The rollout of Dakota Fanning 2.0 had been going so well (aside from one rapey speedbump): first, the 14-year-old actress made a series of glamorous appearances to support her new movie, The Secret Life of Bees, then she had even Oprah eating out of the palm of her hand with a few simple giggles and a glimpse of her attempt at a normal, cheerleading life. Was Fanning poised to be that rare child star who made the transition to serious actress with a minimum of fuss? Not so much! says Rowan Woods, the director of Fanning's upcoming film Winged Creatures, who just gave an interview branding the young star as a "diva" whose scenes he had to cut:

Now that everything else has failed for him, John McCain is crawling back to David Letterman to appear on the Late Show this Thursday, after weaseling out of an earlier appearance under the lie that he was needed in Washington to work on the Wall Street bailout. McCain's people are, well, stupid. If he'd appeared when he was supposed to, Letterman would have treated him to a gentle ribbing while the candidate tried to get his talking points out. Now that McCain has lied to the famously testy talk show host—and now that there are tons of new gaffes and missteps that simply didn't exist when he was originally supposed to appear—what can he expect? Slaughter. Letterman isn't some lovable funnyman. He practically invented the contemporary asshole while Seinfeld and Larry David were first working out their club routines. And when a guest pisses him off, he can turn serious and downright mean. Just last week, he was discussing the possibility of having McCain back on the program when he said, ""In an attempt to save his campaign, they're talking about coming back. So we said, sure, we'd love you to come back ... but they're being squirrely. Politicians can be squirrely. ... I just don't know if we can trust him." Previously, Letterman remarked, "This just in…a backwoods hiker has found the wreckage of John McCain's campaign." So if McCain actually does show up on Thursday (though there's no reason to believe he will; Joe Six-Pack Americans watch Leno, his staff may conclude) it's not likely to be a slightly awkward goof-down like we've seen McCain engage in on The Daily Show after he'd given up his last few beliefs to win the GOP nomination. With any luck, Letterman will simply demand over and over again that McCain explain himself, show him evidence of the fact that he totally lied, and belittle his non-role in that bailout plan that didn't work anyway. Hopefully, McCain will lose it in the face of repeated questioning by some mere celebrity that he publicly snubbed, unable to believe that Letterman won't just drop it and make with the funny already. And, hopefully, next Friday's news channels and papers will be full of John McCain—bitter, rigid, elitist, crybaby. [Washington Post]

If the plot isn't exactly thickening today around Scott Rudin's exit from The Reader, it's at least sustaining a low, convoluted simmer. Still nobody knows for sure the specific reasons for Rudin's move beyond the obvious, routine desire to gut Harvey Weinstein with a letter opener, but looking forward, a few new clues suggest the Oscar-season bloodbath has a while before it's drained.One awards-season wag points out the notable absence of The Reader from the Weinstein Company Web site, which may not be as insidious as it sounds; a cached version of the site dated Oct. 6 — three days before Rudin's escape — didn't feature the film either (God forbid any marketing resources be expropriated from the Zack and Miri campaign, which isn't faring so well itself). Meanwhile, another report sketches a fraught relationship between Reader director Stephen Daldry and Weinstein's designated Reader go-between Donna Gigliotti: "[T]he entire team 'despise her,' 'won't deal with her' and 'regard her as a [Weinstein] stooge.'" And so soon after Rudin threw in the towel! Are you shocked? OK, us neither. Again, we may never know, but Rudin's motivation is likely twofold: First, cut his losses and save face with Daldry, Kate Winslet (essentially out of the picture now herself) and the survivors of the late co-producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack. Second, as we noted in our cluttered Rudin/Weinstein scorecard a few weeks back, the principals at Rudin's go-to Oscar-campaign firm once were Harvey's field marshals at Miramax. We're not the only ones skeptical that they would go back into the fire — particularly on this project, with the only despot in town who spends a million dollars to buy bad press. Life — and the turnaround time here — is way, way too short.

We don't always know what to believe anymore when it comes to The Reader, but after a turbulent period of fighting, making up, gossip-page ensnarement and a charity payout, no one watching the tormented relationship between Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein could have realistically expected it to survive another two months leading up the release of their troubled Kate Winslet drama. And right on cue, that eerie silence of the last week is ended this afternoon when Rudin reportedly stripped his name from the Oscar hopeful, citing irreconcilable differences — among other things.Patrick Goldstein has the news at his blog, though details are foggy and fairly speculative; pretty much everyone knows by now how fiercely Rudin and Weinstein loathe each other, with both Weinstein and his pocketbook suffering last week as Rudin's authentic hate mail made the tabloid rounds. But contumely is the coin of the realm with these guys. As sure as their awkward public detente of 11 days ago was bullshit, couldn't they just as easily keep their mouths shut for two months as director Stephen Daldry went about his post-production business for a Dec. 12 opening? Ha. Like The Reader isn't just any movie — it's the final co-production of the late Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, and the film for which Harvey wants star Kate Winslet to compete against herself for an Oscar next year — these aren't just any tyrants. Someone to had to win, and win now. Goldstein notes that Rudin's talent relationships (Winslet, Daldry and screenwriter David Hare in particular) couldn't withstand the now-regular strafing, adding that Daldry isn't necessarily equipped to complete the film without Rudin guarding his back from a Harvey incursion. But finish it he will, under contract, assuming Dec. 12 still stands. If so, it's a worst-case scenario for everyone involved: Daldry will rush it, Winslet won't promote it, Rudin won't discuss it and Weinstein will drop the equivalent of a late-term abortion on a skeptical critical corps that can't wait to watch him burn through the last of his nine lives. It's not the film's fault, but hey. it's always the children who pay.

