People talk 10/28/03

Spears shows remorse for showing it all

NEW YORK -- Britney Spears hasn't exactly been shy lately. She's appeared topless on the cover of Rolling Stone and British Elle magazines and bottomless on the cover of Esquire.

But after taking it all off for the suggestive pictures, the 21-year-old pop star says she plans to put it all back on -- at least for now.

"I did feel kind of weird after those photos," Spears tells Newsweek magazine for its Nov. 3 issue, referring to the Esquire cover on which she wears nothing but a white sweater and high heels.

"I was in a moment. I had, like, eight Red Bulls and said, 'OK, let's do it.' I learned my lesson and you won't see me like that for a while. I'm kinda over it myself. Not that it's dirty or tacky, but it is really revealing and I wouldn't want my kid, at 21, to be dressing like that."

Spears also says she swore off dating for a while after her very public breakup with Justin Timberlake. She says she's still not involved with anyone, despite reports that she hooked up with a married backup dancer.

"There was a time when I was like, 'OK, I'm over men. They're mean,"' she says. "For like six months, not a single thing happened. Not like they weren't drawn to me, but there wasn't a single real attraction. I'm like, 'What's happening? I know I'm not a lesbian."'

Anderson taking aim at KFC animal treatment

NEW YORK -- Pamela Anderson wants to meet with the chief executive officer of Kentucky Fried Chicken's parent company to discuss what she calls "reasonable, positive changes for KFC's chickens."

The former star of "Baywatch" and "V.I.P." faxed a letter Monday to David Novak of Yum! Brands Inc., asking to talk about animal-welfare guidelines that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is recommending.

Anderson, a spokeswoman for the animal-rights group, called for a boycott of the fast-food chain a few weeks ago. NAACP president Kweisi Mfume and Paul McCartney also have joined the PETA-led criticism of the company.

"I must admit from the outset that I can't understand why a company that claims to care about animal welfare would continue to allow chickens to be bred and drugged to be so top-heavy that they can barely walk, to be gathered in a manner that breaks their wings and beaks, and to be scalded to death or drowned in feather-removal tanks," she wrote in the letter, which PETA released.

KFC spokeswoman Bonnie Warschauer said Monday that executives with Yum! Brands hadn't seen the letter, and she declined comment on Anderson's request.

Actor Tom Sizemore gets jail, rehabilitation

LOS ANGELES -- Actor Tom Sizemore was sentenced Monday to six months in jail and three years probation for abusing his ex-girlfriend, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.

The actor first will go through drug rehabilitation. Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. said he would consider reducing the sentence to 90 days if Sizemore can show at a Jan. 30 hearing that his court-ordered counseling for drugs, anger and domestic violence are working.

Prosecutors had requested a 1-year sentence.

Sizemore, who appeared in "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan," apologized in a letter, saying "personal demons" had taken over his life.

"I am very chastened by the trial and my convictions," he wrote.

The judge said that drug abuse may have been a catalyst in the physical abuse but that trial testimony revealed a man with deep problems dealing with women. Messages left on Fleiss' answering machine were so vicious "it's almost impossible to perceive," Barreto said.

He also ordered Sizemore to stay away from Fleiss.

Fleiss, contacted by phone Monday, called Sizemore "a zero." The two were together for about two years.

Jimmy Dean selling more than sausage, singles

RICHMOND, Va. -- Legendary singer and sausage king Jimmy Dean had a yard sale to unload stuff he no longer needs -- but he slept through it.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, played host for the event Saturday at a historic Richmond-area home the couple owns while her husband slept in.

Prices ranged from $100 for a framed photo of Dean with Elvis Presley to $1 for a "Jimmy Dean for Coroner" cap.

The Deans recently sold their condominium in Dallas and their 141-foot motor yacht, "Big Bad John." When they got sick of storing and lugging their extra stuff around, they decided to have the yard sale.

Big spender Betty Weimer loaded her pickup truck with boxes of "JD" tumblers and stemware, two of the Deans' old barstools and some of their clothing -- $222 worth of stuff.

Her favorite finds were an antler chandelier and one of Jimmy's old cowboy hats and belts.

All morning, people milled around tables, perusing items that included Donna's worn flip-flops and plastic curlers, a book called "How to Be a Texan" and a T-shirt that says, "I campaigned for Ross Perot and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Profits from the yard sale will go to The Dean Foundation, a scholarship fund for students and teachers at an area high school, Dean's wife said.

Oprah's greatest moment far from talk show

CITY OF PEWAUKEE, Wis. -- Oprah Winfrey says the greatest moment of her life happened far from the spotlight, when she was surrounded by orphans in South Africa.

Last December, the talk show host and a team of 90 people brought "caravans of Christmas kindness" to thousands of destitute children.

She tearfully described the experience Saturday night to more than 700 people attending the annual Freedom Fund dinner for the Waukesha branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Dear Mother Oprah," Winfrey recited from a 12-year-old girl's thank-you note. "I thank God for you. Thank you, for I am no longer an orphan because of you. ... You have given me humanity."

She said the letter was "the single best gift I have ever received" and her time in Africa gave her "palpable joy."

"You can do that right here in Waukesha County," Winfrey said. "You don't have to go to Africa to extend yourself."

-- From wire reports