Palin failin’ with Bardot
French film-legend-turned-activist Brigitte Bardot took a swipe at Sarah Palin on Tuesday, saying the Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate is a disgrace to women, Agence France Presse reports.
“I hope you lose these elections because that would be a victory for the world,” Miss Bardot wrote in an open letter to Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the November vote.
“By denying the responsibility of man in global warming, by advocating gun rights and making statements that are disconcertingly stupid, you are a disgrace to women, and you alone represent a terrible threat, a true environmental catastrophe,” Miss Bardot wrote.
The 1960s screen icon, who heads an animal rights foundation, went on to assail Mrs. Palin for supporting Arctic oil exploration that she said could jeopardize delicate animal habitats and for dismissing measures to protect polar bears.
In a final salvo against Mrs. Palin, the 74-year-old ex-star picked up on the governor’s depiction of herself as a pit bull wearing lipstick and said she “implored” the candidate not to compare herself to dogs.
“I know them well, and I can assure you that no pit bull, no dog, nor any other animal for that matter is as dangerous as you are,” Miss Bardot wrote.
Berry tops Esquire list
Halle Berry has been named the sexiest woman alive by Esquire magazine in its November issue, Associated Press reports.
The actress, who gave birth to her daughter, Nahla, in March, says, “I don’t know exactly what it means, but being 42 and having just had a baby, I think I’ll take it.”
Miss Berry won an Oscar for her role in the film “Monster’s Ball.”
Headmistress sues Oprah
The ex-headmistress of Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa is suing the talk-show queen for defamation, claiming Miss Winfrey falsely suggested she tried to cover up abuse at the school.
In widely reported remarks last year, Miss Winfrey suggested that Nomvuyo Mzamane, 39, of Philadelphia, knew about the claims of abuse by a dorm matron and tried to cover them up, Miss Mzamane says in the lawsuit.
Her complaint, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court on Friday, seeks more than $250,000 on five defamation and related counts from Miss Winfrey and her production company, AP reports.
A spokeswoman for Miss Winfrey says the company has not seen the suit and plans no immediate comment.
Former dorm matron Tiny Virginia Makopo, 28, is charged with abusing six students at the $40 million school for poor girls that Miss Winfrey built.
Miss Makopo has pleaded innocent to 14 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury.
Famed artists in town
Famed contemporary artists and longtime married couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude addressed a luncheon at the National Press Club on Tuesday in anticipation of their new work on the Arkansas River in Colorado.
The colorful duo, both 73, received a warm welcome from the audience gathered in the ballroom, Mr. Christo wearing a casual striped shirt and Jeanne-Claude with her customary red-dyed hair.
“If you mention ’environmental installation of art,’ few people would be able to come up with a definition. But if you show pictures of Christo & Jeanne-Claude’s work in Central Park, most of us will immediately understand what it is about,” said Press Club President Sylvia Smith.
In 2005, the two artists were critically acclaimed for their installation ofwaves of fabric in New York’s Central Park. The work, titled “The Gates,” was seen by millions during its two-week stay.
In advance of their new work - which will open in 2012 at the earliest - the Phillips Collection will host “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Over the River” beginning Saturday and continuing through Jan. 25.
• Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse and Anne-Laure Buffard from staff, Web and wire reports
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