Sixty years old and the man's man is still a growing boy.
How else explain why American hero - Philadelphia's hero - Sylvester Stallone (allegedly) had 48 vials of the drug Jintropin, which contains the growth hormone Somatropinin, when he landed at the Sydney, Australia, airport Feb. 16 to plug his new film, Rocky Balboa?
Perhaps that'll be his defense - the Growing Boy Defense - if his case goes to court. And it well might: Yesterday, the Rocky legend was officially charged in Sydney Local Court with importing a banned substance into Australia. (The hormone is classified as a performance-enhancing drug Down Under.) Seems the Aussie courts didn't agree with Sly when he dismissed the affair as a silly "misunderstanding."
The maximum penalty for sneaking this drug into Australia is an $86,000 fine and five years in prison. But Local Court, which is handling Sly's case, can impose a fine of only $17,000. (Why? Go visit Sydney Law School.) Sly's lawyers will enter his plea on April 24.
Fashion star to dry out
The fashion world's unholy scripture, Women's Wear Daily, says fashion god
Marc Jacobs
has entered rehab for treatment of drug and alcohol abuse.
"He'd been sober for seven years," Jacobs' business partner Robert Duffy said. "When he relapsed, he wanted to deal with it right away. . . . Obviously, our prayers are with him."
Jacobs checked himself into a center on the very day the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced he had been nominated for two awards (in the women's wear and accessories categories). Winners will be announced at CFDA's annual awards gala June 4 at the New York Public Library.
Ralph Lauren the legend
Speaking of the fashion shindig, which celebrates its 25th anniversary, the CFDA will bestow its very first Fashion Legend title on
Ralph Lauren
, who is celebrating his 40th anniversary in the fashion biz.
'Idol' harassment?
Mario Vasquez
, who in February '05 mysteriously dropped out of Fox's
American Idol
without so much as a "tootle-oo!" has been hit with a sexual harassment suit by one
Magdaleno Olmos
, an employee of
Idol
's production company.
TMZ.com says the suit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, details an incident during which Vasquez allegedly followed Olmos into a bathroom" and proceeded to masturbate in front of him. Vasquez, the suit says, then accosted Olmos and tried to remove his clothing and coerce him to perform various sex acts.
Fox told TMZ.com it would not "comment on pending litigation."
Reacting to Salma
Syndicated ent show
Extra
says the entire cast of smash hit
Ugly Betty
has said - with much fervid fervor - that it is "excited over the news
Salma Hayek
is pregnant!"
Ms. Hayek, who exec-produces the surprise sitcom, even has the glow - at the age of 40, to boot! "Totally, I mean I think she kind of had that glow before too. But, she's got it even more now," Rebecca Romijn said. Salma's man, French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, is a mystery to some. "I haven't met her French fiance," said Vanessa Williams, who nonetheless is aware of his French-hood.
A wedding to come? Probably.
An unhappy tour
Sunday night,
Leonardo DiCaprio
, 32, and his Israeli-born hottie
Bar Refaeli
, 21, unwittingly boarded a plane to Tel Aviv that was full of reporters. They were swarmed! They squirmed! Hundreds of thousands more journos awaited them on the ground.
Things got hairy on Monday when the lovers were ambushed by flashing and shouting photogs after they took a tour of the tunnels next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The police say some of the paparazzi accused two of DiCap's bodyguards of assaulting them. After questioning the security personnel, authorities issued 30-day restraining orders against . . . the photogs, and not DiCap's bodymen!
Art transcends death
Fox News reports that NBC's
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
is making an episode -
ripped from the headlines
! - loosely based on the life, loves, death and art of the late public personality
Anna Nicole Smith
, who'll be portrayed by the loveliest Buffy of them all,
Kristy Swanson
, star of the movie version of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
. Silver screen sex stud
Jon Lovitz
will play the figure of
Howard K. Stern
, Anna Nicole's lover - and putative father of her child.
M.J. losing his bundle?
Will
Michael Jackson
disappear like so much dust (in the wind . . .) once his coffers are bled to death?
He was a powerhouse, Michael, when in '85 he outbid Sir Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono to snatch up rights to a catalog of songs by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond worth more than $1 billion.
Now, FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman says, M.J. has admitted he's about to lose it all.
The trouble started in '95, when Michael sold part ownership of the tunes to Sony and used his remaining share to secure loans from the record company. Since he's not been able to pay Sony back, M.J. is required to sell his share, worth between $250 mil and $400 mil, back to Sony by May 31, 2008.
He'll rise like the phoenix
But don't count Michael Jackson out yet: According to FoxNews.com, M.J.'s coming lounge act in Vegas, which will feature the
Jackson 5
, could earn him as much as $482 mil over three years. Goodbye, poverty.
'It was mutual'
It's true, kids. People mag says the squeaky-cleanest, bubbliest bubble girl of all,
Mandy Moore
, 22, is no longer implicated in the life of 33-year-old would-be hipster
Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein
. The wild and wacky kids, who dated for two months, ended it 10 days ago.
Let there be Genesis
Genesis
' Sept. 18 show at the Wachovia Center is so sold out, the trio has added a second show, Sept. 19. Tix go on sale Saturday. Info: 1-800-298-4200 or
» READ MORE: www.ComcastTIX.com
.