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Showbiz Tonight
Britney Named Most Controversial Celebrity for 2007; Eva Longoria and Husband Tony Parker Fight Rumors Surrounding Their Marriage
Aired December 13, 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: A frightening scare for Liza Minnelli. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON: And Katie Holmes opening up like never before about her home life with hubby Tom Cruise, including their sexy secrets. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we are naming the most controversial celebrity of the year. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT shocks Hollywood with our pick of the star who has been so wild, so over the top, so controversial. Is it Paris?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARIS HILTON, ACTRESS AND SINGER: I can raise awareness for so many great causes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Britney or how about Rosie?
ROSIE O`DONNELL, FORMER CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Do you believe I think our troops are terrorists?
HAMMER: Tonight, a blockbuster event you`ve got to see and will only see right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the most controversial celebrity of the year.
An Eva Longoria shocker. Her and her husband, Tony Parker, come out swinging at stunning claims that Tony was cheating on her with a woman he met at their wedding.
Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the provocative questions. Are Eva and Tony handling these starting allegations all wrong? Are they actually making the situation worse? And what can they learn from other stars who have gone through the same thing? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates silent celebrity sex secrets.
(MUSIC)
Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you from Hollywood. And tonight, a remarkable interview with Katie Holmes truly speaking out about her life with hubby, Tom Cruise, like never before. Her fascinating revelations are straight ahead.
HAMMER: But first, tonight, are you ready? It`s the moment we`ve been waiting for all year long. It took a whole year for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT to decide who to name as the most controversial celebrity of 2007. I have to tell you, this year, there was truly a smorgasbord of celebrity train wrecks to choose from. But only one can be named SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most controversial celebrity of 2007.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice over): The five nominees for the most controversial celebrity of 2007 are each very deserving.
JULIA ALLISON, "STAR MAGAZINE": This year`s nominees all have a couple of things in common. One, they`re all female. Two, they`re all trashy.
HAMMER: Britney behaved badly. Paris got pinched. Lindsay got loaded. Rosie ranted and Anna Nicole - well, she went out with a bang. But one and only one of the five nominees stood out above all the others.
MICHAEL YO, "E! RADIO": How can a person dominate the headlines for an entire year?
HAMMER: One person did. So, just who is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most controversial celebrity of 2007?
BRITNEY SPEARS, POP STAR: It`s Britney.
HAMMER: Come on. Was there any other choice?
JO PIAZZA, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Whoo!
HAMMER: We all tried to, in the words of some of Britney`s more hard core fans -
CHRIS CROCKER: Leave Britney alone!
HAMMER: But Britney made it darn near impossible.
KATIE DARYL, "TMZ TV": Britney has had a fabulously controversial year. She shaves her head. She does a hit and run. She`s in and out of courts, battling for custody of the kids and, most importantly, let`s not forget that Video Music Award performance.
YO: No other person dominated the headlines all year long.
HAMMER: No one else, except for Britney which was the basis for our choice. Which celebrity was the most consistently controversial?
ALLISON: This has been the year of Britney.
HAMMER: Britney`s run of controversy in 2007 began literally from the start. After hosting a New Year`s party in Las Vegas, she made headlines for reportedly passing out. Her people said she was just tired, an excuse we`d hear often in the coming year.
In February, Britney made more headlines by inexplicably shaving her head in public, touching off a year of random acts of weirdness.
ALLISON: The head shaving is a clear line of demarcation between old Britney, where we suspect something is wrong and new Britney, where we know for sure something is wrong.
HAMMER: Something was so wrong, in fact. Britney went to rehab, where she spent the rest of February and most of March.
PIAZZA: It was about six weeks of no Britney news. But thankfully, Britney got out. She gave us more.
HAMMER: Boy, did she ever. In May, Brit returned to music, playing a series of small venues in a mini tour that had everyone hoping for a return of the fierce talented Britney of old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Britney. We love her.
HAMMER: Poor girls. They were still months away from seeing how badly Britney would screw up her national TV comeback. We`re about to get to that.
By June - Britney was out partying again. And people started asking, who`s watching her two kids, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jaden James.
PIAZZA: Things took a new turn over the summer. We had Britney Spears, the troubled mother and the start of that saga began.
HAMMER: In July, a judge signed off on her divorce from Kevin Federline, but the kids were still with Britney, for now. But in August, with headline after headline about Britney`s partying, alleged wild behavior and possible substance abuse, K-Fed struck back, asking for more custody of their children. Now, the tabloids were no longer the only ones pouring over Britney`s antics. A court was too.
PIAZZA: Now that she has become embroiled in this custody battle with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, all of her issues are actually a matter of public record.
September brought the disaster in the desert. Britney`s flat, uninspired and just plain awful performance at the MTV Video Awards in Las Vegas.
