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Lena Horne Ousts Janet Jackson from Biopic
25 February 2004 (WENN)
Janet Jackson has been ousted from a planned biopic on Lena Horne, after her breast-flashing stunt at the Super Bowl. A spokeswoman for Jackson says the singer was effectively barred from Lena by Horne and her daughter Gail Lumet Buckley, who were outraged when the star exposed her breast during the February 1 football final. Horne refused to return her contract for the film until American TV network ABC guaranteed Jackson was no longer working on the project. Although ABC bosses refused Horne's demand, Jackson walked out - and was quickly followed by executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The project has now been left in limbo as a result. A source at ABC says, "It's sad this had to happen. It was a perfect match." A spokeswoman for Zadan and Meron says the producers are now looking for another project to do with Jackson, who had planned to re-record some of Horne's songs and even posed as the Lady Is A Tramp singer in a recent spread for style magazine Vanity Fair.

Janet Won't Play Lena
24 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Only days after the release of a Vanity Fair issue in which she appears in a two-page spread dressed like legendary singer Lena Horne, Janet Jackson has reportedly withdrawn from the planned ABC biopic Lena. (The Vanity Fair article shows Jackson posing on a 1940s-style bandstand, while a caption -- obviously written before the Super Bowl incident -- reads in part, "She has said that people think of her as 'the normal one.'") Jackson's decision to quit the project followed on the heels of a report in People magazine that Horne was so offended by Jackson's breast-baring antic on the Super Bowl halftime show that she demanded that Jackson be fired. According to Variety, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have also quit the project "in solidarity with Jackson."

Janet's Flash Prompts Questions Over Lena Horne Movie
20 February 2004 (WENN)
Janet Jackson's breast-bearing Super Bowl stunt has reportedly sparked yet another fallout - this time with legendary singer and actress Lena Horne. Jackson sparked outrage in her native America when Justin Timberlake ripped open her bustier to reveal her ample chest at the end of their performance together at the February 1 American football final in Texas. And while the move sparked outrage across the country and tougher censorship regulations, Jackson's role as Horne in a TV musical biopic called Lena is also reportedly on shaky ground. Sources tell America's People magazine that Horne and her camp are so offended by the flesh-flashing incident, they don't want Jackson portraying her. According to the publication, Jackson learned of the news just after the March issue of Vanity Fair hit stands, featuring the singer in a photo spread as Horne. A spokesperson for the project's producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron has refused to address Jackson's status, simply stating, "Nothing has changed."

Monty Python Virtually Reteam for Odd Photo Shoot
13 February 2004 (WENN)
The members of Monty Python have been brought back together for a macabre Vanity Fair photo shoot - even though the comedy clan snubbed a reunion for the magazine. The existing members of the British comedy troupe, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and John Cleese, are pictured lying in coffins as part of a Hollywood Portfolio spread. The shot even features animator-turned-director Gilliam sweeping up what he claims are the ashes of dead Python star Graham Chapman. The quintet - who posed for the pictures individually and were "stuck together by computer" - all appear as their favorite Python characters, with funnyman Jones dressed as an old lady, groping a sexy young model's breast. The Portfolio spread, which appears in the March issue of the style magazine, also features quirky photos of comedian Jack Black as Evel Knievel, Janet Jackson as Lena Horne, Sir Michael Caine and Jude Law together as 'The Rakes', Irish director Jim Sheridan as a horse jockey and family portraits of Sir John Mills, Hayley Mills and Juliet Mills and Anjelica Huston's clan.