Edwards’ ex-mistress wants ‘private’ tape returned
HILLSBOROUGH: The ex-mistress of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards wants a “very private and personal” videotape back from a campaign aide who wrote a book about the politician, according to court documents. Rielle Hunter was granted a temporary restraining order against former Edwards loyalist Andrew Young in a North Carolina court. It seeks the return of photos and videos, including one she says she made in 2006 while working for Edwards. “In or about September 2006, using my video camera, I authored a personal video recording that depicted matters of a very private and personal nature,” Hunter wrote in an affidavit filed Thursday. “In 2006, I was also having an intimate relationship with Edwards.” “The decision was made that the Video be destroyed” in December 2006, Hunter wrote. She said she pulled out the tape from the cassette and stored it in a box with personal belongings. In his book, Young describes viewing a sex tape that showed Edwards and a woman he assumed was Hunter. Young says some videotapes were inside a “box of trash” that Hunter left behind at a home he rented for her. He says that the tape had been pulled out of its cassette casing, but that he was able to fix it. It’s not entirely clear whether it’s the same tape that Hunter is seeking; Young said in his book that the naked woman depicted in the video was pregnant. Hunter had her child with Edwards in 2008, more than a year after she says her “private” video was made.
‘Celebrity Big Brother’ bows out in Britain
LONDON: “Celebrity Big Brother” bowed out with its final show on Britain’s Channel 4 on Friday, after the broadcaster decided to axe the series amid falling ratings.
The regular Big Brother, a pioneer in the reality TV genre with versions all over the world, also has its swansong this year as ratings shifted from the survival format to talent competitions like “The X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent.”
When the final “Celebrity Big Brother” series launched earlier this month, it drew an average of 5.8 million viewers, fewer than the show’s heyday although well above recent lows. But it lagged behind the BBC’s “So You Think You Can Dance?”, which attracted an average of 6.4 million viewers.
Also affecting ratings have been the personalities on the shows.
The Mirror tabloid was scathing about the status of this year’s contestants, saying that, “With one or two exceptions, (it) really involved scraping the celebrity barrel.” The winner on Friday was Alex Reid, a cage fighter famous for his relationship with model Katie Price. A rank outsider when the series opened, Reid was favorite by the final night and beat other finalists including soccer player-turned-actor Vinnie Jones, singer Dane Bowers, Swedish dance music star Jonas Altberg and actress Stephanie Beacham.
Launched in Britain in 2000, Big Brother, in which the public votes to evict contestants from a house where they are continuously filmed by surveillance cameras, made celebrities out of Jade Goody and “Nasty” Nick Bateman.
Stephanopoulos learns of genetic link to Clinton
NEW YORK: George Stephanopoulos has learned that he may be genetically linked to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Stephanopoulos, co-anchor of ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” underwent DNA testing to promote “Faces of America With Henry Louis Gates Jr.,” a four-part series on family histories premiering Feb. 10 on PBS. Stephanopoulos, 48, learned of his possible link to Clinton during Friday’s “GMA” show. “I’m getting a little nervous here,” he said before Gates gave him the news. “You are very likely a maternal cousin with Hillary Clinton,” Gates told him. “You’re putting me on,” Stephanopoulos said. “Sorry, Secretary Clinton. I did not set this up.” Gates said “as far as we know,” Clinton hasn’t been tested. PBS says Gates used the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 Americans, including Elizabeth Alexander, Stephen Colbert, Yo-Yo Ma, Queen Noor, Meryl Streep and Kristi Yamaguchi.
Resort owned by Bruce Willis reopens
FAIRFIELD: An Idaho ski resort owned by Bruce Willis has reopened, almost a year after the resort’s lodge was destroyed by fire. Soldier Mountain Ski Resort celebrated opening day on Thursday. Workers scrambled over the last four weeks to complete the lodge, in some cases using tables and kitchen equipment from The Mint, a former restaurant and bar in nearby Hailey that is also owned by Willis. The opening comes late in the ski season, but features a new lodge to replace the original structure that was destroyed in the March 30 fire. Investigators determined the blaze was accidental. The ski area in central Idaho is about 60 miles from the better-known resort towns of Sun Valley and Ketchum. Willis, the star of “Pulp Fiction” and the “Die Hard” series of action movies, is a part-time resident of the region.
MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ to return
SANTA MONICA: MTV’s “Jersey Shore” will be back for a second season. The network’s president of programming Tony DiSanto said on Friday that 12 new episodes will air this summer. According to the network, Pauly D, Mike, Snooki, Jenni, Sammi, Ronnie and Vinny escape the cold northeast and find themselves in a new destination. The show about tanned twenty-somethings hasn’t been without controversy. In December, the New Jersey Italian American Legislative Caucus called for MTV to cancel the show, saying it promotes derogatory ethnic stereotypes and is “wildly offensive.”
— Compiled from agencies
