Ex-CEO in hacking case has local link
Rebekah Brooks, the ex-CEO of Rupert Murdoch's scandal-torn News International, has a local connection.
Her backstory is so rich in irony it reads like a Fleet Street concoction. For starters, she ran off to Las Vegas to marry one of Britain's most popular soap stars.
Then known as Rebekah Wade, the daughter of a tugboat operator, she married TV tough-guy Ross Kemp, whose resume includes best actor, most popular actor and sexiest actor and, ta-da, award-winning TV investigative reporter.
They applied for a Clark County wedding license at midnight June 11, 2002.
Two years earlier, she was named editor of the News of the World, where she became a protégé of Piers Morgan, her boss.
At the time, she was the youngest editor of a national British newspaper. In 2003, she became the first female editor of The Sun, known for its sensational stories and photos of topless women. Elton John successfully sued The Sun in the late 1980s for unsavory allegations.
Now Brooks is enveloped in a soap opera of a scandal that's shaking the foundation of British journalism.
She was arrested Sunday for her alleged role in the phone hacking scandal and was grilled Tuesday by members of Parliament.
A personal sidebar: When John Entwistle, bassist for The Who, died of what was ruled a cocaine-related heart attack in late June 2002, I received a phone call from a livid male who identified himself as a top editor at the News of the World.
He had sent a team of reporters to Las Vegas to cover the story after I reported that Entwistle was with a local stripper the night he died at the Hard Rock Hotel. His reporters came up empty, said the foul-mouthed editor, who accused me of fabricating the story.
A short time later, a stripper who identified herself as Alycen Rowse gave an interview to a Fleet Street paper, baring details of Entwistle's final hours.
'BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE'
"Peepshow" star Holly Madison made a wish come true for a group of Marines just back from second and third tours of duty in Afghanistan.
They got the VIP treatment during an R&R tour of Las Vegas that included a meet and greet with Madison after her show Monday at Planet Hollywood.
At the top of their list, they said, was the hope they could meet Madison, formerly of "Girls Next Door" and one of this generation's wartime pinup girls.
The members of Fox Company, an infantry unit based in Honolulu, Hawaii, got a hero's welcome at every stop during their two-day visit. They dined with rocker Sammy Hagar at his Cabo Wabo Cantina, checked out the clubs at the Palms with Palms owner George Maloof , loaded up on free sweets at Sugar Factory (Paris Las Vegas), enjoyed a night at Marquee (Cosmopolitan) and toured the UFC gym, thanks to UFC President Dana White.
Sugar Factory operator Steve Davidovici, who spent much of Monday night showing the Marines around, said squad leader Matthew Muggia told him, "This is the best night of my life."
SIGHTINGS
Among those at Chris Paul's bachelor party weekend: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Jannero Pargo and comedian Kevin Hart at STK (Cosmopolitan) Sunday and Lavo (Palazzo) Monday. ... Engelbert Humperdinck, in the audience at the Donny and Marie show (Flamingo) Tuesday. He'll be at his Walk of Stars ceremony today at the Paris Theatre. Earlier he'll be presented a Key to the City, the first by new Mayor Carolyn Goodman. The star will be placed outside the Paris.
THE PUNCH LINE
"It's so hot that I saw Rupert Murdoch trying to hack his way into a Cold Stone Creamery." -- Craig Ferguson
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
