Seinfeld: Suit Doesn’t Have a Leg to Stand-Up On
Jerry Seinfeld is wondering how a show about nothing has turned him into an “actor.”
Lawyers for the former sitcom star have asked that a defamation lawsuit brought against him by a steamed cookbook author be tossed out on First Amendment grounds, arguing that any statements she perceived to be derogatory were made while he was in comedian mode.
Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals, has accused Jessica Seinfeld of swiping her methods for getting kids to eat vegetables and her funny hubby of slandering her during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in October.
Noting that the plaintiff was accusing his wife of committing “vegetable plagiarism” in her book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, Seinfeld told Letterman that Lapine being a “three-name woman” worried him.
“If you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins. Mark David Chapman and, you know, James Earl Ray. So, that’s my concern.”
None of which Lapine took lightly when she added a defamation charge to the copyright-and-trademark-infringement lawsuit she filed against the Seinfelds in January (after Jerry had made those comments).
But while she referred to Seinfeld as a comedian in her original complaint, in a revised suit filed several weeks Lapine stated: “Jerry Seinfeld is an enormously wealthy and well-known actor.”
Seinfeld’s lawyers beg to differ, considering he was expected to be funny when he was a guest on the Late Show.
“No reasonable viewer could have thought that Seinfeld really meant that Lapine…might become an ’assassin’ simply because she has three names,” state court documents filed Tuesday in response to Lapine’s suit.
Universal Pictures presents: Wanted
Wow, a bullet curving right past someone’s [Angelina Jolie’s] head and rustling her hair. I saw that when it was in The Matrix. Wow, Angelina Jolie is a bad ass. I saw that in Tomb Raider and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Ooh, James McAvoy looks unsure of himself. I saw that in The Last King of Scotland. A movie about assassins? I saw that in Grosse Pointe Blank and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Morgan Freeman is wise and sage. I saw that in, uh, everything Morgan Freeman has ever been in.
But I’ll give you one good reason I’ll see this movie anyway: James McAvoy. That man is on fire.Video coming soon!
Smokin Aces Prequel Announced
When we talked to Joe Carnahan back in January, he expressed interest in making a Smoking Aces prequel: “I’ve had an idea to do a Tremor brothers prequel, do this, do that. You could explore these characters endlessly.” But the movie came and went, becoming modestly successful ($53 million worldwide) before doing huge numbers on DVD. Now the idea has gotten a greenlight.
“Universal wants to move ahead with a direct-to-video prequel of ‘Smokin’ and asked me if I wanted to Godfather the thing and make sure we did a really cool story,” Caranhan reveals. “The DVD numbers ‘Smokin’ Aces’ has done are astounding and they want to strike while the iron is hot. Whatever reluctance I have is alleviated by the fact that we can really do this balls out, hardcore prequel and not be constrained by ratings or any other puritanical MPAA bullsh*t. That I love.”
In the original film, the Tremor brothers were played by Chris Pine, Kevin Durand and Maury Sterling. The three brothers are Neo-Nazi rednecks/assassins.
Now this is a direct-to-dvd sequel/prequel/spin-off that I actually want to see. And with Carnahan at the typewriter (err computer) I cant go horribly wrong, or can it?
Pete Wentz Reconsiders Hotel Alias
Pete Wentz Reconsiders Hotel Alias
In the celebrity world, many times stars will check into hotels under false names. But Fall Out Boy hottie Pete Wentz says that he’s going to start using a new alias, for fear of his life.
Wentz confessed that he loved using rapper Lil’ Wayne’s nickname, Weezy F. Baby, as a pseudonym when he stayed in hotels. But that’s all changed due to his fear that someone may try to shoot Lil’ Wayne and get Wentz by mistake.
Wentz told press, “Last night I got home from the bar, and there was this whole Little League team waiting outside my (hotel) room. I don’t know how they find me. Right now, I’m staying under the name Nick Papagiorgio from National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation. I used to stay under Weezy F. Baby, Lil’ Wayne’s nickname, but then I thought, ‘What if somebody shows up and wants to shoot this dude?’”
For now, it’s safe to assume that Pete will be coming up with a new alias to avoid little leaguers and gangster assassins. You’ll have to put your thinking cap on if you wanna find this Fall Out Boy and his girlfriend Ashlee Simpson.