LOS ANGELES – Owen Wilson has denied any connection between his new movie, “You, Me and Dupree,” and ’70s studio band Steely Dan, a spokesman for the actor said Friday.
The band recently posted a letter on their Web site claiming that Wilson’s Dupree character was based on their Grammy-winning song, “Cousin Dupree,” about a couch-hopping houseguest.
In a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ina Treciokas, Wilson said: “I have never heard the song ‘Cousin Dupree’ and I don’t even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, ‘HEY 19.’”
Steely Dan released a string of hits in the ’70s, including “Hey Nineteen,” “Reeling in the Years” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”
“There are some pretty heavy people who are upset about this whole thing and we can’t guarantee what kind of heat little Owen may be bringing down on himself,” band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen wrote in the letter.
The band asked Wilson, 37, to appear at a concert to apologize to their fans.
“You, Me and Dupree” co-stars Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon as a newlywed couple annoyed by Dupree, a friend who crashes on their couch.
Actress Pinkett Smith reports Suri sighting
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter, Suri Cruise, hasn’t been seen in public since her April 18 birth. But a second sighting has been reported, this time by Jada Pinkett Smith.
“She’s one of the sweetest babies I’ve ever met in my life,” Pinkett Smith tells People magazine. “She’s an absolute beauty and she’s Daddy’s little girl.”
Pinkett Smith and her husband, Will Smith, have visited Suri twice, both times at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif., People reported on its Web site.
“She’s the cutest little baby. She’s got a head full of black, beautiful hair,” the 34-year-old actress tells the magazine. “She’s beautiful and they’re very happy and they need to be left alone.”
Earlier this month, actress Leah Remini, another Cruise pal, said she had held Suri during a visit to the couple’s home.
“She’s a beaming baby. She looks like Tom and Katie, she’s just beautiful,” the 36-year-old actress, star of the CBS sitcom “The King of Queens,” told the magazine. “There wasn’t a second she was out of their arms except when I held her.”
‘Lord of the Dance’ can sue over rape claim
Michael Flatley has won a court ruling that allows him to sue a woman who claimed he had raped her.
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Flatley’s $100 million extortion and defamation lawsuit against Tyna Marie Robertson can proceed to trial.
Flatley, 48, is the former star of the Irish dance spectacle “Riverdance.” He has gone on to create his own shows, “Lord of the Dance,” “Feet of Flames” and “Celtic Tiger.”
The lawsuit was triggered by a January 2003 letter Flatley received from the woman’s attorney alleging the dancer had raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2002.
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