PIAZZA: People were hoping she could pull through. When she didn`t and it was just so bad, it was a collective oh!
HAMMER: And she also screwed up her custody battle. She was repeatedly snapped, happily hitting the clubs, even after the court said she had a substance abuse problem.
PIAZZA: She completely lost the custody battle, not only in the court, but in the court of public opinion.
HAMMER: And in October, the judge lowered the boom, taking away her kids and giving them to Kevin Federline. Britney responded by blowing off the judge`s orders and partying at will, as the public looked on in disbelief at the sight of a young mother, turning her life into a flaming wreck, from which it was impossible to look away.
ALLISON: Britney really redefines train wreck. I mean, we no longer have to use the term train wreck. We just say she`s pulling a Britney Spears. She`s pulling a Britney! Oh, look at her. You don`t want to pull a Britney. Hey, you might want to put on underwear. Don`t pull a Britney.
HAMMER: For redefining the meaning of train wreck and for redefining the meaning of controversy, Britney Spears is, once again, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most controversial celebrity of the year.
SPEARS: It`s Britney.
HAMMER: But for your sake, Britney, don`t try for a threepeat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, there you have it. Britney Spears is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most controversial celebrity of 2007. And she seems determined to prove that she deserves that title, right up until New Year`s eve on Tuesday, she did not show up for a court-ordered deposition in her child custody battle, claiming she was freaked out by all the media that was waiting for her.
But, what do you know? As you`re seeing here, "Hollywood.TV" caught her Tuesday night out on the town in, you know, what has pretty much become her usual element, hanging out at a gas station surrounded by the media and seemingly unfazed.
Joining me tonight in New York, Lauren Lake, defense attorney and TV host. In Hollywood tonight, Kim Serafin, senior editor of "In-Touch Weekly." Appreciate you being here, Kim and Lauren. Britney was driving around as we saw, pulling into gas stations at 2:00 in the morning. She`s surrounded by paparazzi.
Kim, I need a little help understanding the deal here. Facing the paparazzi while going to court apparently not OK. Going to the gas station, a-OK. Seems kind of like her priorities are pretty screwed up here.
KIM SERAFIN, SENIOR EDITOR, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Yes. I think people have been saying that for a long time. What is her priority? Is her priority to get her kids back or is it to get photographed by the press? That`s why it`s so strange, because this is not someone who seems to be - who seems to mind that the paparazzi follow her around. She seems to encourage it. She seems to joke around with them.
And to say the excuse she gave is that she was sick with anxiety, physically sick, but sick with anxiety because of al the media surrounding her house. But this is the crowd of paparazzi that follows her around everywhere she goes. And she jokes with them. You know, there`s a video from last night where she`s joking about she doesn`t like that photo. She`s looking at the digital photo. It does seem - it makes you wonder, what is her priority these days?
HAMMER: Yes, and using that excuse, that the media that was hanging outside her house before she was supposed to go off to the office, actually, of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline`s attorney for the deposition, saying the media gave her all this anxiety. It`s not going to be lost on a judge, is it, Lauren? I mean, I would think that a judge would see that and say, "Well, that`s a pretty poor excuse."
LAUREN LAKE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND TV HOST: Oh, absolutely. I mean, this child has been on television and performing since she was in the Mickey Mouse Club. There is no reason that all of a sudden paparazzi and media are going to give her anxiety. And I think the judge is going to see right through this.
And unfortunately, you know, speaking as an attorney, if you`re trying to represent her, you don`t have an excuse for this. When you`re trying to argue and advocate for her, judge, she was feeling anxiety because of the paparazzi. Give me a break!
HAMMER: Yes.
LAKE: The judge is not going to buy it.
HAMMER: No, he`s not, or she won`t. And the thing that I find myself having been repeating all year long is what the heck is going on in her head? We`ve seen her miss appointments for drug testing before. Now, missing this very crucial date with the attorney for her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, for that deposition. Kim, it really does seem like she truly does not care if she loses these kids.
SERAFIN: You`ve got to wonder that. Does she really want the kids back? I mean, that`s what any outside observer would wonder, the way she acts. I mean, this even goes back to when she first got reprimanded by the judge, when she first got her kids taken away from her. She was seen out partying that night, later that week. Y
You have to wonder what`s going through her head. Now, of course, there was probably anxiety leading up to this deposition. The reports were saying they were really going to grill her on whether she was using drugs and alcohol, grill her about her mothering skills, grill her about a lot of things. You can understand that she was nervous about it. But you wonder what she`s thinking because she doesn`t seem to be acting like a mother who really wants her kids back.
HAMMER: Well, you know, this is the second year now that we have named Britney Spears the most controversial celebrity of the year. She did even more this year, it seems to me, than last year to earn that title. Lauren Lake, do you see this ending any time soon?
