From PEOPLE Magazine
Click to enlarge
Exes Tom and Nicole head to court again—this time on the same team
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise are together again—but there's nothing romantic about this interlude. Divorced since last September, Kidman, 35, and Cruise, 40, have joined forces in a $15 million lawsuit against cosmetics retailer Sephora. The couple claim that the chain used their photo in a 2001 Valentine's Day brochure without obtaining their consent or offering compensation. "Tom wanted to do something about it," says Cruise's attorney Bert Fields, who brought the ad to his client's attention. "He spoke to Nicole, and she agreed to also fight it." Isn't $15 million a ted excessive? "We're asking for what would have been a very fair fee," says Fields. "Tom's a very valuable guy—his face is worth a lot. The same is true of Nicole." (Neither Cruise nor Kidman plug products in the U.S.) Besides, notes Fields, the couple will likely donate any winnings to charity. Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick, who also appeared in the ad without consent, are considering legal action, says a rep.
Sephora insists that its use of the images in its catalog, which was distributed to customers in stores and by mail, "was appropriate," says a company spokesman. "We will vigorously contest the claim." They're in for a fight Tom and Nicole may lead separate lives, says Fields, but "in this they are united."
Found! A Silent Partner
New Jersey officials can chill. Scoop has found actor Jason Mewes—Jay of the slacker duo Jay and Silent Bob in director Kevin Smith's films—in Los Angeles. In August a Jersey judge declared Mewes missing and issued a warrant for his arrest after the actor skipped a parole-violation hearing. (Mewes, 27, pleaded guilty to heroin possession in 2000 and is on two years' probation.) Mewes's booking agent Nancy Oeswein blames a paperwork snafu for the mix-up and says Mewes, who has met regularly with an L.A. probation officer, has been lying low since his mom's death last year. Reports Oeswein: "He said, 'Just tell people I'm alive.'"
In Search of Write Stuff Jr.
Hybrid cars and Pilates workouts are so passé. The celeb craze du jour is adding "children's book author" to one's résumé. A slew of stars, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jamie Lee Curtis, Spike Lee, LL Cool J and John Lithgow, have written books for the kiddie set. To find out how well they've channeled their inner Dr. Seuss, Scoop asked Dee Dee Davis, 6, who plays Bryanna on The Bernie Mac Show, to review two books.
Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld
Analysis: "The boy was funny, but he ate too much candy." Bottom Line: "I used to be greedy, but I try not to be now. And you should really never throw stuff at old people. If you do, you're a cuckoo head." Grade: A
I'm Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
Analysis: "I like the part when the little kids got on the bus and all the parents were crying." Bottom Line: "It was okay, but I liked the other book better because it was funnier." Grade: B
Willis Won't Party On
Bruce Willis for President? Yes, he has tiptoed through the political realm recently: In July he was named President Bush's spokesman for foster care, and on Sept. 19 Willis spoke at a school-funding rally in New York City. But the actor insists he has no interest in partisan politics. "I'll announce right here to PEOPLE that I'm not a Republican or a Democrat," says Willis, 47. "I care about small government, a Republican issue. I care about aid for the elderly, a Democrat cause. I'm here [at the rally] to get more money for the kids." With a film? "No. Movies are about entertainment. This is about the real world."
Godfather Knows Best
Last week Deanna Brown Thomas, 33, and Yamma Brown Lumar, 29, sued James Brown, 69, for $1 million in damages and back royalties, claiming songwriter interest in 23 songs. Two things worth noting: Thomas and Lumar are Brown's daughters, and they were too young to write lyrics when the songs were composed. Which raises the intriguing possibility that the Godfather of Soul isn't an R&B genius, just a natural parenting expert. To wit:
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
The Potter of Little Feet
Hold on to your Nimbus 2000: The fifth Harry Potter novel may be ready by the holidays. That's what author J.K. Rowling said last week, putting to rest rumors that the long wait for the follow-up to 2000's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was due to writer's block. According to Rowling, one reason for the holdup is that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is "huge," at least as long as the 734-page fourth book. Another factor in the delay: Rowling, 37, is four months pregnant. (She wed anesthesiologist Neil Murray, 31, in Scotland last December.) With her family life in place, Rowling said, "I needed to step off the one-book-a-year treadmill. I felt like a hamster."
Heeeere's Carson's Museum
For retired Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, the last month has proven bittersweet. In his boyhood home of Norfolk, Neb., locals geared up to celebrate the opening of a permanent all-Johnny exhibit at Elkhorn Valley Museum and Research Center. Carson himself donated most of the 200-plus items, including six Emmys, family photos and his Presidential Medal of Freedom. Missing: Carnac the Magnificent, Floyd R. Turbo and Carson himself, who did not plan to attend. Meanwhile, on Sept. 23, a spokesman for Carson, 76, confirmed that the comedian is suffering from emphysema. Said Carson, once a smoker: "I'm dealing with it the best I can, and it is not causing me any major problems."
POP QUIZ
with Celine Dion
Celine Dion is moving to Las Vegas, where, starting next March, she'll perform 200 shows a year in a 4,000-seat arena built just for her at Caesars Palace. (She is selling her Jupiter, Fla., waterfront estate.) Scoop caught up with the 34-year-old singer at an event in Chicago for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Are you getting excited about Vegas?
I am looking forward to it. There will be more than 70 performers onstage. It will be a visual experience—emotions and visions and incredible things.
Such as?
I'll give you a little taste. Only one. A flying orchestra. That will be quite something.
And for this, you're leaving a big mansion in Florida?
Yes. In Vegas it's a three-bedroom house. A very small home. It will be a home for my child [1-year-old René-Charles]. Now, if I say, "Darling" on one side of the house, he will hear me [on the other side of the house].
How is your little son, René-Charles?
I play a lot outside with my son, and we do the swing a lot. Our big thing right now is to kayak and visit my parents and their neighbors. We go feed the ducks.
What's your connection to the McDonald House?
Almost 10 years ago, I lost a niece to cystic fibrosis. Her name was Karine. She was 16 years old. The pr whole family spent time at the McDonald House [which provides lodging near hospitals for the families of patients] in Canada when she was ill.
You are very emotional. Does that come from being a mother?
When you give birth, a little bit of your heart grows. And that part cries all the time.
ON THE BLOCK
HOLDEN'S HAVEN
In the movies William Holden lived on Sunset Boulevard. In real life home was this Santa Monica apartment overlooking the Pacific, where the star of Sabrina, Network and Stalag 17, for which he won an Oscar, resided until his death at age 63 in 1981. Last year the current owners combined Holden's old apartment with two other units in the building to create an 11,000-sq.-ft. suite. Now on the market for $10.8 million, the pad comes complete with furnishings and breathtaking views of the California coast.
