Conversations in Hollywood with Coolio, Janice Dickinson, Alana De La Garza, J.P. Calderon, Leslie Moonves
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Janice Dickinson wouldn't talk to me.
Les Moonves told me his troubles.
Alana De La Garza cleared up her wedding mystery.
Coolio shared his big career plan.
Sometimes celebrities say the darnedest things -- if they're willing to talk, that is.
Coolio promoted "Coolio's Rules," a realty series that debuts in October on Oxygen. In the show, he lives with his four teenage children. Executive producer Greg Goldman suggested that Coolio, 44, was having "a little bit of a midlife crisis."
I asked if the rapper agreed.
"I think I already had my midlife crisis," he said. "I'm divorced for about eight years. I went through a period where I'm still having trust issues with women because I pretty much got robbed by my ex-wife."
Coolio boasted that he could keep up with a 24-year-old man in pleasing a woman. And he boasted about his musical talents, too.
"Most cats stop rapping around my age," he said. "I'm at my peak when it comes to my writing skills and actually doing the art of hip-hop. I'm a much better performer than I was at 24. I'm a much better writer. I'm just not as pretty, and my hair is not as thick."
I commiserated, "True of me, too."
But I wondered if he was being facetious.
"No, I have a plan," Coolio said. "I'm trying to be the first rapper to go platinum at 50. At 50, I'm going to make my last album. It's going to be called 'Ol' Man River.' Then, at that point I'm going to completely show you why they call me Mr. Burns," a reference to the aged "Simpsons" character.
Let there be no mistake: "Law & Order" star Alana De La Garza married in Orlando on May 31.
Some readers have questioned my blog posting in early June. At an NBC party Sunday night, the actress confirmed that I had the correct information.
De La Garza, one of the most beautiful women on television, met her husband, writer Mike Roberts, in Orlando. She said erroneous reports have her marrying a man with another name.
"I know who I married, and it wasn't that guy," De La Garza said.
Of her husband, she said, "I love that guy. We were friends for seven years."
She is starting her third season with NBC drama.
I tried to ask supermodel Janice Dickinson why Paul Anderson and Shaun McCarron, a gay couple from Central Florida, were dropped from "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency." That show starts its fourth season Aug. 26 on Oxygen.
When I asked, Dickinson turned and walked away.
That was a first for me on a tour of the Television Critics Association.
An Oxygen spokeswoman later told me: "That's what makes Janice Janice -- her extreme reactions."
I did get a show preview from model J.P. Calderon, who said this time the models live under the same roof with La Dickinson.
"I love her. I know her really well," Calderon said of Dickinson. "All the new models are dying. It was funny. You can't take three steps without hearing her over your shoulder."
You might remember Calderon from "Survivor: Cook Islands." He said that experience prepared him for Dickinson. He is starting his third season with her.
He was a professional volleyball player before he turned to reality television. These days, he is 25 to 30 pounds lighter than in his "Survivor" phase. "I'm happy with it," he said of his new look.
CBS Corp. Chairman Les Moonves said he was happy with his new sitcom, "Worst Week." He said the show cheered him up on a tough day by making him laugh frequently.
"It's not easy being a CEO these days," Moonves told me.
I shot back, "It's not easy being a newspaper reporter these days."
CBS continues the Paley culture and has 7 entries that are lien or judgment driven and are together here:
The CBS court order against Dan Rather for $200 court costs
$200,000.00 lien recorded in New York of Julie Chen of "CBS Morning Show"
CBS Broadcasting New York State Tax due notice for $6,000
Anderson Cooper and the $11,926.82 New York State Tax Warrant
Viacom, mother company of CBS Television, unpaid tax bill for Suckeyville
Katie Couric Tax Warrant
Les Moonves, the network president with stock options: Number one, two, three
www.webofdeception.com
Posted by: Robert Lewis | July 21, 2008 at 12:49 PM