Will Howard Stern replace Simon Cowell on “American Idol”? They’ll have to replace new judge Ellen DeGeneres, too, if they do, she says.
Stern reportedly is being courted for the vacancy but an “Idol” staffer says DeGeneres is dead set against it.
“Ellen has told just about anyone who will listen that she’s totally opposed to the idea,” an “Idol” employee told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Bill Zwecker.
The shock jock and several others, including Jamie Foxx, are reportedly being considered for Cowell’s job.
Cowell has said he’s leaving after this season ends to judge a talent show he’s starting in Britain.
DeGeneres, who made her first appearance only Tuesday as a replacement for Paula Abdul, said if Stern is in, she’s out, Zwecker reported.
Stern has already said this week that “they’d have to pay me a ton of dough” to take the “Idol” job.
But, a Fox executive told Zwecker, “The Stern thing makes for good chatter, but is such a remote possibility, I can’t see it ever happening — at least in this life.”
Boris Becker is celebrating after becoming a father for the fourth time.
His wife Sharlely “Lilly” Kerssenberg, 33, gave birth to a boy in a London hospital on Tuesday.
The German tennis star said they named the baby Amadeus Benedict Edley Luis Becker.
Becker, 42, has sons Noah, 16, and Elias, 10, from his previous marriage to Barbara Feltus and a 9-year-old daughter Anna, who was born after a fling with Russian-born model Angela Ermakowa, according to London’s Daily Mail.
Speaking of his newborn son he said: ‘With this baby, my wife, Sharlely, gave me the most wonderful gift.
‘We are all overcome and rejoice in our life together with our son and a sibling for Noah, Elias and Anna.’
Becker and Kerssenberg, a Dutch model, announced her pregnancy in August – two months after they married in St Mortiz, Switzerland. The couple have a home in South West London.
A New York City snowstorm can’t deter Hollywood’s brightest stars from supporting Natasha Richardson‘s favorite charity.
Lady Gaga, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver attended Wednesday’s gala to raise money to fight HIV/AIDS and honor Richardson, who died in a skiing accident last March.
Richardson became a champion for HIV/AIDS research after her father, director Tony Richardson, died of it in 1991.
Brooke Shields was overcome with emotion on the red carpet and struggled to articulate her feelings for her friend, whom she described as a beautiful woman and brilliant mother.
Streep sang an a cappella Irish number. Lady Gaga performed “Future Love” while covered in pearls and white body paint.
Richardson’s mother, actress Vanessa Redgrave, described Richardson’s advocacy as her life’s mission.
Meanwhile, Redgrave is to join the list of great figures of the cinema by being awarded the British Academy Film Awards Fellowship.
The actress, and head of the Redgrave acting dynasty, will be given the Fellowship during the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 21 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
Previous recipients of the Fellows of the British Academy of Film and Television Art include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Judi Dench, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Stanley Kubrick, Terry Gilliam and John Barry.
David Parfitt, chairman of Bafta, said: ‘Vanessa is a hugely talented and respected actress who has served as an inspiration to the British film industry.’
Vanessa, who has won an Oscar, a Tony, Baft (for acting) and their trophies noted that she was thrilled to be in the same league as other recipients.
She observed that Hitchcock was the first recipient of the Fellowship and she found that fact made the honor ‘even more special’ as her father Michael Redgrave made his first film, “Secret Agent,” in 1936 with Hitchcock.
— The Associated Press also contributed to this report
lsmith@denverpost.com
