Woman on the Verge
An increasingly erratic Courtney Love bashes some windows, gets arrested on a drug charge and then overdoses on prescription pills
It has been five years since Courtney Love's last album, and her fans are anxious for the rocker to return to her roots. She did, after a fashion, last week, with a 2 a.m. live act outside an L.A. home occupied by her longtime boyfriend, record producer James Barber. There, on Oct. 2, Love threw rocks at his windows. Barber did not press charges, but police booked Love for being under the influence of a controlled substance. After a bail of $2,500 was posted, Love returned home, only to end the night at a Century City hospital after overdosing on OxyContin pills. She was released later that day.
Of course Love has never been one to follow the straight and narrow, but a source close to the star says that lately her behavior has grown "more erratic" and "her communications more delusional and incoherent." Her daughter Frances Cobain, 11, "is taken care of by a nanny," adds the source. Her rep had no comment. If convicted, Love could get up to a year in jail. Meanwhile her CD's release has been moved from October to February. Resigned to waiting, one fan offered perspective on Love's Web site a few days ago: "Thank God you didn't kill yourself."
A FREE SPIRIT
A HANDFUL
In August Love shopped for home furnishings at Michele Varian's shop in New York City.
FOOTLOOSE
In February the singer passed the time waiting for a ride on L.A.'s Sunset Boulevard.
SMOKIN'
Love lit up at London's Old Vic during a fund-raiser for the theater.
The Rules After Ritter
The show must go on. The old showbiz bromide never seemed as hollow as it did after John Ritter, 54, died of a tear in his heart's artery on Sept. 11, hours after working on his ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Yet his castmates knew there was little choice. "He would be so mad if we didn't try," says Amy Davidson, 24, who plays one of Ritter's daughters.
The cast goes back to work without its star on Oct. 20, Davidson says, noting that "there's an anxiousness about it." The story line will incorporate the death of Ritter's character Paul Hennessy. "The first episode will be the regular cast. I think it's Katey [Sagal] telling the kids something has happened," says Davidson. Plans call for adding two new roles: Hennessy's in-laws. The show won't be funny at first, Davidson believes. "But I'm sure we'll eventually find humor. It will touch the hearts of families who've lost their dads."
LENNY'S LODGERS
Lenny Kravitz is not your typical New York City landlord, but he does have a knack for finding top-notch tenants. Nicole Kidman stayed at his SoHo loft earlier this year while filming The Stepford Wives. She has since moved, says her rep—she won't say where—and, according to New York's Daily News, Denzel Washington has moved in. Kravitz and Kidman became an item; now Kravitz and Washington are about to become partners in KOS, a club not too far from the Kravitz apartment. A message on the club's answering machine says the nightspot will open soon.
Zellweger: Living Large
Imagine being force-fed ravioli, milk shakes, Snickers, fish-and-chips, pudding, peanuts, steaks, buttery mashed potatoes and cheeseburgers—and getting paid a reported $112,000 for each pound you gain. That's what Renée Zellweger is doing in preparation for her role in the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. The 5'5" actress, who normally weighs in around 106 lbs., is putting away upwards of 4,000 calories a day (double the recommended caloric intake for a woman her size) in order to expand from her usual size 4 to a size 14. "I've been eating lots of really fattening food," says Zellweger, who gained more than 20 lbs. the first time she played Jones in 2001 and who, it's said, is getting $15 million for the sequel. "I'll just be reading scripts or in rehearsal, and people will put food in front of me. I don't even notice it." But has the added weight resulted in the loss of musician boyfriend Jack White, as several British papers reported? White did post this cryptic message on his Web site Sept. 25: "Males are such despicable creatures." But a source close to the couple insists, "They're fine."
RENEE'S DIET
Her shirt says she's a Donut Queen, but Zellweger says her typical breakfast consists of four slices of toast topped with cream cheese and ghee (a high-fat butter), Greek yogurt with honey and fruit, eggs Benedict or an omelette with bacon, and French toast or a bagel with peanut butter. The main staples of her lunches and dinners: creamy pasta, salad with extra oil, chicken curry and rice, steak and pudding.
