Now it’s all in her rearview mirror
With a roast, a champagne toast and a goodbye grope from Joy Behar, “The View” said farewell Friday to Meredith Vieira, who’s leaving to take Katie Couric‘s job at the “Today” show.
“I do not want to get emotional,” said Vieira, who starts at “Today” in September, when Couric takes over as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.”
“I simply want to say thanks. I love you all.”
For the most part, the hour was hankie-free as comedians Mario Cantone, Joan Rivers and Gilbert Gottfried joined forces for a Friar’s Club-style roast.
It included a monologue of sex jokes from Cantone, a frequent guest on “The View,” as Vieira’s husband and three children looked on uncomfortably from the front row.
Leaving the estrogen-fest means no longer having to suffer through colleagues complaining of bad hair days, Rivers added: “Matt Lauer will never say, ‘Does my tie make me look fat?’ “
Welcome to heartbreak hotel
The sale of Elvis Presley‘s pre-Graceland Memphis home is all shook up.
Celebrity psychic Uri Geller and two partners had been the high bidders, at $905,000, on the rancher when it was auctioned on eBay.
But the homeowners said they were unable to finalize that deal, so they sold the house to record producer Mike Curb for $1 million.
Geller says he considers that a “breach of contract,” adding: “If I have to, I will take this to the Supreme Court. If I have to, I’ll take this to the Pope.”
Hello, Perry Poppins
Britney Spears has herself a “manny.”
Former security guard Perry Taylor has signed on as male nanny – actually, more of a bodyguard, his mother says – for the pop star, who has a 9-month-old son and is pregnant.
Or, as Star magazine says, he’s “Britney’s Sexy New Stand-In Husband!”
“He’s good with kids, and he’s always there when he’s needed – unlike Kevin!” the tabloid says, referring to Spears’ husband, Kevin Federline, an aspiring rapper.
Ardor in the court
A Chicago judge will allow the public to view a videotape in court that allegedly shows singer R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl.
“This is the whole crux and linchpin of the case,” Judge Vincent Gaughan ruled. “If there was no tape, we wouldn’t have a case.”
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of child pornography.
Oh, you dirty dogs
Lawsuits are buzzing these days around Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
A former Flynt employee has filed a sexual-harassment suit against him, saying that part of her job was to keep Flynt’s wife, Elizabeth – who also has an office at Hustler – distracted whenever he “engaged with prostitutes behind closed doors.”
And another woman is suing both Flynts, alleging their dog attacked her as she jogged in front of their Hollywood Hills home.
The birthday bunch
Actor Andrew Stevens is 51. Actress Gina Gershon is 44. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn is 43. Model-actress Elizabeth Hurley is 41. Singer Faith Evans is 33. Actor Shane West (“ER”) is 28. Actress Leelee Sobieski is 24.