PEOPLE

By Belinda Luscombe

NOW, JUNIOR, BEHAVE YOURSELF

The money, the glamour, the witty copy--everyone loves a Nike ad. Except maybe the normally genial Seattle Mariner KEN GRIFFEY JR., who sounds off about his faux presidential campaign in next month's George: "Griffey for President--what kind of [three crude synonyms for foolish] idea is that?" It seems Griffey wanted to do ads with lots of action but instead had reporters asking him his views on abortion. Nike has stopped the expensive campaign but says that was because of the Mariners' performance, not Junior's ire.

WHAT'S THE STORY, OASIS?

Just when you feared that the days of the petulant pop-star tantrum were over, the brothers Gallagher arrived on--and stormed off--the scene. Liam and Noel Gallagher, respectively the lead singer and songwriter of OASIS, the biggest British band since the Beatles and the Stones, were two-thirds of the way through their latest U.S. tour when Noel, the less volatile one, hopped on a Concorde back to London three hours before a concert. Rumors of brotherly fisticuffs, drug use and (gasp!) a permanent split engulfed the British media. A London Times columnist said if the band is finished she'll "be lying on the floor, crying and wailing and gnashing my teeth."

SEEN & HEARD

It could be the biggest thing in sitcoms since Rhoda's wedding. According to TV Guide, the brains behind Ellen are thinking of having her come out as a lesbian this season. While homosexuality on TV is hardly a pioneering idea, the rumor has taken off because lead actress Ellen DeGeneres' own sexuality is a topic of much speculation.

Hell hath no fury like a woman whose development deals are stymied. Sondra Locke is suing former beau Clint Eastwood because when they broke up, Locke dropped her palimony suit after he said he'd help her get a studio deal. She's asking for $2 million, claiming Eastwood secretly undermined her projects. He denies her allegations.

MISS REPRESENTATION

Nothing like a beauty contest to get some national soul searching going. When two judges were suspended from the Miss Italy jury for saying DENNY MENDEZ, a Caribbean immigrant, could not represent Italian beauty, interest in the pageant got hotter than a curling iron. One judge, TV personality Alba Parietti, argued that "a black woman does not correspond to the canons of Italian beauty." Neither the jury nor the voting public agreed, and Mendez, who has been an Italian citizen for four years, won the crown. "I know I don't represent Italian beauty, but they elected me," she said, "so what am I supposed to do--refuse?"

EAST DOESN'T MEET WEST, AGAIN

They are the yin and yang of the television-awards shows. One is youth and exuberance, the other experience and skill. One is New York cooler-than-thou, the other Los Angeles flamboyance. One flies by the seat of its pants; the other parades like a marching band. They are the mtv video awards and the Emmys. For those who missed the telecasts (very hard to do in the case of MTV, which never saw a repeat it didn't like), here are some highlights:

Dress Code Personified by...

EMMYS JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, in fitted lime green (by Giorgio Armani), diamonds and major hair; Shoshanna Lonstein, also in lime green (from Badgley Mischka).

MTV AWARDS DOLORES O'RIORDAN of the Cranberries, in black clothes, black hair, lots of midriff and an eccentric overcoat.

Exemplary British Behavior

[EMMYS] Helen Mirren and ALAN RICKMAN, showing off their mastery of English, both said they were "dead chuffed" to win their awards.

[MTV AWARDS] Oasis lead singer LIAM GALLAGHER, in a sign of things to come (see previous page), spat, poured beer on the audience and knocked over the mike.

Most Glamorous Presenter

[EMMYS] HEATHER LOCKLEAR, with an honorable mention to Samuel L. Jackson for his unusual "Versace goes gypsy" headgear.

[MTV AWARDS] A four-way tie among SHARON STONE, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and Gwyneth Paltrow, although Rosie O'Donnell did her best.

Sore Winners

[EMMYS] GARRY SHANDLING, whose The Larry Sanders Show won its first Emmy, said, "All my jokes are based on our winning nothing. Rip Torn has ruined that, thank you."

[MTV AWARDS] SMASHING PUMPKINS singer Billy Corgan, who said, after winning five awards, "I think, in the end, all videos kind of ruin the song."

Biggest User of the F Word

[EMMYS] You can put him in a suit, but you can't clean him up. DENNIS MILLER told reporters offstage he'd have to use the word less if his show went to a network.

[MTV AWARDS] DENNIS MILLER, again (and this time onstage), who made liberal use of his hosting privileges and kept the MTV censors busy with the bleeper.

PETTY FIGHT

As rock marriages go, it was granite-solid, with just one major public spat in 22 years. It even survived a bankruptcy and a fire-destroyed home. But now JANE PETTY, wife of paler-version-of-Bob-Dylan TOM PETTY, has filed for divorce. In an interview last year, Petty said his marriage had "taken some shrapnel. We do walk with a slight limp." Expect headlines with plays on the word heartbreaker, and some wistful songs from Tom.

SEEN & HEARD

Arnold Schwarzenegger is flexing some legal muscle against a German magazine and a company that soups up sports cars. Getting a little carried away with its photo retouching, Sport Auto showed the hard-bodied star on its cover next to a Gemballa Porsche, giving it the thumbs-up sign. Schwarzenegger filed a $5 million lawsuit claiming his photo was used without permission (or payment). You thought he did those Planet Hollywood gigs for free food?