Sideshow: Obama hands out heaps of honors

All sorts of neat awards are here! President Obama will confer them Wednesday at the White House. National Medal of Arts? Come on up, poet god Donald Hall and sculptor Mark di Suvero! You there, Meryl Streep, Van Cliburn, Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins, and James Taylor! Hey, Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)! National Humanities Medals, anyone? How's about you, authors Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates? And you, wonderful poet/conservationist Wendell E. Berry? Historian Gordon Wood? Scholars Jacques Barzun of Columbia, Stanley Nider Katz of Princeton, and Arnold Rampersad of Stanford? Want one? Here, have one!

Two with local connections are among the cast of the next Dancing With the Stars. Delaware's Christine O'Donnell was invited, but the defeated U.S. Senate candidate declined, so she can work on a book. That leaves talk-show host Wendy Williams, who grew up at the north end of the Shore, and Kendra Wilkinson, the reality-show star married to former Eagle Hank Baskett

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They'll compete, starting March 21 on ABC, with legendary pugilist Sugar Ray Leonard, supermodel Petra Nemcova, actress Kirstie Alley, rapper Romeo, pro-wrestling champ Chris Jericho, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, Loveline radio show cohost Mike Catherwood, Jonas actress Chelsea Kane, and Ralph Macchio, star of the '84 charmer Karate Kid.

Williams grew up in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, near Asbury Park. She made her name on radio, becoming big in New York, before a firing landed her in Philly at WUSL Power99.

     - Peter Mucha

Yuck! Legionnaire's disease bacteria have been found in Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in L.A. Legionella is a bunny! L.A. County docs 'n' cops opened an investigation Feb. 11, after about 200 folks at an Internet conference, which held a fund-raiser (sure it was) at the mansion, came down sick. Head docs aren't saying it was Legionnaire's. They say the critter is "common in moist places." Gross!

- John Timpane

Katie Holmes has filed a $50 mil libel lawsuit against Star mag for insinuating in a report that Tom Cruise's spouse is a drug addict. . . . Family Ties mom Meredith Baxter, 63, writes in a memoir titled Untitled that David Birney beat her during their marriage. . . . Melissa Gilbert, 46, and Bruce Boxleitner, 60, have separated after 16 years wed. . . . HarperCollins confirmed Tuesday that humanitarian Bristol Palin is writing a memoir. . . . Rolling Stone says Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Usher, and 50 Cent have been blasted by fans for pocketing big cash to play at parties for nutcase Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. One star, Nelly Furtado, says she'll give her $1 mil paycheck to charity.

OK, no, but the two embattled stars are in love - in a totally manly, John Wayne way, of course.

Seems Mel - who may be indicted for domestic violence any minute now - phoned Charlie with a message of hope and love. (It seems alleged spouse-abusing letches really connect on a spiritual level.)

"Mel's a rock star. I love him. . . . I'm a huge fan and he's a beautiful man," Charlie told schlock jock Howard Stern. Nuggets: Charlie estimates he's worth "$1 billion" and suggests he may have bedded 1,000 women.

Dior designer John Galliano was arrested Thursday for disorderly conduct after allegedly going into an anti-Semitic rant at a Paris cafe. His bosses have suspended him with intent to terminate his employment. And he's being prosecuted for anti-Semitic speech, against the law in France.

The mess may cost Dior one of its biggest names - Oscar goddess Natalie Portman, who reps Dior Cherie perfume. "As an individual who is proud to be Jewish," N-Port said Tuesday, "I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way."

Galliano's a big celeb: He's pals with Madonna, Kylie Minogue, and French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

In another blow, a newly released vid shot before the cafe row shows Galliano yelling, "I love Hitler."

- John Timpane

Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson has announced, by Twitter, the lineup for the fourth annual Roots Picnic. It's happening at the Festival Pier on June 4 and will have "Black and Yellow" rapper Wiz Khalifa and Nas partnering with the Roots.

It's a more hip-hop-centric bill than in previous years, when Vampire Weekend and Gnarls Barkley have been marquee attractions. Grammy-winning jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding returns to give ?uestlove a run for his money in the big hair sweepstakes, and Ariel Pink, the Dismemberment Plan, and Philly's own Man Man head up the indie rock contingent.

- Dan DeLuca

Rep. Rush Holt (D., N.J.), who hails from Princeton, on Monday night beat the much-ballyhooed IBM computer Watson in an exhibition Jeopardy! match held in a Washington hotel.

Former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, also a Democrat, on Tuesday was named czar of the Motion Picture Association of America.