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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Heather Locklear bust takes a weird turn
Once again, we thank the folks at TMZ.com for their unending attention to the details of celebrity lives. Here’s the online tabloid’s latest scoop(s).
First, there’s this: The woman who called 911 on Heather Locklear is a former Us Weekly staffer who was under investigation by the FBI — and she’s the one who tipped off the paparazzi. Jill Ishkanian, who left the magazine but allegedly hacked into its computer system, so addicted she was to celebrity news, was following Locklear and watched her go to a market. When Heather got in her car, Ishkanian called 911, even though the car wasn’t even moving at the time.
Sources say that immediately after Ishkanian called 911, she called a paparazzi agency to give them the heads up Heather was about to be popped. (They got there in time for pictures.) Then it gets worse: Ishkanian apparently is the only witness who says Locklear was driving erratically and that she was drunk, even though it’s already established she was not under the influence of alcohol.
That was then. This is now:
California Highway Patrol sources told TMZ that the motives of the woman who called 911 are irrelevant, and say there are other witnesses who back up her story. The case file has been referred to the Santa Barbara County D.A. and it’s being reviewed right now — the decision on whether to prosecute will be based on the results of drug testing, due in about three weeks.
The CHP official said that since the arrest, they’ve received calls from other people who tell the same basic story Ishkanian told. Ishkanian went to the police department and gave a written and taped statement of her story. The CHP guy added, “There’s no reason to believe the witness is less than credible.”
So now we wait for drug test results.
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Blind plan protest of Julianne Moore movie
This whole story, reported on The Huffington Post, has irony written all over it: An organization for blind people is planning a protest of “Blindness” because it shows blind people as monsters. Raise your hands — how many of you go to creepy thrillers because they’re so real?
Here we go: Blind people quarantined in a mental asylum, attacking each other, soiling themselves, trading sex for food. For Marc Maurer, who’s blind, such a scenario — as shown in the movie “Blindness” — is not a clever allegory for a breakdown in society. Instead, it’s an offensive and chilling depiction that Maurer fears could undermine efforts to integrate blind people into the mainstream.
“The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie,” said Maurer, president of the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. “Blindness doesn’t turn decent people into monsters.” Whew. Glad he cleared that up.
The organization plans to protest the movie at 75 theaters around the country when it’s released Friday, Oct. 3. Blind people and their allies will hand out fliers and carry signs. Among the slogans: “I’m not an actor. But I play a blind person in real life.”
The movie reinforces inaccurate stereotypes, including that the blind cannot care for themselves and are perpetually disoriented, according to the NFB.
“We face a 70 percent unemployment rate and other social problems because people don’t think we can do anything, and this movie is not going to help — at all,” said Christopher Danielsen, a spokesman for the organization.
Miramax released a statement that read, in part, “We are saddened to learn that the National Federation of the Blind plans to protest the film `Blindness.’” No they’re not. All together now: Any publicity is … what? That’s right, good publicity!!!
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Janet Jackson still sick, postpones tour
Janet Jackson postponed two dates this week on her nationwide Rock Witchu Tour due to an undisclosed illness. Jackson, 42, has delayed yesterday’s show in Boston and today’s scheduled performance in Philadelphia until further notice. She will resume her tour Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.
The postponements come a day after the singer suddenly fell ill during a sound check in Montreal and was rushed to the hospital, forcing her to cancel her Monday night Montreal show. She was released a couple of hours later. The nature of her illness wasn’t reported.
Jackson kicked off her tour promoting her latest album, Discipline, in Vancouver on Sept. 10.
