People

By Michele Orecklin

ANOTHER REASON NOT TO FLOSS

Of the problems plaguing Hollywood producer STEVE BING, lack of virility is not one. Actress ELIZABETH HURLEY says Bing is the father of her newborn son, a claim he is fighting in court. Now he is also being cited as the father of Kira Kerkorian. Until recently, Kira, 4, the daughter of Bing's ex-girlfriend Lisa Bonder, was believed to have been sired by Bonder's former husband, billionaire movie-studio mogul Kirk Kerkorian. In January Bonder, 37, petitioned Kerkorian, 84, for $320,000 a month in child support. His lawyers say he is sterile and could not possibly be the father. From DNA tests used on dental floss retrieved from Bing's trash, they say Bing is the one who should pay for Kira's upkeep. Bing has slapped Kerkorian with a $1 billion invasion-of-privacy suit for sifting through Bing's garbage. The only children coming out ahead in all this are the attorneys'.

GROSS ANATOMY

There are some baseball fans so rabid that a signed mitt or a piece of AstroTurf does not constitute an adequate relic. Perhaps this explains a $23,000 bid on eBay last week for bone chips removed from the elbow of Seattle Mariners pitcher JEFF NELSON, which he had put up for auction for charity. It was not unprecedented. Recently a man paid $10,000 for a piece of gum chewed by Arizona Diamondback Luis Gonzalez, and another paid $75 for clippings from the goatee of Oakland A Tim Hudson. Neither of those transactions took place on eBay, however, which has rules against selling body parts. As soon as the bone-chip listing was discovered by eBay employees, the lot was removed.

JIMMY-COME-LATELY

"With Rosie retiring and Oprah announcing plans to go, there is a niche for an overweight talk-show host only I could fill." This is how JIMMY KIMMEL explains the news last week that in January he will take over the midnight time slot on ABC now occupied by Bill Maher and Politically Incorrect. Kimmel, who co-hosts the Comedy Central fratfest The Man Show, has not yet figured out the format of his new program, which will follow Nightline, but chances are it won't include one Man Show staple: underattired women jumping on trampolines. "Barbara Walters refused to go on a trampoline, so I suggested a pogo stick," he says. This should finally push Ted Koppel over the edge.

BATTLE OF THE BLONDS

Undoubtedly, a few underemployed British actresses grumbled last week, with two major theater productions opening in London featuring American women in lead roles. This, however, was not the angle taken by the local press. Instead, the coverage concerned the relative merits of MADONNA and GWYNETH PALTROW in their West End debuts. Paltrow, who stars in the Tony-winning play Proof, earned almost all raves from critics and a standing ovation. Madonna, too, received a standing ovation, but hers came at the start of the play, just for the fact that she showed up. Madonna's show, Up for Grabs, opens this week, but critics who sneaked into previews said she seemed tentative in the first act. Because Madonna kisses another woman onstage, poor reviews probably won't hurt ticket sales.