LAKE: You know what, A.J.? I`m sad to say, but the ending is going to be a huge crash and burn, even worse than what we`ve already seen. I`m scared for this girl. You know, there`s a point where we`re amazed at just how irresponsible she can be.
But then at a point you have to say when a mother doesn`t show up to a deposition that`s directly related to the disposition of a case that deals with the custody of her own children, something is wrong with this child. She needs some help immediately. The worst part about it is, I don`t think she really sees it yet.
HAMMER: Kim Serafin, I have about 20 seconds here. But can we see this having - I want to be optimistic, but can we see this having anything but a happy - or sad ending rather?
SERAFIN: You know, I hope so, too. I think everyone hopes so, but it`s been happening repeatedly, you know. After the VMA performance, after her shaving her head, after she left her kids, everyone kept saying, "This is going to knock some sense into her. This will finally do the trick."
HAMMER: Yes. It hasn`t happened.
SERAFIN: It hasn`t happened yet. But you`ve got to hope something will knock something sense into her.
HAMMER: We don`t want to give her that title, as we mentioned, again in `08. Lauren Lake, Kim Serafin, thanks for being with us tonight.
LAKE: Thank you.
SERAFIN: Thanks.
HAMMER: Well, Britney Spears used to be one of the hardest working women in showbiz. Not so much the case anymore. I think Liza Minnelli is certainly one of the hardest working people out there in the business. But tonight, she has canceled some shows and it`s due to a frightening health scare. So coming up, I`ll give you all the shocking details of exactly what happened and it happened right in the middle of a concert, Brooke.
ANDERSON: And it certainly did, A.J. We wish her well. You know, something that completely blows my mind. Eva Longoria and her husband, Tony Parker, are coming out swinging at stunning claims that Tony was cheating on her. I`ve got to ask, are Eva and Tony handling this all wrong? What can they learn from other stars who have gone through the same thing? That`s next. Also this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I`m here to break that news to you.
JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: That is amazing.
HAMMER: That`s pretty cool.
TRAVOLTA: Wow! I didn`t know that. That`s even more reason to celebrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Yes. I`m going one on one with John Travolta. Man, did I really surprise him with something. You`re not going to believe this big news that I sprung on John Travolta. He had absolutely no clue. No, it`s not that he`s going to be doing another "Grease" movie. Stick around for my revealing interview with John Travolta, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Hey, welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Tonight, trouble in paradise? "Desperate House Wives" star Eva Longoria and NBA star Tony Parker just got married in July, and now they are fighting back against some really nasty rumors about their marriage. A woman is claiming to have had an affair with Parker just months after the fairy tale wedding. But should they even be responding?
Joining me tonight from Hollywood, celebrity publicist and founder of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, Howard Bragman, and from New York, founder of Spotlight Communications, Maggie Gallant. Maggie, Howard, I want to set the scene here first. A french model sells her story to a tabloid saying not only did she have an affair with Tony Parker, but they met at Tony and Eva`s wedding.
All right. In a statement released to reporters everywhere, Eva`s rep called the allegations by this model 100 percent false. Eva herself defended Tony saying, quote, "Tony has been nothing short of the perfect husband." Howard, what do you think? Should she have even bothered responding or does it just add fuel to the fire?
HOWARD BRAGMAN, CELEBRITY PUBLICIST: It`s exactly what it did, Brooke. This was a story that was sort of humming on the Internet and some of the gossip rags, but hadn`t really hit the mainstream as it were, like SHOWBIZ TONIGHT and "People" magazine and places like that. Now, all of a sudden it is. There`s a time when you should just hold your tongue, shut up and let the rumor go away. They didn`t handle it as elegantly or as subtly as I might have liked to have seen it handled, quite frankly.
ANDERSON: I`m sure it would be difficult, though, not to defend your husband and not to speak out. I`m sure it is a tough choice. Tony also responded to the claims, saying quote, "I love my wife. She`s the best thing in my life and I have never been happier." OK. We are not implying that this, in any way, indicates that he was unfaithful. But, hey, he never said outright, "I did not do it. It`s untrue." Maggie, should Tony have come straight out and denied the whole affair or did he say enough?
MAGGIE GALLANT, FOUNDER OF SPOTLIGHT COMMUNICATIONS: You really have three options when rumors of infidelity start to surface. You can say absolutely nothing like many Hollywood couples do and make a policy that they`re not going to talk about anything relating to their private lives. Two, you can approach it head on, like I think they wanted to do, which is very often an emotional response. Or three, which we all hope someone`s not going to do is say, "Yes, you`re right. That was me." That`s never going to happen. So you really have these two options and they responded very emotionally, like Howard said.
