Oprah Gets Lucky
Oprah Winfrey believes the world revolves around Oprah, but not in Montecito, Calif., where 12 -- count 'em -- 12 billionaires reside. As one plugged-in resident tells TMZ, "Oprah's nobody special: There are lots of insanely rich and famous people here." But then again, maybe not: At least one swanky steak house -- Lucky's in Montecito -- thinks Oprah is a big, big deal. When Oprah gets a hankering for a little sumthin'-sumthin' after hours, the steak house staff jumps into action.
Recently, sometime after the kitchen closed officially at 10:30PM, Ms. Winfrey paid a surprise visit to the steakhouse and the normally eager-to-leave kitchen crew was more than willing to fire up the grill just for the Queen of Talk. Who knew that "O" stood for "Open any time"? Perhaps Lucky's learned a lesson from the Hermés playbook -- never tell Oprah you're closed.
Angelina Buys $400,000 Worth of Bizarre Art – With a Bullet
This ought to brighten up the view in Shiloh's nursery: Angelina Jolie bought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art at a recent LA show by British artist-provocateur Banksy at a downtown LA warehouse, including a $226,000 painting that shows starving African children looking on as a white family eats a picnic lunch under an umbrella.
According to Star magazine, Angie especially liked a white bust with a bleeding bullet hole in the forehead which went for, oh, $75,000. And then there was the portrait of a man hit in the head with a custard pie – that one went for another $75,000. Angelina restrained herself however, from buying the show's centerpiece, a life-sized red and gold elephant.
Dippy Divas Unite: Whitney Mentored By Courtney
If there's one songstress out there who might be an even bigger train wreck than Whitney Houston has been in recent years, it's Courtney Love. And yet, according to reports, legendary music producer Clive Davis enlisted the famously unstable Love's services to help Houston, who is on her way to divorcing pop star hubby Bobby Brown, kick her drug problems.
After getting the call from Davis, Love jumped at the chance to be a steadying influence on Whitney, according to Us Weekly (via IMDb), and now the two are getting along famously. Love has introduced Whitney to her own addiction counselor Warren Boyd, and Davis is paying for the expensive sessions.
Davis, meanwhile, is getting the newly-healthy Whitney back onto the singing treadmill, and would love if she made her big comeback by the Grammys early next year. If all goes as planned, says Page Six, Whitney could have a new album out by 2007: "We are going to make a great album. She is talking enthusiastically and is articulate. In opinion, the best singers in the world are Aretha [Franklin] and Whitney."
Cousteau Blasts Irwin -- "Don't Mess With Nature"
Jean-Michel Cousteau wagged a big Gallic finger at the late Steve Irwin Tuesday, saying that if the beloved Crocodile Hunter hadn't interfered with nature by jumping on and grabbing animals, he'd still be alive. Promoting his own two-part TV special, Cousteau said that while he mourns the death of Irwin, whose funeral was held in Queensland yesterday, and called it "very, very unfortunate," it was Irwin's gonzo approach to nature television that cost him his life. "It sells, it appeals to a lot of people, but I think it's very misleading. You don't touch nature, you just look at it. And that's why I'm still alive. I've been diving over 61 years – a lot many more years than he's been alive – and I don't mess with nature."
Party Favors: Tori To Play Gossip Reporter, Jack Gets Strapped Into Scorsese Flick, HBO Gets Gym Teacher Show From Ferrell
After being hounded by them for years, Tori Spelling will get to play a gossip columnist in a guest role in the CW's "Smallville" this season, says TV Guide ... Jack Nicholson tells Rolling Stone magazine that he convinced director Martin Scorsese to let him improvise a sex scene in their new film "The Departed," bringing a certain strapped-on sex implement into a threesome with two women ... HBO has snapped up the rights to "P.E.," a hotly sought-after new comedy series from Will Ferrell's production company Gary Sanchez Productions. The series is about a former major leaguer who has to go back to his hometown to teach gym.
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Filed under: Oprah, Features, Let's Get This Party Started
