Les is livid
Viacom Inc. chief Leslie Moonves vowed to fight any fines levied against CBS-owned TV stations for airing Janet Jackson’s breast-baring Super Bowl performance in February.
In defiant remarks to television critics at their annual summer meeting, Reuters News Agency reports, Mr. Moonves said the government’s crackdown on indecency on the airwaves since Miss Jackson’s notorious flash of nudity on his network is “coming dangerously close to infringing” on free speech.
More Moore
Never one to pass up free publicity, Michael Moore released a copy of a letter he sent to Bill Timmins, the Las Vegas casino exec who had Linda Ronstadt escorted from the Aladdin Hotel after she praised the controversial filmmaker at the end of her concert there last weekend.
“For you to throw Linda Ronstadt off the premises because she dared to say a few words in support of me and my film is simply stupid and un-American,” Mr. Moore said in the letter.
“I have an idea how you can make it up to her — and to the millions of Americans you have offended,” the letter continued. “Invite her back, and I’ll join her in singing ’America the Beautiful’ on your stage. Then I will show ’Fahrenheit 9/11’ free of charge to all your guests and anyone else in Las Vegas who wants to see it.”
Perhaps Miss Ronstadt herself had a premonition of things to come.
The Drudge Report, citing a San Diego Union-Tribune story on Miss Ronstadt published July 15 — just days before the Aladdin brouhaha — quotes the multiple Grammy-winner as saying: “It’s a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I’d rather not know.”
’Village’ idiots
The Sci Fi cable network and parent company NBC Universal acknowledged Monday that a three-hour special touted as an unauthorized documentary on director M. Night Shyamalan was a “guerrilla marketing” hoax that went too far.
According to Reuters News Agency, “The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan,” which aired Sunday, was falsely promoted as a “disturbing expose” of the filmmaker with which Mr. Shyamalan had cooperated but then had tried to shut down when producers pried too deeply into his personal life.
It turns out that Mr. Shyamalan was in on the entire stunt, cooked up to generate publicity for his upcoming film, “The Village,” a supernatural thriller that opens in area theaters next week.
Jean Guerin of Sci Fi said the network often presents its promotional campaigns and ads as “a puzzle for people to figure out.”
“The intention is never to hurt the press, to have them go along with you, so I think that’s where it sort of took a wrong turn,” she said.
By deliberately deceiving journalists, “this particular campaign went one step too far,” NBC Universal spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said. “It’s not consistent with our publicity and marketing policy. It’s misleading.”
Touch of stardom
Anyone headed to Boston for the Democratic National Convention might want to consider staying at some special digs at the Onyx Hotel downtown.
Guests there now can sleep in “Britney Spears’ room.” The singer’s mother, Lynne, designed it to look just like the pop star’s bedroom at her home in Kentwood, La.
According to Associated Press, the minibar is stocked with some of Miss Spears’ favorite treats — Cheetos, strawberry Pop Tarts, Starburst, Red Bull, Pepsi and orange juice. Her CDs and a DVD of her movie “Crossroads” also are on hand.
The room is decorated in off-white with shades of green, gold, pink and soft blue. There’s glass-beaded wallpaper over the headboard of the bed, and the gold-speckled walls in the bathroom are decorated with fairies. The shower features a gold-toned shower curtain with gold beading.
The price tag: $349 per night in the high season (spring, summer, fall). In winter, it’s $259. Most rooms at the Onyx range from $229 to $299.
Fear not, though: Ten percent of the room charge goes to the Britney Spears Foundation, which helps sick children and also funds a performing-arts camp in Louisiana.
• Compiled by Scott Galupo from Web and wire reports.
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