ANDERSON: Well, you know, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT once asked Eva Longoria about having to deal with her love life being so public. And I want you to listen to what she told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: You can`t ever win when you`re secretive and private, you know. They`re like, trouble in paradise. Eva doesn`t speak! And then you`re outspoken about it and they`re like trouble in paradise, Eva speaks out! So, I just go with my heart and I`m in love. So, I want to yell it from the highest mountain. You know, you can`t control everything. But I can definitely control my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Eva`s got a great point. But Howard, did she make herself a target for this kind of rumor mill by putting her love life out there so publicly in the first place?
BRAGMAN: Well, the Hollywood list that Eva tops is overexposed. I mean, this is a girl that will go to the opening of a wound, as we say in Hollywood. I mean, we see her everywhere. We see her in every magazine. She cannot turn anything down. She`s a lovely lady, but a little less goes a long way, OK? That mystique of not being there.
And all of a sudden when every nuance of your love life, the weddings at magazines, you are a big old target and they hit her, because she was a big old target. So, absolutely, she helped to create this mess.
ANDERSON: Well, of course, this isn`t the first time a celebrity couple has gotten caught up in swirling rumors about infidelity and later broke up. Examples: Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, they divorced. Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, divorced. Even Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey fought rumors of infidelity before they split.
Maggie, what can Eva and Tony, very quickly, learn from the way these stars handled the rumor mill?
GALLANT: Well, unfortunately, there`s not a lot they can learn at this point. Because those couples, Nick and Jessica, they were doing a reality show. They invited cameras into their life. That is a very hard thing to take back. Once you`ve invited them in, forget trying to say no to prying couples wanting to have the information.
ANDERSON: Great point.
They should look to other couples like Julia Roberts, Danny Moder, they keep their private lives private.
ANDERSON: They are great examples. Maggie Gallant, Howard Bragman, we will leave it there. Thank you both.
BRAGMAN: Thanks, Brooke.
ANDERSON: Well, hey, even though there`s been a lot of tabloid talk about problems with Tom Cruise`s and Katie Holmes` marriage, I think it seems to be going pretty well. And Katie is speaking out like never before about what goes on behind closed doors. Yes, I`m not kidding. Tomkat is purring with some explosive, sexy secrets, coming up. Also this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUANE "THE DOG" CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: I`ll continue doing the things I`ve done working with, you know, interracial people.
HAMMER: Remember the Dog Chapman`s lame apology for his racist rant? Well, tonight, we picked Britney Spears as the most controversial celebrity of the year, the second year in a row. I know not everybody agrees with us. Did we get it right? A heated debate coming up.
ANDERSON: A.J., I think we got it right. But I cannot wait to hear what other people think. All right. This lady, Liza Minnelli, one of my favorites. She works so hard. But tonight, I`ve got the shocking details of Liza`s frightening health scare which happened right in the middle of a concert. Those details coming up next. Keep it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: On Friday, it`s a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT as showbiz investigates the remarkable stories of how Hollywood`s biggest stars have changed. Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck. Showbiz investigates the stunning transformations on Friday.
ANDERSON: Tonight, a health scare for Liza Minnelli. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the 61-year-old entertainer collapsed during a performance in Sweden. She felt nauseous before the show but decided to go on. About halfway into her set, she was stepping off stage when she fell into the arms of someone who was with her and was unconscious for a few seconds.
Now, here is what we learned from Liza`s spokesperson. Miss Minnelli who has been on a triumphant and critically acclaimed tour around the world had complained of dizziness prior to the start of the show. As a result, she was unable to finish her performance and was rushed back to her hotel. A doctor, upon examining her and in consultation with her New York physician, determined that it would be necessary for the Oscar-winning actress and singer to immediately return to New York City to receive further medical evaluation."
I can also tell you her Copenhagen, Denmark shows are canceled today and Saturday. But on her web site, it says, quote, "All is fine. Liza is fine and the tour is continuing otherwise as scheduled." We all wish her well a speedy recovery
HAMMER: Absolutely. Brooke, I`m right there with you hoping that Liza gets back on her feet very soon.
A question that we`re all asking tonight, will Britney Spears ever get back on her feet? It`s a huge day here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. We`ve named Britney our most controversial celebrity of the year. I think we definitely got it right. But coming up next, I`ve got a fired up panel. Do they think we made the right choice? That is next.
ANDERSON: A.J., I think we completely did. All right, tonight, I`ve got revealing sexy secrets of what goes on inside Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes` bedroom. Katie is speaking out like never before about her home life. Coming up. Also this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I`m here to break that news to you.
TRAVOLTA: That is amazing.
HAMMER: That`s pretty cool.
TRAVOLTA: Wow! I didn`t know that. That`s even more reason to celebrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I got one on one with John Travolta and actually caught him by surprise with some big news. It`s not that "Welcome Back, Kotter`s" Vinnie Barbarino is coming back. So, up your nose with a rubber hose. Stick around. My revealing interview is coming up. I didn`t mean you.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, it`s the moment we`ve been waiting for. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT names Britney Spears the most controversial celebrity of 2007. And, man, what a year it was for Britney. All the head shaving, the panty-less partying, deposition skipping, but did we get it right? Is she really the most controversial celebrity of the year? Well, tonight, we have a fired up panel. They are ready to debate.
