Chris Brown`s Beef with Oprah; A Stunning Development in the Travolta Extortion Case
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer.</s>ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson.</s>HAMMER: Well, tonight, there`s a stunning development in the John Travolta extortion trial. A Bahamian judge has declared a mistrial. There is evidence that someone on the jury which was still deliberating may have linked the verdict to a lawmaker. Listen to the sound that TMZ got a hold of, of the lawmaker announcing that one of the defendants was off the hook. And this happened at a political party last night.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we have some good news, PLP. Pleasant Bridgewater is a free woman. PLP! God is good, PLP. Pleasant is a free woman, PLP.</s>HAMMER: Now, PLP is the Progressive Liberal Party and Pleasant Bridgewater is one of the people accused of demanding $25 million to keep quiet about details surrounding the death of Travolta`s teenage son, Jett. The judge has now ordered a new trial.</s>ANDERSON: Tonight, Chris Brown`s explosive new confessions about Rihanna and his big beef with Oprah Winfrey. What is that all about? In Brown`s first radio interview since pleading guilty to brutally attacking Rihanna, he says he is totally ticked off that Oprah took sides in this domestic violence case. Plus, Chris reveals intimate details about the emotional call he got from Will Smith after his arrest. Is it time for everyone to forgive Chris Brown? And we`ve got the shocking brand-new results of our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. We asked, "Is Rihanna obligated to be a role model?" With me here in Hollywood is Jess Weiner. She is the creator of the self esteem Web site, JessWeiner.com. In New York tonight, Marvet Britto. She is a celebrity publicist and brand strategist. Jess, Marvet, Chris Brown is going on tour to thank fans who stood by him after his domestic violence case. But now, he`s lashing out at one of the biggest critics - Oprah Winfrey. Oprah slammed Chris on her show warning her if he hit once, he`d do it again. Chris told Hot 97`s Angie Martinez that he was blindsided by Oprah`s attack.</s>BROWN: I just felt that, at the time, I needed a helping hand, not saying to boost my career - just me as a person. For her to reach out and just talk to me and Rihanna or Sam Mendes and make it like look, "This is what it is. This is wrong. This is right. This is right. This is not what it`s supposed to be or whatever the case maybe. And maybe - I`m not even saying have me on her show, but make it to where.</s>ANGIE MARTINEZ, HOT 97: Help.</s>BROWN: Yes, help - just help. That`s all I was asking for. Because at the end of the day, I thought we had that relationship where it could be like that.</s>ANDERSON: OK. I get that he is disappointed that Oprah did not support him, but Marvet, why does he still act like he is the victim here? He`s the one that slammed Rihanna`s head into a car window.</s>MARVET BRITTO, CELEBRITY PUBLICIST: Absolutely, and Oprah`s only obligation is to her audience. You know, what she said to Rihanna was simply the facts that if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. Oprah doesn`t owe Chris anything. And I think he might be looking for love in all the wrong places. She is not his parent. And the advice she gave to the audience, which was predominantly women, was truthful, correct, proper guidance. And that`s all that Oprah is expected to do.</s>ANDERSON: Yes. It was great advice from Oprah. It sounds like just a bunch of whining to me from Chris Brown. And another shocking confession here, Chris says that Will Smith was actually one of the few stars to reach out to him with amazing words of encouragement. Chris admits he was stunned, but pretty grateful for the call.</s>BROWN: When the situation went down like - and certain people that called me, like Will Smith called me. And he was like really talking to me one on one, man to man.</s>MARTINEZ: Will Smith?</s>BROWN: Yes. Like real.</s>MARTINEZ: Did you know him before?</s>BROWN: I met him at a couple of events. I spoke to his kids and different things like that. But he actually reached out a hand to help. You know what I`m saying. He really was a man that - as a young black man myself, I need older black men role models to step in and like, "Look man, this is not how you do things."</s>ANDERSON: Yes. This is not how you do things. I think Chris having someone like Will Smith as a mentor is awesome. And hopefully, Chris will never harm anybody again. But Jess, do you think it`s time, that said, to forgive Chris Brown? Or is leaving Rihanna bloodied and bruised unforgivable?</s>WEINER: Look, I don`t know Chris Brown, so it`s not up to me to forgive him or not. This is what I will tell you.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, it is. What would you do?</s>WEINER: All right. Well, here`s the deal then. If it is up to me, then no, because I think this is the biggest bunch of malarkey I have ever heard in my entire life, Brooke. Here is the deal. He is a complete idiot around this right now. He is playing the PR game. I`m sure he is, like, not as remorseful as he needs to be. He`s not getting the point as it was said earlier. It`s not anyone else is responsibility to teach him how to control his anger and how to look at some of the demons in his life. That is up for him to do. I will believe, Brooke, and I will forgive him when he dedicates all proceeds to this tour to every domestic crisis shelter in the country. Then I`ll believe him.</s>ANDERSON: Yes. You know - and a portion of the proceeds is going to a domestic violence charity, but not all. And you are right. It`s a bunch of malarkey too. I want him to be sincere. He also says this new interview is the last time he is going to publicly talk about the Rihanna attack. It`s been eight months. We still have not heard word one from Rihanna speaking of her. Marvet, do you think Rihanna owes it to her fans to finally speak out?</s>BRITTO: I think she does as a role model and she is a role model. The day she signed on to represent CoverGirl, she became a role model that day. So yes, you do owe it to your fans because they do want to know how you dealt with this. How did you forgive him? Why did you forgive him? You know, but I think, more importantly, Chris should be allowed, you know, to move past this pain and to redeem himself. We can`t hold this kid`s future hostage by his past. But Rihanna and him.</s>WEINER: No, but we also can do things, Marvet. I think we can also have conversations right now that don`t let celebrities off the hook so easy.</s>BRITTO: No, no, no. And we are not letting him off the hook, but we also aren`t here to judge. And we can`t let people push past the pain of their mistakes onto their future if we hold their past hostage.</s>WEINER: He needs to do that.</s>ANDERSON: But Chris Brown should stop acting like a victim and be remorseful, genuinely remorseful. Jess Weiner, Marvet Britto, we do have to leave it there for now. Thank you both.</s>HAMMER: Right now, did you see this? The ShamWow remix. Another big time infomercial getting a techno treatment. This time, it`s the ShamWow. You know, the super-towel that soaks up tons of water. Tonight, SHOWBIZ operators are standing by with your first look. And listen.</s>HAMMER: My troubles feel slapped away. Love that part. But I`ve got to say some people do have too much time in their hands.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, they do, A.J. OK. Stay put because we`ve got your first look at John Travolta`s new film. And it is really all in the family. His wife Kelly Preston co-stars and it`s their daughter`s Ella Bleu`s very first film. And it is really funny, too. Robin Williams is in it. It is good to the Travoltas family getting some laughs. They deserve it. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on</s>HLN.  HAMMER: Now, the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" - more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news right now.</s>TEXT: Khloe Kardashian`s wedding to L.A. Lakers star Lamar Odom to air on E! November 8th. Madonna allows "Glee" to use her song for an upcoming episode.