All Is Not Well In Tinseltown

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

19 Jul 2007 12:29 PM

At least for some stars...

TV legend Merv Griffin has been hospitalized for a recurrence of prostate cancer. According to his rep, Griffin is being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for cancer discovered during a routine examination a few weeks ago.

In a statement released earlier today the 82-year-old game show producer said:

"I'd rather play Jeopardy! than live it. I was ready for a vacation; however, this wasn't the destination I had in mind."

It's nice to see Griffin's sense of humor remains intact.

Meanwhile, singer Jon Bon Jovi is lashing out at the owners of an energy drink. The 45-year-old rocker wants the owner of the Mijovi energy drink to change its name, arguing it is too similar to his own.

And according to Bon Jovi the similarities don't stop there. The singer objected to the use of the company's use of the words "itsmijovi" and "itsmilife," which appear in marketing materials and on the drink's can. (You'll recall that one of Bon Jovi's biggest hits was a song entitled "It's My Life.")

Misjovi owner Marcos Carrington denies any wrongdoing. He says his coffee-based energy drink is named after his girlfriend, whose name is Jovita. As for the words "itsmijovi" and "itsmilife," Carrington says they mean, "it's my jovial life." The full phrase on the can is "itsmienergy.itsmijovi.itsmilife."

The fight has gone to court, even though Carrington says he's willing to stop using "itsmilife" on cans once an inventory of 3,000 cans is used up. As for the name Mijovi, the owner says he is not changing that.

The Rev. Al Sharpton says he still can't stand Don Imus, but their feud may be softening a bit. According to news reports, Sharpton who rallied for Imus' firing now says he wouldn't object if the radio personality returned to the airwaves.

"He has a right to make a living," Sharpton recently told news reporters.

This after Imus was publicly dismissed from his syndicated radio program in April for using a derogatory term to describe the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Sharpton made sure to add that he is not an Imus fan and that he hoped that any company, which hired Imus, would take steps to ensure that he "wouldn't return to a brand of humor that included race- and gender-based insults."

No love lost there

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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