Bunny ears, mouse ears – hey, it’s all good to Hef
AT FIRST, THE CONTRAST was laughable: Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, accompanied by a bevy of bunnies, visiting Walt Disney World. But on Thursday afternoon, it was one American icon paying homage to another: Walt Disney.
The 78-year-old Hefner, in Florida for Playboy’s famed Super Bowl party tonight, said he and Disney have a lot in common. Both were Midwesterners who began their careers as cartoonists.
“Disney and Mickey Mouse both had a tremendous influence on me when I was starting,” Hefner said.
“There are two ‘Happiest Places on Earth,’ ” he added. “One is Disney, and the other is the Playboy Mansion.”
Hefner said the visit was a belated birthday gift to one of the four blondes who accompanied him, Holly Madison, who sported a small Mickey doll on her hip.
“All the girls are Disney fans,” Hefner said. “But Holly is obsessed.”
Things go bust for Ray Jr.
The son of the late singer Ray Charles was arrested Thursday for alleged drug possession and being under the influence of cocaine, authorities said.
Ray Charles Robinson, 45, who also goes by Ray Charles Jr., was arrested at the Dunes Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles after police received a tip. He has a previous arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
Robinson is one of a dozen children of the soul singer, who himself overcame a 20-year addiction to heroin.
Jenny’s ring back on the block
A year after Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck called off their wedding, her engagement ring has been “reacquired” by New York jeweler Harry Winston.
A Winston spokeswoman confirmed the ring is for sale, but the price is available only to “serious buyers.”
Affleck bought the 6-carat pink diamond ring in 2002. He and Lopez split in January 2004 after calling off their wedding because of intense media attention.
On the baby beat
Eric Clapton‘s wife has given birth to the couple’s third child, a girl.
The 59-year-old singer-songwriter has two young daughters with Melia McEnery and a 19-year-old daughter, Ruth, from a previous relationship. His 4-year-old son, Conor, died when he fell from a high-rise window in 1991.
And Amy Fisher, who became known as the “Long Island Lolita” as a teenager after shooting the wife of her lover, Joey Buttafuoco, is a mom again.
Fisher, 30, who’s married to a retired police officer, gave birth to a girl, Ava Rose, on Jan. 26. The couple also have a 4-year-old son.
Lindsay’s mean streets
Eighteen-year-old “Mean Girls” star Lindsay Lohan is being sued by two people who say she injured them in a traffic accident last August in Los Angeles.
The pair seek unspecified damages for continuing “pain, discomfort and physical disability,” plus compensation for medical expenses and lost earnings.
The birthday bunch
Comedian-actor Red Buttons is 86. Actor Stuart Damon is 68. Actor David Selby (“Dark Shadows,” “Falcon Crest”) is 64. Singer Cory Wells (Three Dog Night) is 63. Singer Al Kooper is 61. Actress Charlotte Rampling is 59. Actress Barbara Hershey is 57. Actor-director-comedian Christopher Guest is 57. Actor-comedian Tim Meadows (“Saturday Night Live”) is 44. Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh is 43. Actress Laura Linney is 41. Singer Bobby Brown is 36. Country singer Sara Evans is 34. Actor Jeremy Sumpter (“Peter Pan”) is 16.