THE HITS KEEP ON COMING
Elfin singers from Iceland are not high on the Committee to Protect Journalists' hit list. This may change, however, since BJORK let fly at a reporter at Bangkok airport, throwing her to the ground and banging her head on the floor. "All I said was, 'Welcome to Thailand,' and she just hit me, lost control and went crazy," cable reporter JULIE KAUFMAN told Reuters. The Grammy nominee telephoned Kaufman the next day to say she was sorry, explaining that she was concerned about her son Sindri, and apologized publicly in a statement. Kaufman won't press charges. No word on whether Bjork plans to release a heavy-metal album any time soon.
HE'S GOT A WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
Only last October, LUCIANO PAVAROTTI declared himself "incredibly monogamous," and Adua, his wife of 35 years, concurred. But in Barbados, the Italian weekly Chi snapped Big Luciano--as he's known back home--and his secretary NICOLETTA MANTOVANI Making a certain sort of music together. Chi reports that the tenor has finally proclaimed his love for his 26-year-old aide. "Nicoletta and I are very happy, as you can see. To hide it or to deny it would be a crime," he said. "She is my favorite of my harem."
HOW TO SUCCEED IN MOVIES...
"Acting is much, much, much easier than music," says JON BON JOVI. He may be speaking prematurely. (He's only just started his second movie.) But, for now, films--and some music--are what Bon Jovi wants to make. After getting gentle reviews for his role in Moonlight and Valentino, he is playing the leading man, a big Hollywood star, in The Leading Man. "It's a stretch," insists Bon Jovi, who has been taking acting classes for five years. "The guy's such a chameleon." He plans to fit more movies around his music tours, but Sly Stallone can relax: Bon Jovi won't do action. "I watched too much Wile E. Coyote as a kid," he says. "I've outgrown it." SEEN & HEARD
Charlie Sheen apparently can't find happiness with women who don't get paid for their services. Sheen spoke of his separation from model Donna Peele, his wife of five months, on Entertainment Tonight: "I couldn't breathe. I had to come up for air," he said. As if that weren't gallant enough, he added, "You buy a bad car, it breaks down, what are you gonna do?" Peele took the high road on Extra, saying she was hurt by his remarks but still loved him. She also said she didn't know Sheen had booked 27 of Heidi Fleiss's hookers before she wed him.
Clint Eastwood says he won't star in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. However, he will direct the tale of a murder set in Savannah, Georgia. Producer Arnold Stiefel, who bought the screen rights for a modest $300,000 before John Berendt's book became a best seller, couldn't be happier: "It's good nobody in Hollywood has time to read."