think?
ANDERSON: That would be nice. It`s uncomfortable to watch, at times.
HAMMER: And I have just the ticket to soothe our souls, new mom Sheryl Crowe is absolutely over the moon for her newborn son. Really, really cute baby pictures to show you. Those are coming up and you`re going to hear how Sheryl`s life has changed as well. We`ve also got this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOBSON: Jen famously said that Brad was missing a sensitivity chip, when their relationship ended. And that was clear by how quickly he entered into a full-fledged family with Angelina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Hollywood`s first wives club! You know divorce is hard enough, but I can`t even imagine going through it with all the cameras on you. That`s coming up next.
HAMMER: And another famous first wife and former model is trying to use her experience to help other people through divorce. Angie Everhart, she`s right here to tell us all about it, still to come on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
Now we all know that Hollywood couples fall in love, get married, and get divorced faster than a New York minute, at times leaving stunned and somewhat bitter exes in their wake. So SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is here to give respect to those who hold the title of not only ex-wife, but first wife to some of Hollywood`s leading men.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOBSON, "STAR" MAGAZINE: If you think being a first wife is hard, try being a first wife in Hollywood. Every time your man dates someone else or marries someone else, you have to see it on the cover of every magazine, of every newsstand you walk by.
ANDERSON: And Brad Pitt`s first wife, Jennifer Anniston, knows that tune all too well. After their divorce in January 2005, Brad wasted no time getting over Jen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jen famously said that brad was missing a sensitivity chip when their relationship ended, and that was clear by how quickly he entered in full-fledge family with Angelina.
ANDERSON: In a matter of months, Brad was hot and heavy with "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" co-star Angelina Jolie. Two years and four kids later, the Jolie-Pitt clan is hard to escape. No one will ever know how the first Mrs. Pitt really feels about her ex. But she let the world know that life would go on.
COOPER LAWRENCE, RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: Jennifer Aniston got herself on the cover of "Vanity Fair", immediately, to let us all know she is fine, she looks great and she is OK. Now imagine having to do that.
ANDERSON: Hollywood is full of first wives. Ivana Trump is one of the more famous. Her status as the first Mrs. Donald Trump -- Marla and Melania followed respectively -- even scored Ivana cameo in the comedy hit "The First Wives Club."
IVANA TRUMP: Don`t get mad. Get everything.
ANDERSON: And actress Amy Irving took that advice to heart. Amy, first wife to director Steven Spielberg, walked away with a cool $100 million of Spielberg`s fortune. A payout that might have lessened the pain of seeing Steven remarry and live happily ever after with second wife, Kate Capshaw, and their six children.
Other first wives might take the "sweet revenge" approach, perhaps best portrayed in the Hollywood hit "The First Wives Club."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want him dumped -- by little miss midriff, by that Stairmaster, Loreal, crotch jockey, in front of everyone in the Western Hemisphere, on the 6:00 news. OK?
ANDERSON: And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has another first wife who may echo Bette Midler`s thoughts exactly. Mary Jo Eustace watched as Tori Spelling ran away with her husband, Dean McDermott.
DOBSON: Dean McDermott was married to his wife Mary Jo for more than a decade. He`s an actor and he met Tori Spelling on TV movie that he shot with her and immediate fireworks flew. Tori and Dean`s relationship moved very quickly. They got engaged right away, married right away, and just recently had their first baby.
ANDERSON: Mary Jo is not taking this sitting down. She is set to release a tell-all book. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can only imagine how unflattering it`s going to be to Tori and Dean.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I gave Aaron a home. I gave him a daughter. I washed his shorts, ironed them, and I starched them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, well, I supervised.
LAWRENCE: We made the guy what he is. We put him together, we trained him, we cut his hair, we dressed him, and he`s fabulous and now she gets him. She gets the benefit of our hard work.
ANDERSON: Heather Locklear and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres are two more members of the first wives club who had to watch as their hubbies said bye-bye to them, and hello to the next Mrs. Right. Heather is wife number one to Bon Jovi`s Richie Sambora.
DOBSON: It appeared Richie left Heather for her best friend Denise Richards.
