Ex-Lady Gaga assistant singing new tune: 'I Write the Book'

IN THE SPIRITUAL realm, they call it karma. In the celebrity realm, they call it payback.

PageSix.com reports that Jennifer O'Neill, Lady Gaga's ex-flunky, may have scored as much as a million bucks from Simon & Schuster's Atria Books to spill the beans about her former meal ticket.

Fame Monster is the name of the literary landmark being conjured by O'Neill, who toiled in Gaga Land for two years, beginning with 2009's "Born This Way" tour. O'Neill ultimately took the pop singer-freak show to court, claiming that she was owed $393,000 for 7,168 hours of overtime, plus damages.

At the time, Her Gaganess responded via a sworn deposition in which she called O'Neill "a "f---ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn't earn." For good measure, she described herself as "the queen of the universe" who is "quite wonderful to everybody that works for me."

The suit was settled out of court last October for an undisclosed sum.

While O'Neil is still working on her manifesto, enquiring minds can get a sense of what to expect from her lawsuit.

O'Neill's charges included being "required" to sleep in the star's bed because "[Gaga] didn't sleep alone," that she was charged with making sure that Gaga received her daily doses of "medicine" and that the former Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was such a demanding boss that O'Neill "had no privacy, no chance to talk to any family, no chance to talk to any friends, no chance to have sex if I wanted to have sex. There was no chance to do anything."

Perhaps we'll finally get the skinny on that most unknown and underpublicized '60s rock combo, the Beatles, now that kid-actor-turned-uber-director Ron Howard has been tapped to helm a documentary slated for theatrical release.

Rolling Stone first reported that the doc, expected to be released in fall 2015, is being sanctioned by Apple Corps, the Fabsters' holding company. It will feature interviews with surviving Gods-Who-Changed-Everything Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.

The film's focus is expected to be the years 1960 to '66, the period that started with the Mop Tops forming the band and ended with their retirement from touring (the group officially called it quits in 1970).

The flick will reportedly re-create concerts that weren't filmed, using original sound recordings, and utilize material from Apple Corps archives as well as amateur footage. The filmmakers already have obtained some material from the Lads' final concert on Aug. 29, 1966, in San Francisco.

"We can now sync it up and create a concert experience so immersive and so engaging, I believe you're going to actually feel like you're somewhere in the '60s, seeing what it was like to be there, feeling it and hearing it," Howard told the mag.

Following Elaine Stritch's death at 89 yesterday, accolades poured in for the gravelly voiced theatrical icon who favored performing in a loose-fitting white shirt, high heels and sheer black tights:

Liza Minnelli: "Elaine was a magnificent woman in every sense of the word . . . a true trailblazer. Her talent and spunk will be greatly missed."

Lena Dunham: "Here's to the lady who lunched: Elaine Stritch, we love you. May your heaven be a booze-soaked, no-pants solo show at the Carlyle."

Mia Farrow: "I suspect Elaine Stritch won't know how to rest in peace! Iconic entertainer, force of nature . . ."

And this from the Carlyle, the New York City hotel where Stritch lived in Room 309 for a decade: "She will be missed by so many, but her legacy will certainly live on."

Yesterday, Tattle noted that Union Cane was one of the boxers who never knocked out Rocky Balboa in the "Rocky" series. Technically that's true, but it's because Cane never actually fought Balboa in "Rocky V."

Blog: philly.com/Casinotes