HELL NO, DON'T GO, SAYS GQ EDITOR
By KEITH J. KELLY THE NEW YORK POST

Art Cooper, the GQ editor in chief just inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Society of Magazine Editors, stirred controversy at the awards dinner with some stinging anti-war remarks directed at President Bush.

At the dais during a black-tie dinner Wednesday night at the Waldorf Astoria, he chided the commander in chief for being "all too eager" to have a war with Iraq.

"I am troubled by the prospect of launching a war against Iraq," said Cooper. "We have sent such intrepid war correspondents as Michael Kelly, Bob Drury, Guy Lawson and Chris Whitcomb into hot zones, and I do not wish to send them back," said Cooper.

"If there is to be a war - and I am deathly afraid our president is all too eager to have one - I surely hope this most secretive of administrations does not try to restrain the media from covering every aspect of it.

"We must not be docile in our demands that daily press briefings at the Al Rashid Hotel are not enough. It is our responsibility to report this adventurism fully and frankly to the American people."

The remarks stirred controversy and debate in what was otherwise seen as a jovial night out for the industry.

"We could have done without those remarks on the war," said one top editor as he waited on a seemingly interminable coat line after the dinner. "I thought it was a little off the beam," said another.

Applause was light while Cooper delivered his remarks on war - but it's open to debate whether the light applause was because members of the audience were listening in rapt attention - or deliberately turning down the volume because they disapproved of the rebuke to the president.

Afterward, Cooper partied in the same Waldorf Astoria presidential suite where Pope Paul VI once met President Johnson. Essence Chairman Edward Lewis was given the Henry Johnson Fisher Award, named for a long-ago chief of Popular Science. It is bestowed by the Magazine Publishers of America and is considered the highest honor given to an industry executive.

While Cooper was in a spacious presidential suite, Lewis and his entourage partied in the Waldorf penthouse, were guests were admitted by special pass keys. Lewis stopped downstairs to mingle with Cooper and his guests for awhile.

Hollywood stars prepare for battle
Claire Cozens The Guardian

A high court battle that pits the celebrity magazine Hello! against the husband-and-wife team of Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas kicks off in London today, with the world's media in attendance.

Their appearance at the hearing is expected to create one of the biggest media scrums ever seen at the law courts in the Strand.

The pair signed a £1m deal with OK! for exclusive pictures of their £1.2m wedding, but the magazine's arch-rival Hello! snapped surreptitious photos despite tight security.

When the couple learned that Hello! planned to hit the newsstands with a "spoiler" three days before OK!, they won a high court injunction to stop publication.

But the injunction was lifted by the court of appeal in time for both magazines to appear on the same day.

The actors are suing Hello! for £2m for stress, loss of income and damage to their professional careers because of the poor quality of the photos.

They also claim the privacy of their £1.2m wedding at a top New York hotel was invaded by the unwanted photographer.

But the high-profile couple will not make their grand entrance to give evidence until February 10.

Michael Tugendhat QC, representing the couple and OK!, was refused a request for another postponement of the main trial to allow the stars to be present from the beginning.

He said Zeta-Jones had a prior engagement in Berlin for the premiere of her film, Chicago, and her husband was on an assignment for the United Nations in Sierra Leone.

He said: "Mr Douglas wishes to be with his wife in London when she gives evidence, not simply because she is his wife and is seven months pregnant.

"There is another aspect - because a privacy trial is almost a contradiction in terms. This is a case which the Douglases will say they are bringing because of injury to their feelings, intrusion and other matters of a personal nature.

"They never wanted this to be a money claim but the alternative is no claim and so they have chosen a money claim."

They are pursuing Hello!, its Spanish counterpart, Hola!, their proprietor, Eduardo Sanchez-Junco, media consultant the Marquesa De Varela, her company, Neneta Overseas Ltd, and freelance photographer Philip Ramey.

Meanwhile, Zeta-Jones' onscreen performance in Chicago won official recognition last night as she swept to victory at the London Evening Standard Film Awards, ending a run of high-profile disappointments.

The actress, 33, relayed her thank you message via video to the awards ceremony held at London's Savoy Hotel.

See Catherine Zeta Jones new portfolio in Esquire