Celebrity Scoop
Don't cry for J. Lo, but you might want to shed a tear for the lovelorn who were hoping to catch her between marriages. The singer and actress plans to marry Ben Affleck, who she says proposed in a "traditional, but also in a very spectacular way."
Revealing her engagement in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Jennifer Lopez calls her new love "brilliantly smart," "charming and affectionate," and a man that her mom just loves. Affleck, 30, has never been married. It'll be the third time for Lopez, 32, whose divorce from dancer Cris Judd is to be final on Jan. 26. People Magazine says the wedding will be on Valentine's Day. The two met last winter while shooting the movie "Gigli," in which Lopez plays a gangster and Affleck, a thug.
When Ari Fleischer speaks, people listen, but President Bush's spokesman preferred to say his wedding vows in private. TV cameras were forbidden as Fleischer, 42, said "I do" to Becki Davis, 26, who works in the Office of Management and Budget, a stone's throw away from the daily media briefings presided over by Fleischer. The ceremonies were Saturday in Indianapolis.
Al Gore's willing to be the butt of a good joke, especially when he's being paid for it. The past and possibly future presidential candidate had a guest role on the season premiere of the animated sci-fi comedy "Futurama," doing the voice for what's supposed to be his disembodied head. On the show, the head is introduced at a global warming convention as "the inventor of the environment and first emperor of the moon." It's the second time on the show for Gore, whose daughter, Kristin, used to be a writer on the program, the brainchild of Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
It's back to the future for The Police, if the band's former drummer, Stewart Copeland, has anything to say about it. He and guitarist Andy Summers want the band to reunite for its induction next March into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and also for a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of freedom for South Africa's Nelson Mandela. Only one hitch: Sting has yet to agree. Copeland says if he doesn't, maybe they'll ask Bono to fill in.
Koko has no such problems with her musical collaborators. The California gorilla, famed for knowing more than a thousand words in sign language and being able to respond to about two thousand spoken words, is out with her first CD. It's called "Fine Young Gorilla," the name Koko calls herself in sign language, according to her human collaborators, who also say she wrote the lyrics. Humans handle the singing.
The producer of the album George Harrison was working on until two months before his death felt he had to disregard the former Beatle's original wishes on the sound he was aiming for. "What he wanted, really, was kind of like demos," says Jeff Lynne of "Brainwashed," the CD which comes out this month, featuring 11 new songs. "But these songs deserved more than that, because they were great, as far as I was concerned. So, sorry George, I made them a bit posher than you might have wanted. But I felt I was only doing them justice."
Salma Hayek is unmoved by critics who claim "Frida," in which she stars as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, sensationalizes the lives of Kahlo and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera while playing down their leftist political views. "It's not a documentary," says Hayek. "They want to see a biography, but you can't do a biography in two hours."
Just two weeks ago, Gordon Lightfoot was slipping in and out of consciousness, but he's doing better now and is finally out of intensive care. The Canadian singer, who is being treated for internal bleeding from weakness in a blood vessel in his abdomen, has been in a Toronto area hospital for two months. He's now out of intensive care and a hospital spokesman says everyone is encouraged about his progress.
Legendary Motown keyboardist Johnny Griffith has died at age 66, just hours before he was to attend the Detroit premiere of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," about the Funk Brothers, the studio band of which he was a member. Griffith played on "Stop in the Name of Love" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and in his early years, toured with Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington and Aretha Franklin.