Palin, Alley return for another ‘Dance’
Bristol Palin is back. So is Kirstie Alley. ABC on Friday announced the 12 cast members for this fall’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
It’s not a new lineup, however, but a return of celebrities from the previous cycles of the show.
Palin and Alley – two of the most attention-grabbing contestants of recent years – are among those scooting back to the dance floor.
Other contestants include previous “DWTS” winners Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey, Emmitt Smith, Apolo Ohno, Helio Castroneves and Shawn Johnson. Melissa Rycroft, Joey Fatone and Pamela Anderson also will return.
Willard: Arrest ‘very embarrassing’
Fred Willard said his recent lewd conduct arrest at an adult movie theater was “very embarrassing” but insisted he did nothing wrong.
“It’s the last time I’m going to listen to my wife when she says, ‘Why don’t you go and see a movie?’ ” Willard said during an appearance Thursday on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC show “Late Night.”
Willard was arrested July 18 during a routine check by police at the Hollywood-area theater.
“It’s very embarrassing. It’s as embarrassing as hell,” Willard replied. “But let me say this: Nothing happened. I did nothing wrong. Everything is being sorted out as we speak.”
He has great respect for the police, Willard added, “but if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, everything seems suspicious.”
Madonna gets boos from Paris crowd
A small Madonna concert that the pop star said was intended to celebrate France’s tolerance instead tested it, drawing boos and cries of “refund!” when she left the stage after just 45 minutes.
Madonna’s press agent, Liz Rosenberg, said in a statement that the star’s occasional club shows in the past “were never more than 45 minutes.”
The show was “planned as a heartfelt thank you to France which she expressed at the start of the show,” the statement said, and the performance at Olympia, a venue for top French artists, “was her way to honor her love for French artists, French cinema and a tribute to France’s long history of welcoming and inspiring artists, authors, painters, poets and minorities from other countries over the years.”
The show cost Madonna nearly $1 million to produce, the statement said, and keeping the prices at $100 involved a “tremendous effort.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Darryl Hickman is 81. Cartoonist Jim Davis (“Garfield”) is 67. Actress Sally Struthers is 64. Actress Lori Loughlin (“Full House”) is 48. Singer Afroman is 38. Rapper Soulja Boy is 22.