They’re cutting Bermuda short
A summer cruise for gay and lesbian families organized by Rosie O’Donnell has eliminated Bermuda from its planned itinerary because of possible protests by church groups.
In 2004, about 100 protesters chanting anti-gay slogans met an R Family Vacations cruise when it arrived in Nassau, Bahamas.
In the statement, the company said Bermuda’s prime minister had assured that the cruisers would be welcome as tourists, and hundreds of supportive e-mails came from people who live in the wealthy British enclave.
Still, organizers said, “We feel that our cruise would be more enjoyable with an alternate itinerary to ports where we know we are welcome by everyone.”
The cruise company will replace the Bermuda stop with two ports of call in Florida and a visit to a private island.
R Family was founded by O’Donnell’s partner, Kelli, and Gregg Kaminsky.
“We have no hard feelings against Bermuda,” Kaminsky says. “It’s just a few church groups.”
Celebrity smackdown
Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony are suing the National Enquirer over a report that they were linked to a drug scandal.
The tabloid claimed the couple were “caught up in a heroin scandal” and reprinted a 2004 picture of Anthony standing beside photographer Michael Star, who faces heroin possession and child pornography charges.
Anthony says doesn’t know Star and posed with him as a favor to a fan.
And it burned, burned, burned …
Barry Gibb, the former Bee Gee who bought the house that Johnny Cash lived in for decades before his death in 2003, plans to build a new home nearby after it burned down last week.
Almost nothing was left of the lakeside home northeast of Nashville except stone chimneys.
Cash wrote much of his famous music in the house, where he and wife June Carter Cash also entertained presidents and music royalty.
Gibb, who had hoped to remodel it and eventually write songs there with his wife, says the land where the house stood is “sacred” and “must be protected forever.”
Stop it, you’re killing us
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is set to groove to Indian pop music in a promotional video for the upcoming Bollywood comedy “Fool and Final.”
“The movie is a laugh riot, and the filmmakers thought Tyson would be great in the promo,” a spokesman said.
Tyson is best known for his rape conviction and for biting boxer Evander Holyfield‘s ear.
More of that tripe?
The Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, which gave Ricky Martin his start, is coming back as part of an “American Idol”-style reality show.
Seven boys will be selected through nationwide auditions for “The Road to Menudo,” airing next month on MTV Tr3s, MTV’s bilingual Latin-American channel.
The birthday bunch
Actress Hayley Mills is 61. Actor James Woods is 60. Actor Rick Moranis is 54. Actress Jane Leeves (“Frasier”) is 46. Talk host Conan O’Brien is 44. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”) is 44. Actress Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 31. Actress America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is 23. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 18.