Celebrity Gossip

By Billy Masters

"I dunno -- I think they had some extra flowers in the back. They were a couple of days old."

-- American Idol castoff Scott Savol explains why Paula Abdul was presented with flowers on stage during last week's telecast.

The Paula Abdul scandal seems to have shifted gears. Although Corey Clark claims to have a mountain of evidence proving the so-called affair, the American public appears to have rallied around the beleaguered judge. Of course, Paula's no fool (alleged relations with two of the Jackson Five notwithstanding). Instead of going on the defensive, she made light of the situation by appearing on Saturday Night Live. But even that tactic was not foolproof. Paula was slated to appear as herself in an AI skit where she'd say things like, "Corey, that was beautiful. You really blew me away. It's like I rolled over and said to you this morning: 'You have real star quality.' I'll see you at home." After the dress rehearsal, Abdul withdrew from the sketch and was replaced by Amy Poehler (Paula did introduce the skit and came on at the end for a lackluster finale). Rumor has it that a joke about Abdul in "Weekend Update" was responsible for her sudden cold feet.

In a related story, someone has sent me nude photos of one of Corey's friends -- one of the friends who corroborated his story (so much for credibility). Why "Joselito" posed for those nude (and aroused) shots that give his vital stats (dick size, 9.5 inches) is beyond me. But it's not beyond me to post the photos on Filth2Go.com.

Each year, I assume that the Bad Boys Pool Party has hit its peak, and each year we break the previous year's record. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Will Clark's annual Palm Springs fund-raiser for SoCal AIDS organization L.A. Shanti raised close to 60 thousand dollars before the doors even opened (or, should I say, when they eventually opened. Sorry, kids, that wasn't our fault -- blame Shanti). The entire weekend brought in close to $80,000 for various charities. Special thank yous go out to my spousal equivalent Kurt Young and the scrumptious Jason Ridge, who helped kick off the Saturday festivities as guests at Billy's Bad Boys Brunch, and songstress Irene Soderberg, who sang her ass off. The dozens of gay porn stars at the pool party itself joined co-host Momma and me entertaining the masses, alongside headliner Paul Lekakis (who inexplicably has turned back time and looks unbelievably gorgeous -- and sings as good as ever). Many people were quite taken by the presence of Über-sexy (and talented) announcer/author/personality Ben Patrick Johnson (more about him in a future column), who spent much of the day with former WeHo mayor (and boyfriend of my hubby) John Duran. Also rumored to be hanging around the boys was Oscar winner Charlize Theron. Since she wasn't with Stuart Townsend, I wasn't interested enough to investigate.

Hunky actor Michael T. Weiss has been making the rounds. A few weeks ago, he showed up at buddy Jerry Penacoli's art show in Studio City. And he recently hosted the Spotlight Spectacular, which was a benefit for Boston's Huntington Theatre. Looking significantly older than his 43 years, the weathered Weiss talked about his appearance in Huntington's production of Burn This. "It should be mandatory viewing for every teenage kid. It's a primer on why not to abuse crystal meth," says someone who should know.

There are few performers who have "it" -- a presence that demands the attention of everyone in the room. But Sheryl Lee Ralph is one of those rarities. Therefore, she makes a perfect Margo Channing in Applause (the musical version of All About Eve), and her inspired casting headlines a dynamite concert production of the show here in Los Angeles. The pitfalls of taking on such an iconic role (played on screen by Bette Davis and on stage by Lauren Bacall) are easily avoided by Ralph, who creates such a vibrant and personal portrayal that it's impossible to sit in the theater and picture anyone else playing the part. As with many Reprise productions, Applause works incredibly well in a semi-staged environment, and the near-ideal cast makes a good argument for a full-scale revival of the show (the disastrous Stefanie Powers tour notwithstanding). More info can be found at www.Reprise.org.

The first letter in this week's "Ask Billy" mailbag is from Gabriel in Phoenix, Ariz., who is all shook up over Elvis: "I just saw Jonathan Rhys-Meyers playing Elvis and fell madly in love. He is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I am in love. Billy, do you have any info on him? Or any nude photos??"

Jonathan was born in Dublin and still resides in County Cork. Judging from the following quote, he seems to have a mighty fine handle on his profession: "Being an actor is the easiest job. Just say the lines." You may have seen Jonny (which is what his friends call him) in Velvet Goldmine, in which he not only acted but sang his own songs. You can see every inch of Jonny in Titus, The Governess, and Tangled -- or on Filth2Go.com. For those of you on the fence about whether you're interested in seeing him naked or not, let me just say that it looks as if he could swing his penis over the fence!

Over the past couple of years, many people have sent in variations on this next question. I've never had any information to share -- until now. Jay in Columbus, Ohio, is the most recent person to ask: "Have any photos surfaced from the Broadway production of Take Me Out? I saw Daniel Sunjata in it, and he was GORGEOUS! When all of the baseball players were in the shower, I wished I had a camera. Tell me you've got some photos."

When I saw Take Me Out, it was the first time that Broadway ushers actually went through the bags of every person entering the theater -- that's how vigilant they were to ensure no cameras were present. And now, two years later, almost nothing has surfaced -- "almost" being the operative word. Not only have photos been e-mailed to me of the hunky Sunjata in the shower scene -- we've got video of the scene! I know, it's shocking -- and titillating and scandalous! I have no idea where the video came from, how it came to pass, who took it, who sent it to me. Nothing. And I don't care. I'm just pretty damn happy to have it! Oh, Sunjata's not alone in the shower. Frederick Weller also appears, and let's just say neither chap's got anything to be ashamed of. The nether regions of both boys do quite a bit of "bouncing," if you catch my drift. You can catch it at Filth2Go.com.

Could it be that a certain blind item of mine just came true? So say sources with a drawl who tell me that damage control regarding that swaggering singer's sexuality have been thwarted by his romantic revelation. The bigger question is, why did that winning whiner get involved? Honey, she spends more time with gay men than moi! I'm sure tongues will be wagging when this liaison ends -- just as abruptly as it began.

When I can write a blind item that isn't even near-sighted, it's time to end yet another column. It's been a busy week -- from the bad boys, to Sheryl Lee Ralph, to Stevie Nicks in Vegas (joined by Rod Barry, Nick Capra, Jack Ryan, and Tom Southern), to Kathy Griffin at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, to Lily Tomlin back in Palm Springs -- it's been busy, busy, busy. But I'm never too busy to stay in touch with the fans. You can keep track of my comings and goings at www.Filth2Go.com. For more specific inquiries, send a note to Billy@filth2go.comand I promise to get back to you before we come up with nude photos of Corey Clark! Until next time, remember, one man's filth is another man's bible.