Dan Gross | Howard's got his 'Pride'

'NO. NO. That's ugly. Don't do that," replied

Terrence Howard

when we asked him about New York tabloid reports that he's dating model

Naomi Campbell

.

Howard, the star of "Pride," attended the film's premiere last night at Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut), where the heartthrob actor signed autographs for many fans, while his handlers tried hard to keep the media at bay.

"I reached out to her," Howard told us about Campbell, to whom he was recently linked. "That's what that was about. I reached out to her in a time of need. That's what people are supposed to be doing, not trashing people."

The actor, who lives in Plymouth Meeting, plays Jim Ellis, who has spent 30 years teaching kids to swim at Philadelphia Department of Recreation facilities, in the movie that also stars Bernie Mac and Tom Arnold.

Mac told reporters how supportive Philadelphia has been over the years in his stand-up career, and Arnold raced around greeting fans and excitedly answering all questions he was asked. When CN8's Kevin Murphy asked whether Arnold would be donning a Speedo himself, the comic said "I have a small penis; it's even smaller when it's wet."

While shrinkage is a medical fact, we believe he was joking.

"Pride" was co-written by Lansdale native Michael Gozzard, who now lives in Los Angeles and was thrilled that the movie premiered back home.

In addition to the rest of the cast of "Pride," Gov. Rendell and Mayor Street worked the red carpet. So did Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, whose Philadelphia International Records catalog provided much of the '70s-set film's soundtrack.

Some eyes better than others

Councilman Jim Kenney was in Boston Sunday cheering on his son Brendan, who was playing a hockey game up there. Kenney was therefore not "glued to the bar" at the Firefighter's Local 22 banquet on Sunday afternoon contrary to our report yesterday.

Additionally, Councilman Frank Rizzo, whom our spy had also identified as being stuck to the bar, says that is incorrect and that he spent the whole banquet at table 17. A Local 22 spokesman agrees.

XXX pics not Barba

Amanda Caluccio, the best friend of "American Idol" contestant Antonella Barba, said on Monday's Kidd Chris show on 94.1 WYSP that while some of the candid photos of Barba, of Point Pleasant, N.J., are in fact her, the most graphic of the photos, which we wrote about on Monday, are not of Barba.

Those shots, of a woman resembling Barba performing oral sex on a man, surfaced over the weekend on several Web sites.

VoteForTheWorst.com, a site that encourages people to call in support for the worst singers to sabotage the show, has linked to a porn site where additional explicit photos of the Barba lookalike appear. It's clear from those shots that the woman is, in fact, not Barba.

* By the way, Kidd Chris says he and fiancee Lene will marry in Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend before. About 60 guests are expected. *

If you have something you'd like to share with Dan, call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. To read Dan's recent columns, visit http://go.philly.com/dangross.