Ashley Dupré Puts Francis Out of Focus
It might be wishful thinking at this point, but Ashley Alexandra Dupré is going to try to turn the page.
The former call girl, who was unexpectedly outed when ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was caught partaking of her services, has dropped her $10 million lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild boss Joe Francis, citing her wish to “eliminate all negativity from her life and focus on the positive.”
“She has prospects for many exciting new projects and is looking forward to starting a new chapter,” attorney Richard C. Wolfe said in a statement released Thursday.
Dupré went after Francis for unjust enrichment and other offenses after he rolled out his plan to capitalize on the New Jersey native’s newfound notoriety by peddling GGW footage shot in 2003 when Dupré was in Florida celebrating her 18th birthday.
While she signed a release before smiling for the camera, she was drunk when she agreeda “routine business practice” employed by GGW, her complaint alleged.
Francis’ camp couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, but the unabashed entrepreneurwho originally extended Dupré a $1 million offer to join the partywas already saying last week that she had abandoned the suit and was planning to issue an apology.
Well, the 23-year-old aspiring singer didn’t go that far, but perhaps she did want to steer clear of the looming deposition Francis’ attorneys requested, a Q&A session that, in Francis’ words, would let the world “learn the real truth about Ashley Dupré.”
And now Francis can face federal tax-evasion charges safe in the knowledge that he has one less lawsuit to fight.
Eva Longoria’s New Direction
Eva Longoria’s New Direction
She’s one of Hollywood’s hottest ladies, but since her July nuptials with Tony Parker, Eva Longoria is showing signs of giving up the glitz and glamour in favor of a family.
The Desperate Housewives actress says that her maternal instincts are stronger everyday. “I’ve always loved the idea of having lots of children. If I’m around any baby, I’m like, ‘Aaaaahhhh, babies!”
Having lots of children could mean that Eva has to hang up her acting hat for awhile. But then again, she’s succeeded at everything she’s attempted. “I was pretty ambitions when I moved to Hollywood and I succeeded. But now I’ve found new ambitions - I want to work, I want to be a great wife and I want to have children.”
And if it means ditching her hit TV series, so be it. “This is a new chapter in my life. I will be very sad to go but I’ll have more time to do movies.”
New Mötley Moved to New Date
Hide the girls, girls, girls, Mötley Crüe is heading back to the streets.
The '80s headbangers will kickstart their much-ballyhooed reunion with the June 24 release of Saints of Los Angeles, the first studio album featuring the four original members in more than a decade.
The Crüefrontman Vince Neil, guitarist Mick Mars, bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Leewas initially planning to drop the disc June 17. But after joining together for a brief set at a recent press conference, the quartet opted to return to the studio to record one more track, "Goin' Out Swingin'," pushing the street date back by a week.
Per rep Tiffany Youhanna, the new batch of material draws inspiration from the band's best-selling 2001 memoir, The Dirt.
"Lyrically, the songs are in sync with The Dirt, and it's the first album of the whole band in over a decade," she told News. "They were overwhelmed by the response they got from the crowd [at the April press conference]…that they just felt they wanted to make it the absolute best they could. So after talking about it, they had an idea for another song and added one more."
Added Sixx: "We pushed back the release one week so that we could get it onto the albumit now has 13 tracks. It’s the ultimate song to end the record with and begin the new chapter of our career."
The band's last joint album was 1997's Generation Swine. Lee was not part of the 2000 tank job, New Tattoo.
Last month, the hell-raising rockers released the the title cut, "The Saints of Los Angeles," as a single and downloadable track for the Rock Band videogame. They also unveiled a summer road show in the vein of Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest.
Crüe Fest will see the band sharing a bill with Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Trapt and the bassist's side project, Sixx: A.M. It kicks off July 1 in West Palm Beach, Fla., and will play over 40 dates before wrapping up Aug. 31 in Pittsburgh.
Is This Lindsay Lohan Comeback for Real?
Does Lindsay Lohan have any chance of an actual comeback? I keep reading that she's coming back, but so far all I've seen about her is magazine covers and that Chapter 27 movie premiering.Dean, New York City
Magazine covers aren't just magazine covers in this business. They're designed to send messages to producers, casting directors and jaded audience members.
Take that recent New York magazine cover shoot, where LiLo mimicked those ancient shots of a naked Marilyn Monroe. The guy who orchestrated that shoot was the same dude who photographed Marilyn decades ago. Sitting still for a guy who's nearly 80 years old while he shambles around trying to re-create the bygone kickiness of the early 1960s, all without once dissolving into a puddle of crazythat takes talent.
That was the message: I sat still for two weeks wearing nothing but a genie scarf while that codger played with the lights. I am ready to behave, for the love of Pete.
Besides that new Chapter 27 movie that opened in limited release last weekend, other evidence that Lindsay Lohan is on the way back up:
- She's cutting her third album.
- E! News recently reported that she's booked a new acting gig, playing a member of the infamous Manson family in an upcoming movie.
- Just-in photos reveal that she's currently capable enough to dress herself and do her own food shopping.
- Jack Black trusts her enough to work with her. She's working on his new ren-fair-geek spoof, Ye Olde Times, due out next year.
What more do you want from her, you leeches? Even box-office analysts and crisis PR experts say that Lindsay is doing just fine right now, keeping negative press to a minimum and brushing her hair.
She could be on the right track toward becoming big business again, or at least more respected. And unlike her peers Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson and Britney, everyone agrees that LiLo can act.
Sure, Exhibitor Relations box-office analyst Jeff Bock concedes LiLo's rehab-studded past makes her a liability for producers, but he adds, "the potential gains are more than the losses in terms of her talent and in terms of what she can bring to the table."
Celebrity-crisis PR expert Cherie Kerr agrees.
"We'll have to wait another six months to a year to finally see she if she can recover from her past," Kerr says. "But she's managed to keep herself out of the press more lately, and that's good for her. That's exactly what she needs."
That and maybe a little credit for that genie scarf shoot.