Goldberg stays out of spotlight

Whoopi Goldberg cancelled an appearance on “The View” because she was worried her comments would cause another political firestorm and distract from the Democratic Convention.

The outspoken comedian was scheduled to appear on the ABC talk show yesterday, but thought better of it because she didn’t want her words to be used against the Democrats.

“Those comments she made last time [off-color jokes about Bush and Cheney] made headlines,” says a source. “It’s inevitable that that whole thing would have been a topic of conversation on ‘The View’ and either that or something else Whoopi says — and of course, she’s going to say what she thinks about Bush and it ain’t pretty — would make headlines again. The Democrats just don’t need that right now.”

Goldberg’s spokesman, however, denies buzz that the request to cancel came from the DNC, which has vowed to keep Bush-bashing to a minimum.

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“Whoopi and only Whoopi decided that she would prefer not to appear on television during the [convention],” he tells The Scoop. “She felt very strongly about not wanting to detract from the convention in any way.”

‘Fahrenheit’ for free
Some folks with deep pockets want people to see “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

For the second weekend in a row, an anonymous donor has bought out screenings to the Bush-bashing documentary in a Milwaukee movie theater and is letting people go to the flick for free, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The anonymous donor is identified by the paper only as a political “staunch independent” who had an “emotional experience” when he first viewed the documentary.

People lined up for more than two hours for the freebie tickets and on one weekend more than 300 would-be viewers were turned away.

Notes from all over

Kevin Spacey’s mother — who died of brain cancer — may have been the driving force in the actor’s decision to play Bobby Darin in a movie. “My mother always wanted me to make a movie about Bobby Darin,” Spacey told the AARP magazine for its September/October issue. “No matter how sick she was, every day she would ask me for a ‘B.D.’ update...” In the interview, Spacey speaks lovingly of both his parents, in stark contrast to comments that have been made by his brother, Randall Fowler, who has accused the father of being abusive and the mother of ignoring the situation.  . . . People who know about this sort of thing e-mailed The Scoop that Britney Spears’ Kabbalah-inspired tattoo is actually taboo in the Judaic tradition. Apparently, the Torah explicitly forbids decorative tattoos.  . . . Guy Pearce says he doesn’t like playing happy characters. “I’m always struggling to keep my head above water and being happy is never an accident for me — it’s something I have to work at,” the “Memento” star told London’s Sunday Express. “I feel a real empathy for people who are sad and so I relate to characters who are unhappy and dark. I’m not great at playing happy, floppy people.” 

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

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