REALITY CHECK
Reality show romance can be fickle. The latest casualties: Don Mueller, 48, and Christena Ferran, 42, who got engaged before 11 million people on the Aug. 11 episode of NBC's Who Wants to Marry My Dad? On Sept. 24 the two broke up over dinner in San Diego. "It was mutual," says Mueller of the decision. Adds Ferran: "With him living in Cincinnati and me living in San Diego, it was too difficult to continue." So in the end, what did Mueller get out of the series? "I was able to spend three weeks [taping the show] with my children as adults, which may never happen again."
Julia Swinton-Williamson did make it to the altar as a reality show bride—on Fox's Bridezilla last January. Now she's suing the producers and the network for $136 million, claiming they lied by telling her she would be proud of her appearance. She was not. Fox had no comment.
Coming soon to Las Vegas cabaret club Chez Moi: the Reality Revue, a burlesque act featuring Joe Millionaire's Sarah Kozer, Survivor: The Australian Outback's Jerri Manthey and For Love or Money's Paige Jones.
J.Lo and Ben: Playing Hardball
As if they needed another issue to tear them apart.... With the Boston Red Sox set to square off against their archrivals, the New York Yankees, in the American League Championship Series, have battle lines been drawn between Sox diehard Ben Affleck and Yankee supporter Jennifer Lopez? After all, Affleck, who threw out an opening pitch for the Red Sox in August, has made it clear that he's a Boston man to the bone. "I can't be involved in any family that's not a Red Sox family," Affleck told Dateline when asked what allegiance his kids would have. (The actor even dropped $50,000 on a Red Sox license plate auctioned for charity.) As for Lopez, the Bronx native has kept her rooting lower-key, although she and ex-boyfriend Sean "P. Diddy" Combs were known to take in a game at Yankee Stadium. So should we expect the couple to attend one of the playoff games? Affleck's rep says, "Ben is an avid Red Sox fan. He'll be following the games closely. But I'm not going to tell you when he's going." Meanwhile, a friend of Lopez's notes, "She is a Yankees fan. I don't think she has any plans to attend at the moment. But if she and Ben turned up at the games, I wouldn't be surprised."
POP QUIZ
Téa Leoni
On Oct. 11 Téa Leoni will go on a hike in the Malibu mountains at Paramount Ranch to raise money for National Breast Cancer Month. The actress, 37, has just completed shooting House of D, a comedy directed by her husband, David Duchovny.
How did you get involved with the Take-a-Hike breast cancer fund-raiser?
It was a different request. Not "Come out and eat bad chicken," but rather, "Get out and hike among survivors, family members and friends of those who have lost the battle."
Any personal reasons?
Just this summer my aunt battled breast cancer. She is doing very well, I'm happy to report, after a double mastectomy and all that comes with that fight.
Since becoming a mom, [daughter Madelaine, 4, and son Kyd, 1], has life changed?
I would say the pertinent question is: Has any aspect of my life not changed? And the answer is no. It's a new perspective, new frustrations, new joys. And new sleeping arrangements.
You and David have to share room in bed?
We have the family bed by default. We're not strong proponents of it. It just seems to have happened. When the other child [Kyd] can figure out how to get out of the crib, there will be four in that little bed that I used to think was so big.
Does this cramp romance?
We haven't been interrupted as of yet. It's all in the timing.
What's it like taking direction from your husband?
David is incredibly calm and rational and intuitive. And that doesn't matter. I keep thinking I'm going to ruin his movie. I never want to do this again. I didn't feel free as an artist. I felt like the wife who wants to make this perfect for her husband.
So what happened?
At the end of the day, I think we got it. Of course, we're going to get home and get into bed, and what else is he going to say if he ever wants to have intimacy again in his married life but, "Honey, you were brilliant, you were amazing."
ON THE BLOCK
CAGE'S CORNER
PRICE: $3 million
PLACE: Venice, Calif.
SPECS: Real estate junkie Nicolas Cage is at it again. The Oscar-winning actor, who has homes in Malibu and Beverly Hills, recently sold this 4,400 sq. ft. Venice beachfront getaway and is in the market for another retreat. (He also just sold an acre of land in Bel Air for $7.2 million.) This three-story contemporary features a landscaped roof deck, a master suite overlooking the ocean, kitchen with breakfast bar, two fireplaces and mirrored windows for privacy. Cage bought the home as it was being built, overseeing the design work and adding his own touches, such as a screening room that opens to the beach.
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