Amid The Hue And Cry, Grant Does A Nice No Mas

Seems the heat is still on at home for English actor Hugh Grant. First comes word that the woman with whom he had a street-side date in Los Angeles, Divine Brown, refused a role in an X-rated film because it required her to be tested for AIDS.

Then Grant was nearly pummeled in a trendy London cafe. According to the British press, Grant was lunching at Mas Cafe Aug. 12 when a gang of drunken youths began yelling at him.

“Hugh rat!” they shouted, and “Is your wine divine?” “When the abuse started, he ignored it as best he could, but his smile got a bit forced,” said customer Patrick Sturgis.

Eventually, Grant tried to leave, had his exit blocked by two youths, who swung at him but missed. Grant did not strike back, and eventually he left unharmed - but splattered with one of the free-swinger’s blood.

Loose talk

Janeane Garafalo on her negative life view (in the Los Angeles Daily News): “I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half-empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth.”

He’d never dream of celebrating it in YOUR house

Robin Leach turns 54 today.

What would Charlie say of such a development?

Following the nude appearance of 54-year-old Nancy Sinatra, Playboy magazine is set to display 48-year-old photograph 48-year-old Farrah Fawcett. According to the New York Daily News, the spread should show up in December. “She’s flattered,” said a Fawcett spokeswoman.

As a first name, Richard might have been more fitting

Speaking of Playboy, a former Playmate claims that Kevin Costner tried to, uh, date her while on an Australian publicity tour for “Waterworld.” According to the News of the World, Costner asked Bridget Bloxom to meet him in a Sydney hotel, where he was registered under the pseudonym Tom Feral.

And if she hurries up, Dick’s is just opening.

Speaking of ex-Playmates, Anna Nicole Smith has settled her lawsuit with New York magazine. The dispute had been over the mag’s cover photo for a story titled “White Trash Nation.” Smith claimed to be humiliated by being pictured in a short skirt and cowboy boots eating junk food. “Now I can hopefully just forget it ever happened,” she said.

Of course, it is possible that no one knows who he is

Jaason Simmons, the mean-spirited hunk of “Baywatch,” says he doesn’t get bothered much by the public. “I don’t know if it is because of my character or what, but people look, they’ll whisper, point, whatever, but very rarely will someone come up to me,” he said.

‘And Why I Am Now Telling After All That Kissing’

The quote: “Out of all my girlfriends, you are the ugliest.” The alleged speaker: O.J. Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran. The source: Ex-Cochran wife Barbara Cochran Berry in her memoir of their 17-year marriage, “Life After Johnnie Cochran: Why I Left the Sweetest-Talking, Most Successful Black Lawyer in LA.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster