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Showbiz Tonight
Paris Hilton Allegedly Refused to Bail Out Brother on DUI Charge; Britney`s Lawyers to Quit?
Aired February 13, 2008 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AJ HAMMER, CNNHN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: It`s a down and dirty diva smackdown. Why is Aretha Franklin furious, claiming Beyonce isn`t giving her any r-e-s-p-e-c-t? I`m AJ Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNNHN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: And a big star, actually kind of little, shocks everyone and gets married. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, another Hilton DUI shocker. Tonight, the startling story behind the arrest of Paris` little brother. Will he end up serving time just like his big sister? Tonight, did Paris come to his rescue or tell him to rot behind bars?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE DARYL, TMZ TV: 2007 we saw Paris Hilton have her DUI. You think that little bro would have learned lesson but apparently he didn`t.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Plus SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asks the controversial question, how much should we blame their parents?
The unbelievable, emotional pain of stars going through divorce. Tonight, brand-new startling confessions, Ryan Filipe (ph) on his gut- wrenching split from Reese Witherspoon, Richie Sambora`s private pain after breaking up Heather Locklear. Just how do these stars get through it all with the whole world watching?
And plus Britney Spears, teaching a dance class to other people`s kids when she`s not even allowed to see her own kids.
Hello, I`m AJ Hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you from Hollywood and wow, do we have a diva smackdown. Aretha Franklin taking dead aim at Beyonce all because of Tina Turner. We could not believe what she said. This is a battle for the ages, literally. I can`t wait to tell you about this. Straight ahead.
HAMMER: But first and I`m just saying, we never could have imagined that if we were ever to say Hilton and DUI in the same sentence we would be talking about someone other than Paris Hilton. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is bringing you the startling new details about the arrest of Paris Hilton`s teenage kid brother, Barron, for driving while allegedly drunk as a skunk. Barron, did you forget that your sister went to jail for her alcohol related reckless driving? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the new arrest that seems to be becoming a family tradition. Like sister, like brother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYL: The Hilton family has brought us some great fun once again.
HAMMER: 2007 was the year of Paris Hilton`s DUI. And now 2008, already belongs to Paris` little brother, Barron Hilton.
DARYL: He`s 18 and boy, he got pulled over for a DUI.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the inside story of the latest Hilton arrest. Paris` surprising reaction when she heard about it. And the big question -- will those Hilton kids ever learn?
DARYL: 2007 we saw Paris Hilton have her DUI. You think that little bro Barron would have learned a lesson, but apparently he didn`t.
HAMMER: Barron lives with his parents Cathy (ph) and Rick and TMZ TV`s Katie Daryl tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT his DUI plays like a typical act of teenage rebellion.
DARYL: What TMZ learned is allegedly Barron Hilton snuck out of the house without anyone knowing it.
HAMMER: Police say witnesses on the Pacific Coast Highway reported seeing a black Mercedes weaving erratically. Hilton was arrested soon after and taken here, to LA`s Lost Hill (ph) station, just like Mel Gibson was after his DUI. A .08 blood-alcohol content in California makes you legally drunk. But police say Barron`s BAC was .14 which unofficially means effectively mashed. And did we mention he`s under the legal drinking age. And wait, there`s more.
DARYL: Not only was Barron Hilton busted for a DUI, but he got busted for a fake ID.
HAMMER: Since the words DUI and Hilton are starting to go to together as often as Hilton and hotel, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is showing you how Barron`s case reads like an informative Hilton guide to DUI arrests. Mickey (ph), you may want to listen up. Lesson one, you can count on family, well, sometimes. TMZ`s Katie Daryl tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT when Barron first got arrested, he apparently called big sister Paris to bail him out.
DARYL: Big sis said you know what? Not my problem, I`m not bailing you out and she didn`t go over there to get him out of jail.
HAMMER: She wouldn`t bail out her brother? That would be like Marie not bailing out Donnie or Wally not bailing out the Beaver or Lisa not bailing out Bart. But was Paris being mean or was it an act of tough love?
DARYL: Was she trying to teach him a lesson, but you know what, listen, I served my time, now you serve yours. You should have learned from me first and you wouldn`t have been in this place.
HAMMER: Lesson two, in the Hilton guide to DUI arrests, have smart friends. After he reportedly struck out with big sis, TMZ says Barron tried to get a little help from his friends.
DARYL: So Barron then had to call his buddies to come place the bail, which was $20,000. They showed up with $2,000, thinking that it`s a lot like television, you only have to bring 10 percent of the money, right? Wrong. The jail turned them away, said no, you have to come with $20,000 or you have to go through a bondsman and that`s what they ended up having to do in order to bust Barron Hilton out.
HAMMER: Which they did. This TMZ video shows a freshly bailed out Barron making a beeline out of jail. Lesson three, don`t let dad find out through the media.
