Content Starts Here

Hilton butt of jokes at U.S. awards show

05/06/2007 10:07

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paris Hilton spent her final hours of freedom in familiar territory on Sunday, front and center at a celebrity event near Hollywood -- as people cheered her upcoming incarceration.

The socialite, who is due to report to a Los Angeles jail by Tuesday to serve 23 days for driving-related probation violation, was on hand at the MTV Movie Awards, smiling stoically in the face of jokes at her expense.

The ceremony’s host, Sarah Silverman, drew loud cheers just by mentioning her upcoming date with the law.

The raunchy comedian joked that the bars of Hilton’s cell would be painted like penises to make her feel more comfortable, but noted: "I just worry that she’s going to break her teeth on those things."

Silverman also saved some barbs for another troubled party girl, describing Lindsay Lohan as "a rude little pig." The actress recently returned to rehab after crashing her car in Beverly Hills. Lohan was scheduled to be a presenter at the awards show, but did not make it.

LOVE FOR BORAT

As with MTV’s flagship ceremony, the Video Music Awards, the movie awards are more about wackiness than winning.

"Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen scored on both counts, rolling around the stage in a passionate kiss with Will Ferrell during one of his two trips to the podium.

.....continued below

Advertisement starts

Advertisement ends

The pair were honoured for best kiss for their turn in the comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." The British comedian returned a little later to pick up the comedic performance prize for his title role in "Borat."

Cohen said his alter ego, boorish Kazakhstan TV reporter Borat, could not attend the event because he had entered rehab after a series of unfortunate incidents. These included driving under the influence of fermented horse urine and going on a chat show drunk where he "actually made pro-Jewish remarks."

The other big winner was "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest," which was named best movie, while its star, Johnny Depp, won for best performance.

"300" led the nominations with five mentions. The ancient epic ended up with just one award, best fight for its star, Scottish actor Gerard Butler. Silverman said the film got its name "by measuring how gay it was on a scale of one to 10."

Jack Nicholson was named best villain for his Oscar-nominated turn as a mobster in "The Departed." Looking a little under the weather, Nicholson delivered a rambling speech in which he thanked "the American fighting men and women, and our allies in the field."

In a nice piece of corporate synergy, the inaugural award for "best summer movie you haven’t seen" went to "Transformers." It will be released July 4 by MTV’s Viacom Inc. corporate sibling Paramount Pictures.

Performers included R&B singer Rihanna, who teamed up with rapper Jay-Z to sing her current U.S. chart-topper "Umbrella," and English neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse.

The event aired live for the first time in its 16-year history. Ratings have plunged in recent years, with the 2006 event averaging 3.2 million viewers, down from 4.7 million in 2005 and 5.9 million in 2004.

Reuters

Page: 12 next