ROLL CALL: Isaiah Withdraws, & Britney Locks Horns With Dad

Your Daily Dispatch of Celebrity Shenanigans by Tommy Vergason

April 20, 2007

SPEARS VS. SPEARS: Jamie Spears, Britney Spears’ father, is reportedly unhappy with her decision to fire longtime manager Larry Rudolph last Friday, and he has issued a statement to THE NEW YORK POST’s PAGE SIX expressing his disapproval: “When Larry Rudolph talked Britney into going into rehab, he was doing what her mother, father and team of professionals with over 100 years of experience knew needed to be done. She was out of control. Larry was the one chosen by the team to roll up his sleeves and deliver the message, to help save her life.” Britney reportedly responded with a statement of her own, via her rep: “I am praying for my father. We have never had a good relationship. It’s sad that all the men that have been in my life do not know how to accept a real woman’s love. I am concentrating on my work and my life right now.”

HOW NEIL MET THE PUBLIC: Neil Patrick Harris is concentrating on his work and life as well, as he told Ellen Degeneres on her show Thursday. US WEEKLY posts excerpts from the interview, in which Harris talks about publicly coming out as a homosexual, and the effect it has had on his career: “There was a little of media scrutiny heading my way,” Harris reportedly said. “I just didn?t find it important, but other people did, and sensed this sort of witch-hunt brewing.? As for the effect his announcement has had on his career? “Nothing’s changed,” he reportedly told Ellen. “And for me, that is the greatest ending to the story so far — that nothing really has changed at all. I?m doing nothing different, and people aren?t behaving differently towards me.”

ISAIAH BOWS OUT: VARIETY reports that “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Isaiah Washington will not be receiving an Emmy this year, because he has decided to take himself out of the running for a nomination. According to the report, Washington decided not to submit himself for supporting actor consideration. While the cause of this decision is not offered by Washington or his reps, VARIETY chalks it up to the widely- reported controversy he was embroiled in this past year, and speculates that he wants to stay away from high-profile events where the media might be looking for additional, and controversial, soundbites.

More Celebrity Scoop After The Video!

DISNEY PICKS A ROSE: Soundbites are essential for Disney animated films, and the studio has chosen the voice for its next movie princess, reports E! ONLINE’s MARC MALKIN. A rep reportedly confirms that “Dreamgirls” actress Anika Noni Rose has landed the lead voice role in “The Frog Princess,” which will be the first black princess in Disney’s long line of blockbuster princesses. Malkin’s sources indicate that Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Tyra Banks are allegedly among the actresses that auditioned for Disney, with the role finally being given to the Tony award-winning Rose.

PROJECTILE PEET: “Studio 60” star Amanda Peet may get to know Disney films well, as she recently gave birth to her first child. She reportedly tells PEOPLE, “I’m very busy with my baby ? I have to get back to my projectile-vomiting baby.” Other than struggling with sleep deprivation, she reportedly says that she’s “on cloud nine” about her new daughter, and that she and her husband, screenwriter David Benioff, are reportedly considering having more kids. “He wants three, but I’m old, I’m an old lady,” Peet, 35, jokes. “Two is enough!”

SUDEIKIS ‘ROCKS’: And finally, USA TODAY’s WHITNEY MATHESON interviews “SNL” cast member Jason Sudeikis about working on the long-running sketch show, as well as his steadily growing role as Tina Fey’s love interest “Floyd” on “30 Rock.” In the interview, Sudeikis reportedly riffs on the antics he and Fey get up to as friends in real life, his future on “30 Rock,” as well as whether he’s gotten to hang out with this week’s “SNL” host, Scarlett Johannson. “No, nobody does,” he says. “She’s in a glass case at all times, and they just wheel her in and out of rooms.”

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