Is Alicia Keys aspiring to be a J.Lo-like diva?
The hot singing star was scheduled to do a cover shoot for Suede, and a source close to the newly-launched magazine says that Keys was “an unbelievable diva.”
“She showed up with her mother, who was also pretty demanding, and they were very high-handed and found everything unacceptable,” the insider tells The Scoop. “The poor photographer only got a couple of shots before they stormed off the set saying they have more important things to do. Suede has a long story about her inside, but they had to use a [stock] shot for the cover.”
But a source close to Keys has a different story. “Alicia didn’t have a problem with the photographer,” says the insider, “but she did have an issue with the hair and makeup people. Alicia is very reasonable and low-key, but she’s also a professional and knows how these things are done and maybe Suede, because it’s so new, doesn’t. If they think Alicia Keys is difficult, wait until they have to deal with Janet Jackson.”
Keys’s rep called accusations of diva-behavior “absolutely not true,” and added, “Alicia is always a professional.” A spokeswoman for Suede also denied the story, saying the star was “lovely” and “we enjoyed every minute of the shoot.”
Bad news for Gibson advisor
Mel Gibson’s spiritual advisor on “The Passion of the Christ” has found himself out of the fold.
Rev. Stephen Somerville — who said daily Mass in Latin with Gibson acting as his altar server while the blockbuster religious film was being shot in Italy last year — has been suspended from the Archdiocese of Toronto for saying mass for a controversial Catholic splinter group in Canada, according to the Toronto Star.
“(Y)our ongoing association with and celebration of the Tridentine Mass for members of the Society of St. Pius X give external recognition to their illegitimate claims and their lack of submission to our Holy Father Pope John Paul II,” Somerville was informed, according to the Star. “Your actions are also a potential source of scandal to clergy and laity of the Archdiocese of Toronto.”
Somerville has been a staunch defender of Gibson and “The Passion of the Christ” — which will be released on video and DVD shortly.
Notes from all over
Author Kitty Kelley is touting her latest title in enemy territory. A full-page ad for “The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty” is appearing in today’s Republican National Convention Guide, which is distributed to 20,000 conventioneers, staff and others. Kelley's book, which will be published Sept. 14, contains over 700 pages of Bush dirt and scandals. . . . Looks like Michael Jackson’s star continues to wane at MTV. The network’s Video Music Awards has quietly done away with the honor named for Jackson that they’ve handed out for 10 years. . . . Maybe Russell Crowe didn’t bite his bodyguard’s ear after all; he bit the guy’s chest. In a letter to Australia’s Sunday Herald Sun, the bodyguard wrote, “He did take a nip at my chest — I was trying to smother him at the time, so I can understand the move.”
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