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By Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk is a senior writer at EW and the author of ''Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desparate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor''

LEGAL BATTLES Arnold Schwarzenegger has amended his $50 million libel lawsuit against the tabloid the Globe to include the doctor who was quoted as saying the action star was suffering from heart disease. Schwarzenegger claims that Dr. Arnold Fox never treated him or saw his medical records. The poster boy for physical fitness underwent a heart-valve replacement in 1997 but says that he is now completely healthy and that the August story was wholly inaccurate.... Busta Rhymes is back in trouble, this time being charged with criminal contempt for violating a restraining order held by the mother of his son. He turned himself in after the woman notified police when Rhymes called her and threatened her. He is also facing an April 30 hearing for a weapons charge from December.

RATINGS DROP Since Jon Stewart took over ''The Daily Show'' from Craig Kilborn, the ratings have dropped 14 percent among Comedy Central's most precious audience: men ages 18-34. A Comedy Central exec says this is an unfair comparison because Stewart needs more time to build his audience. The exec also points out that since Stewart can attract bigger-name stars (like Billy Crystal and Sandra Bullock), he's actually widening the network's appeal beyond young men.

MORE OSCAR CONTROVERSY Joining hundreds of screaming fans and Joan Rivers outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will be some 20 picketing ex-Miramax employees. The disgruntled group is part of a class-action suit that claims more than 50 departed workers are owed a total of $1.4 million in unpaid overtime. Miramax says that it is ''in full compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations.''

SELLING BIG Elizabeth Taylor's 1969 Oscar gown fetched the top price of $167,500 at an auction of famous Academy Award outfits yesterday to benefit the AIDS research charity AMFAR. Toymaker Mattel bought the outfit, while the Home Shopping Network purchased a 1998 Madonnagetup for $79,500. The entire auction of 56 dresses, which also included those of Kate Winslet and Sigourney Weaver, raised $786,120.

REEL DEALS Frustrated by the cancellation of her sitcom ''Getting Personal,'' Vivica A. Fox (''Soul Food'') is turning to producing and directing. She has partnered with the production company Team Todd (''Austin Powers'') to develop her own projects and will direct some episodes of Nickelodeon's kids' shows.... Even though director Darren Aronofsky was signed to profitable deals with major studios Dimension and New Line after the success of his low-budget ''Pi,'' his next film, ''Requiem for a Dream,'' will be an indie costing only $4.5 million. He adapted Hubert Selby Jr.'s tale of drug addiction and has cast Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans.... Tony Kaye, who apparently burned every bridge in America with his loud denouncement of his own film ''American History X,'' has teamed up with an Icelandic producer to develop his next movie, a dark look at entertainment's effect on violence and drug use in society.... After a bidding war, Paramount won the rights to remake ''The Stepford Wives,'' the 1974 chiller about a town full of eerily obedient women. Scott Rudin (''The Truman Show'') will produce.


Posted Mar 19, 1999 | Order Article Reprints