PASSAGES: Sly's Guy Fires Back

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday February 19, 2002 11:00 AM EST

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COUNTERED: In reaction to Sylvester Stallone's suing his ex-business manager Kenneth Starr (no relation to Bill Clinton's special prosecutor) for $17.3 million last week, Starr is now calling Stallone's claims "utter hogwash," his rep has told Variety. "I call him Stallone the suer," said Bert Fields, who represents Starr. "He's been involved in more than 30 lawsuits in the recent past. He even sued his own stepfather, who used to be his business manager." Stallone, 55, claims that Starr urged him to hold onto Planet Hollywood stock while the company plummeted into bankruptcy . . . CRITICIZED: "Weakest Link" host Anne Robinson, 57, came under fire on Saturday from the League Against Cruel Sports protestors who demonstrated outside a fund-raiser she hosted for a fox hunt near her home in Gloucestershire, about 100 miles northwest of London, reports Reuters. The league's chief executive Douglas Batchelor said in a statement: "We do not believe Anne Robinson should be using her celebrity status to support hunting." Robinson's spokeswoman was unavailable for comment . . . WED: "Dynasty" actress Joan Collins, 68, and her fifth husband, Peruvian-born theater manager Percy Gibson, 36, were married at Claridge's Hotel in London on Sunday, her spokeswoman told the Associated Press, saying, "We all cried, including Joan." The 175 guests included Roger Moore, Shirley Bassey and Tara Newley, Collins's daughter, who is two years old than her mother's new groom . . . DIED: Veteran CBS and ABC newsman Howard K. Smith, 87, who covered World War II at the start of his 40-year career and later moderated the first televised U.S. presidential debate, died on Feb. 15 at his home near Washington, it was reported Monday by The Washington Post.