Inside life with the Cruises. Katie Holmes speaks out like never before about her marriage to Tom Cruise. What it was like when they fell in love and how they make their life together work. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the details of Tomkat`s marriage that you haven`t heard before.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you tonight from Hollywood. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is naming Britney Spears the most controversial celebrity of the year, you all. Let`s face it. This makes a whole lot of sense. The young lady had a very busy year, stirring up drama at every turn, from, of course, shaving her head to the vicious custody battle for her two kids, to showing the paparazzi, well, that when it comes to boxers or briefs, Britney prefers neither.
So, did we get it right? Is Britney the right choice for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most controversial celebrity of the year? Well, we have a fired up coast-to-coast panel and they are ready to duke it out.
Joining me tonight from Hollywood, editorial director of "UsMagazine.com," Ken Baker. Also in Hollywood tonight, investigative journalist and author of "Secrets Can Be Murder" author the lovely Jane Velez-Mitchell. And in New York tonight, "Court TV" anchor, the lovely Lisa Bloom. Gang, I appreciate you being here. And Ken, yes, you`re lovely, too. I didn`t mean to leave you out.
KEN BAKER, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "USMAGAZINE.COM": I was going to say, "What about me?"
LISA BLOOM, "COURT TV" ANCHOR: He certainly is.
HAMMER: Now, maybe to someone who has had less of a lovely year. I want to be clear about this so you understand the criteria. The reason that we chose Britney as the most controversial celebrity of the year is because she was consistently out of control for the entire year of 2007. It was the same with our finalists Paris, Lindsay, Britney, obviously, Rosie and Anna Nicole. But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT did choose Britney Spears. Ken baker, do you think we got it right?
BAKER: Well, I think you did get it right. It would be really hard to argue against her. However, I just want to semantically debate. I know we don`t get into a lot of semantic debates on this show. But I just want to say that controversy was at the beginning of the year. People debated, "Oh, leave her alone. She`s not that bad. Oh, the poor thing."
But by the end of the year, there was no controversy. It was just sort of a sad, freak show, this tragic comedy of sorts. And it wasn`t controversial at all. But en masse, yes - the entire year, absolutely the most controversial celebrity.
HAMMER: And that`s what our judges think. Now, Jane Velez-Mitchell, you were not part of our judges` pool. But you were - if you had your way, who would you have chosen as the most controversial celebrity of the year?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: I`m sorry, A.J., but you guys got it wrong. It`s Anna Nicole Smith, absolutely! Come on. The paternity battle, the battle for the oil millions, her son`s drug-related death, her own drug-related death. You cannot top that in terms of controversy.
You know, there`s a lot of messes you can clean up, but death isn`t one of them. It`s irreversible. It`s final. And if you look at the celebrities who have gone down in history, OK, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hendrix, the list goes on and on. These are entertainers who died very tragically and very controversially before their time. Just like Anna Nicole Smith. In 20 years, the history books will be talking about Anna Nicole Smith and we`ll have Anna Nicole Smith ashtrays. We won`t have Britney ashtrays.
HAMMER: Now, OK, that may be true. And I`m not going to argue with you over your choice here, Jane. But I`m going to go to Lisa Bloom because, you know, she comes from that legal world. So settle this for us, will you, Lisa?
BLOOM: Well, I disagree with both of you. I think everybody is hardest on women. My choice would have been O.J. Simpson. I mean here`s the former Heisman winner, football star who this year, wrote a book and pocketed $600,000 for confessing to the murder of two people, including the mother of his own children. And then gets arrest on ten felony counts, including armed robbery. That`s a pretty controversial guy. He has done things that are far worse than anything Britney has ever done.
And by the way, in Britney`s defense, she had a hit album out this year. She`s still financially and professionally successful. A lot of people in the public still like her and she`s still supporting K-Fed, who doesn`t have a job.
HAMMER: Well, but she only makes $700,000 a month. Now, come on.
BLOOM: Yes, she makes it because she earned every penny of that, legitimately, unlike K-Fed.
HAMMER: Now, to be clear - To be clear, Lisa, and I know you pay attention in class, it was people who were consistently controversial all year. For O.J., not so much the case.
BLOOM: He had that book all year -
HAMMER: All right.
BLOOM: That was the big controversy, the Goldmans. And you should read the book. He talks about how he carved up two human beings. He talks about why he killed Nicole, because she was wearing a short skirt like a 16-year-old. And then ten felony arrests.
