Short range
INTENSE negotiations between
Shaquille O'Neal and Mercedes Benz broke down, and the 7-foot star of the L.A. Lakers never got a test-drive in the new $350,000 Maybach. Mercedes marketing execs had two of the cars available Oscar week. Shaq, eager to please his wife, had tried to get a chauffeur-driven Maybach to take her and her girlfriends around on Oscar Eve. But when it was learned the odyssey would range as far as Pasadena, a shortage of wheels developed. In fact, only 500 Maybachs will be distributed this year in the U.S. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck had one for Oscar night.
Unforgiven
BERNIE Mac may have a hit with his Fox show, but the guy knows how to hold a grudge. Interviewed by GQ, Mac went off on his old mentor Steve Harvey, who got him involved with "The Kings of Comedy." The mag noted several years ago that someone representing Steve Harvey called ["Ocean's Eleven" director] Steven Soderbergh's office and asked him to reconsider the casting of Bernie Mac. The caller argued that Steve Harvey was more popular. "Man," Bernie says, "I heard about that. I was told about it. You know these people. Are you surprised? It's always about him."