MAMBA GOSSIP

Jesse takes off his top (again)

Jesse Metcalf recently went to the beach. Here’s a picture to remember the rather momentous occasion.

Boy George arrested for kidnapping

Boy George is one of those has-been celebrities whose escapades – and not his talent – are the reason why he’s still in the headlines. We nevertheless remain amused by his antics. The ageing former pop-star has now been arrested for the alleged kidnapping of a rent boy that he met on Gaydar. The story goes that he allegedly chained 28 year old Auden Carlsen to the wall of his London home after luring the male escort to the house to pose for photos. Carlsen claims that he was instead tied up and presented with Boy George’s collection of whips and sex toys. He went on to say that he managed to pull the hooks out the wall and fled in his underwear to the nearest shop to call the police. Boy George, who is now out on bail, has apparently scoffed at the charges. His brother, Kevin O’Dowd said that, “George isn’t at all annoyed at the allegations, in fact, he thinks it’s hilarious…Yeah, he was arrested, but the police are always going to follow it up when someone makes a complaint like that.” The song Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? Suddenly has new meaning for us.

Barbara prepares to fleece her European fans

Ãœber-diva Barbara Streisand is preparing to fleece her European fans as she finalises plans for a tour of the UK and the continent. Believe it or not, the perpetually retiring singer will be charging up to $1 000 for a ticket to her London concert on July 18. Babs has already had two previous “farewell” tours in the US, which were also exorbitantly priced. She probably realised that the Yanks might get annoyed with a third farewell and so set her sights on Europe. Barbara will be playing concerts in Vienna, Paris, Nice, and Dublin. A representative of the singer said, “Seeing Barbra Streisand in concert is a momentous occasion that ranks with seeing Sinatra or Elvis.” Considering that both Elvis and Frank Sinatra are dead, we might be willing to pay $1 000 to see them perform (now that would be a show). But Barbara… Nahh…

Isaiah Washington to promote homo-tolerance

Disgraced Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington will be making amends for his much-reported homophobic comments by appearing in two public service announcements which will be broadcast on U.S. television. The actor, whose rantings also led to the coming out of co-star TR Knight, met with gay activists after the fracas to mend fences. It appears that the TV spots are a result of the discussions and are scheduled to be shot in the next couple of weeks. Perhaps he is genuinely remorseful, but we can’t help but suspect that staying gainfully employed (his producers have come under considerable pressure to fire him) might possibly play a small part of his motivation.

Tobey Maguire’s mom makes us wonder…

Like just about any other young male celebrity in Hollywood, Tobey Maguire – currently on the silver screen in Spider-Man 3 – has had his fair share of gay rumours; often thanks to his close friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio. Now a new book, Tabloid Prodigy, recounts what Tobey’s mother apparently had to say on the subject. Author Marlise Elizabeth Kast says that she approached Wendy Maguire about the actor’s sexuality, and quotes the response as being: “I figured this subject would come up sooner or later… Those two are just free-spirited guys. Most of the friends they hang around with are gay. They’re comfortable with that. But I think Leo and Tobey are the crossover between men and women. They have feminine traits they are willing to accept. They aren’t ashamed to have any sort of title, even if that means someone calling them gay.” Worst still, Wendy goes on to reveal that the two bosom buddies had shared a bed and wore ribbons in their hair. (Ribbons in their hair? What? Uhh…we don’t think we’ll ever look at Spider-Man in quite the same way again.) The actors’ reps have insisted that there is no truth to any of these scandalous allegations.

Annie Lennox gets a little help from her friends

We’re huge fans of songstress Annie Lennox here at Mamba Mansions, so we were rather ecstatic to hear news that she is working on her next album after a four year break in recording music. Plus, best of all, the new CD, apparently scheduled for release later in the year, will include collaborations with a pretty impressive list of artists, said to include Madonna, Mary J. Blige and Kelis. We can’t wait!

Ellene gets horizontal

The show must go on! Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has been presenting her popular live television programme from a hospital bed this week after she hurt her back on the weekend. The bed has been placed on her set, and some of her guests joined her lying down in an accompanying hospital bed. Now that’s commitment to your job!

Britney’s stage comeback a damp squib?

Britney Spears, seemingly on the comeback trail, has tested the waters by performing a 15 minute long “surprise” show at two venues on Tuesday and Wednesday night. The first was in San Diego and the second was at the House of Blues in Anaheim. According to reports, Britney performed every song – all old material – along with six back-up dancers while lip-synching. And judging by pictures and video clips her outfits left something to be desired: Taking her trailer trash look to new heights the former pop princess gone bad looked more like a cheap stripper than an international chart-topper. She barely interacted with the audience – simply thanking her fans at the end of each performance. It’s known that Britney feels that she was unnecessarily forced to go into rehab and she made fun of her alleged drug habits by cheekily lifting her finger to her nose while performing the song Toxic. At the Tuesday night show, audience members said that someone threw and object at her on stage, which narrowly missed her head. On the plus side, her fans seemed to enjoy much of the show, while we’re rather impressed by how great her body looks (there’ve been many a rumour about liposuction to explain her suddenly tight abs and thighs). We’re all for Britney making a comeback, but we think a little class and humility might be in order…

Ricky Martin gets dirty

And speaking of stage shows…The usually apple-pie 35 year old Ricky Martin is said to have stunned concertgoers at a recent show at a casino and hotel complex in Connecticut: The melt-in-your-mouth singer was accompanied by sexy video clips of him almost entirely nude. Plus, Ricky apparently also made generous – and surprising – use of the f-word through the performance. We haven’t been able to source any of the rather rude footage on the Net, but trust us, we’re still looking.