DARYL: It seems like we were the ones that alerted the father of the situation of Barron getting a DUI. And when we wanted a statement from Mr. Hilton, he said, you know what? I`ll have many things to say to my son, but I`ll say them to my son, not the media.
HAMMER: Sounds like somebody is grounded. But at least Barron probably wouldn`t face jail time because this is his first offense. And the final lesson is the most basic of all. Don`t drive drunk. It took Paris Hilton multiple arrests to learn that lesson. And let`s hope it will take Barron only one.
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HAMMER: You can`t make this stuff up. Another Hilton, another DUI, kind of just makes you shake your head. And I still can`t believe that Barron seems to have learned nothing, nothing from Paris` stint in the slammer. Joining me here in New York, anchor of "In Session" Lisa Bloom, from Hollywood Tonight, executive news editor for E! (ph) Ken Baker. All right, Lisa, can Barron`s parents call the incident quote very disturbing. Yeah. Now, we just heard there are reports that Paris wouldn`t bail him out to teach him a lesson. But really Ken Baker, isn`t it just astounding that Barron has apparently learned nothing from his big sister?
KEN BAKER: There`s a lot of things astounding but you have to remember, they say the apple doesn`t fall far from the tree. It appears to be the case with the Hilton family. And what`s interesting about this is, don`t forget, Paris was pulled over, she blew a .08. It was 2:00 in the morning. This kid blew a .14 which is a lot more and it was at 8:00 in the morning. So the question is, he`s 18 years old. He lives with his parents. What is he doing out at 8:00 a.m. drunk driving through Malibu? I think a lot of people are astounded by that though not shocked that it was a Hilton. I think that`s the thing here is that, even though this guy doesn`t have a track record of doing anything wrong or breaking any crimes or anything like that, they were surprised that it was so flagrant and apparently his parents were surprised as well.
HAMMER: 8:00 in the morning, nearly twice the legal limit, I don`t think he was going for the breakfast of champions. Lisa Bloom, it`s amazing isn`t it that he`s lived with this family, seen the trials and tribulations of his sister and yet can`t stay on the straight and narrow on his own.
LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, "IN SESSION": Well, absolutely. The Hilton family needs to really get and really absorb the idea that drunk driving is a dangerous activity. Over 20,000 Americans lose their lives to drunk drivers every day. That stretch of Pacific Coast Highway is a very busy, high-speed stretch of highway. That`s morning rush hour in LA. I`m sure there were a lot of people out there sober and going to work and he was putting lives in danger. So this is a very serious thing. They need to start taking it seriously. And by the way, he could be looking at some serious prison time because that fake ID charge, that`s a felony.
HAMMER: Then maybe he should be put away and have his little Paris moment in the slammer if you know what I`m saying. We mentioned that TMZ reports that Paris was just trying to teach him a lesson by not bailing him out of jail. Charles, roll this video. This is something we got from last summer. And I want you to take a look at what`s happening here in some of the clips. You have Paris leaving a bar. You got paparazzi. You got friends. And if you look closely, yeah, brother Barron in tow at a bar. Paris, why were you in a bar with your underage brother? Paris isn`t on the program to answer the question, so Ken Baker, over to you. What do you think the lesson is that she wanted him to learn there? You can drink while under age, just don`t drive?
BAKER: For the record, we found out that Paris Hilton really couldn`t bail her brother out because where was she? She was partying in Vegas. So she was busy doing her normal usual routine that she does. But let`s not forget here that Paris Hilton and Barron, they were hanging out a lot. He used to go to a lot of -- you have that one clip, but he used to go out with her all the time. He was no stranger to the party scene. So it wasn`t a big shocker. But here`s the thing, Rick and Cathy, they chose an interesting time to choose to practice tough love. So we`ve seen him going out partying with Paris. All of a sudden he lands in jail and they`re like, see you later, we`re not coming to get you. And I think a lot of people were surprised that after 25 years of letting Paris Hilton do whatever she wants, they decided that they`re going to let their 18-year-old sit in jail and rot in jail for a day.
HAMMER: But that`s like too little too late as far as I`m concerned with as you mentioned, the parents Rick and Cathy. What do you think, Lisa Bloom, don`t Rick and Cathy, despite the fact that their son is 18 but barely legal, they really should take some of the responsibility here?
BLOOM: I do think so. I think it`s unfortunate because it`s such a wealthy family. And apparently, all the kids grow up to do is party, drink, go out clubbing, whether they`re under age or not and they could contribute so much to the community. Remember when Paris Hilton said she was going to help women in Africa or she was going to help women who were incarcerated? They have such an opportunity with the resources they have to do something positive. Instead, now even the youngest one, Barron drinking and driving at 8:00 a.m., not making anything out of the resources that he has at his disposal.
HAMMER: Go ahead, Ken. I`m sorry. I thought you were saying something.
BAKER: Lisa is totally right. I think that Rick and Cathy, they ultimately, think they felt embarrassed and let down by him because I think they assumed that he wouldn`t do anything as stupid as his sister had just done a year before.
