Maybe ‘Idol’ hands really are the devil’s workshop
“AMERICAN IDOL” PRODUCERS say they’re skeptical about a former contestant’s claims he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul, but will investigate the allegations. Corey Clark said on an ABC “Primetime Live” special Wednesday night that he became involved with Abdul during the Fox talent contest’s second season in 2003.
She coached him on song selection, bought him stage clothes, paid for hair styling and eventually initiated a sexual affair, Clark said.
He was disqualified from the show for not disclosing that he was facing charges for allegedly assaulting his teenage sister and resisting arrest.
Clark now has a recording deal and is selling a book on his “Idol” experience.
While calling him an admitted liar, “Idol” producers said in a statement that “we take any accusations of this nature very seriously, no matter their source, and we have already begun looking into them.”
They’ll have to do so without any help from Clark.
“I don’t have any interest in helping ‘American Idol’ out whatsoever, because they haven’t helped me out whatsoever,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday. “They made it very hard for me to do what I’m doing, which is my career.”
Do you have Prince Albert in a scandal?
A former flight attendant from Togo tells a French magazine that Monaco’s new ruler, Prince Albert II, is the father of her 20-month-old son.
Nicole Coste is quoted in Paris Match as saying she met Albert on a flight in July 1997, leading to a relationship and the birth of a child in August 2003. A palace spokesman declined comment.
Albert, a 47-year-old bachelor, is the only son of Prince Rainier III and film star Grace Kelly. He took over the royal powers in the principality shortly before the death of his father in April.
Not quite what you’d call trustworthy
A judge has given Bobby Brown until today to prove he has the income to fund educational trusts for two of his children from a previous relationship
Last year, the R&B singer was jailed for a day after he failed to pay $63,500 in child support he owed a former girlfriend. While he has caught up on those payments, he still has not established the trust funds he promised.
Brown, now married to Whitney Houston, said he was unaware of the problem.
“I’ve been shooting a television show and recording an album, so it’s hard,” he said. “For me, it’s easy to not know that a payment is not paid because other people are supposed to pay them.”
An eight-episode reality show, “Being Bobby Brown,” debuts June 30 on Bravo.
Just a little ‘Angel’ dust-up
Farrah Fawcett is eager to get on fellow reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith‘s good side again after a war of words.
The former “Charlie’s Angels” star labeled Smith’s self-titled reality show a “train wreck” in the first episode of her new unscripted series, “Chasing Farrah.”
Replied Smith, in her weekly National Enquirer column: “Train wreck? Have you seen a mirror lately? Looks like your train wreck came 15 years ago.”
Now Fawcett is trying to mend fences, saying: “I wouldn’t even be capable of doing (a show) like Anna Nicole. I mean, I think she’s very brave, very gutsy.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Bob Seger is 60. TV host Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) is 50. Actor George Clooney is 44. Actress Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”) is 42.