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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

What, He Expects To Be Treated With Kid Gloves?

Compiled By Staff Writer Rick Bo

O.J. Simpson’s new attorney is threatening to sue the owners of a Los Angeles restaurant who asked him to leave after other diners complained about his presence.

“Yes, we threw him out,” said Robert Nulty of the Brentwood Inn, where Simpson had been a regular since before his trial for the June 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

“Our customers … got very uneasy,” added Nulty’s wife, Gloria. “They said if he was going to stay they were going to leave.”

The Nultys admitted paying Simpson $500 to eat someplace else. Said Gloria: “If it keeps O.J. out of the place, it’s worth it.”

Simpson’s lawyer, Ronald Slates, who was present at the incident several months ago, is seeking an apology from the Nultys.

Loose talk

Former O.J. Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr., on his career (in the New York Post): “The law is an effective tool for change. That’s one reason I became a lawyer, I thought I could help change society for the better.”

She always was a winner in The Supremes’ court

Cindy Birdsong turns 58 today.

If the truth does not fit, then you must stretch it

Johnnie Cochran Jr., who successfully represented Simpson in his criminal trial, has filed a $10 million libel lawsuit against the New York Post over a column that claimed he “will say or do just about anything to win, typically at the expense of truth.” Cochran attorney Barry Langberg said the column was “more than unflattering. It basically said he has a history of lying in court.”

Every time, the verdict kept coming out the same

Dominick Dunne, who wrote about the Simpson trial for Vanity Fair, has finally come out with his novelized memoir of the case, “Another City, Another Town,” about his days in the courtroom and nights talking about it with such famous friends as Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan and Warren Beatty. “I tried to write the book five different ways,” Dunne said. “That’s why it’s so late.”

Hey, some of his best bandleaders are black

“Tonight Show” host Jay Leno personally telephoned a viewer who wrote calling him a racist for asking bandleader Kevin Eubanks to “tell me a heartwarming story about life in the ghetto,” claiming he actually said “life in the ‘hood” instead. Said JoAnna Wilterding, who is white: “We talked for 20 minutes, but he didn’t apologize. He told me he tries to be as unracist as possible.”

Wouldn’t you expect him to blow his own horn?

Jazz clarinetist Don Byron on trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, who happens to be the brother of former Leno bandleader Branford Marsalis (in the New York Observer): “I was encouraged by Wynton until I heard him talk. He basically dissed Stevie Wonder. Then I realized he just wanted to be black music, and after that I couldn’t go there.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino