Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the Lincoln Center in New York (4/27)
Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson finally dropped their lawsuit against a woman who allegedly sold them a fake Beatles poster. From TMZ:
Tom Hanks is now officially the proud owner of a $75,000 Beatles poster, because his wife has dropped her lawsuit claiming the art was bogus.
Rita Wilson sued Melissa Pearl, claiming the poster from 1962-- which she bought for Hanks -- never came with the proper authentication. But Pearl anted up a doc from Sotheby's and Rita now seems satisfied. So the case is history.
I think we can all relate to Tom on this one. After all, who among us has never been burned after dropping one thirteenth of a million dollars on something to hang above the toilet in the guest bathrrom? I swear, the market for >$50k posters is like a minefield.
Julia Roberts dropped F-bombs and talked tits and ass during a speech honoring Tom Hanks at the "Film Society of Lincoln Center" event in New York last night. From Us Weekly:
"Alright well, it's late and I'm paying my babysitter overtime and I have to pee," she began. "So Tom, everybody fucking likes you. All my bits are gone. Listen, I had lunch today with Rita [Wilson, Hanks' wife], and her tits were here [motioned high] and her waist was here [motioned small] and her ass was like that [motioned high], so what can I tell you that's new? Tom Hanks, what the fuck?"
She then went on to say she's seen most of Hanks' films except That Thing (You Do). I love the Cohen brothers, but the hair Tom [in 2004's Ladykillers], I didn't even know what the fuck that movie was about!" Of 2004's The Terminal, she cracked, "You in the airport with the accent? It was a pass for me. Airport? Were you just an immigrant lost? I didn't know. I love you, and I didn't know what to do, really. God, I’m wearing the same fucking dress tonight as your publicist!"
The clip above is of the last half of the speech. But I must warn you before you watch it, it's a little unsettling hearing Julia Roberts cuss like a sailor. It's not really what you expect of her. It'd be like hearing Jessica Simpson recite Shakespeare. Or Mariah Carey form a complete sentence without using the words "me" or "I."
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at a benefit in San Francisco (10/27)
It's not just Christina Aguilera and Martha Stewart feeling the heat. Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have fallen upon hard times as well. From TMZ:
Tom Hanks is being dragged into the middle of a legal war over The Beatles. Tom's wife, Rita Wilson, just had to have a 1962 vintage Beatles poster priced at $75,000 as a gift for Hanks. According to legal papers filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Wilson agreed to ante up -- provided the seller, Melissa Pearl, coughed up a certificate of authenticity. When Pearl came up dry, Wilson said she would bail on the deal.
That's when Pearl, "became belligerent" demanding not only the $75k but an additional $300,000 "for what Pearl absurdly characterized as her time and trouble to obtain the evidence requested by Wilson that the poster was authentic." Wilson wants a judge to declare she can legally walk from the deal. (Source)
It's sad to see really. A legal mess over a simple little $75,000 poster and $300k certificate of authenticity. How embarrassing. During better times, I remember when celebrities would light their fancy cigarettes with $75,000 posters. My how times have changed.
