Bobby's Alleged Gal Favors Bill
The swirl of speculation about Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown – legally on the path to divorce – continues today, but the supposed "other woman" in the couple's break-up – self-proclaimed "Video Vixen" Karrine Steffans – reiterates that she's not a homewrecker, and that TV chat-show host Bill Maher is the real love of her life.
As Rush and Molloy point out in their column this morning, Steffans – never particularly publicity-shy – is curiously tight-lipped about the impending end of the Houston-Brown household: "It's not my place to speak about their marriage," says Steffans, who also denies that she had anything to do with the split. "I can't break up a 16-year marriage in a few months. I'm not that super."
And let there be no doubt about who Steffans' real soulmate is. "I still love Bill [Maher]. He's the love of my life. I know you'll see us back together."
"Survivor" Plays To (Stereo)type in Premiere
Up until last night, the producers of "Survivor" had taken plenty of heat about the racial divisiveness of the new season's tribes, divided by race. And then, in last night's premiere, the Asian team won – what else – a mental challenge involving a puzzle. It couldn't have been a more appropriately stereotypical outcome. The show's producers insist that there's no stereotyping involved, and the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley writes this morning that race has no bounds when it comes to buff beach bodies: The premiere episode "was a blur of bare chests, bandanas, and bikini tops ... The competitors are all robust extroverts who don't mind heat stroke or flimsy beachwear."
Brinkley Officially Files For Divorce, Daughter Collapses
Christie Brinkley filed for divorce from Peter Cook earlier this week in Suffolk County Court, two months after Cook admitted to having an affair with a 19-year-old former employee of his architectural firm. One of the philanderer's lawyers tells the AP, "[Cook] regrets that this happened ... He was hopeful that they would be able to work through this problem and put their marriage back together, but obviously she has decided otherwise."Elsewhere, the stress of her mother's ordeal and a busy professional schedule may have felled Brinkley's 20-year-old daughter with Billy Joel, Alexa Ray. The aspiring singer-songwriter says on her MySpace blog that she fainted Saturday "from stress, lack of sleep and just overall exhaustion about five minutes" before a show in upstate New York. She had to be taken to the ER by ambulance, but is fine now: "I guess I was really pushing myself to the limit this week," says Joel.
Elton and George Patch Things Up
It took two years, but Elton John and George Michael have finally made up with each other after a spat instigated by John's comments about Michael.Elton had accused Michael of being in a "strange place" a couple years back, and Michael then complained that John's comments had turned the media against him. But this morning, Elton told a British morning show that "George and I are fine. He came and stayed down my house last year." And this time, the singer elected not to get drawn into Michael-commentating: "I'd rather keep my mouth shut ... It's up to him what he does with his life really and I don't really want to get into that anymore."