ANDERSON: Former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres feels that pain. She married Latin singing sensation Marc Anthony not once, but twice!
DOBSON: Very quickly after his marriage ended with Dayanara, within months, he was with Jennifer Lopez and walking down the aisle, again.
ANDERSON: So SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has an idea for the first wives of Hollywood. Unite!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, if all the first wives in the world got together, what else do we need?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just one amazing attorney.
ANDERSON: And "Star" magazine`s Jill Dobson tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she agrees.
DOBSON: First wives of Hollywood, here`s my advice to you. Follow Ivana`s motto -- don`t get mad, get everything.
ANDERSON: And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your leader. Demi Moore, first wife to Bruce Willis and now first wife to Ashton Kutcher, who is 15 years her junior.
LAWRENCE: She didn`t wallow. She looks better than ever, and she is with this much younger, really hot guy, that anyone of us would be thrilled to be with. So she is a really good example of a first wife that just spun it on him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First wives club, come to order.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And here`s a little first wife trivia for you. Who was Tom Cruise`s famous first wife? It`s actress Mimi Rogers. The couple married in 1986 and divorced in 1990. Tom`s second wife was Nicole Kidman, and he is now married for a third time to Katie Holmes.
HAMMER: Well, one woman who has taken SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s advice and united with other Hollywood first wives is model and actress Angie Everhart. She was once married to actor Ashley Hamilton and famously engaged to Sylvester Stallone. These days, Angie is not getting mad anymore, she is helping other divorcees get even.
In her new reality show the "Ex-Wives Club" on ABC, Everhart teams up with other famous Hollywood exes -- Marla Maples and Shar Jackson -- to show everyone that divorce isn`t a dead end!
Angie Everhart, joining me tonight in New York. It`s good to see you.
ANGIE EVERHART, CO-HOST, "EX WIVES CLUB": Hi. How are you?
HAMMER: So we just learned in our story, it is certainly unenviable to be a first wife. Being a first wife in Hollywood is like salt in the wound. What`s the worst part of being a Hollywood first wife?
EVERHART: Oh, I don`t think it`s about being a first wife or second wife or third wife. I think that what`s hard is going through the divorce. It`s not about the marriage.
HAMMER: But you certainly have extra baggage to deal with when the divorce happens, and I think a perfect case in point is Shar Jackson who`s one of your co-hosts on the show. What you do on the show is you help other divorcees get through their breakups.
In the case of Shar, imagine, she is pregnant with Kevin Federline`s child. All of a sudden Kevin, while Shar is pregnant, runs off with Britney Spears. Shar has to read about it in the papers and see this on TV every day. How do you deal with something like that?
EVERHART: You know what, Shar and I kept -- we talked about things like that when the cameras weren`t rolling. And I constantly told Shar, don`t read the press. Just don`t read it. Don`t pick up magazines. You see lots of people in Hollywood. The press can be vicious and negative, and they write whatever -- sorry, they write whatever they want to write.
HAMMER: True.
EVERHART: And just don`t read it.
HAMMER: But it`s unavoidable sometimes. I always think, especially out in Hollywood those big newsstand with the newspapers and magazines everyone and Britney`s picture, and Kevin`s picture, was on the cover of every one of those. And you had to deal with that, too.
EVERHART: That`s definitely what`s hard about having a public relationship. It`s in the public eye and everybody knows about it. The divorce is in the public, and it`s keeping your private life private is, you know, part of the job.
HAMMER: Well, somebody who certainly knows about that is Jennifer Aniston. Obviously, one of the more painful public breakups that we just mentioned in our story.
EVERHART: Yes.
HAMMER: Brad Pitt leaves Jen Aniston, and then goes off with Angelina Jolie, starts an instant family, and talk about coverage. Talk about coverage, I mean, there was really nothing else going on when this was happening. So how do you move past something like that? Is it a question of reinventing yourself for somebody like Jennifer?
EVERHART: I just think it`s a matter of time. I think time heals. And I think -- for me -- I think Jennifer Aniston, I think she handled it really beautifully. She didn`t say much publicly and she kept her business to herself, which I thought was nice.
