To print this page, select "Print" from the File menu of your browser salon.com > People Oct. 19, 1999 URL: http://www.salon.com/people/col/reit/1999/10/19/np1019 Bobbing for Teamsters Boating magazine offers a reward for extracting Jimmy Hoffa from a body of water. Plus: James Hewitt may be an officer, but he ain't no gentleman. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Amy Reiter Wanted: Jimmy Hoffa's waterlogged corpse. And there are a few extra G's in it for you. Boating magazine is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who finds the vanished Teamster's body in Michigan's Au Sable River, where jailed killer Ricky Powell claims to have dumped it back in July 1975. "If you think about it, the Au Sable makes sense as Hoffa's grave more so than the goal line at Giants Stadium or the Florida Keys, where '60 Minutes' was once duped by a Hoffa hoaxter," asserts the mag of the powerboating set. "It's not a joke; it's really true," Boating spokesman Howard Greene tells me. He says the editors "think that the place is reasonable. They think that the story makes sense, and therefore, there's a reasonable chance that someone's going to find it." The offer, which demands that the body's identity be verified by local authorities or the FBI, stands until Dec. 31, 2000. But you might want to start practicing your talk-show rap now. - - - - - - - - - - - - Queen Amidala's randy dad "After the 'Star Wars' premiere, my dad was so smitten by Natasha Richardson, I was like, 'Dad, stop. You're embarrassing me. Mommy's here. Liam is next to you. And he's like five times your size.'" -- Natalie Portman on being, like, totally embarrassed by her father, in Mademoiselle. - - - - - - - - - - - - Diva's delight Has Diana Ross developed a sense of humor about her recent breast-brushing brouhaha at London's Heathrow airport -- or has she found a twisted way of getting revenge on the world? The BBC reports that celebrity guests appearing on an upcoming Ross TV special -- including Boy George -- were required to pass through a metal detector and have a body search to get into the studio. Do you really want to hurt them, Miss Ross? Do you really want to make them cry? - - - - - - - - - - - - The year of the Rat "There's nothing horrible in any of them. You know, there's nothing like, 'Wasn't it fantastic when you bent me over the sofa?' Not that I ever did that." -- The late Princess Diana's ex-lover James Hewitt, defending his decision to publish Diana's love letters despite her wishes. - - - - - - - - - - - - Juicy bits There's a new panty-less leg-crosser in town. Or at least there soon may be. Sharon Stone will not reprise her trademark role in "Basic Instinct II." Ashley Judd's name has been discussed as a replacement, but MGM's Michael Nathanson tells Variety the studio wants to "create our own star with the brand of 'Basic Instinct.'" Of course, that may not be so easy to do if the studio renames the film "Risk Addiction" as it says it may. Oh, man. Let's hope Muhammad Ali is putting us all on by telling Newsweek he wants to get back in the ring. "Let me tell you something that'll shock the Earth," said the boxing legend, whose most powerful foe is Parkinson's syndrome. "I'm going to train and get in really good shape, lose 35 pounds and do an exhibition in Madison Square Garden with two or three contenders ... I'll dance for 15 rounds, and whup 'em." The Greatest kidder, right? Did someone forget to tell me it was Weird News About Sports Heroes From My Youth Day? Direct from Brazil comes word that Pele got held up in his Mercedes-Benz Monday when his chauffeur stopped at a red light in Sao Paulo. The robber commanded the driver to fork over "watch and cash," but when the soccer icon doffed his cap, the thief recognized him, turned bright red, apologized profusely and disappeared into the night. Sam Donaldson thinks Hillary Rodham Clinton could wipe the floor with him. "If you ever come to a point where they say, 'All right, Mr. Russert, you've got to go into this room, with Mr. Clinton, or this room with Mrs. Clinton, and fight to the death,' you take Bill Clinton any day," Donaldson advised CNBC's Tim Russert on Saturday. "You might come out." Unless, of course, the president shows you his ... uh ... cigars. It's official: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman know how to make love. On Friday, the celebrity couple settled its lawsuit against the Star after the tabloid admitted its story alleging that Stanley Kubrick had to hire two sex therapists to teach the married duo how to make love for "Eyes Wide Shut" was false and agreed to publish a retraction. The tabloid will also make a donation to the charity of Cruise and Kidman's choosing. May I suggest the Foundation for Bruised Celebrity Egos? Two Senatorial gaffes that have Washington types all atwitter: Sen. Edward Kennedy vowing support for the "Stockpile Stewardess Program" (he meant the "Stockpile Stewardship Program") and Jesse Helms's display of nasty partisan politics with a Senate-floor reference to Monica Lewinsky. Helms startled his colleagues when he mocked Clinton for soliciting Tony Blair's support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: "Yes, I'll do that," Helms suggested Blair may have told Clinton. "Give my regards to Monica." salon.com | Oct. 19, 1999