Tattle: Ashton's wages take on a new sheen

SURE, A DUDE can make a lot of money as a top-tier athlete, but there's so much wear-and-tear on the body.

Being a TV actor seems much safer.

And among TV's one-percenters, Forbes reports that Ashton Kutcher was the No. 1-earning actor last year, raking in around $24 million as the star of "Two and a Half Men."

Tied at No. 2 at $18 million were Hugh Laurie ("House") and Ray Romano, who makes beaucoups bucks from repeats of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Tied at No. 4 at $15 million were Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" and Mark Harmon of "NCIS." Seems unfair since Harmon's show is twice as long.

Tim Allen ("Last Man Standing") with $14 million came in at No. 6, thanks to "Toy Story" money, followed by Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men") with $13 million - although some of that had to be Ducky money. Patrick Dempsey made $12 million for looking McDreamy on "Grey's Anatomy," and, rounding out the top 10, Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki geeked out to $8 million each on "The Big Bang Theory." So did Jason Segel on "How I Met Your Mother."

* Tough day for the Swisher family yesterday.

Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher got swept out of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers.

His wife, Joanna Garcia-Swisher, saw her NBC sitcom, "Animal Practice," get canceled.

NBC said that the last episode of "Animal Practice" will air Nov. 7. It will be replaced by "Whitney," starring Penn alum Whitney Cummings, which returns for its second-season debut Nov. 14.

Fazil Say

, a Turkish pianist and composer who has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others, appeared in an Istanbul court on Thursday to defend himself against charges of offending Muslims and insulting Islam in comments he made on Twitter.

One of Say's tweets in April joked about a call to prayer that lasted only 22 seconds.

He tweeted: "Why such haste? Have you got a mistress waiting or a raki on the table?"

Raki is a traditional alcoholic drink made with aniseed. Islam forbids alcohol, and many Islamists consider the remarks unacceptable.

The charges against Say also cite other tweets he sent, including one - based on a verse attributed to famous medieval poet and wine-lover Omar Khayyam - that questioned whether heaven was a tavern or a brothel, because of the promises that wine will flow and each believer will be greeted by virgins.

He's on trial for that?

Has anyone ever read the comments on philly.com?

* Former

Hugh Hefner

girlfriend

Holly Madison

has learned from her sonogram that she is having a daughter.

She must have thought that was weird, it being a sonogram.

* It's been six months since Uma Thurman gave birth to a baby girl, but the baby's name was announced only this week.

Uma's daughter with Arpad Busson is Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson (the longest boldfaced name in Tattle history), "better known to family and friends as Luna," her rep told People.

* David M. Rushton, the developer of popular video games including "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005," is serving a yearlong jail sentence in Utah for failing to pay more than 100 employees.

The Utah Attorney General's Office says Rushton owes $1.2 million in a rare criminal case for nonpayment of wages.

State officials say that he has a long history of failing to pay wages, payroll taxes and 401(k) contributions to employees.

This is his second time in jail. In 2010, Rushton was sentenced to six months for tax fraud and racketeering.

Someone needs to impress upon him that being a job creator doesn't actually count if you don't pay the workers.

* British TV network ITV says it was duped by an actor pretending to be the chief of Fame Daddy, a celebrity paternity company which would match women with famous and affluent sperm donors.

Several newspapers also ran stories about Fame Daddy, whose slick website claims a roster of donors including an Olympic gold medalist and a Formula 1 driver.

On Thursday the network said it had been misled.

So who did Tattle donate our sperm to?

Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.