Bette's 'Canceled' Canceled

By Stephen M. Silverman

03/30/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Taking a lemon and making lemonade, Bette Midler, 55, was going to earn $1 million for documenting her unpleasant experiences on her disappointing CBS sitcom "Bette." She and her manager and producing partner, Bonnie Bruckheimer, were going to pen a non-fiction book for Simon & Schuster to have been called "Canceled," it was widely reported on April 25. But now "Canceled" has been canceled -- by Bette and Bruckheimer themselves, reports New York's Daily News. "They called it off," said Cindi Berger a rep for Midler, referring to the Divine Miss M and her manager. Publishing industry observers suggested that it possibly wasn't wise for one branch of Viacom, namely Simon & Schuster, to trash another branch, namely CBS, though Berger gave no specific reason's for Midler's change of heart.