HAMMER: It`s just unbelievable to me, Ken Baker, Lisa Bloom, thank you both.
BLOOM: Thank you.
HAMMER: And now we want to hear from you. For our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Paris` brother arrested for DUI. Are the parents to blame, what do you think? Go to cnn.com/showbiztonight to vote or e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. So Brooke, I got to float something by you. If you were a parent, would you actually let Britney Spears hang out with your kids at this time in her life?
ANDERSON: Heck no, especially if I weren`t with them. No way.
HAMMER: Are you ready for this? Britney teaching a dance class to a bunch of kids. Here`s a woman who`s not even allowed to see her own kids by order of a judge. Just one of the shocking stories that have me saying, are you kidding me?
ANDERSON: AJ, Britney has also gone through a very public, very dramatic divorce. The emotional pain of a split is hard enough, but I want to know just how do these stars get through it all with the whole world watching? Tonight, brand-new startling star divorce confessions. And you know, I loved "Different Strokes" growing up and tonight some really big news for this guy, Gary Coleman. He`s found himself a wife. We`ve got all those surprising details straight ahead. Stay with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
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HAMMER: I think it`s fair to say Carrie Underwood is pretty angry here. She`s taken a baseball to the guy`s truck. And now Underwood`s got her very own big piece of wood. Look at this, the Louisville slugger bat company has given Carrie a personalized piece of lumber honoring her for her Grammy win in the female country vocal category for "Before He Cheats." So this is a hint to all you cheating guys. Watch out, Carrie is armed and dangerous.
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson. And tonight, I`ve got three big news stories that we just got to talk about. First, Britney Spears` lawyers headed to court today to dump her as their client. They say they`ve had it. But what pushed them over the edge?
Also new right now, things are looking up for Britney`s little sis, 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears. The ratings for the new season of her new show "Zoey 101" are through the roof since she announced she was pregnant. And Denise Richards is getting a reality show featuring her two young kids who are the center of her nasty custody battle with ex-hubby Charlie Sheen. With us tonight in New York, Ben Widdicombe who writes the Gate Crasher column for the "New York Daily News." Also with us in Hollywood, Kim Serafin, senior editor with "In Touch" weekly. OK guys, let`s start with the Britney story shall we. Her lawyers say she`s not communicating with them. So they want out. Now, the judge in the case has said nope, not until there is a replacement. And reportedly, that replacement could be Britney`s old lawyer, Laura Wasser. Kim, my head is spinning. Wasser quit before due to a reported breakdown of communication, the same reason her lawyers are trying to quit now. Why in the world would she want to come back?
KIM SERAFIN, SR. EDITOR, "IN TOUCH" WEEKLY: Well, it does seem like Britney is focusing a little bit more. Her parents of course are in there now as conservators. And yes, her old lawyer did quit, then her current lawyers wanted to get out a few weeks ago. Then they went through the request. Now they`re putting their request back in. Because remember, this is when Britney wasn`t listening to anything anyone was saying. Now it seems like maybe she`s a little bit back on track. So maybe getting this older lawyer in there, who she has a good relationship with, who her parents seem to like, because they are so much more involved in her life now, might be a really good thing for her.
ANDERSON: Well, as you said, her parents are back in her life. Her father now in control of her affairs as conservator. It could be that Laura Wasser is willing to come back because the parents are in control. But that doesn`t necessarily mean that Britney will play ball and communicate, does it?
BEN WIDDICOMBE, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Britney Spears is really a lawyer`s worst nightmare at this point. She`s what they call not a rational actor. She won`t take advice that`s in her own interest. She constantly fouls things up from her own end. Jamie Spears, the father is the one who wants Laura Wasser to come back and we know that Sam Lufti (ph), who still has Britney`s ear in many ways, doesn`t want her to come back. So Britney is still being torn. I think she`s really still not quite in the driver`s seat.
ANDERSON: Meanwhile, Britney`s little sister has something to smile about though. The fourth season of her show "Zoey 101" just began and has skyrocketed in the ratings after it was announced that she had gotten pregnant at 16. Kim, how do you explain this, curiosity factor?
SERAFIN: I guess a little bit of that, no publicity is bad publicity. The finale of her last season went through the roof. That was two weeks after she announced she was pregnant. Now this new season doing better than last season. Certainly she`s in the news and certainly people are paying attention. But apparently parents are not telling their kids to stop watching the show because it`s doing well in that demographic of young kids. It`s a good thing for her. She obviously wants a career and she seems to be handling everything well. She doesn`t seem to be spinning out of control in the way Britney is. But of course you wonder what kind of message does this send?
ANDERSON: Good point and we got the ratings news just as we also got some brand-new photos which are in the new issue of "OK" magazine. Take a look at these. Jamie Lynn walking with her boyfriend Casey Aldrich, who`s the father of the baby. Ben, clearly the publicity hasn`t hurt the show like Kim said. Do you think that the Nickelodeon executives are now thinking, we should keep this thing going, maybe shoot another season after she`s had the baby?
