Mag tagged
Names take aim at Pellicano article
By GABRIEL SNYDER
Brad Grey and a collection of stars with ties to the current Paramount toppertopper are fighting back against Vanity Fair.
Grey and several former clients, including Brad Pitt and Adam
Sandler, as well as a reprep for the late Chris Farley,
have come forward with claims that the mag's story on the Anthony
Pellicano scandal is inaccurate.
In contradiction to the story, Pitt, Sandler and the Farley rep deny
ever hiring the P.I. In addition, HBO has denied that Grey once pushed
a TV show based on Pellicano as a replacement for "The Sopranos," as
the mag also reported.
The Vanity Fair story was published on its Web site on Wednesday and will appear in the June issue, due on newsstands May 3.
In a ParPar statement released late on Thursday, the studio said,
"Specific allegations and statements made by unnamed sources about Brad
Grey in Vanity Fair's piece on Anthony Pellicano are total
fabrications."
Grey has previously acknowledged that his attorney, Bert Fields, used
Pellicano during two of Grey's lawsuits but denies any knowledge of
illegal activities.
Vanity Fair included a quote from a Grey spokesman saying Grey never recommended that his clients hire the P.I.
Citing a former exec at Brillstein-Grey, where Grey was a partner
before he took the Par job, the mag reports that "Grey used Pellicano
for work on behalf of any number of his clients including Brad Pitt,
Adam Sandler and the late Chris Farley."
Cindy GuagentiCindy Guagenti, who reps Pitt and Sandler, said in a
statement, "Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler and the late Chris Farley have
never once engaged the services of Anthony Pellicano, either directly
or through a representative."
Guagenti added that none of the three thesps were contacted by the
magazine before the story was published. Neither John Connolly, one of
the writers of the piece, nor a rep for Vanity Fair immediately
returned calls requesting comment.
Brillstein-Grey's Mark Gurvitz, who manages the Farley estate, told
Daily Variety, "He's never once been involved with Anthony Pellicano in
any way whatsoever."
Alleging a separate inaccuracy in the magazine story, HBO released a
statement denying the magazine's report, also attributed to an unnamed
former Brillstein-Grey exec, that Grey had considered replacing "The
Sopranos""The Sopranos" with a drama based on Pellicano's life when the
mob skeinskein's star, James GandolfiniJames Gandolfini, once walked
off the set.
HBO confirmed that there once was a pilot idea based on Pellicano's
life but said it was "two years apart" from the dispute with
Gandolfini. HBO suspended production on "The Sopranos" show in March
2003 during a contract dispute with the star. The cablercabler did not
say whether the Pellicano project was two years before or after the
star's walkout.
A rep for HBO said in a statement, "The allegation made in Vanity Fair
that Brad Grey considered replacing 'Sopranos' with a show called "The
Pellicanos' is absurd. Writer John Connolly specifically asked and was
told by Grey's representatives that a pilot idea about Anthony
Pellicano arriving at HBO and the James Gandolfini contract
negotiations were at least two years apart."
Separately, in the latest civil action spurred by the Pellicano
investigation, manager and producer Aaron Russo and three of his family
members have filed claims against the city of Beverly Hills for not
preventing a police officer from gathering personal information from
law enforcement databases.
The officer, Craig Stevens, pleaded guilty in January to charges of
taking money from Pellicano to do searches on the private eye's
targets. He has resigned from the Beverly Hills Police Dept.
In the claims filed by attorney Neville Johnson, who represents 11 of
the complainants in the indictment accusing Pellicano and six others of
conspiring to illegally gather information, Beverly Hills is accused of
failing to "train, discipline, investigate and supervise officer
Stevens." They ask for punitive damages for violating the Russos'
privacy and civil rights.
Russo, who once managed Bette Midler and was a producer of "Trading
Places," was investigated by Pellicano in 2001 during a lawsuit between
Russo and financier Adam Sender over a failed movie project.
In court papers filed in 2004, Russo accused Pellicano of gleaning info
for Sender by wiretapping his phone. Prosecutors said in their
indictment of Pellicano that Stevens checked police computers for
criminal histories and motor vehicle records on Russo and his family
members.
A rep for the Beverly Hills Police Dept. was not available for comment.
Date in print: Fri., Apr. 28, 2006, Los Angeles
http://www.variety.com/VR1117942164.html