HAMMER: Lisa, I`m with you. All right. You have O.J. We`ll consider him an honorable mention, which we`ll have more of in just a moment. But first, let`s swing it back to Britney, because she, after all, did get the crown. So many Britney train wreck moments this year. So, Ken, I want you to choose, what was the top one?
BAKER: Well, I think, for me, it had to be at the beginning of the year when she shaved her head. I remember, it`s sort of like the - when JFK was shot for the previous generation. You remember the first time you saw Britney shaving her head. I was in my living room. It was on the local news in Los Angeles. Literally, the jaw went down to here, OK? It just dropped because it was so shocking.
You just were seeing someone melt down in a public way and just sort of making herself ugly and unattractive. And it was very sad, because you knew that behind that was so much pain. For me, that tops it off. That was the beginning. And it was, I think, from there, it just went downhill.
HAMMER: It was pretty telling what the year had in store. Jane Velez- Mitchell, she wasn`t your choice, but what`s you top pick of her best train wreck moment?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m going to agree with Ken. It was the head shaving and the whole thing. It was crying in the car beforehand caught on videotape. And then barging into the valley hair salon and saying I don`t want to cut your hair and then she starts cutting it herself. And then revealing of the tattoo on the back of the neck, going to get another tattoo. It was this whole saga, and then selling the locks on E Bay. I mean, you can`t make this stuff up. It was truly a very bizarre, bizarre adventure for lack of a better word.
HAMMER: Let`s continue our adventure here tonight. And Lisa Bloom kind of got us into the spirit for this because you saw that all of our finalists were women -
BLOOM: Yes.
HAMMER: Because they met our standard of being consistently controversial throughout the year.
BLOOM: I noticed that.
HAMMER: But the men, in our world, had their moments too. We here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT do think they deserve honorable mention right here, right now. So may I have a drum roll please? Thank you very much. Our very first honorable mention for our controversial celebrity of the year, this guy, Duane "The Dog" Chapman. Man, did he get into some deep doo-doo when his son taped Dog`s racist rant during a phone conversation. Let`s listen to Dog`s weak apology on "LARRY KING LIVE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAPMAN: I`ll continue doing the things I`ve done working with, you know, interracial people. And I just have to - I have some classes I have to go to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: He sure does. Lisa Bloom, what kind of classes do you have to take -
BLOOM: OK.
HAMMER: To not do something so controversially stupid?
BLOOM: Yes, right. Don`t be stupid 101. Guess what, the "N" word is an offensive term. Apparently, he was not aware of that. This was an enormous shock to this guy at whatever advanced age he has to learn. You know, he says, very sincerely, apparently, he had no idea that that was an offensive term. Come on, Dog! Come on.
HAMMER: All right. Well, you know, Dog Chapman not the only guy who got into trouble because of a phone call, which brings us to our next honorable mention for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s next honorable mention of the year. It is Alec Baldwin, who left an explosive message for his daughter, Ireland.
He called the 11-year-old a, quote, "thoughtless little pig," going on to say, quote, "I don`t give a damn that you`re 12 years old or 11 years old or a child or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the (you know what) who doesn`t care about what you do." Well, her mother, of course, is Kim Basinger. Ken, he didn`t remain controversial all day long, he is still dealing with the fallout from this, isn`t he?
BAKER: Yes. And he has actually handled it really well. That was a horrible thing to be revealed. I mean, I`m sure it was just mortifying to him, to his daughter, to everyone involved with it. I know that, for myself, when I heard that, it felt like oh, that`s too much. This guy - it`s so ugly.
But do you know what he has done? He`s done a really smart damage control job. He sort of went away for a while. At first, he said he was sorry, this and that. But he sort of went away, went underground. And probably, the best thing for Alec Baldwin is this writers` strike. He can just be unemployed, and just hang out and not offend anybody.
HAMMER: Real quickly, Jane Velez-Mitchell, I want to get to one more honorable mention of dubious daddy skills. It would be the one and only David Hasslehoff, of course, who was videotaped by his teenaged daughter drunk out of his mind. And it`s something he`ll never live, will he?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t know about that. It was a very ugly moment. But I have to say, as a recovering alcoholic myself with 12 and a half years of sobriety, I would never have wanted a camera on me during some of my uglier moments. So I think it`s best not to pass judgment. I hope that he gets help for his problem and I understand that he has been getting help for his problem. I think he`s a guy who ultimately loves his family very much and there but for the grace of God go any number of us.
HAMMER: Yes, and I think that`s a good note to end on, maybe a little positive thinking as we move on into the year 2008. And we hope anybody who needs the help that they`ve been crying out for this year is getting it. Ken Baker, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Lisa Bloom, thank you all for being a part of this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
BLOOM: Thank you.
BAKER: Thanks, A.J.
ANDERSON: So, what do you think it`s really like, being married to Tom Cruise? Well, Katie Holmes is speaking out like never before about their marriage, how they fell in love and how they keep their relationship together. You don`t want to miss this, because we are going inside Tomkat`s life coming up. We`ll also have this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I`m here to break that news to you.
