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GIBSON
Kevin Winter  /  Getty Images file
Outdoor-advertising salespeople aren't too willing to jump on the anti-Mel Gibson bandwagon.
By
msnbc.com
updated 8/3/2006 3:08:52 AM ET 2006-08-03T07:08:52

Hollywood may not be circling the wagons around Mel Gibson , but some aren’t willing to take shots at him, either.

A group of Los Angelenos who have been trying to buy billboard space on Sunset Boulevard says they keep getting turned down once billboard companies learn the content of the proposed sign: Gibson’s face with the international sign for “no” over it in red.

“We wanted to make a statement that anti-Semitism is not okay in Hollywood — or anywhere else,” says publicist Andy Behrman, who is spearheading the effort. “They tell us it will be fine, and then when they learn we want to protest Mel Gibson, there’s suddenly some problem.”

Behrman says that he even got an okay for a $40,000 deal from Regency Outdoor to erect the sign on a billboard at Sunset and Holloway on Aug. 15, but was told that the sales rep “had to run this by my boss.” He got a call back saying “my boss doesn’t want to touch this Mel Gibson thing,” Behrman tells The Scoop.

Behrman says he’s been told that billboard operators don’t want to risk alienating studios, who account for most of their ad dollars and might want to work with Gibson if the controversy over his recent drunken, anti-Semitic tirade dies down.

When called for comment, Regency Outdoor co-owner Brian Kennedy demanded to know The Scoop’s source, and when we declined to offer that information, he angrily hung up.

Dave Navarro's alone again
Dave Navarro is single again. The rocker who recently split from wife Carmen Electra reportedly has been dumped by the other woman, too.

Sarah Howard, 30, has “put plenty of distance between herself” and Navarro, according to Life & Style.

She wants nothing to do with him,” a “friend” of Howard tells the mag. “She liked hanging out with him, but it’s just too much drama and not worth it.”

Navarro admits he’s single — but sounds like he still carries a torch for his ex. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” told L&S. “I have a social life, but I’m not looking for a serious relationship. Carmen is my best friend, and I love her more than anything in the world.”

Notes from all over
Can Howard Stern influence who appears on "The Late Show With David Letterman"? He thinks so. When told that rival satellite radio hosts Opie and Anthony would be appearing on Letterman's show at the end of August, Stern told listeners, “I could have stopped that.” Opie and Anthony are hoping to call him on it. “His listeners just need to know that he’s full of [bleep],” they crowed on their show. “We’re begging him to do it because we know it’s just a bunch of [beep].”  . . . Jennifer Garner was spotted buying a “My Daddy Rocks” T-shirt at hipster L.A. baby store La La Ling.  . . .  Guy Ritchie, director of violent cockney crime films such as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” wants to make kiddie flicks. Ritchie, perhaps better known as Madonna’s hubby, is perhaps inspired by his wife’s dual career. When she's not singing provocative dance songs, Madonna moonlights writing children’s books. “Just because I’ve got kids, by default, I end up watching so many kids’ movies that they’ve inspired me,” Ritchie said in Belfast while discussing the business.

Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com

© 2012 msnbc.com Reprints

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