Tattle: Story behind the scar: Tina Fey's hubby tells all

UPPER DARBY'S

Tina Fey

has always been reluctant to talk about the scar on her face, but husband

Jeff Richmond

has finally spilled the beans.

In an interview in Vanity Fair, Richmond says that a stranger slashed the "30 Rock" star's face when she was 5 years old. He says the incident occurred in the front yard of her house.

What? People move to Upper Darby to get away from that stuff.

Says Richmond: "That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life."

Tina says talking about the attack would seem like exploiting it.

"It's really almost like I'm able to forget about it, until I was on-camera," Tina said, "and it became a thing of 'Oh, I guess we should use this side' or whatever. Everybody's got a better side."

The power of print

Hollywood's studio heads, stuck in a standoff with the Screen Actors Guild, made their plea to the rest of the industry in a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times.

The "open letter" appeared in yesterday's paper and said actors are jeopardizing the work of other unions that have already made deals with producers.

It said: "SAG is demanding that the entire industry literally throw out all its hard work because it believes it deserves more than the 230,000 other people working in the industry."

The letter was signed by the CEOs of eight major Hollywood studios, each of which will make millions this year even though not one major studio has released a film that our critic Gary Thompson has given an "A."

As an officer in the Newspaper Guild, Tattle frowns upon CEOs trying to pit unions against each other. However, our Guild would like to thank the studios for recognizing the value of newspaper advertising.

* Billboard.com says Alan Gutman, lawyer for Guns N' Roses and Axl Rose, has accused Dr Pepper of failing to deliver on its promotion to offer free soda in celebration of the band's new album, "Chinese Democracy."

Gutman wrote to Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. CEO Larry Young and said the online redemption scheme was an "unmitigated disaster which defrauded customers."

His letter says the original campaign was an "exploitation of my clients' legendary reputation and their eagerly awaited album" and "brazenly violated our clients' rights." He is also seeking an "appropriate payment . . . for the unauthorized use and abuse of their publicity and intellectual property rights."

"Now is the time to clean up the mess," he says.

Gutman is demanding that Dr Pepper make good on its offer by extending the period for the offer. He also wants full-page apologies in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

(And Philadelphia Daily News.)

Tattbits

* Remember who the teachers were in the original "Fame"?

Didn't think so.

That won't be a problem in the remake with Frasier and Lilith bickering in the teacher's lounge.

The Hollywood Reporter says Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have been hired for the administrative and teaching roles in the new "Fame."

We're concerned.

* Correction: That TV station in Cincinnati did not change its call letters to WKRP as we reported yesterday. The station only refers to itself as WKRP and changed its trademark.

* "E.R." star Parminder Nagra is moving to the maternity ward.

Usmagazine.com says she and longtime photographer beau, James Stenson, are expecting their first child this summer.

With "E.R." ending its run in February, Parminder will not have to hide behind gurneys during the pregnancy.

* Wall Street got you down?

Billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone and his holding companies have sold his family's 80.3 million shares in the penny stock Midway Games Inc.

Alas, Midway wasn't a penny stock when Sumner bought it.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter thinks Sumner lost about $600 million.

"It's big enough to feel the pain," he said.

When a $600 million loss isn't big enough to cause pain, you have way too much money.

* Ivana Trump is saying arrivederci to Rossano Rubicondi.

Ivana, who wed Rossano way back in April, says she filed a legal separation agreement three months ago. She says she kept it quiet because she didn't want to ruin Rossano's chances of winning the Italian edition of "Survivor."

Huh?

Rossano is Mr. Ivana No. Four. The couple dated for six years before deciding to marry. The marriage didn't last six months.

Says Ivana: "Rossano wants to live in Miami and work in Milan. . . . But, I am a New Yorker and my family, friends and businesses are here. As the beautiful song says, 'Que sera sera!' "

She seems pretty broken up.

* Travis Barker and DJ AM will perform together for the first time since they survived a plane crash in South Carolina.

The pair will headline New Year's Nation's Los Angeles New Year's Eve Party at The Lot in West Hollywood.

* Boy George admits in a recording played in a London courtroom that he did restrain male escort Audun Carlsen with handcuffs.

But Boy says he had no intention of hurting Audun. He also denies he tried to assault him or that he swung a chain at him.

Boy says he merely wanted to ask Audun if he had tampered with his laptop.

Isn't that why you pay a male escort? To tamper with your laptop? *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com