WIDDICOMBE: In my opinion, that would be the smart thing to do because clearly, there`s massive public interest around the show. The premise is that her character plays a girl who is coming to an all-boy`s boarding school which has just been made coed. And the boys don`t want her there and she`s kind of mixing things up. But I think it would make much more sense to bring the show after she has the baby. It`s not a secret she`s pregnant. People understand that she`s pregnant, not her character. I think it could be a huge success for Nickelodeon to bring the show back.
ANDERSON: And finally --
SERAFIN: And even educate kids in the matter. They had talked about doing a special on teen pregnancy.
ANDERSON: They had, they may turn it around and send out a positive message. OK, finally, I want to get to these really quickly, Denise Richards letting cameras into her life and even her messy divorce from Charlie Sheen. She`s going to be starring in a new reality show with her two young daughters, Sam, three years old, Lola just two years old. Her husband Charlie went to court to try to block her from doing this because the kids would be exposed. Kim very quickly 10 seconds, is this a bad idea?
SERAFIN: Well, it seems like the show is going to focus more on her life as a working mom, trying to get back into acting. Ryan Seacrest is producing it and we know he`s going to do a great job. So I don`t think it`s going to be a terrible thing. I think it will be a good thing for her and the kids will be treated well.
ANDERSON: We shall see, Kim Serafin, Ben Widdicombe, thank you both.
HAMMER: I don`t know about you, I`m still having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Another Hilton family DUI shocker, this time Paris` little brother picked up for allegedly driving under the influence. Didn`t this guy learn anything from his sister going to jail? Just unbelievable. I`ve got a fired up panel ready to go on this. It`s just one of the incredible stories that has got me saying, are you kidding me?
ANDERSON: AJ, I just don`t get it. I know the emotional pain of divorce is hard enough. But here`s what we`re asking tonight, just how do stars get through it all with the whole world watching? Tonight, I`ve got brand-new startling star divorce confessions, including Ryan Filipe on his shocking split from Reese Witherspoon.
But new right now, I`ve got some happy couples news. Tonight Gary Coleman, yes, Arnold from that `80s sitcom I loved "Different Strokes" got married. I`ve got the surprising details you`ve just got to hear, next.
HAMMER: And now you can watch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT anytime you`d like by downloading our totally free podcast. You`ll find our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT podcast on the website, cnn.com/showbiztonight. Also, you can download it on iTunes by typing SHOWBIZTONIGHT in the search box. We are coming right back.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And here are some more stories that are new right now. Here`s something that got me saying, what you talking about? Yeah, Gary Coleman, star of the `80s sitcom "Different Strokes" got married. I`ve also got to say different strokes for sure, his wife, half his age. He`s 40, she`s 22 and a foot taller but I`m glad Gary is happy. He met her on a movie set in 2006. Congratulations to them.
OK, shocking new details about "Desperate Housewives" star Marsha Cross` (ph) battle to have a baby. She`s got two beautiful year-old twin girls now with her husband, but 45-year old Marsha tells "Health" magazine that in her early 40s, she tried getting pregnant on her own through a sperm donor.
I got my remote fired up and ready to go now that the three-month old writer`s strike is over. So what about your favorite show? CBS` "CSI" will be back in early April. "Gray`s Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" will be back sometime around then, too. But NBC`s "Heroes" won`t return until the fall. Fox`s "24" January 2009.
HAMMER: I got to tell you, I`m so glad the strike is over, not just because of the obvious financial impact, but some of those shows that they were putting on the air, I mean they just had me saying, are you kidding me? Like these absolutely outrageous things, Britney Spears not allowed to see her own kids but teaching a dance class to other people`s kids? How about this, Paris Hilton`s brother arrested for drunk driving. Dude, didn`t you learn anything from your sister doing time dude? And a down and dirty diva smackdown. Why is Aretha Franklin furious, claiming Beyonce isn`t giving her any r-e-s-p-e-c-t? I want you all to go to your window, stick out your head and scream "are you kidding me?" and come back for our fired up panel.
ANDERSON: AJ, dude, I think that stuff is unbelievable. And you know what else I think is unbelievable? Stars who have to deal with divorce while in the spotlight. I know, the splits are never easy, but when you got cameras in your face, I`ve always wondered, how do they deal with it? A revealing look at the pain of stars` divorce coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Keep it right here.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNNHN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. I`m Catherine Callaway with your headline prime news break. Glad you`re with us. Baseball superstar Roger Clemens spent hours Wednesday rebutting a former trainer`s accusations that he took performance enhancing drugs. Clemens insisting to a House committee that he only received vitamin shots from Brian McNamee.
And the Senate Ethics Committee says Idaho Senator Larry Craig acted inappropriately in a sex scheme at a Minneapolis airport restroom saying that his effort to withdraw his guilty plea after his arrest last summer were attempts to avoid legal consequences.
