Posted on 02/23/2003 2:16:10 PM PST by cody32127
Tonight's Grammy awards could turn into one long anti-war protest, judging by the parties leading up to the event.
"Tell Mr. President we don't want war," Wyclef Jean told a cheering crowd during a rendition of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry," at Friday's "Tinseltown to Gotham" party at Cipriani 42nd Street.
Asked why American soldiers shouldn't oust Saddam, since they rid Wyclef's Haitian homeland of "Baby Doc" Duvalier, the singer told us: "The United States and Haiti always had a relationship."
At the pre-Grammy bash thrown by designer Nicole Miller, Faith Evans boldly declared, "War is the pits. I just pray that everything is okay soon."
And then there was Bono, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
"The war against terrorism is bound up with the war against poverty," said the U2 frontman, who was honored for his humanitarian work at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' MusiCares benefit at the Marriott Marquis.
Bill Clinton also attended the celebrity peace rally.
Introduced by Bono as "more of a rock star than any in this room," the former President said, "If you immediately think it's us versus them, then this will not be a world for your children to grow up in."
Joining Clinton in the four-hour praise song to Bono were Carly Simon, Patti Labelle, Sheryl Crow, B.B. King, Wynonna Judd and her sister Ashley, Steve Van Zandt, Gwen Stefani, Jimmy Fallon, Salman Rushdie, Robert De Niro and a group of 20 Ugandan children, all orphaned by AIDS.
Among those doing Bono's repertoire were Norah Jones (with a terrific cover of "Stuck in a Moment") and Mary J. Blige (who struggled with "One").
Bono himself was in Sinatra mode, covering "That's Life" and "Night and Day" with help from his band's guitarist, The Edge. Asked about his Nobel nod, the singer said, "It's just a huge honor to be even mentioned in the same list as people like Hans Blix and Pope John Paul."
Smackdown
Colin Farrell may be easing off of his bad-boy pose. "The Recruit" and "Daredevil" star says he was misunderstood when he told Playboy that heroin was fine when taken "in moderation."
"I was being sarcastic," he said. "But of course in print it comes across as me saying, 'Yeah, heroin is okay.' Which isn't true."
The Irish actor has been coming under increasing pressure to stop trying to outdo Russell Crowe in the surly sweepstakes.
"Some prominent industry insiders have already called us about [one of your curse-filled quotes]," Farrell's agent, Josh Lieberman, is said to have told him in a memo.
But Farrell's "S.W.A.T." co-star LL Cool J, has expressed concern about another of the actor's habits. "Colin is my man," said the rapper. "I just don't want to catch emphysema hanging around him. He smokes 15 cartons a day."
The tour must go on
The mourning is just beginning for the 96 souls who, so far, lost their lives in Thursday's tragic fire at a Rhode Island nightclub. But Great White frontman Jack Russell is wasting no time in scouting for a replacement for guitarist Ty Longley, who died after a pyrotechnics display got out of control.
"I personally would like to express my heartfelt condolences to those families of the loved ones who perished, as well as Ty ... in the tragedy at the Station," Russell said in a Web message. "We will continue our tour with a replacement guitarist sometime in the next few days."
Rednecks for peace?
Grammy nominee Sheryl Crow says she doesn't think her anti-war message is at odds with her recent tilt toward country music.
"Country today is not a bunch of rednecks," the InStyle mag cover girl told us at the party they threw for her on Thursday at the Majestic Hotel. "I think the boundaries have blurred between what is popular and what is country."
Asked whether it's true that she's dating actor Josh Charles, she'd only say, "Josh is great."
Also at the party were Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins, Knick Travis Knight, Infinity Broadcasting's John Sykes, Interscope's Jimmy Iovine, MTV's Tom Freston and Warner Music's Roger Ames. Oh, and Time Inc. editorial director John Huey, who thanked the deejay for playing the Steve Miller Band.
Go figure.
Patriotic Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow may not be ready to join boyfriend Chris Martin at a peace march.
While they cuddled at Thursday's Brit Awards in London, a spy tells us the American Oscar-winner, 30, looked "uncomfortable" when Martin said from the podium, "We're all going to die if George Bush has his way."
On Friday, the couple hit Heathrow together for a flight to New York and the Grammys.
Side dishes
IT MAY be freezing but romance is abloom. We hear Annabella Sciorra, 37, has been seeing "Ghost Ship" star and Bronx-born hunk Desmond Harrington, 26. She must be joining the tadpoling trend ...
MARTY RICHARDS, a driving force behind the movie version of "Chicago," wasn't able to attend tonight's British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards in London because he's undergoing radiation for prostate cancer. And his disappointment is profound. "I've waited a whole lifetime for [this honor]," says the producer. "I would have swum to England." Diagnosed three months ago, Richards is confident he'll beat the disease and make it to the Oscars "even if I have to be carried in on a stretcher by 12 showgirls"...
A SLEW of stars descended on Quincy Jones' Los Angeles home on Thursday for lunch and a shopping event, sponsored by Coach, for Peace Games. The charity promotes the principles of peace among children. Among the guests were his daughters Kidada and Rashida Jones, Heather Graham, Samuel L. Jackson, Adrien Brody, Ellen DeGeneres, Jewel, Jessica Capshaw and Damon Dash.
Surveillance
EXPECTANT MOM Jennifer Connelly and new hubby Paul Bettany brought friends and her 5-year-old son, Kai, to dinner at Pastis. Bettany carried the sleeping lad out of the restaurant...
ALL THOSE mornings Deborah Norville spent taking her son to hockey practice may finally pay off. The "Inside Edition" anchor is due to be the celebrity coach at the Microsoft Hockey Challenge at the Nassau Coliseum today, after the Islanders game. Says Norville: "I have figured out the job of a coach is basically to yell, 'Change up!' every 45 seconds or so." The event, where Tom Arnold, Elijah Wood and Kiefer Sutherland are also expected, is a fund-raiser for the Westchester Medical Center and Schneider's Children's Hospital on Long Island.
Excuse me, Sal, but what could you possibly find to protest about in the U.S. taking out a cruel, oppressive dictator? Is this too weird, or what? This is the guy who has a price on his head by the Ayatollahs of Iran for daring to criticize Islam.
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