In addition to her formidable vagina-kicking prowess, airport brawler Nikki Blonsky has quite a way with the race card as well. After shoveling vague bromides on ET about her and her family's fight with the Bianca Golden clan (for which Blonsky and her father face up to five years in jail), the Hairspray star finally responded to Golden's own recent testimony about what happened that day in Turks and Caicos. And this just in: Golden calls her a liar! Help us make sense (or something) of it all after the jump.So far we can all agree that each family's hard-earned Caribbean respite ended with a collision at the Providenciales International Airport, where the Blonskys were holding seats at the departure gate. The Goldens objected, and the B-list shit the the D-list fan:

The notable celebrity feuds of late have all been between well-matched pugilists: take the Battle of the British Funnymen (starring Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg) or the Jewish Comic Conflict of '08 (pitting Sarah Silverman against Jackie Mason). Now, though, word has broken about a feud between two stars so different, it's hard to imagine them even sharing airspace: fulsome serial divorcer Pamela Anderson and Oscar-honored Cate Blanchett.

John McCain at least made eye contact with Barack Obama during tonight's presidential debate. But that seemed to be about all the pleasantry he could manage. First he called Obama "that one." Now blogs are burning up with chatter that McCain also refused Obama's post-debate handshake, pointing him to wife Cindy instead.

Will the Times end up like the Wall Street Journal, sold off by disgruntled, money-grubbing family members? To find out, New York investigated the fifth generation of the Times' controlling Sulzberger family. The good news, for those who want to see the Times stay in family hands, is that none of these young men and women (some shown in this handy PDF chart) would talk smack about their poorly-managed company to a reporter, in contrast to the Bancrofts who sold off the Journal. All family kids are being indoctrinated at special "orientation sessions," camps and annual business meetings, starting at age 10. Everyone stays connected on Facebook, including an 87-year-old Sulzberger grandmother. The bad news: No one knows if this unity will hold together when the company cuts unsustainably high stock dividend. Also, the family twentysomethings seem at least as unlikely to ever run the company as acid-dropping Pinch Sulzberger did 35 years ago. Here, for example, is what Judith Sulzberger's young grandson Alex Cohen recently wrote on his Facebook:

Just as British funnymen Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg have resolved to patch up their "fat idiot" feud, along come Sarah Silverman and Jackie Mason to fill the void with their own bit of culturally specific warring. Perhaps you'll recall Silverman's recent video for thegreatschlep.com, an organization designed to coax young, Jewish Obama supporters to travel to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote Democrat. Creaky comic Mason is not a fan of this idea (to put it mildly) and in an ad paid for by a Jewish Republicans group, he tears into both Obama and Silverman, calling the latter a "sick yenta." Careful, Jackie — if Silverman can handle talking shit about her ex-boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel, she's not going to be daunted by your dated patter. Both videos, after the jump:

Yesterday, we brought you news of a budding feud between two British funnymen genuinely beloved at Defamer HQ: Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg and possible Emmy host Ricky Gervais. If you'll recall, Pegg appeared on a British radio program and branded Gervais an "idiot" for his comments on the British film industry, eventually dismissing him as "one of the fat people in LA." Yesterday, Gervais took to his blog to respond:

In the annals of celebrity feuds, we tend to prefer the light-hearted frivolity of a Seth Green/Shia LeBeouf dustup to the knock-down, "no one gets away unscathed" fights like Alec Baldwin on Greg Garcia. That's why we're so stymied by the latest and most unlikely entry in the feud genre: the war of words between Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg and Ricky Gervais, the Emmy-honored creator of Extras and The Office. So far, the battle (instigated by Pegg's mouthy appearance on a British radio show) is one-sided, but we fear a rebuttal from Gervais could embroil both talented comedians in a zero-sum rivalry. The Telegraph has the scoop:

"Weinstein's rep says that once he's verified the authenticity of the Rudin e-mail, he will donate $1 million to the Robin Hood Foundation." [Post, Previously]

This hasn't been a good week for Harvey Weinstein. Last Friday NBC successfully blocked Weinstein from moving Project Runway from NBC-owned Bravo to Lifetime. Over the past few days, he's also been engaged in an increasingly public (and increasingly messy) feud with producer Scott Rudin over the fate of The Reader, a romantic drama directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Weinstein had wanted to release the film before the end of year so it could be an Oscar contender, and Rudin claims Weinstein stopped at nothing to move up the film's release date, going as far as to harass producer Sydney Pollock on his deathbed and pressure the grieving widow of Anthony Minghella (another of the film's producers) to make it happen.

