Montel takes a spin at Wheel of Fortune

Baltimore-area-native Montel Williams will appear on Wheel of Fortune this week as part of the game show's Celebrity Week.

The Andover High School graduate will take on the Food Network's Sandra Lee and HGTV's Kristan Cunningham on the show, which airs at 7pm locally.

Although the talk show host's Web site lists the air date as "Thursday, November 14th", Wheel's schedule correctly labels today - Wednesday - as the 14th.

We'll forgive Williams, who is playing - like the other celebrity contestants - for charity. In his case, his own multiple sclerosis foundation.

I'll be tuning in, if only to see Sandra Lee attempting to solve the puzzle.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Update, noon: I've been schooled on Maryland's ties to Wheel of Fortune. Turns out that host Pat Sajak owns a home in the Severna Park area and is a season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals. Oh, and Montel Williams's father, Herman, served 40 years with the Baltimore Fire Department before retiring in 2000.

Clooney and HIPAA

When ER-veteran George Clooney landed in an actual ER after a motorcycle crash last month, the last thing on his mind, no doubt, was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Known by the far catchier nickname HIPAA, the federal regulation is what’s behind those lengthy privacy forms your doctor has been making you sign every now and then for the past several years.

HIPAA, a notorious tangle of bureaucracy for the health care industry, not surprisingly was omitted from the flashy, action-packed world of medicine depicted in the hour-long NBC drama for which Clooney is best known.

But now that more than two dozen employees of Palisades Medical Center in New York have been suspended for violating the actor’s HIPAA-given rights to privacy after his biking spill, the actor seems to have become the face of a privacy regulation many Americans likely have never heard of.

The hospital employees were suspended for peeking into the actor’s medical records without permission, a HIPAA violation.

And now Clooney is appearing on various gossip and entertainment blogs and Web sites commenting about the incident. I’d say it’s a safe bet this is the first time HIPAA has been mentioned on TMZ.com or E! News online.

"While I very much believe in a patient’s right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers," the actor said in a statement.

One key question remains — how many times will gossip columnists and bloggers misspell the acronym HIPAA in the next few days? (The Daily Record already has received one e-mailed news release on the Clooney debacle with the word "HIPPA" in the subject line.)

-KAREN BUCKELEW, Business Writer

Hip-hoppin’ into court

Baton Rouge rapper Webbie and his Trill Entertainment label mate Lil Boosie are the latest Louisiana lyricists to find themselves in the crosshairs of a Baltimore lawsuit.

Webbie, born Webster Bradney Jr., and Boosie, born Torrance Hatch, were slated to perform at two popular city clubs last winter but never showed up, Baltimore-area promoter Tracye Stafford alleges in a lawsuit (subscriber-only link) filed Sept. 20. Entertainment lawyer Paul Gardner is representing Stafford.

New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne has been sued twice recently by students who were injured when loose cash was thrown from the stage into the audience at his concert at Morgan State University last year.

What’s with Baltimore’s bad legal blood with hip-hop artists from the Bayou?

-BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

Someone please stop the bleeding

In the latest blow to Maryland’s film and TV industry, Discovery Communication’s TLC channel is moving to LA, taking about a third of its 50 employees.

This comes less than two weeks after HBO’s crime drama “The Wire” wrapped up shooting for its final season. Heck, even “Hairspray” was filmed in Canada.

Meanwhile, the state of Maryland cut its incentive money to lure film companies this year.

Have we lost our drawing power for television and filmmakers? If so, how do we get it back or should we care?

-BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

Ever heard of TMZ?

I was working at a marketing firm last year when my boss rushed out of his office, clutching an industry magazine. "Have any of you ever heard of TMZ.com?" he breathed. Almost everyone shook their heads.

A few of us, looking very guilty, raised our hands.

I take comfort in the fact that I wasn't alone: more than 9 million unique visitors feast on the celebrity-news site, which has more than 120 million monthly page views, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Yes, 120 MILLION page views. Every 30 days.

And TMZ's about to get even more eyeballs: Monday marks the premiere of “TMZ TV,” the brand's foray into on-air entertainment news.

A lot of industry folk are calling it “groundbreaking:” an online success story that is hoping to spin off a (even more lucrative) TV component.

But Harvey Levin, the former-lawyer-turned-celebrity-reporter who runs the site, claims he isn't aiming to be a pioneer.

From the AP story:

The program has a good shot at making it, said Bill Carroll, an expert in syndication for Katz Television.

"In a million years, I never would have believed that the national conversation would have been Paris, Britney and Lindsay," Carroll said. "No organization is better at covering that than TMZ. If they can take the tongue-in-cheek sensibility that the Web site has and translate it to broadcast, I'd be very surprised if it's not a success."

Who's willing to fess up: any of you have a guilty-pleasure site like TMZ at the top of your "favorites" list?

To our lawyer readers: ever thought about going the Harvey Levin route?

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

“Making it rain” sound financial advice

Rap mogul Russell Simmons is a genius at diversification. After co-founding Def Jam records more than 25 years ago, he’s become quite a businessman. He’s used his entrepreneurial spirit to launch a clothing line (Phat Farm), bring spoken word poetry to HBO and Broadway (Def Poetry), and even held a political reception last year for Maryland Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele.

To say Russell Simmons (pictured at right) wears many hats is an understatement. Over the weekend in Greensboro, N.C., an organization Simmons co-chairs called the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) held a financial investment seminar entitled “Get Your Money Right.”

The organization’s mission statement says, “The network is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of Hip-Hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the empowerment of youth.”

The summit featured current rap music artists including Jim Jones and Lil’ Mo explaining the benefits of home ownership, investing intelligently and trying to avoid debt.

I wonder if the current real estate crisis couldn’t have been avoided if there were more organizations like Simmons’ talking about the benefits of smart investing or trying to appeal to people through their current favorite celebrities.

Imagine if Madonna did a public service announcement saying: buy a home, settle down, invest your money wisely and retire when you’re 50. Or maybe if Britney Spears did one saying: I really love playing the stock market. Invest your extra pennies and you’ll always be able to take care of yourself.

It’s time we start demanding more from our celebrities and public figures. You wouldn’t expect sound financial advice from rapper Lil’ Mo, but at the summit she made a very sage comment:

"Everybody wants to make it rain, but they never have enough saved up for a rainy day.”

The phrase “make it rain” is taken from rapper Fat Joe’s album entitled “Me, Myself & I” and means to let dollar bills fall from the sky like it’s raining money.

So listen to Lil’ Mo, and hopefully others will follow her lead in offering sound advice for those of us who really want to “make it rain” common financial sense.

What favorite celebrity of yours would you like to see offering financial advice or investment tips?

-TODD ZIMMERMAN, Presentation Editor