TaleSpin: From The Access News Desk (7/17/07)

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by George Larrimore& Shelly Aguilar

THE PLANE IS TOO BIG: John Travolta has filed suit against some of his neighbors in a very exclusive area in Ocala, Florida, not far from Orlando. How exclusive is it? It’s Florida’s only fly-in neighborhood and it has a runway long enough to handle Travolta’s personal 707. He actually keeps two jets there, including a smaller one, and both can be taxied up almost to the back door.Travolta’s suit maintains that he’s caught in the middle of a legal squabble between the owners of the airport and the developers of the neighborhood adjacent to it.As legal matters go it’s pretty arcane, but we like the idea of really rich people suing other really rich people. There’s no word on whether the filing of the suit was timed to go along with the release of Travolta’s new movie, “Hairspray,” opening Friday.

PEREZ GETS SLAPPED: This lawsuit is juicier. Samantha Ronson, a semi-celebrated Hollywood DJ, is suing a Los Angeles photo agency and online gossipmonger Perez Hilton to the tune of $20,000,000. Samantha, you’ll remember, was in the car when Lindsay Lohan collided with a Beverly Hills tree that had strayed into the path of her Mercedes roadster. Later it was ascertained that there allegedly was alleged cocaine in the car. Samantha’s suit says the photo people concocted a story that it was Samantha’s coke and that Samantha had set Lindsay up. And Perez repeated the story on line. A couple of times. Perez’ attorney told TaleSpin he will sling around some subpoenas and see what sticks and that Truth Is The Best defense in cases like this one. Stay tuned.
(CLICK HERE to view the lawsuit filed against Perez!)

SPOTTED IN L.A.: I couldn’t tell if I was breathing Perez’ fumes or not when I was cruising, top down, through Pasadena yesterday. Could have been, if he drives a large Brown Lexus with PHilton on the Vanity Plate. Never could get close enough to check and still respect all the Local Speed Laws, which we are real sticklers for. Probably a Vanity Plate squatter, since I know the real Paris Hilton wouldn’t be caught dead in a Lexus, much less a brown one.

THAT’S MY TRUMP: Donald Trump has taken every possible opportunity to bash Rosie O’Donnell over the last few months. And she of course has bashed him back. But it was a Different Donald when he announced plans for an All-Celebrity version of “The Apprentice.” He pronounced Rosie perfect for the Boardroom on his revamped show. To which Rosie’s publicist, Cindi Berger, responded that it’s not gonna happen. And she did it with the Greatest Quote of at least the past month: “Not in this lifetime or beyond. Someone needs to put down the crack pipe.“Cindi, salut!

OBIT: Talespin values the obituaries. A great place to read history in a highly personal, condensed form. The LA Times noted the passing of Charles Tisdale. Back when he was in his ‘40s, Mr. Tisdale purchased the Jackson Advocate newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. The obit referred to the paper as being nearly defunct. But Mr. Tisdale saw possibilities and used the paper as his own Bully Pulpit to help disenfranchised blacks and poor whites in Mississippi get a better deal. The paper exposed bribery and corruption and made enemies, some of whom tried to scare The Advocate out of business with bullets or shut it down with stranglehold economics. But they didn’t. And Charles Tisdale lived to be 80, all the while making a difference.

Hit us with some news, or even a fat, juicy rumor or two… McGeorge.news@nbcuni.com

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