HAMMER: You certainly went through your tough time with a divorce, as we just spoke about Shar Jackson did as well. Marla Maples, you`re all on the show, "The Ex-Wives Club" together.
But what is the most important thing you think you learned, or that you guys dispel for anybody who might be going through a divorce, whether in Hollywood or just anybody who`s dealing with it right now?
EVERHART: It`s finding yourself again. Most of the time when you`re going through such a really hard time, it gets you very depressed. For me, I just tried to stay as busy as I could. And I tell people that all the time. When you`re depressed, just get out and keep moving, and meet new people and work out. Do what makes you feel good.
HAMMER: Yes, because part of the problem, too, is when you`ve been in a relationship, the longer you`re in a relationship, the more you define yourself, I guess --
EVERHART: Together.
HAMMER: -- by the coupleness.
EVERHART: Exactly.
HAMMER: And you sort of have to figure out what works for you, right?
EVERHART: Exactly. You have to find yourself again. You see a lot of mothers who have kids and all of a sudden they`re divorced, and they`re defined by their two or three children, or one child and husband. And all of a sudden when the kids go to see dad, they`re left with their own personality.
HAMMER: Have to figure out what`s next.
EVERHART: What do you like to do?
HAMMER: Angie Everhart, I thank you so much for coming by.
EVERHART: Sure.
HAMMER: And the "Ex-Wives Club" makes it`s debuts Monday night on ABC.
ANDERSON: Here`s one way to never get a divorce. Don`t get married! If it`s not right. Sheryl Crowe says she doesn`t feel any pressure to walk down the aisle. She`s absolutely thrilled with over the moon with her newly adopted baby boy. And he is brand new, a newborn. We`ll show you the beautiful pictures and hear how her life has changed her life, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
Sheryl Crowe is proudly showing off the new man in her life. The 45- year-old singer is a new mom after adopting a newborn son that she has just named Wyatt. Now, Wyatt was just three weeks old when mom and son had their first magazine photo shoot together, an exclusive with "OK!" magazine."
Sheryl tells "OK!" she started the adoption process at the end of her radiation treatment for breast cancer last year, because she knew it would take a long time. She went through an agency and says she did not get moved to the front of the any line just because she`s a rock star.
Sheryl picked up Wyatt when he was one day old, and she says her life changed instantly. She`s already thinking about raising him in Nashville, where she has a farm, instead of L.A., and says she`s going to try to be a good parent, not his best friend, and that she believes in saying no.
As for her love life, Sheryl says she`s dating someone special, someone who isn`t in show business, but is keeping quiet about it. She says, "I used to gauge men on how they were around my dogs. Wyatt now becomes the deciding factor. This little boy is so special. It will be very informative about anyone I might get involved with. What are they really made of? How much love do they really have?"
For more with Sheryl Crowe and her new son, you can grab this copy of "OK!" magazine, on newsstands tomorrow.
ANDERSON: All right, yesterday, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. It was this: Paris Hilton -- would you read her jail diary, if she were to write one. Look at this, only 9 percent of you say yes. That means 91 percent of you say no. Here are a couple of e- mails we received.
Jan from Oklahoma says: "I can`t imagine anything Paris Hilton would write, assuming she can write, that would be worth reading."
And Pamela from California says, "Paris, get real. Your overexposure and your antics and special treatment are getting old!"
HAMMER: I`m going on line to pre-order my copy right now.
Time to see what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. And tomorrow, it is dancing with Joey Fatone! The former `n Sync star certainly showed some smooth moves this season on "Dancing With The Stars." He`s going to be right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, tomorrow.
Also coming up tomorrow, Hollywood hookups, and how they can completely change a star`s image. Think about it. Britney lost her good- girl persona when she got together with Kevin. Ben Affleck became a total family man with Jennifer Garner, and you know the list goes on and on. How relationships can change the stars. That is coming up tomorrow.
That`s it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks a lot for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: Have a good night everybody. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. "Glenn Beck" coming up next. That`s right after the latest headlines from "CNN Headline News." Take care.
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