Evangelist Billy Graham is recovering in a North Carolina hospital. Doctors replaced a valve for a shunt in his brain. He suffers from a condition that causes fluid to build up in his brain. That`s the news for now. I`m Catherine Callaway. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT continues with Britney Spears teaching a dance class to children.
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AJ HAMMER, CNNHN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: On SHOW BIZ TONIGHT, are you kidding me? Paris Hilton`s little brother arrested for DUI. Aretha Franklin goes of on Beyonce and the Grammys. Britney Spears teaches kids how to dance? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the outrageous stories that made us say, are you kidding me?
The pain of divorce, Ryan Phillippe opening up like never before about how bad it got when he and Reese Witherspoon broke up. Why he says he couldn`t even get out of bed. Plus, Richie Sambora says the time after his divorce was like being dragged through hell. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the very public pain of celebrity divorce.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m AJ Hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNNHN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: And I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you tonight from Hollywood. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Hope you`re ready. Tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, three stories that made us say, are you kidding me? First up, in the news of the ridiculous, Paris Hilton`s baby brother Barron booked for allegedly driving drunk and he had a fake license in his pocket. Come on, are you kidding me? Also, Britney Spears is a teacher y`all. She took over two dance classes for kids in Hollywood. Think about this, she`s not allowed to see her own kids, why the heck are we letting her teach other kids? Are you kidding me? And finally queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, dethroned? It is the smackdown of the divas. Aretha says she`s furious because Beyonce introduced Tina Turner as the queen at the Grammys. Are you kidding me? Joining me tonight in New York, host of "In Session," Lisa Bloom. Also tonight in Hollywood, executive news editor E! Ken Baker. And in New York, comedian and pop culture expert Bex Schwartz.
I got to start out with this story. I`m still trying to wrap my little pea brain around this. Paris Hilton`s little brother following very clearly in his big sister`s foot steps, booked for drunk driving and I mean police say he was really loaded. 8:30 in the morning, the cops say his blood-alcohol level was a whopping .14 and not only that, the dude had a fake license. I mean, are you kidding me? Honestly, who even knew that Paris had a brother before today? Lisa Bloom, do you think he was just pulling a little Paris Hilton act to kind of grab some of the spotlight now that he is 18?
LISA BLOOM, IN SESSION": Oh, AJ, say it ain`t so. It is a sad day if little brother is trying to one up or one down his big sister by getting a drunk driving arrest at an earlier age than she did. I mean come on. They should be competing to see who`s doing more community service, who`s doing more good in the world, not this kind of stuff.
HAMMER: Yeah, it kind of begs the question, I`ve been thinking about this all day, what is up with the parents here? Where are Rick and Cathy Hilton? You would think they might have had a little sit down, a little chat with big Barron or little Barron after his big sister`s DUI fiasco and said, you know what Barron? Drinking and driving, not good. Don`t do it. So what do you think, Ken, just another example of the ultra elite rich thinking they can get away with just about anything? Don`t these people have chauffeurs, Ken Baker?
KEN BAKER, EXECUTIVE NEWS EDITOR, E!: Well actually I think that Rick and Cathy thought that all this kind of stuff was behind them and I think that`s why you didn`t see them show up to that police station yesterday and bail him out. And we had all heard in the morning over here that they were going to let him rot in jail because they were really angry with him and a lot of people thought, oh come on, they`re just going to bail him out just like they did Paris so many other times. But you know what? They never showed up. So I think that Rick and Cathy have learned that their children are just going to be wild and reckless and they just have put their foot down, finally after this many years.
HAMMER: We`ll se how that goes. I think there`s a little upside to all this and it`s not going to cost the Hiltons anything at all. They have quite the family album going on now. Two out of the four Hilton kids actually have mug shots. Look at this, lined up right there. I want to take a quick vote from you guys, which one is better here, Paris or Barron, Bex?
BEX SCHWARTZ, POP CULTURE EXPERT: Paris is.
HAMMER: Lisa Bloom?
BLOOM: I`d say Paris. She always looks good.
HAMMER: Ken?
BAKER: I`m going to say Barron just because it was nice to see something different out of the Hiltons. We`ve been looking at the same mug shot of Paris for so long now. It was getting old.
HAMMER: He doesn`t look so happy in Glenwood (ph) does he? Moving on now to another story that made us say, are you kidding me? Britney Spears taught a few dance classes to a bunch of little kids in Hollywood. Apparently the kids were in love with her but here`s the thing that I just can`t wrap my little pea brain around. Britney obviously has enough problems with her own kids, the judge not even allowing her to see them at all and she`s teaching kids. Bex, are you kidding me?
SCHWARTZ: Are you kidding me? I love it. I think it`s just like the perfect ironic Hollywood moment that she`s desperate to see her own kids, (INAUDIBLE) so she`s teaching other peoples` kids how to do dance, how to do Madonna dances apparently And then finally, she showed them how to do the choo-choo (ph).
