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Ooooo, good juicy stuff on the front page of the LA Times this morning! Seems the stars have been stuffing their pockets with charity $$$. And Aaron Tonkin is in a lot of trouble with the feds...

In one particularly expensive episode, Tonken wrangled a private jet to fly...Cher...to Atlanta so she could appear at a fundraiser for the Dallas-based Children's Craniofacial Assn. Tonken wasn't directly connected with the event, but he believed Cher would return the favor by performing at his own Los Angeles Kids Campaign gala, to be built around the Dallas charity and other philanthropies. The gala never occurred.
Once in Atlanta, Cher told Tonken that she wouldn't need his chartered Gulfstream for a return flight, so he let the plane go, even though he was obligated to pay for a round trip, according to people familiar with the situation. The singer then changed her mind and asked for a plane to return home — so Tonken chartered another jet, raising his total cost to more than $63,000. But Cher decided not to use the second jet, once sent.
An attorney for Cher declined to comment about the trips.

And it gets better....lots of celebs have been pocketing big bucks for "receiving a community service award". LOL!

I know a lot of you don't (won't) subscribe to the LA Times. But, given the delicious nature of this story....not to mention Aaron Torkin's relationship to Shillery...this one is worth the free registration.

It Pays to Be a Star on Charity Circuit

That money-grubbing behavior by so-called stars doesn't surprise me, and it's nothing new. My late father, a TV exec, said that most of the stars wouldn't even consider appearing at charity events without a big paycheck. Back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, he was involved in the planning and production of various telethons, and had to deal with their many demands for money and other perks. Then, of course, they'd swoop onto the stage acting like they were so generous for donating their time and talent to the good cause.

In other news of ersatz celebrities:

IN perhaps the gayest act of philanthropy in recent memory, sapphic superstar Rosie O'Donnell personally donated $25,000 to Harvey Milk High School to establish a "Fab Five Room" in the name of the swishy cast of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Rosie made the announcement while emceeing an auction at Capitale the other night benefiting the Hetrick Martin Institute, the gay youth rights advocacy group that spawned Harvey Milk HS. Rosie, who declared that, at 222 pounds, "me and Aretha Franklin are the two heaviest people in show biz," raised $600,000 beforehand and $245,000 during the live auction. (pagesix)

Don't quit yer day job for the standup comedy circuit quite yet, Whiny Joe:

Sen. Joe Lieberman said: "If you were drowning 50 feet offshore, President Bush would throw a line 30 feet out and John Ashcroft would say, 'At least Bush met you more than halfway.'" (Cindy Adams)