TRAVOLTA: That is amazing.
HAMMER: That`s pretty cool.
TRAVOLTA: Wow! I didn`t know that. That`s even more reason to celebrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: So, just what was the news that I broke to John Travolta that surprised him on the very day that he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in "Hairspray?" You`ve got to stay with us to find out. That is just ahead on the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: And A.J., there were lots of other big surprises in the Golden Globe nominations. We`re going to tell you who got nominated and who got left out, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson. Tonight, Katie Cruise confessions. It`s Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise like we`ve never imagined. Katie is now sharing personal and intimate details about her life as Mrs. Cruise, from his turn-ons to how she knew she was in love.
It`s all in the upcoming issue of "In Style" magazine. And joining us from New York is Katrina Szish, national correspondent for "In Style" magazine. Katrina, great to see you.
KATRINA SZISH, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN STYLE MAGAZINE"L Hi, Brooke. Great to see you too.
ANDERSON: Hi there. You know, I have to say, this photo spread, absolutely gorgeous.
SZISH: Isn`t she sensational?
ANDERSON: And the interview, pretty intimate too.
SZISH: Yes.
ANDERSON: You know, and I want to get to something very personal that Katie shared with "In Style." She said, quote, "Tom likes me in a suit and a mini every now and then. I like it when he likes it. It makes me blush. He`ll say, `You look good. I hope security`s going with you.` Now, that gives me attitude."
Hello. Until now, Katrina, Katie has been pretty tight-lipped about her life with Tom. Why do you think she felt so comfortable to share a pretty personal side of their lives together?
SZISH: For the past two-and-a-half years, Katie really has been living a whirlwind. She got married, she became a mother and she sort of went off of the career path that she had been on. And I think she`s finally at a point where she has everything under control.
She knows what it`s like to be a wife. She knows what it`s like to be a mother. She`s just wrapped a new movie with Diane Keaton called "Mad Money." Her career is starting back up again. I think she`s finally at a point where she thinks, "OK, I`ve got it under control. I`m ready to dish."
ANDERSON: I can reveal more now.
SZISH: Yes, exactly.
ANDERSON: Well, we were all in awe at how fast Katie and Tom met, had a baby, got married. She talked to "In Style" about their whirlwind romance. She said this "It happened quickly, but I was certain it was what a wanted. I never felt overwhelmed. I thought OK, good. Here we go." Tomkat, of course, had a lightning fast courtship and now the gorgeous baby Suri. Katrina, it sounds too good to be true sometimes. What do you think? Are they the real deal?
SZISH: I believe that they`re real deal because Katie is so confident. She is so sure about what she wants in her life. And she is so sure about her feelings for Tom, about their life together, about their relationship and about their family together that she makes it so clear and so obvious that it`s very hard to doubt her. People have been, you know, guessing whether this was a real relationship or not since it started. But once you hear Katie tell it, you believe everything she says. And I think it`s the real deal. She`s in love, and so is he.
ANDERSON: She said she respects Tom and he respects her. So it sounds like they`ve got great communication going in their relationship. And Katie is a mom and a wife now. But let`s not forget, she`s also an actress. You talked about how her career is starting up again. Here is what she said about landing the role of a lifetime in the future.
But she said this. "I`m living my ideal role. I love being a mom and a wife. In terms of my career, I would love to do a period piece." Katrina, her career was really taking off at the time she met Tom. I thought she was great in "Pieces of April." she was also in "Batman Begins".
SZISH: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: Do you get a sense at all that she misses that?
SZISH: I don`t think Katie misses it. But I think she realizes that she has done some things in her life - finding a life partner, having a family, having a daughter and now she is ready to focus on her career again. I don`t think she views it as a negative hiatus. I don`t think she`s uncomfortably itching to get back to work. I think she`s crossing things off her list. She`s very organized. She knows what she wants.
And now, finally, she`s ready to get back on that career track and she`s going to do it with a vengeance. We are going to see her explode, her star rise like we never thought possible.
ANDERSON: All right. Well, she is stunning. That`s obvious.
SZISH: Gorgeous, yes.
ANDERSON: And seems comfortable in her new role -
SZISH: She sure is.
ANDERSON: As mother and wife. Katrina Szish, always great speaking with you. Thanks.
SZISH: You too, Brooke. Thank you.
ANDERSON: And you can read the entire Katie Holmes interview in the latest issue of "In Style" magazine, A.J., on newsstands Friday.
HAMMER: Well, Brooke, the Hollywood award season has officially begun. The Golden Globe nominations announced Thursday morning. "Atonement" received a whopping seven nominations including Best Picture in the drama category and acting nominations for its stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts new movie, "Charlie Wilson`s War" hasn`t hit theaters yet, but it picked up five nominations, including nods for both Hanks and Roberts.
