At long last, America gets to hear Horn’s tiger tale
ROY HORN SAYS he fainted during a Siegfried & Roy show in Las Vegas last October and that a 380-pound tiger was only trying to help him by dragging him off stage. “It’s just my body. I have high blood pressure,” Horn, discussing the incident for the first time, told Maria Shriver in a television interview Wednesday night.
Later, on the operating table, he said, “I saw a bank of white light, and then I saw all my beloved animals. I stepped out of my body.”
Horn, who suffered four deep puncture wounds from the tiger’s teeth, remains partially paralyzed following a stroke he suffered immediately following the attack and uses a motorized wheelchair.
“Every inch of your skin hurts. … I cry to sleep,” he said.
Horn’s partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, said he will do whatever it takes to help.
“If he’s not going to be able to use his left arm, then I’m going to be his left arm,” Fischbacher said. “It breaks my heart sometimes. But most of the time, it’s heartwarming, it’s bitter and it’s sweet. Now I know life is a gift.”
Wouldn’t he need a Top 20?
After a painfully stiff performance on Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show,” John Kerry will try to up his hipness quotient – not to mention his sagging poll numbers – with David Letterman on Monday night.
It’s the first “Late Show” visit for Kerry, who did Stewart’s show Aug. 24 and rolled onto Jay Leno‘s “Tonight Show” on a motorcycle in November.
Kerry may deliver his own Top 10 list, which wouldn’t be a first. Then-candidate George W. Bush, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton each did one in 2000.
Madonna and Judaism – an odd Kabbalah?
Israel was abuzz with excitement Wednesday over the arrival of Madonna, its biggest celebrity visitor in years.
The pop star came to the Holy Land on a spiritual quest, including visits to the graves of revered rabbinical sages. But some Israelis remain perplexed by the raunchy diva’s interest in the esoteric Jewish mysticism called Kabbalah, and rabbis said she had no business studying holy texts.
“This is entertainment, not Judaism,” said Uri Orbach, a popular talk-radio host and Orthodox Jew. “I think the general public will celebrate this, but the religious public will be indifferent.”
Knight to have her day in court
A judge on Wednesday ordered a woman accused of stalking actress Catherine Zeta-Jones to stand trial.
Dawnette Knight has pleaded not guilty to a count of stalking and 24 counts of making criminal threats involving letters sent to Zeta-Jones’ husband, actor Michael Douglas. One said: “We are going to slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs.”
In another letter, Knight allegedly apologized, claiming she had been in love with Douglas.
Well, bravo to Bobby
“Being Bobby Brown,” a reality show focusing on the singer and his family as he tries to distance himself from his legal troubles and revive his recording career, will air next spring on the Bravo network.
Brown, who left the R&B group New Edition in the late 1980s for a solo career, has become famous for his numerous brushes with the law and his turbulent marriage to pop songtress Whitney Houston. He faces misdemeanor battery charges for allegedly hitting her in the face during an argument at their home.
The birthday bunch
Actress Anne Bancroft is 73. Actress Elvira is 53. Comedian Rita Rudner is 48. Director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”) is 42. Actor Kyle Chandler (“Early Edition”) is 39. Rapper Doug E. Fresh is 38. Rapper Vinnie (Naughty by Nature) is 34. Singer-actress Nona Gaye is 30.