Guess you could say that he really ticked them off
No-nonsense TV newsman Mike Wallace‘s tough questions got him arrested by New York taxi cops outside a Manhattan restaurant. The legendary “60 Minutes” reporter was spun against his black Lincoln Town Car and handcuffed during the heated confrontation Tuesday night.
“I’m 86 years old! I’m 86 years old!” Wallace shouted, according to witnesses, adding: “What are you doing? I’m a reporter, not a criminal.”
It all started when Wallace ran into Luke’s Bar and Grill to pick up a takeout order of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy. Meanwhile, two Taxi and Limousine Commission officers started questioning his driver, who was double-parked.
When Wallace returned and asked the officers what was going on, the situation quickly escalated.
The officers emptied Wallace’s pockets before hauling him off to the 19th Precinct stationhouse, where he was slapped with a disorderly conduct summons and released.
And she had a bone to pick with his wife
A Los Angeles judge has appointed a psychiatrist to determine whether a woman accused of stalking and threatening actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is mentally fit to stand trial.
Dawnette Knight, 32, is charged with one felony count of stalking and 24 felony counts of making criminal threats. The charges involved more than two dozen letters that were mainly sent to Zeta-Jones’ husband and fellow Oscar winner, Michael Douglas.
“We are going to slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs,” said one letter read in court by Zeta-Jones last month during a preliminary hearing.
Knight has apologized in a letter that claimed she had been infatuated with Douglas.
Poor Don’s in a real pickle
Actor Don Johnson has been ordered by a Colorado judge to pay a grocery store nearly $6,000 to cover an outstanding tab.
In May, the former “Miami Vice” and “Nash Bridges” star’s 17-acre ranch near Aspen was put on sale amid a bankruptcy filing. City National Bank had sued seeking to force an auction of the property to recoup $930,000 it claimed Johnson owed.
Oh, just call it a sixth sense
Publishing giant Simon & Schuster is considering a lawsuit against Oscar-winning director M. Night Shyamalan over similarities between his latest thriller, “The Village,” and a book by one of its authors.
The publishing house says the film’s story bears a striking resemblance to children’s author Margaret Peterson Haddix‘s first book, “Running Out of Time,” published in 1995. Haddix says the surprise ending is the biggest similarity.
Shyamalan and the film’s distributors dismissed any suggestions of plagiarism.
Quoteworthy
Anne Hathaway, star of the new sequel “Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement,” on her fame from the first film: “The movie showed on planes it seems like forever. Businessmen in particular got to see it that way, which is not the typical audience for the film. But they would come up to me and say, ‘I saw your movie on an airplane and really liked it.’ “
The birthday bunch
Country singer Porter Wagoner is 77. Country singer Buck Owens is 75. Actor George Hamilton is 65. Actress Jennifer Warren is 63. Singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 55. Singer Kid Creole is 54. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 50. Actor Bruce Greenwood (“Thirteen Days”) is 48. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 41. Actor Peter Krause is 39. Actor Michael Ian Black (“Ed”) is 33. Actress Rebecca Gayheart is 32. Actor Casey Affleck is 29.