Another big nominee, John Travolta. He was nominated for his supporting role in "Hairspray." Travolta wowed audiences with his transformation as Edna Turnblad. He gave me the play-by-play on exactly how he found out he was nominated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVOLTA: At 8:25, bam! The phone goes off. And I`m just ran, beeline to the phone, and I said, "Oh my gosh! It happened." Because I wasn`t going to get a call unless it did happen. And I got the call and it was what I thought. My publicist called. And I was so thrilled and relieved.
HAMMER: Did you immediately hear from Kelly, your wife, and the kids? Did they all -
TRAVOLTA: I got so many texts and so many phone calls and messages. That was so exciting. I spoke to my wife right away. She was more excited than anybody because she`s really had vested interest in this character and this performance.
HAMMER: This really is the good part of doing all the work that you do.
TRAVOLTA: It really is. And you know, I had so many people I did not want to let down. And not to say I felt pressure, but there was a lot of good hearts around me. Good people. And I really wanted this to come through for them. For the movie, for Nikki, for myself. I really felt that it would be a great thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, the Golden Globe awards will be announced on January 13th. But wait, there`s more! I actually surprised John with some other news today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I`m here to break that news to you.
TRAVOLTA: That is amazing.
HAMMER: That`s pretty cool.
TRAVOLTA: Wow! I didn`t know that. That`s even more reason to celebrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: So, exactly what was the big news that I broke to John? You`ll have to stay right where you are to find out. That is next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: First, a look at what`s new at the movies this weekend brought to you by Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. Opening Friday, "The Kite Runner." It`s a drama about two childhood friends torn apart in war-torn Afghanistan. "The Kite Runner" has just been nominated for a Golden Globe for best original score.
Also Friday, the first big screen version of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." This stars Jason Lee and David Cross and arrives just in time for the holidays.
And finally, Will Smith stars in "I Am Legend." Now, this is a sci-fi drama about the last survivor in New York City after a terrible virus wipes out the population. "I Am Legend" opens in theaters on Friday. That is a look at what`s new at the movies this weekend brought to you by Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: John Travolta was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in "Hairspray." We know that much and congratulated him on that. But when I sat down with John, I broke some other news to him about the significance this nomination has for John and those dancing feet of his. Listen to how all this played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: It`s not lost on you that this is falling on the precise 30th anniversary of your Golden Globe nomination for "Saturday Night Fever," Antonio Manero - 30 years.
TRAVOLTA: Actually, I didn`t know that.
HAMMER: I`m here to break that news to you.
TRAVOLTA: That is amazing.
HAMMER: That`s pretty cool.
TRAVOLTA: Wow! I didn`t know that. That`s even more reason to celebrate.
HAMMER: I mean, could you possibly have imagined when you were playing the stud of studs three decades ago that you would be nominated for a globe three decades later for playing a big woman who happens to be somebody`s mom?
TRAVOLTA: I said to the producers, "What in the world convinced you that I could play this? Was it `Get Shorty?` Was it `Broken Arrow?` Why did you think - I mean, I`ve played macho guys for 30 years. Why did you - "
They said, "Well, you can sing and dance and you`re good at characters. So, we thought you would be the best choice." I said, "OK. Well, all right." And for a year and a half, I entertained this possibility. And then finally I thought, "Well, you know, I am an actor and I really do commit to my characters." And I thought, "Well, if they really let me do it fully as a woman, then that`s a challenge." And I`ve got a lot of wonderful memories of women in my life. I thought, that`s a good challenge. I`ll do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: If you want to see John as a big woman, "Hairspray" is now out on DVD.
ANDERSON: I`m impressed with your research for that interview, A.J.
All right. On Wednesday, we told you that Jessica Alba is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Cash Warren. And we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, "Jessica Alba pregnant: Does it bother you when stars have kids out of wedlock?" Thirty-eight percent of you say yes; 62 percent of you say no. \
Here`s some of the e-mails. Mary from West Virginia writes, "They are role models to our young. These actions are probably the reason we have such a high rate of single mothers." Ross from Utah says, "Stars getting pregnant of out of wedlock really doesn`t matter, since it may simplify things when they break up within a year or two."
HAMMER: Let`s take a look at what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Friday. A special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, as showbiz investigates the remarkable stories of how Hollywood`s biggest stars have changed.
How did Britney Spears from Mouseketeer to train wreck? Brad Pitt, from starry-eyed dad to Hollywood hopeful to Brad the dad with a top spot on Hollywood`s A-list. And of course, there`s Ben Affleck, from Oscar winner to tabloid target to family man and director. Showbiz investigates these remarkable transformations, Friday.
That is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks a lot for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. The latest from "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" is coming up next. Stay with us. Take care.
END
