Gay, not gay – Elton’s happy
You may have wondered at some point whether Clay Aiken is gay – c’mon, admit it – but Elton John is having none of that.
In a two-part “Access Hollywood” interview set to begin airing tonight (6:30, KREM-2 in Spokane), John, a longtime gay activist, shares his thoughts on the speculation over Aiken’s sexuality and recent run-in on the subject during an interview with Diane Sawyer.
John says he understands that Sawyer had to ask Aiken the question, but he’s personally not interested in the answer.
“I don’t even care if Clay Aiken is gay or not,” John says. “It’s none of my business.”
John, 59, also discusses his own dangerous past and how it inspired him to become an AIDS activist.
“I’ve dodged so many bullets,” he says. “Not just because of unsafe sex, but because of the amount of drugs I did, the amount of alcohol, the amount of work I was doing.
“I started the Elton John AIDS Foundation because I got so lucky.”
A fantastic tale?
The father of “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino has filed a $10 million libel suit against the publisher of a book about his daughter.
Joseph Barrino is seeking damages from Simon & Schuster, which released “Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale” in 2005. The book was made into a TV movie, starring Fantasia herself, that aired on Lifetime in August.
Among the details he disputes: that he was hostile to the music industry, that he asks his daughter for money when she visits him, and that his children’s musical careers were more important than their education.
Although Simon & Schuster’s Web site lists Fantasia as the book’s author, her father’s suit says her grandmother was her ghost writer.
Diamond in the rough …
Folk-popster Jewel will host the fifth season of USA Network’s “Nashville Star” search for the next great country artist.
“I grew up on a ranch in Alaska, and my favorite memories are of sitting around a campfire with my father and listening to the songs he wrote and sang,” she says.
“It was pure country music, and it has made me a sincere fan of country music ever since.”
… and in the buff
Former child star Dustin Diamond – better known as Screech from the popular ‘80s series “Saved by the Bell” – has joined the ranks of Paris Hilton, Tommy Lee and Colin Farrell as the star of his own celebrity sex tape.
An entertainment agent has acquired the rights to the 40-minute video, which features Diamond in a menage a trois with two women, and is shopping it around to distributors.
Says Diamond’s manager: “Dustin has been trying to escape the Screech typecast. So this may help me get more bookings.”
Must’ve been big enough
Finally, martial-arts megastar Jackie Chan has admitted to once acting in a porn flick titled “All in the Family.”
“I had to do anything I could to make a living 31 years ago,” says Chan, 52, “but I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
The birthday bunch
Actress Anita Ekberg is 75. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 71. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 58. Actress Jill Whelan (“The Love Boat”) is 40.