Guess Martha put plenty of stock in her cellmates
Martha Stewart says she was happy to give advice to fellow inmates during her five months behind bars in West Virginia for lying to authorities about a stock sale.
“They have a lot of time to think and plan for the future, and they should be encouraged to,” Stewart said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show while promoting her new book, “The Martha Rules.”
“In many of these institutions, there are no consultants, there are no real teachers there to help these women, some of whom are incarcerated for 20 years,” the 64-year-old lifestyle guru said.
“I was so happy to be able to be of use and be helpful and give advice because their minds are working 24 hours a day, just like our minds are working.”
Asked by “Today” co-host Katie Couric if she has any regrets, Stewart replied: “None. I went through a period of two years of great difficulty, came back with a passion, with a really guiding light behind me, trying to focus on making sure that every aspect of our business at Martha Stewart Living was great.”
Chestnuts roasting on an open ‘you’re fired’ …
Meanwhile, Stewart’s “Apprentice” mentor, Donald Trump, is popping up in a rather unlikely place – singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with Regis Philbin.
The duet by the real estate mogul-TV reality star and the daytime talk host is featured on “The Regis Philbin Christmas Album.”
What’s wrong with this picture?
A photographer has been charged with child endangerment and battery for allegedly striking a 5-year-old with his camera and shoving another out of the way to take pictures of Reese Witherspoon last month at an amusement park.
Todd K. Wallace is charged with battering the 5-year-old’s mother – a friend of Witherspoon’s – and two employees of Disney’s California Adventure.
According to authorities, Wallace reportedly became angry and cursed when Witherspoon and her friends declined to be photographed. The incident left some of the children in tears.
The cup still runneth over
Britney Spears pulled a jewel-encrusted bra out of her online auction to benefit hurricane relief efforts, saying it may not be as valuable as some bidders thought.
The 23-year-old pop star said she wore the bra during an ad for an HBO TV concert, but not during her actual performance of “… Baby One More Time,” as some people apparently thought. Bids on the bra had risen to more than $47,000.
Spears still raised plenty of money for the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, with her Chanel high heels going for $770, her two-piece sectional sofa for $3,050 and her red-tab jeans for $4,001.
Oh, don’t get so hung up
A year after raising the censors’ hackles with bus stop ads, Pamela Anderson‘s nearly naked image is returning to China on phone cards telling people not to buy fur.
Government-owned China Telecom and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have printed 70,000 of the cards, a toned-down version of Anderson’s bus and train stop ads that were altered three times to reduce the amount of skin she was showing before being approved for public display.
The birthday bunch
Comedian-activist Dick Gregory is 73. Singer Sam Moore (Sam and Dave) is 70. Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti is 70. Actress-singer Susan Anton is 55. Actor Carlos Bernard (“24”) is 43. Actor Hugh Jackman is 37. Actor Adam Rich (“Eight Is Enough”) is 37. Fiddler Martie Maguire (the Dixie Chicks) is 36. Actor Kirk Cameron is 35.