HAMMER: That`s exactly the point that one of our producers brought up today and Ken Baker, maybe you have some insight into this. What kind of dance moves do you think Britney was teaching those little kids?
BAKER: She was teaching them a lot of pop moves, just like she does. I mean look, Britney Spears isn`t known as a ballerina, so there wasn`t a lot of pliaes (ph) being thrown around there. She`s teaching them what she knows and let`s just look at it this way. I`m told that the parents were there at this millennium dance complex in North Hollywood. They were all there taking pictures and certainly if any parents feel as though that Britney is going to endanger their children, they don`t have to bring their kids there. So I don`t know if it`s that ridiculous. The parents are making the decision. They certainly know, they watch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. They watch E!. They know what`s going on. So I don`t think the kids are in any grave danger.
HAMMER: I`m with Bex here. I think the irony is just a little too grand.
BLOOM: No, no, AJ, she`s not accused of abusing her kids. She`s accused of neglecting them. Volunteer work is good for the soul. It`s good for depressed people. Maybe it will help her in her healing, other people there. It`s a public place. I say good for her.
HAMMER: OK, all right, maybe you`ve turned me around, I`m not exactly sure. Let`s get on to this next story because this truly had me saying all day are you kidding me? This is the clash of the divas. Who deserves the title of queen? Well, if you`re watching the Grammy awards, Beyonce introduced Tina Turner as the queen at the Grammy`s just before the two of them sang a fierce rendition of "Proud Mary." But get a load of this statement that Aretha Franklin just issued. She said I`m not sure whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce, however, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy. OK, here`s my big question, what controversy? We all know Aretha Franklin is rightfully the queen of soul. That`s not what Beyonce called Tina Turner. Lisa Bloom, are you kidding me?
BLOOM: I think that Aretha, who I love and adore, felt a little bit dissed because in the intro Beyonce went through this litany of great African-American singers, Lena Horn, Anita Baker, leading up to Tina Turner and she didn`t mention Aretha Franklin. I think that`s where she got her feelings hurt.
HAMMER: I just don`t think it was intentional as Aretha was pointing out. Now just after that, it didn`t take a very long time for Beyonce`s dad-ager as I like to call him Matthew Knowles. He struck back with this statement. Listen to this, quote, something this ridiculous, it`s childish. It`s unprofessional and it`s a sad day when egos get bruised because somebody used the word king, queen, prince or princess. Bex, what do you think: Does dad-ager know best here?
SCHWARTZ: I`m glad that the dad-ager is the expert on all things royal. But I do think that actually Beyonce mentioned Aretha in her rundown of people. (INAUDIBLE) Aretha when she was wearing the hot pants. So I think the snub was just that she didn`t get the whole queen thing.
HAMMER: Ken Baker, what do you make of all this? I mean look, Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul, we all love her, but she is known for being the definition of a diva.
BAKER: I thought it was refreshing. I mean look it, Britney, Christina, we all know who won that war, OK, so we don`t have a diva war anymore. And who cares about Tommy Lee and Kid Rock hating each other because the talent there is questionable. So it`s just refreshing to see a new musical feud happening. And I think it was really refreshing to see that people, someone who is that on in their career is still that competitive. Hats off, it was fun.
HAMMER: So Ken Baker taking some solace in the fact that we have a new musical feud. Lisa Bloom, Ken Baker, Bex Schwartz, I appreciate you all being here kings and queens alike. We`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Paris` brother arrested for DUI. Are the parents to blame? Continue to vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or send us more of your thoughts by e-mailing us at showbiztonight@cnn.com.
ANDERSON: Actor Ryan Phillippe is opening up like never before about his divorce from Reese Witherspoon. I found this pretty sad. He said there was a time he couldn`t even get out of bed. Divorce is always painful but I can`t even imagine having to live through it in the public eye. And he`s not alone. Richie Sambora says when he and Heather Locklear got divorced, that he went to rehab, it was like being dragged through hell. This is something lots of people can relate to. We`re looking at the pain of divorce, next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: And here is a novel concept, two talented, beautiful, successful actresses, both in their 20s, and guess what? Neither one of them has been to jail or to rehab. That is not so normal these days. How do Natalie Portman and the beautiful Scarlet Johansson manage to avoid all of the pitfalls of fame that are so ever present? I asked them that very question. You won`t want to miss their answers and that is coming up in the interview you`ll see only right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: That was Heather Mills` emotional interview talking about the public scrutiny she`s been under since her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney. Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is blowing the lid off of the pain of divorce in Hollywood, including startling new confessions from the stars who have gone through big splits. Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are going head-to-head this week in a British courtroom in what may be the final battle for Paul`s fortune.
