People

By Michele Orecklin

JENNY COME BACK

Stars with fading Hollywood careers can turn to a few time-honored options to regain the spotlight: check into the Betty Ford Center, get arrested, or impulsively marry someone you met on the set of your latest movie. As marriage requires the least commitment, it was no wonder that JENNY MCCARTHY, 26, the once reigning blond, got engaged last week to John Asher, 28. After all, it had been a little over a month since she broke up with Ray Manzella, 50, her boyfriend-manager of four years. McCarthy found fame on the MTV game show Singled Out and obscurity on the NBC sitcom Jenny. She met Asher, a director, on the set of her new film, Diamonds. Manzella will continue to serve as her manager, but maybe someone should ask him: Why hang on to such a thankless job after losing the perks?

DO YOU THINK I'M FOXY?

Had she called herself Mary Poppins, her career might have been different. But by adopting the name of the street-tough title character of a blaxploitation classic, rapper FOXY BROWN gave herself a lot to live up to. She proved worthy on her first album, Ill Na Na, with lewd lyrics, a hypersexual persona and platinum sales. Brown, 19, now has a second album, Chyna Doll, an equally provocative effort. She bristles when asked if she's going too far with her spiked heels and X-rated raps. "What's going too far? Marilyn Manson urinates on a crowd, and he's respected," she says. (Actually, he denies urinating on anyone, and his respect is somewhat dubious.) Nevertheless, Brown's not changing. "You're still going to see the stiletto heels and the sweats. That is the real Foxy."

HOW TO DIVORCE A BILLIONAIRE

Last week Mick Jagger countered Jerry Hall's announcement that she is filing for divorce by claiming, on technicalities, that the two were never legally married. The move shifted sympathy to Hall and took the sport out of choosing sides in the breakup. But for those craving more closely matched feuds, the battle over child support between Revlon head RONALD PERELMAN and ex-wife PATRICIA DUFF should fill the void. Duff wants $100,000 a month for the couple's daughter Caleigh, 4. Duff already gets $12,000 a month for Caleigh and $1.5 million a year for herself. But Perelman, reportedly worth $6 billion, let his bid for sympathy slip away when he took the stand and said it takes only "about $3" a day to feed the child when she's with him. (Her menu: pasta, cereal and chicken fingers.) The next day he clarified his remarks, saying he actually spends $1,000 a day on her. Over to you, Patricia.

LETTERS HOME What some recently relocated cagers might be writing this time next month:

Greetings from Houston! Well, I sure don't miss the Windy City. It's a lot warmer here without that long shadow that always seemed to dog me in Chicago, and my relationship with the Rockets owner is a lot less chilly than the one I had with Jerry Reinsdorf. Too bad I won't be seeing you in the play-offs. Take care, Scottie

Hey, Golden Staters: Life in the Big Apple sure is different. They have rats the size of Volkswagens. Yesterday I choked one who disrespected me, and he choked me back. Playing for the Knicks rocks: as far as thugs go, I'm not even in the starting lineup. Gotta go--I'm meeting Spike for pregame nachos. XOXO, Latrell

Well, here I am in New York/L.A./Chicago. In case you haven't seen my picture lately, my hair is green/magenta/thinning. I'm still married/unmarried/neither. I'm also pursuing my career as an author/movie star/public menace. And yep, I'm still dressing badly/badly/badly. Peace, The Worm