People

By Michele Orecklin

THE HUNTED IS NOW THE HUNTRESS

Showing true pluck, Trista Rehn has recovered from being dumped in front of 18 million viewers and marshaled the courage to date another day. Last spring on the reality program The Bachelor, ABC provided one man, Alex Michel, with 25 women from among whom he was intended to choose his intended. Rehn was one of two finalists, but in the end she was thrown over for Amanda Marsh. (Marsh and Michel are said to be dating, though not engaged.) This winter, along with a new edition of The Bachelor, ABC will air The Bachelorette and has chosen Rehn, a physical therapist and dancer for the Miami Heat, to choose one guy from a smorgasbord of 25. ABC says it is hoping the series will help examine gender roles. Asked if a woman dating multiple men will be as palatable to the public as a man in the same position, network president Susan Lyne replied that the series "will force all of us to look at those double standards." In that case, maybe it should be on PBS.

60 MINUTES OF INFAMY

Oh, the irony. Russell Crowe won wide acclaim starring in the film The Insider as a fired tobacco-company executive whose whistle-blowing interview with 60 Minutes never aired on account of its incendiary content. Now the actor has got the Australian version of the news program in trouble by lighting up during an interview that did air--twice. Crowe chain-smoked on the show and at one point brandished a pack of Marlboros. The following week, during its "Mailbag" segment, 60 Minutes showed portions of the footage again after viewers wrote in to complain about Crowe's habit. In Australia it is illegal to advertise tobacco on television, and last week a judge ruled that whereas the first broadcast was acceptable, the second was gratuitous and therefore the network had violated the rules of its license. As usual, where there's Crowe, there's fire.

ONLY TATTOOS ARE FOREVER

He's an actor, screenwriter and musician, but among Billy Bob Thornton's numerous talents, one would have to leave out matrimony. This should have been apparent to Angelina Jolie, seeing how she was his fifth wife, but as the couple made all too public, theirs was a deep and blinding love. Now, despite their protestations of undying love and unending sex, despite their having tattoos of each other's name and adjoining grave plots, Jolie has filed for divorce after two years of marriage. Since they adopted a baby in May from a Cambodian orphanage, she told US magazine, their priorities have shifted: he's been on the road with his band, and she's been tending her new son. She also told the magazine she didn't "disbelieve" rumors that he had been unfaithful while on tour. Are grave plots returnable?

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...

Actors can be so finicky about their wardrobe. Take Steven Seagal, who had a problem with the idea of wearing cement shoes. Reports of Seagal's troubles with associates of the Gambino Mafia clan surfaced several weeks ago when his pal and former producer, Julius Nasso, was indicted on extortion charges. Last week more details emerged. According to court papers, Nasso allegedly led efforts beginning in 2000 to extort $150,000 from Seagal for each movie he made. The actor claims he was so unnerved that he paid $700,000 before the FBI stepped in. The only bright spot for Seagal: at least somebody still wanted him to make movies.