Ryan Phillippe is opening up like never before about the pain he felt after his divorce from Reese Witherspoon. Richie`s Sambora`s confession about his low point after his marriage to Heather Locklear fell apart. In Hollywood tonight, Howard Bragman, founder of 15 Minute Public Relations and with us tonight from New York, psychology expert and a syndicated radio host Copper Lawrence. Howard, Cooper, I want to begin with Ryan Phillippe. I have to tell you that what he said about the end of his marriage to Reese Witherspoon is pretty devastating. Ryan tells "W" magazine quote, it was the darkest, saddest place I had ever been. It was a struggle. There were a good four or five months of not being able to get out of bed. It was the worst time in my life. These days things are better. You get through it. It`s a process that`s not easy but I get less and less sad about it every day.
Cooper, this is distressing to hear, but I got to say that people everywhere going through divorce are feeling Ryan`s pain and hey, they don`t get to hang out for four or five months in bed to get over it.
COOPER LAWRENCE, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT: No, they don`t and then he also has working against him the fact that he was married to America`s sweet heart. So we need an explanation. How could you possibly have left that wonderful woman? So it really upset us. So we really want to find out exactly why and the fact that not only do we not get a chance to lay around and lick our wounds, poor him, it also is compounded by the fact that because he`s a celebrity we want to know, why is he licking his wounds? What`s going on? We have to know every little aspect of it. Whereas the rest of us, I mean, frankly nobody cares.
ANDERSON: Right. And people feel entitled to know the reasons behind the split because he is a star like you said. And to that end, he was also asked about the accusations that he was having an affair with Abby Cornish (ph), his co-star in the upcoming new film "Stop Loss." While Ryan neither confirms nor denies a reported affair, he does say quote, I don`t think an outside person can ever cause a divorce. I had difficulties in my relationship and in my marriage long before I ever met her. Howard, once again, the point Ryan makes is something that I think a lot of people can identify with.
HOWARD BRAGMAN, FIFTEEN MINUTES PUBLIC RELATIONS: Absolutely. First, I have to say as a PR guy, what a masterful answer. What a great job of walking the tight rope and answering the question without answering the question. But you know what I learned about relationships? They`re like your grandmother`s casserole recipe. The only people who really know what they`re about are the people who make them and we shouldn`t judge. I accept his explanation and I think he`s right. I think stepping outside the marriage is really a symptom of problems in the marriage. So score one for Ryan there.
HAMMER: That`s what you teach your clients to do, walk that tight rope.
BRAGMAN: That was beautiful. I wish I had done that.
ANDERSON: Points for Ryan on those quotes. OK, another star opening up about his pain during a divorce is Richie Sambora. He told "People" magazine that his split from Heather Locklear last year was hard enough but that he was also dealing with other personal problems. Quote, I got divorced. I was going through a custody battle. I was having alcohol addiction problems. My dad was dying. It was a gang tackle from hell basically and crawling out of that wreckage was a very triumphant victory. Cooper, Richie saying he came out on top. What do you think pulled him through and what can we learn from him?
LAWRENCE: I think he`s a really great example. Just because someone is going through a divorce, that may not be all that`s going on in their lives. He was going through his father`s illness and then finally his death and his own alcoholism. So it`s the idea that while divorce is hard on all of us, I think you should be mindful that if someone in your life is going through a divorce, maybe there`s other aspects of tragedy going on as well. So I think it reminds us to be a little more sensitive to people, even if they are Richie Sambora.
ANDERSON: Exactly, you`re right about that and I do want to move now to the really nasty divorce battle between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. Bottom line, she`s fighting for a big chunk of his more than $1 billion fortune. What it boils down to here is, here`s the divorced couple fighting over money. Howard, it`s a lot of money but at the heart of it is the same thing that many divorced couples face, who gets what, right?
BRAGMAN: Aren`t we feeling bad that he wants her to struggle by on just $100 million? How can somebody even imagine to live on that?
ANDERSON: He`s heartless.
BRAGMAN: A very wise divorce lawyer once said to me that divorce is two perfectly decent people at their absolute worst and I see that a lot. We see that in celebrity relationships. When you split up, you`re lonely, you`re afraid about the future and even though our money problems aren`t on the scale of her money problems, if we have relationship issues, we can all relate to being a little fearful about our future and that we want justice. We want what`s right and what we deserve. That being said, him offering her $100 million, she`s not going to get a lot of sympathy. Take the $100 million, Heather and run and hide.
LAWRENCE: Poor Heather.
ANDERSON: A lot of us can`t identify with these same struggles at the core issue of it all. You`re right. Howard Bragman and Cooper Lawrence, thank you both. We appreciate it.
