WEEK IN REVIEW: Jackson's New Baby

Friday August 23, 2002 01:00 PM EDT

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

DAD AGAIN: Michael Jackson has quietly added a baby boy to his brood, PEOPLE reported in its latest issue. The singer brought the 6-month-old baby backstage at Siegfried and Roy's Las Vegas show on July 30, along with his other two children, Prince Michael, 5, and daughter Paris, 4. "The baby was a surprise," a source told PEOPLE. "(Jackson) said, 'This is my third child.'" Equally surprising is the baby's name. PEOPLE has learned that Jackson has been introducing the tot as "Prince Michael II," or simply "No. 3." The identity of the child's mother (sources tell PEOPLE that the child was not adopted and was conceived "the natural way") remains another mystery.

MARTHA'S MESS: An investor filed a lawsuit accusing domestic diva Martha Stewart of ditching more than 3 million shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock -- the same day that biotech company ImClone first learned it was the subject of an insider trading probe, the New York Daily News reported. The lawsuit, filed in New York Wednesday by investor Howard Rosen, claims Stewart, a former stockbroker herself, realized that the suspicious timing of her sale of ImClone shares could come to light and hurt her reputation, damaging her own corporation's stock price. Shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have dropped 60 percent since the scandal broke, according to the newspaper.

TIMBERLAKE'S SOLO: 'N Sync singer Justin Timberlake is planning to make his debut as a solo performer August 29 at the MTV Video Music Awards, just before releasing his new album, "Justified," on November 12, Jive Records confirmed to MTV News. With his multi-platinum pop group taking a break (bandmate Lance Bass is training for a possible space flight and Joey Fatone is performing in "Rent" on Broadway), Timberlake, 21, tells the cable channel he felt liberated recording his own album. "I'm very happy with (the album)," he tells MTV. "It's very me, and that's all you can do as an artist is do what you think is an extension of you."

BYE TAMYRA: After a week marked by speculation about voter tampering, the audience for Fox's hit pop-wannabe series "American Idol: The Search For A Superstar" surprisingly booted Takoma Park, Md., native Tamyra Gray, 23, out of the competition Wednesday night. The contest is now down to three finalists: Kelly Clarkson, 20, Justin Guarini, 23, and 23-year-old Nikki McKibbin, who are all vying for the grand prize of a recording contract. Analysts are already predicting that the show's Sept. 4 finale will become the most-watched program of the summer.

DOWN AND DIRTY: One of the 16 contestants on the upcoming "Survivor: Thailand," kicking off Sept. 19, was exposed this week for more than what his luxury item is. Full-time used-car salesman and sometime TV actor Brian Heidik, 34, from California, who has a distinctive tiger tattoo on his well-formed upper right bicep, has appeared in softcore adult films with such titles as "Sinful Obsession" and "Passion Cove 2," The Smoking Gun Web site reported. Heidik had previously only listed credits for shows such as "Doogie Howser, M.D." "Baywatch Nights" and "Days of Our Lives."