People: Not ready to kiss off Kate?
CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves paid a surprise visit to the network’s newsroom Friday to support embattled evening news anchor Katie Couric.
Moonves told CBS News employees that “there are no plans for a change – today, tomorrow and into the future,” according to a network executive who was there.
That doesn’t mean Couric’s status won’t be reviewed if ratings continue to lag, but it won’t happen until after the election, the exec said.
Several recent news articles have suggested CBS has decided to replace Couric, who is running a distant third behind NBC and ABC in the evening news ratings.
Moonves and CBS News President Sean McManus “made it clear in everybody’s mind that they were totally supportive of Katie and of CBS News,” said “CBS Evening News” executive producer Rick Kaplan.
Kaplan said Couric should be given more time, noting it took years for anchors like Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings to top the ratings.
“She’s not been at it two years, and everybody is writing her obituary,” he said. “That’s fine. Success is the sweetest revenge.”
Fish out of water
Former ‘N Sync boy band-er Lance Bass, who kept quiet about being gay for years, has made a public service announcement for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
The spot, distributed virally Friday, precedes the 11th annual National Day of Silence on April 25, when students vow to protest bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools.
“I was very scared of ruining my four best friends’ careers,” says Bass, who finally came out in 2006, four years after ‘N Sync ended.
Defying expectations
Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz has been busy denying that his new fiancee, singer Ashlee Simpson, is with child.
“There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood,” he e-mailed MTV News. “I can’t wait for the story about how I’m really in a gay relationship, and this is all just a cover.”
Drowning in debt?
David Hasselhoff has agreed to pay $25,000 a month to support his ex-wife and children.
Court documents show the former “Baywatch” star’s divorce settlement calls for him to pay $21,000 a month to ex-wife Pamela Bach and another $4,000 to support their daughters, Taylor, 17 and Hayley, 15.
Bach and Hasselhoff divorced in 2006 after more than 16 years of marriage.
Missionary positioning
Finally, Lindsay Lohan has shot down reports by her divorcee dad that she plans to travel to India to do missionary work.
Michael Lohan claimed his daughter was joining Times Square Church Missions’ trip next February to fight child sexual slavery.
“I just wish that he wouldn’t go and talk to the media,” she says. “I love my father. I just don’t know why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Hugh O’Brian is 83. Actress Elinor Donahue is 71. Actor Tim Curry is 62. Hip-hop mogul Suge Knight is 43. Actress Ashley Judd is 40. Actor James Franco is 30. Actress Kate Hudson is 29. Actor Hayden Christensen is 27. Actress Catalina Sandino Moreno is 27.