What was Harvey Weinstein thinking? The movie mogul is already being dissed by once-pliant reporters and magazines, and struggling to right his company and other investments. Now he's given more ammunition to the haters and socked his pocketbook, all in one fast miscalculation. The Weinstein Company chief reportedly told the Post's Page Six he doubted the authenticity of an email quoted by aggressive Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke, and offered $1 million for charity if Finke could produce the original. The email, from movie producer Scott Rudin, concerned a feud over the release date of Kate Winslet vehicle The Reader. Page Six called Finke tonight and guess what? She has the email, and has already posted it. UPDATE: Rudin told Page Six Finke is lying. UPDATE 2: Rudin admits he lied to Page Six! See below.

Not only did John McCain ditch Late Show host David Letterman for Katie Couric and mislead him about it, it turns out the Republican presidential nominee spent the entire night in New York and didn't fly to DC until the next morning. So, in a reprise of last night, Letterman will spend a good chunk of his show this evening bashing the Arizona senator. "The economy just barely held on long enough for him to get back" to DC, Letterman joked. As theatrical as the Letterman-McCain feud has become, Letterman could probably score more points talking about the $700 billion banking bailout than about the mechanics of late-night TV booking. Here's to hoping that, when the full show airs, he does. (Click the video icon to watch some excerpts.)

Though Shia LaBeouf is still recovering from wounds both real and imaginary, none are too fresh to stop actors Seth Green and Clark Duke from landing a few blows of their own. The Defamer-loving duo spoke to MTV while promoting their new comedy Sex Drive, and when they learned that LaBeouf had shamed their interviewer into carrying a bulky folder, the actors let fly with a volley of neverending LaBeouf insults that would put any "yo mama" contest to shame. Don't listen to 'em, Shia: plug your ears, pop in a VHS of Porky's II: The Next Day, and have a stiff drink (or five). [MTV]

Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni isn't very happy with Adam Tihany, the restaurant design maestro who crafted the look of Maccioni's own eateries but then "betrayed" him by coming up with the new look of arch-enemy Daniel Boulud's Daniel. "Adam Tihany will never do anything for me again," he starts off with Gael Greene. "Adam did five restaurants for me. He was always six months late and two million over budget... I should have 10% cent of everything Adam earns." [Insatiable Critic via Gothamist]

Keith Olbermann may have been pushed out of his gig anchoring MSNBC's election coverage, but the Countdown host actually made out pretty well, with the cable news network widely reported to be in the process of extending his contract. Far sadder is the case of Olbermann's fellow shouting head Chris Matthews, also ejected from the election team over his on-air feuds. Matthews' contract is up in 2009, two years sooner than Olbermann's, and yet no one is talking about buttering him up! That's probably because lantern-jawed Olbermann, by far the more overtly partisan of the two, has done more to gin up ratings. But apparently it's also because parent company GE's shareholders — that is, people primarily concerned with making money off a sprawling multinational corporation and with no expertise in running media operations — were unhappy with the network's convention coverage. Report the MSNBC haters at the Post:

Doug Dechert, a "sometime PR flack" and sometime-writer who's about 50 years old, threatened to assault former Gawker editor and current Radar writer Choire Sicha Wednesday night. Specifically, Dechert said "I'm going to punch that little prick [Choire] in his fucking face." Dechert—who was once on the receiving end of an email defenestration and a shove from Ian Spiegalman—made the threat at a book party for chaste author Dawn Eden. Which Choire Sicha did not attend. Here are the specifics, from NY Press writer Matt Harvey, who was there:

While we found yesterday's 8,000 word New Yorker profile of Alec Baldwin to be an engrossing (if entirely too long) read, we were able to find one person who was less than impressed by Baldwin's long-winded rants about the perils of being impossibly rich and famous: My Name Is Earl creator/executive producer Greg Garcia. In the piece, not only did Baldwin blast the suits who run NBC's programming and promo departments for "wring(ing) the last drops" out of Thursday night comedy staples like Earl and Scrubs while 30 Rock is treated like a "red-headed stepchild", he also indirectly criticized the quality of said shows by labeling both as "done" and "cooked." Naturally, this irked Garcia, who spoke exclusively with Defamer this morning about his thoughts on his show's performance, 30 Rock's ratings and, of course, Baldwin himself: