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

From Page Six:

Courtney Love appears to be taking another walk on the wild side - spouting off at the mouth, stripping in public and generally "acting beyond ridiculous," sources say.

In the wee hours of Friday morning, the 38-year-old rocker/actress lit up the switchboard of Maui's Four Seasons Hotel - where she's currently ensconced - making loud and boisterous telephone calls around the world, spies told Pge Six.

Love, who is said to be holed up under the name of Mary Black, was looking for a smashing outfit to wear to Elton John's big Feb. 5 benefit in London to save the Old Vic theater. She is said to have called such fashion houses as Dolce & Gabbana; Alexander McQueen, and Givenchy/Christian Dior's John Galliano in Europe, New York and "even Lebanon and Israel."

"She wanted clothes sent to her from all over the world," according to a source. "She wants to look great."

Love might want to try getting her beauty sleep. Apparently, she logged more than a dozen telephone calls from 2 a.m. until dawn. "She [Courtney] was talking a mile a minute and she wouldn't shut up," says a source. "At one point, she actually said, 'Do you understand the clothes have to look perfect. Elton has asked me to sing, 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.' And it's in front of the [bleep]ing Queen of England!"

In another phone call, she told a rep for a fashion company: "My clothes have to be right. Sinead O'Connor will be there; let her make an idiot out of herself. I won't have to worry about that."

Our spy said: "I can only say, I hope she wasn't sober. If she was sober, she is most certainly crazy. I think psychologists would describe her conversational manner as 'loose association.' "

Meanwhile, Love set new standards for skankdom a couple of months ago during a photo shoot for England's Q magazine. She stripped off all her clothes during the shoot in a London hotel, then went outside and plopped down naked on a road.

By the time the shoot was over, Courtney had set fire to things, poured champagne over her head and had her bikini line waxed in a room full of people, a source tells London's Sun, which just published pictures of a nude Courtney getting into a taxi cab. Courtney's shoot appears in Q's 200th issue, out this week.

"You'd think the boys from Q magazine had never been to a photo shoot before," said Heidi Schaeffer, a spokesperson for Love, who did not respond to Love's Hawaii behavior.
Earlier posts:
---> Whose Hole is it?
---> the scans from Q