Celebrity Dish: Serving up the gossip you should know!

I’m always up for a challenge. Set up the board for Trivial Pursuit (Pop Culture edition, of course – I’m an expert), for example, and I’ll rake in the pie pieces. I love seeing if I can outwit, outlast and outplay an opponent.

While I might be good at cerebral challenges, physical ones are another matter entirely. If it involves anything more active than a game of Horse, I’m probably going to lose. And I’m OK with that because, let’s face it – the challenges a journalist might face are usually more mental than physical.

Unless said journalist is taking on Russell Crowe.

In a recent story in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, gossip columnist Annette Sharp wrote a piece titled “Smokes and Fatty Foods: The Fitness Regime for Rusty.” The story took a dig at Crowe, who has been looking slimmer in recent photos, for stopping during a recent bike ride with his personal trainer for three tacos, a soft drink and a smoke. According to the Associated Press, Crowe’s spokesperson called Sharp the next day and challenged her to a 12-mile ride through the city with Crowe. The “race” was captured on video, which shows Sharp struggling to keep up with Crowe and even falling off her bike at one point.

Victor: Crowe. But he did give Sharp credit for willingly taking on this challenge, saying that she’s a better biker and “twice the man” Australian director Baz Luhrman is.

And back on this continent, another gossip columnist, this time Perez Hilton, has been engaged in a war of words, or tweets, as it were, with actress Demi Moore. Hilton sent out a link via his Twitter account last week to photos of Moore’s 15-year-old daughter, Tallulah Willis. The Tweet reportedly made reference to the short shorts and partially unbuttoned shirt Willis is wearing in the photos, saying that she’s “dressing like a slut.” Moore struck back, tweeting that Hilton was “violating child pornography laws.” The two continued trading barbs via the Internet, with Moore calling the blogger’s ethics into question and Hilton berating her parenting skills.

Victor: None. But with threatened legal actions, we might have one.

Celebrities and gossip columnists have an uneasy alliance, but the fact of the matter is that both of them need each other. In many ways, one’s career is contingent upon the other, and vice versa. Celebrities help gossip columnists sell their product (newspapers, for example) with their faces on the cover, and gossip columnists help celebrities sell their product (a new movie, for example) by mentioning it in a story.

So, can’t we all just get along? Perhaps both sides should try to, as one actor recently put it, “accept it and stay Zen.” Now that’s a challenge I willingly accept.

Krista Richmond is a journalist and pop culture enthusiast. Have a question, suggestion or hot gossip tip? Send them to her at krista@killerfilm.com.