Monitor
WEDDINGS
NBA wild man Dennis Rodman, 37, and actress Carmen Electra (Hyperion Bay), 26, Nov. 14, in Las Vegas. While Rodman’s agent reportedly denied the union’s validity, claiming his cross-dressing client was too drunk for the nuptials to be legal, Rodman later issued a handwritten statement saying, ”I apologize for any false statements given on my behalf regarding my marriage. I love Carmen and am proud to be married to her.” It’s Rodman’s second marriage, Electra’s first.
SPLITS
Seven wasn’t her lucky number after all. Actress Jeri Ryan, 30, who plays Star Trek: Voyager‘s Seven of Nine, filed for divorce, Nov. 6, from her husband of seven years, Chicago-based investment banker Jack Ryan, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple has a son, Alex, 4.
DEALS
Ending months of speculation, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, 25, signed with British publisher Michael O’Mara Books for a reported $600,000 advance to tell her side of the Sexgate story. The book, said to be titled Monica’s Story, will be written by Princess Diana biographer Andrew Morton and published in the U.S. by St. Martin’s Press, which 10 months ago denied interest in Lewinsky’s tale. ”We’ll get a fuller story than anything we’ve heard,” says Sally Richardson, publisher of St. Martin’s. The book will reportedly hit stores in February.
EXITS
Universal Studios chairman and CEO Frank Biondi Jr., 53, Nov. 16, after a tumultuous two-year reign. The move was hardly surprising; there had recently been reports that Edgar Bronfman Jr., president and CEO of the Seagram Co., Universal’s parent, was getting set to fire Biondi. Bronfman was supposedly unhappy with the performance of Universal’s film division, which this year released such costly disappointments as One True Thing and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. (The reportedly $90 million Brad Pitt vehicle Meet Joe Black opened Nov. 13 in third place, grossing $15 million its first weekend.) Biondi, who’d spent much of his career in TV, saw his role at Universal undercut last fall after Bronfman gave up control of most of the studio’s TV assets to USA Networks. Bronfman is expected to overhaul the studio’s corporate structure and take a more active role in its entertainment divisions. Biondi’s future plans remain uncertain.