Who’s naughty, and who’s nice

Over the past week, I've run into a lot of people who work with celebrities in various capacities. I asked them which stars have been the nicest and which stars have been tough to work with or for.

This is a very unscientific survey, but here's what a handful of well-placed celeb underling types said:

The Nice List: Jennifer Love Hewitt (I've also heard this from many people over the years, and she's a good interview.); Zac Efron ("great kid"); Christie Brinkley (nice and still "gorgeous"); Heather Locklear; Justin Timberlake (a "mamma's boy" in a good way); Blair Underwood; Kathy Griffin (Although, she's become less accessible to the media.); Taylor Dayne; Andre Agassi; Brad Paisley; Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York; Jason Bateman; Ray Romano; Cyndi Lauper; Josh Groban; John Legend; David Spade; Travis Barker; Donny Osmond; and ... Shannen Doherty.

"She was fantastic to work with. She was just really accommodating (and) did everything we asked her to do," a celeb insider said of Doherty.

Over the years, I've heard much praise about her, and I've had great interviews (though she has tended to cry out of nowhere at times), despite the difficult reputation cultivated years ago.

The High Maintenance List: Prince (It kills me to write this because I love Prince, but several people chronicled his insularism, which is a familiar story.); Faith Hill ("She just had an attitude she is a queen superstar," someone said, to which I replied maybe she is a queen superstar, to which I was told, "I guess she is."); Rod Stewart ("I can't even listen to 'Maggie May' anymore."); Kid Rock; Reggie Jackson; Plaxico Burress ("He's not really concerned about other people.").

And Rihanna. No one said she was grumpy or dismissive. But one of her people put out "instructions" to some celeb underling types this weekend that if she showed up at a certain place, no one was to address her or talk to her. But that could have been an overreach by one of her people, rather than from Rihanna herself.

POLITICS DRIVES ME NUTS

But it keeps coming up on my beat, so here's the latest. At Saturday's year-anniversary party for Wynn's Blush, Olivia Wilde (who plays Thirteen on "House") was telling reporters she would campaign all day Sunday for Barack Obama. I told her the news that John McCain's campaign is running a "robocall" effort, ringing people's home phones with a telemarketing message that trashes Obama for "putting Hollywood above America."

"That's so ridiculous," Wilde said, then stared at me in shock. "I don't have a response to that."

But she went on to say actors don't think they're smarter than other Americans. They just want to exercise the same right to free speech, and, "Everybody should speak" up politically.

Also on the red carpet, Laura Prepon ("October Road," "That '70s Show") urged Nevada voters in this "incredibly important swing state" to vote early and "down the ticket," and not just in the presidential race.

Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), who walked the carpet with boyfriend, actor David Burtka, called himself "a big Obama voter," hoping he carries Nevada and Harris' home state of New Mexico.

I didn't hear anyone at Blush speak up for McCain. But this isn't a surprise, because his campaign has been vilifying "celebrity" culture, Hollywood in particular, and casting an aspersion that cities (as opposed to small towns) are not "real America." Then again, Kelsey Grammer and John Ratzenberger did a pro-McCain swing through our city the other week, so there was that.

(Off politics, Harris said he's talked with the makers of "Harold & Kumar" films, and they want to make another sequel, but not until the writer-director team first shoots a different film to avoid being "branded 'Kumar' directors.")

DJ AM BACK IN TOWN

Tonight, DJ AM returns to spin music as resident DJ of Caesars' Pure, a month after he and his friend/musical partner Travis Barker, suffered major body burns as the only survivors of a small plane crash in South Carolina.

He spins at about midnight, so if you're going, you want to get their early, as buffer time to stand in line. And hey, whaddya know, locals get in free tonight.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.