Just moments ago, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were discussing the disturbing number of young people they see smoking. "Don't you just want to go up and talk to them and warn them?" says Couric. "Sometimes when they cuss, I go up and say something to them. Because they say these words...and it's really upsetting!"
Er, scratch that. Leslie Bennetts, the Vanity Fair writer who talked to Jennifer Aniston, talks. Just in time for today's drop of the incredibly hyped VF September issue, in which Jennifer Aniston finally speaks out about the destruction of all that we believed in with the end of her marriage to Brad Pitt, Bennetts is making the morning show rounds (Good Morning America gets the sloppy seconds by just a few moments) to talk about her talk with Aniston.
• Al Gore's cable network, which launches today, is apparently a tapas bar, says a San Francisco Chronicle writer. This is, we think, a good thing, mostly because we had some excellent tapas last time we were in the City. [SFC]
• Katie Couric is a diva, but not one who throws lamps, says Ken Auletta. Not that we can actually get to his article online. [NYer]
• While her husband is on vacation, Judy Miller gets jail visits from journos. [E&P]
• TV on the web is perhaps finally here. Which comes as great news for your friends who worked at Pseudo five years ago. [NYT]
• GQ really, really likes The Dukes of Hazzard. [NYT]
• As if things were looking so rosy for media companies in the first place, now a global ad slowdown is expected. [NYP]
• Ten bought-out employees had their last days at the Times on Friday. [Romenesko]
• Apparently there's a clever guy in Los Feliz running a smart and funny blog about Hollywood. Who knew? [LAT]
When Northwestern University's champion lacrosse team visited the White House, some of the ladies came under criticism for wearing flip-flop sandals (nice ones with rhinestones, apparently, which complemented their skirts from Express). On Monday, Today's Katie Couric sat down with the sandal-wearing players to discuss whether or not flip-flop sandals have become commonplace enough to be considered acceptable. Just now on today's episode, we couldn't help but notice that Couric herself was sporting a dressy pair of flip-flops. Will conservative dressers scream bias? Or are they too mesmerized by her glistening, tanned legs?
Us Weekly editor Bonnie Fuller has a suggestion for residents of her hometown Toronto to get them over SARS-related depression: "I think that if the city of Toronto could organize various celebrities to take part in an 'I Love Toronto' campaign, that would be great." We agree. In fact, we'd like to nominate the following celebrities to ship to SARS-infested Toronto: David Gest, Liza Minelli, Catherine Zeta Jones, The Strokes, Barbra Streisand, Melanie Griffith, Geraldo Rivera, Britney Spears, all available Osbournes, Catherine Zeta Jones, Mickey Rourke, Christina Aguilera, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Katie Couric, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Lisa Marie Presley, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Jackson (fish; barrel), P.Diddy, Michael Moore, Catherine Zeta Jones... Alright that's enough; if we list everyone, we'll be here all day. But don't forget Catherine Zeta Jones.
Stars to save us from SARS? [Canada.com]
· Katie Couric, who will be hosting "The Tonight Show" on May 12, has been making impossible demands on the staff and was angry when her choice of guestsBen and J-Lo together and/or the entire cast of Friendsdeclined to do the show. [Page Six]
· Sightings: "David Gest getting peevish at a P.J. Clarke's waiter who balked when Gest ordered a salad for Liza Minnelli that wasn't on the menu." [Page Six]
· "THE London-based Cinnamon Club, maybe the world's most expensive Indian restaurant, is planning to open a branch in Manhattan. Sources tell The Post's Braden Keil that reps for the elegant eaterydubbed Posh Spice by Brit criticsare searching for a location to show off its costly curries, calfskin menus and back-lit urinals." [Page Six]
· Barry Diller on Fox programming when he was in charge: ""You can't have a more genuinely pure, liberal program...than 'The Simpsons.'" [NY Daily News]
A reader reports, "Tina [Brown] was on the Today show this morning interviewed by Katie Couric about the new show. The weird thing was, they were both wearing the same outfit!Powder blue jacket, black slacks, and black heels. One difference: friendly, down-to-earth Katie was wearing a low-cut white blouse (yum) and uptight pretentious Tina wore a more conservative blue number (not helped by a gold necklace*...eww!). All in all, Katie looked much better...but she's used to being on camera. You can tell that TV is not Tina's thing AT ALL. Her show is sure to be a train wreck. This is one reality show I can't miss!" *"It was a thin gold chain necklace like a certain kind of man wears."