HAMMER: Tonight, two of the greatest young actresses around tell me their secret to avoiding the pitfalls of young Hollywood. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as two sisters vying for the affection of King Henry VIII in "The Other Boleyn Girl." Now it is the first time that Natalie and Scarlett have worked together. They told me wow, it was a great experience for them. They`re only in their 20s but both actresses have been in the spotlight for a long time. I had to find out how they`ve managed to stay out of trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You guys are, and I think this is a good thing, the poster children for people who are doing it right in Hollywood. We`re not reading about you getting thrown in rehab or into jail or anything like that. So what for you guys is the key to that, to maintain that, because there are so many temptations out there that could suck you in so easily?
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: It`s true life outside of the spotlight, I mean I think people forget that, you know, we have -- I think actors and especially now with this like celebrity craze have, you know the spotlight thrown on their lives. A lot of young people, you know, all over the world are struggling with making the right decision and being responsible and figuring out what they want in their lives. I think that`s true of anybody else in the spotlight. It just happens that it ends up on, you know, the front cover of a magazine.
NATALIE PORTMAN: People like revel in like talking about it and reading about it. It`s like you see someone having a hard time, like support them and leave them alone and let them do their thing. It`s not like, did you hear? That`s gross.
JOHANSSON: I agree. I agree. I think it`s certainly something that`s -- it`s a -- it`s a strange road to navigate and I think there`s a lot of, you know, adjustments that I certainly have made and I know Natalie has made to try to maintain as much kind of privacy as you can. But, you know, as we all know, it`s like a big bubble that`s become, you know, hopefully will deflate some time.
PORTMAN: Get some dignity back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You can see Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in a good flick, "The Other Boleyn Girl." It`s in theaters on February 29th
ANDERSON: Aretha Franklin may be fearless when it comes to calling out Beyonce for introducing Tina Turner as the queen at the Grammys, but there is one thing Aretha is afraid of, getting on a plane, so much so that it took her six days to get to the Grammys from Detroit by bus. I sat down with Aretha and we talked about her fear of flying. That`s next in the interview you`ll see only right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: And now you can watch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT anytime at all by downloading our podcast which is totally free. You`ll find the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT podcast and me waving from inside the iPod by going to cnn.com/showbiztonight or go to iTunes and type showbiztonight right into the little search box. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT coming right back.
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ANDERSON: As we told you earlier, Aretha Franklin thinks there is only one queen in music. Her. She has long been called the queen of soul and she wasn`t too happy to hear Beyonce introduce Tina Turner as the queen at the Grammys. Aretha called that a cheap shot. Before the Grammys, I sat down with Aretha and she told me that even though she had already won 19 Grammys, it`s always exciting to be there. And we also talked about why she traveled from Detroit to the awards in LA by bus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You have a fear of flying?
ARETHA FRANKLIN: Yes, I have not flown since `83.
ANDERSON: You got a new tour bus, right?
FRANKLIN: Uh-huh.
ANDERSON: That`s how you got here this time?
FRANKLIN: Yes, it`s a custom bus. It did take a little longer this time than before. Usually it`s three days and one morning or something like that. This time it was six days. So I really know what it was like coming across in the covered wagons.
ANDERSON: We`re happy to have you here in Los Angeles.
FRANKLIN: I`m delighted, thank you.
ANDERSON: And you are the music (INAUDIBLE) person of the year.
FRANKLIN: I`m just tickled all over to just be the person of the year, to be, to be a fish in a pond is good if you`re in a good pond. But to be the fish is even better, so much better. So I`m very happy about it.
ANDERSON: And you and Mary J. Blige nominated for best gospel performance for "Never Going to Break My Faith."
FRANKLIN: I haven`t heard a lyric that heavy or that deep in many, many years. I think Bob Dylan may have been the last person I heard ever write that deep.
ANDERSON: If I`ve got that straight, 19 Grammy wins over the course of your career?
FRANKLIN: It is the ultimate and the highest honor that one can receive. So I`m just thrilled to have the ones I have.
ANDERSON: When you look at these award shows and walking down that carpet once again, does it excite you or, I`ve been there, done that?
FRANKLIN: The 19th one was just like the first one. You know, you just kind of holding your breath to see, I`m hoping, I`m hoping if I can just get one more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And Aretha did win best gospel performance for her duet with Mary J. Blige, AJ her 20th Grammy.
HAMMER: She`ll always be the queen of soul. That is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m AJ Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood, the latest from CNN headline news coming up next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After last night`s primaries, Barack Obama is crushing Hillary Clinton. She`s lost eight in a row, now calls herself the underdog. We`ll skip the pity party, get to the details, coming up.
CATHERINE CALLOWAY, CNNHN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everybody, I`m Catherine Calloway with your headline prime news break. Ohio jury members will spend another day deliberating the fate of former police officer Bobby Cutts Jr., accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend Jesse Davis. He says her death was an accident.
And a Baltimore teenager was skating where he shouldn`t have. He called the police officer dude and when the video of that cop losing his cool ended up on youtube, he went on paid leave pending the investigation.
Hollywood writers went back to work Wednesday after three months on strike for more pay when their work is sold over the Internet and on cell phones. Keep it here. I`m Catherine Calloway.
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