newsmakers

newsmakers

Tutu calls for axing ‘Stars Earn Stripes’

NEW YORK

Nine Nobel Peace Prize winners are speaking out against a new NBC competition series they say treats military maneuvers like athletic events.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the other Nobel laureates have protested in an open letter that the show “Stars Earn Stripes,” glorifies war and armed violence.

The series premiered on NBC on Monday night. It pairs celebrity participants with U.S. military personnel for simulated military challenges.

The letter was sent Monday to NBC boss Robert Greenblatt and others connected with the show. It declares “preparing for war is neither amusing nor entertaining.” It calls for NBC to stop airing the series.

NBC has no comment.

The Nobel laureates also expressed their support for a protest against the show scheduled for Monday afternoon outside NBC’s New York headquarters.

Jennifer Aniston, Theroux engaged

NEW YORK

After years of breathless anticipation — at least on the part of the tabloids — Jennifer Aniston finally is ready to wed again.

Her representative, Stephen Huvane, confirmed Sunday night that the actress is engaged to her boyfriend of more than a year, Justin Theroux.

“Justin Theroux had an amazing birthday on Friday, receiving an extraordinary gift when his girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, accepted his proposal of marriage,” said Theroux’s rep in a statement to People, which first reported the engagement.

Theroux, 41, and Aniston, 43, have known each other for years, but started dating more than a year ago after working on the comedy “Wanderlust.” Though that film disappeared quickly from movie theaters after its release earlier this year, the relationship clearly proved to have more staying power. The two moved in together, and tabloids soon began predicting everything from marriage to babies for the new couple.

Ex-Komen executive gets a book deal

NEW YORK

The former Susan G. Komen executive at the heart of the organization’s clash with Planned Parenthood has a book deal.

Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Monday that Karen Handel’s “Planned Bullyhood” will come out Sept. 11.

Handel is a former senior vice president of public policy at Komen. She resigned in February amid a furious public debate over the breast-cancer charity’s decision to cut off, then reinstate funding for Planned Parenthood.

Handel is a Republican who opposed abortion as a candidate for Georgia governor. She actively supported Komen’s move to end the grants.

Last week, Komen’s founding CEO, Nancy Brinker, announced she was stepping down. A Komen spokeswoman says the decision is unrelated to last winter’s controversy. Komen President Liz Thompson also is leaving.

‘Jersey Shore’ spinoff finally gets a host

MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J.

Snooki and JWoww finally have found a New Jersey town that will let them tape the second season of their reality show.

The mayor of Manchester Township in Ocean County tells the Asbury Park Press that the “Jersey Shore” spinoff “Snooki & JWoww” will start shooting there in the next few days.

He says there’s nothing in local law to keep Jennifer “JWoww” Farley and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi from filming there.

In recent weeks, Point Pleasant Beach nixed taping there, and 495 Productions, which produces the show, decided against accepting conditions from local officials in Morristown.

Manchester Mayor Michael Fressola says he just wants the reality show stars to be good neighbors and obey the police department.

“Snooki & JWoww” taped its first season in Jersey City.

Ochocinco series dropped after arrest

LOS ANGELES

It’s over before it even started: VH1 has canceled “Ev & Ocho” after the arrest of former NFL player Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson over the weekend.

The series, which followed Evelyn Lozada (a staple on the network via “The Basketball Wives”) and her new hubby, was scheduled to debut Sept. 3 — followed the couple in the weeks leading to their nuptials, which took place July 4. But after Johnson’s arrest Saturday on domestic-violence charges — he allegedly head-butted Lozada during an argument at their Florida home — the network has dropped the series.

The network released the following statement: “Due to the unfortunate events over the weekend and the seriousness of the allegations, VH1 is pulling the series ‘Ev and Ocho’ from its schedule and has no current plans of airing it.”

It’s not the only setback the “Dancing with the Stars” alum, released from jail Sunday, is facing. News also broke Monday that the wide receiver was cut from the Miami Dolphins.

Associated Press