"I remember when I was a kid I got into an argument with my mom and dad and I ran to my room and was like, 'I'm going to my room because the only friends I have are stuffed and on my bed.'"—Jesse Tyler Ferguson reveals he's always had a flair for the dramatic. I remember having some friends who were stuffed on my bed, but that's another story.
You know me—I hate to pry. But I do think there are instances where it's ridiculous for someone in the public eye to complain about this invasion. For instance, we all know "things" about Zachary Quinto ( formerly on Heroes and So NoTORIous, currently in Angels in America off-Broadway ) . But do we ask? No. Instead of tackling the elephant in the room, a reporter asked if he has any post-show rituals. Zach talked about taking showers and reading, but said it was too personal. The reporter then asked what Quinto's favorite flavor of ice cream was. "Still too personal. Sorry." Honey, it's called an interview! It's not like he asked which flavor lube you like...
Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler—together. Yes, our two divine divas made a rare joint appearance ... kinda. The setting was Philadelphia. The event was the opening of the National Museum of American Jewish History. Jerry Seinfeld hosted. Babs was honored. She looked quite stunning with her long, straight hair ( she looked eerily similar to the cover from "Live Concert at the Forum"—no small feat since that was in 1972 ) . Bette sang a medley of songs by Jewish composers and lyricists. Fine. What everyone wanted was a photo of the two gals—together. While they graciously posed for the paps, they stayed on separate sides of the room. Leave it to Seinfeld to corral the pair for a photo op—positioning himself front and center, of course. ( I'm told one of them was less than eager to be in a photo à deux—the one who folded her arms defiantly. ) We'll run the pic on BillyMasters.com .
Remember I told you that Playgirl had offered Glee's Chord Overstreet and Mark Salling $100K for a "suggestive" photo shoot? Well, forget it—it ain't happening. "We couldn't work it out. Chord's people decided against it," said a Playgirl rep. Does that mean Salling is still in the running? Stay tuned.
In a related story, Playgirl also reveals it missed the boat on another nude—that of Kanye West. A couple of weeks ago, someone was peddling a pic of West's penis. Playgirl had first dibs on the shot, but don't look for it in its mag or website: "It would have cost us $100,000, and we said no. We should have said yes." Happily, I rarely say no to dick, so you can see the shot on BillyMasters.com—the site that always says yes.
Everyone seems interested in showing some skin. Jake Gyllenhaal ( who I spent a lovely afternoon with at A Little Night Music on Broadway—more about that in next week's column ) said that he filmed quite a number of nude scenes for Love and Other Drugs: "I was naked a lot in the movie. I was naked in more of it than was even in the final cut. A director's cut? I don't even know how that would be rated." For those of you who aren't rushing to see the flick when it opens Nov. 24, you now have something to look forward to on the DVD release. To tempt you even further, Jake and co-star Anne Hathaway posed nude for the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Actually, they're naked quite a number of times since they shot three covers. I love a good collectable, but for those of you not looking to buy the same magazine three times, look for all the pics on our website.
Someone else who's gonna be naked on the 24th is Twilight hottie Cam Gigandet. He's part of Burlesque and the gals aren't the only ones who'll be stripping in that flick. He plays Christina Aguilera's love interest and does a striptease for the sultry songstress. When asked how he was convinced to do the scene, he laughed and said, "All they had to do was ask." OK, I'm asking... Anyway, back to the scene. I'm told he's fully nude—no sock or other flesh-toned apparel was employed. The way it was shot, you can see virtually everything—and if I've taught you nothing else, you should know that "virtually everything" = "no penis." In this instance, we have to thank a strategically placed box of Famous Amos cookies. "I don't think I'll be eating them for a while," said Cam.
In our last naked guy story, Justin Timberlake seems to have a limited wardrobe in Friends With Benefits. When asked what it was like doing love scenes with Timberlake, co-star Mila Kunis said, "I can't complain. It's not like I had the hardest two months. It's not like I was, 'Uch, I have to go to work and have simulated sex for two weeks. Darn it.' It was kinda great." Judging from the steamy teaser we have on our website, I bet it was....
In a non-nudity-related "Ask Billy" question, Patrick in Dallas writes: "I heard that Kathy Griffin's show may not come back to Bravo. Is that true? Why?"
It's been a tense situation doing My Life on the D List. Kathy has quite a number of restrictions regarding what she can and cannot do, and who she can and cannot mention. Also, many gigs she's done have not allowed the Bravo team to film, which led to the last two seasons being over-filled with staged events just for the sake of being funny. And Kat ain't happy. What she's proposed is a scripted sitcom based on her life—much like Curb Your Enthusiasm: "I could have someone play my mom because she's a legend at this point. I do feel like it is a natural progression to take all the wacky things that happen to me. But some things can't be on the reality show because of legal issues and clearances. I think it could be even funnier because it is still real if there was nothing that was off limits." While this idea continues to evolve, she will continue doing stand-up around the country and Bravo is committed to airing at least one special a year.
When I'm fantasizing about what flavor cookies were covering Cam's cock ( I'm thinking cream-filled ) , it's definitely time to end yet another column. Since it's Thanksgiving, let me take a moment to thank all of you who read this column and check out www.BillyMasters.com each and every week. It was just pointed out to me that I recently celebrated 15 years of keeping you entertained—at least in print. Some days, it feels like this all started yesterday. And other days, it seems like it's been FOREVER! But it won't take that long for me to respond to your e-mails. So if you've got a question, send a note to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before Bette and Babs battle over the drumstick! Until next time, remember, one man's filth is another man's bible.
