Suits are his strong suit

Stephen Bing takes on another tabloid; Gere's not sexy, says Gere; Winona goes shopping ... and sets off alarm!

By Amy Reiter

Jan 22, 2002 | Lawsuits: a Bing thing?

Stephen Bing, the man who Elizabeth Hurley has fingered as the father of her unborn child, is suing yet another British tabloid.

Not long ago, Bing filed suit against the Mirror, objecting to an article that called him a "sleazeball" and encouraged readers to contact him at his business phone number, which it printed.

Now, Bing's striking back at the Daily Mail, which suggested that he had hired a private investigator to unearth dirt on Hurley, whom Bing denies impregnating.

"Under no circumstances is it my intention to hurt Miss Hurley in any way, shape or form," Bing said in a statement, "and any reports that I have hired a private detective in an attempt to damage her reputation are completely false."

Implication that she's a lying ho notwithstanding.

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Meat: You think it's better but it's snot

"It helps with his mucus."

-- Summer Phoenix on why she's happy her boyfriend, Casey Affleck, became a vegetarian just like her, in Details.

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Runaway sex symbol

He's been the butt of a lot of jokes and rumors throughout his career, but Richard Gere says the thing that really mystifies him is the persistent prattle about how sexy he is.

"The entire 'sexy thing' eludes me," Gere tells the upcoming issue of Biography magazine. "God, I have no idea, no idea why people think that! How could I possibly know? It's so not me."

So what is him? "I have a very simple life," Gere says. "When you have a home, and a household, and a kid, you're just the guy who takes out the garbage."

Yeah, but it's the way he takes it out that's so sexy.

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Lovely, mate!

"It's somebody I've known for a very long time. And we're just together. It's as simple as that, you know."

-- Russell Crowe on his current ladyfriend, on "Larry King Live."

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Why, oh why, Winona?

Poor Winona Ryder.

The wifty actress managed to pluck up her courage after that whole recent shoplifting mess and head back to the stores last week, only to be thoroughly humiliated once again.

According to the New York Post, Ryder was leaving an Express store in L.A. when she set off the security alarm. Turns out it was all a misunderstanding; a salesperson had forgotten to remove the security tag from Ryder's clothing purchase.

"She went back to the clerk and had the sensor removed," a source tells the tab. "She was very polite about it, but she was definitely a little embarrassed."

Not to mention alarmed.

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Miss something? Read yesterday's Nothing Personal.

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