Stones ruffle feathers in China
They might be old enough to be granddaddies, but that doesn't mean The Rolling Stones can't still upset The Man. Chinese authorities have asked Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood to excise four ditties from their set list for two forthcoming concerts in the People's Republic: "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together." Interracial love and sexual innuendo were cited as reasons.
The band will comply. Members are just happy they got into the country. "It's about time they let us in," Richards said. The Stones have been trying to get a gig in China since the 1970s. Officials will allow "Some Girls," which contains the lyrics "Chinese girls are so gentle/They're really such a tease/You never know quite what they're cookin'/Inside those silky sleeves."
About that money . . .
Miami Vice alum Don Johnson denies he's been involved in any Zurich vice. He's spittin' mad over reports that he was caught with $8 billion in bonds, credit notes and securities crossing the Swiss-German border.
"They have taken a routine incident and blown it up into this money laundering ring that supposedly I am involved in," Johnson said. The 53-year-old actor said news reports about the money were "ill-founded and farcical" and have caused "irreparable damage," including the closing of two bank accounts. Johnson's spokesman describes the papers as "resumes" and "bank statements" belonging to another passenger in the car.
Casting report
Things are looking tap-happy for the dance movie. Former In Living Color Fly Girl Jennifer Lopez will hoof it up with Richard Gere in a remake of Shall We Dance?, the 1995 Japanese hit about ballroom dancing. Miramax will produce, after banking that little Gere vehicle Chicago.
