John Grisham stands firm on kiddie porn views - then apologizes

BEST-SELLING legal thriller novelist John Grisham apologized yesterday for saying in an interview with London's Daily Telegraph that many men imprisoned for child-pornography offenses in the U.S. probably just had too much to drink and "pushed the wrong buttons."

Grisham added that U.S. prisons were "filled with guys my age. Sixty-year-old white men in prison who have never harmed anybody, would never touch a child."

Actually, they're more likely to be filled with 25-year-old black men who smoked a joint.

But we digress.

Grisham said many of those old white dudes "got online one night and started surfing around, probably had too much to drink or whatever, and pushed the wrong buttons, went too far and got into child porn."

What the what?

Grisham made a distinction between "real pedophiles" and those he said were being punished too harshly (you know, men who got off just looking at images of small children having sex). He said offenders did deserve punishment, but "we've gone nuts with this incarceration."

Jon Brown of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children told the BBC that "every image is a real child who has suffered and every time these images are clicked on or downloaded it creates demand that ultimately fuels more child abuse."

In a statement issued yesterday through his publisher, Random House, Grisham said his comments "were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children."

"I can think of nothing more despicable," he said. "I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all."

He said that anyone who participated in child pornography "should be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

If Grisham has such strong feelings about the wrongful incarceration of someone who views kiddie porn on the Internet, here's an idea. Write a book.

* Speaking of books, Macmillan will publish "The Secret Lives of Twin Peaks," a novel that promises to reveal what has happened to the town's residents since they were last seen nearly a quarter-century ago on ABC.

The publisher said yesterday the book is being written by Mark Frost, who created the series with David Lynch. It will be published in advance of the Showtime sequel announced last week.

Frost called the novel a "dream project."

Ah, so the whole thing was a dream.

The scary clown on "American Horror Story" is freaking out . . . clowns.

Glenn Kohlberger, president of Clowns of America International, told the Hollywood Reporter, "We do not support in any way, shape or form any medium that sensationalizes or adds to coulrophobia or 'clown fear.' "

Bigger problem: Coulrophobia, Islamophobia or Ebolaphobia? Discuss.

Utah's campus gun laws are in the spotlight after feminist Anita Sarkeesian canceled a speech at Utah State University once she learned the school would allow concealed firearms in the auditorium despite an anonymous threat of a mass shooting.

School officials in Logan were set to go ahead with the event with extra police after consulting with federal and state law enforcement who told them the threat was consistent with ones Sarkeesian receives whenever she gives a speech.

Bad PR strategy: She's against guns, let's shoot her.

Sarkeesian, a well-known critic of the portrayal of women in video games, pulled out Tuesday night after learning from university officials that Utah law prohibits colleges from taking away concealed weapons from valid permit holders. Utah is the only state in the country with such a law.

"It's sort of mindboggling to me that they couldn't take efforts to make sure there were no guns in an auditorium that was threatened with guns and a mass shooting," she told the Associated Press. "I don't understand how they could be so cut-and-dry about it."

"We feel that security would have been sufficient," spokesman Tim Vitale said.

The university did plan to add police officers and prohibit people from entering with backpacks, Vitale said.

Got it? You couldn't enter with a backpack. You could with a gun.

* Kylie Jenner has reportedly gotten lip injections.

She's 17. The only injection she should get is for the flu.

* Sarah Jessica Parker's makeup artist Leslie Lopez, has been busted for stealing once again.

TMZ.com reports that Lopez allegedly lifted three pricey handbags from a Saks Fifth Avenue.

Thank goodness SJP won't need to wear much makeup playing Daily News reporter Wendy Ruderman in the TV adaptation of "Busted."

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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