People: Ferguson says ‘Later’ to ‘Late Late Show’
A few weeks after David Letterman announced he’d be retiring from the CBS late-night television lineup, Craig Ferguson did the same on Monday. Ferguson, host of “The Late Late Show” since 2005, told his studio audience during Monday’s taping that he will step down at the end of the year.
The move was no surprise after CBS announced that Stephen Colbert will replace Letterman sometime next year. There was a time that Ferguson was considered a strong contender for that job. But “The Late Late Show” has faded in the ratings, particularly with the arrival of Seth Meyers in February as competition in the same time slot.
Ferguson already has a new job lined up, as host of “Celebrity Name Game,” a syndicated game show set to debut later this year.
Clooney loses no-more-marriage bet
Looks like George Clooney owes Michelle Pfeiffer lots of money. The 52-year-old actor – Hollywood’s most determined bachelor, famous for a litany of fleeting loves – has taken himself off the romantic market, even though he once bet Pfeiffer $100,000 that he’d never marry again.
After dating a string of actresses, models, a cocktail waitress and a former professional wrestler, Clooney recently proposed to 36-year-old international law attorney Amal Alamuddin. News of the engagement was announced by the human-rights law firm where Alamuddin works.
Alamuddin has advised former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Syria, helped ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko challenge her imprisonment and represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he fought extradition to Sweden.
Simon, wife arrested in family dispute
Paul Simon and his wife, Edie Brickell, were arrested on disorderly conduct charges by officers investigating a family dispute, but the couple held hands in court Monday and said they did not feel threatened by the other. Simon told a Norwalk Superior Court judge that he had a rare argument with his wife at their home in New Canaan, Conn.
A caller from the singers’ home dialed 911 Saturday night and hung up, police chief Leon Krolikowski said Monday. Officers who responded found minor injuries and believed it was a case of domestic violence, he said. Simon and Brickell were each given a misdemeanor summons and one of them agreed to leave and go to another location, Krolikowski said. “There was aggressiveness on both sides,” he said.
An attorney representing the couple, Allan Cramer, said the incident was very minor, though there was a slight shove. He didn’t say who did the shoving. Simon, 72, and Brickell, 47, were asked to return to court on May 16. They were married in 1992 and have three children together.
The birthday bunch
Conductor Zubin Mehta is 78. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 60. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 57. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 56. Actress Uma Thurman is 44. Rapper Master P is 44.