"We were assured that, yes indeed, Puffy had matured and so had his clothing line," says PETA spokeswoman Dawn Carr. "Of course, when the models came down the runway, they were covered in dead animals."

It could be especially difficult for Combs to de-fur his fashion line. He had been credited with infusing men's fashion with his own brand of "hip-hop" style -- bright colors, big accessories and, yes, fur. His models wore the full range of the animal kingdom, from ostrich leather and crocodile skin slacks to Persian lamb overcoats to fox, mink and lynx tail scarves. "It looked like a herd of bison barreling down the runway," Carr says. PETA rescinded a press release congratulating Combs on his reversible fur policy, and pins the deception on Puffy's publicist, Hampton Carney. Carney was not available for comment, but his public relations agency, Paul Wilmot Communications, has warned PETA that Puffy's attorneys will respond to any attack -- animal, vegetable or mineral -- with appropriate legal force.

A chance for the lawyers to show some muscle may be coming soon. PETA protesters will be waiting for Combs on Wednesday outside the Manhattan courthouse where he is facing gun and bribery charges. Carr suspects Combs' current legal problems may be at the root of the fur flip-flop. "Clearly, there's chaos in the Combs camp," Carr says. "At best, they're disorganized; at worst, they're dishonest."

Bottoms up for "That's My Bush!"

Martin Sheen gets to play an idealized Clinton on NBC's "The West Wing." Now Timothy Bottoms will play current POTUS George W. Bush for Comedy Central. "That's My Bush!" the upcoming live action comedy created by "South Park" auteurs Trey Parker and Matt Stone, debuts on April 4 with Bottoms in the lead role.

"Bottoms is a great get," says Tony Fox, spokesman for Comedy Central. The actor costarred in director Peter Bogdanovich's classic film "The Last Picture Show" and the legal drama "The Paper Chase." He hasn't been on Hollywood's hot list much since the '70s, and his most recent credits include the 1999 release "The Prince and the Surfer." He also has a recurring role on ABC's medical drama "Gideon's Crossing."

The show has already had its share of controversy. When reports surfaced in January that Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, would be depicted as lesbian lovers in the program, Comedy Central was reportedly warned by corporate parent Viacom to back off. Though the Bush twins won't be part of the show after all, Fox said that the decision to drop them was a creative choice -- not a political one -- that Parker and Stone had made before any pressure was applied. "They had sort of moved off the girls in any event," Fox says.
-- Alicia Montgomery [12:15 p.m. PST, Feb. 13, 2001]

Salon News A Salon-eye view of the day's news, with investigative reports, analysis and interviews with newsmakers.