Newsmakers: Matthew Broderick, Peter Jackson, Clay Aiken

Dec 3, 2006 7:00 PM EST

Matthew Broderick: The stage and screen star has a new film called "Deck the Halls." He spoke with Nicki Gostin.

OK.

[ Laughs ] Very, very little.

We're both sick of each other. No, I swear to you we love each other.

Not yet. Honestly, after all these years I still see him every week or so. But there's a lot of potential there for hatred.

No, they're hard to come by in New York City. People would get angry and stab it.

Our house is very mixed up. You're very likely to see dreidels on the kitchen table and a wreath on the door.

I try to, but we don't have a number. I've actually seen him get tired of opening. It's horrible when you think about what's happening elsewhere in the world.

Yes. It was nothing like that when we first got married. I think it's because of me.

No! No, it is not.

We were right there. I thought Jerry would have to be carried out on a stretcher.

Breaking the Hobbit It should've been a slam dunk. Peter Jackson, mastermind of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, was all set to re-team with studio partner New Line on a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit." Then a funny thing happened: New Line fired him. No one's using that word, natch, but in a letter posted on fan site theonering.net, Jackson claims that the studio told him it "would no longer be requiring our services on 'The Hobbit'." (New Line declined to comment; Jackson could not be reached.) Why the breakup? Fallout from Jackson's decision to audit New Line's accounting on "Rings." The studio wanted him to settle the matter before handing him "The Hobbit." He refused; that was that. It'll be tough to fill Jackson's shoes. For one thing, he doesn't wear any.

--Devin Gordon

What's going on here? We've written three captions--pick your favorite at Newsmakers.NEWSWEEK.com.

Clay Aiken attempts to get on with the American Music Awards, but Tori Spelling insists on telling another story about life on "90210."

Aiken was set to tell America what he really thinks about Kelly Ripa's "germaphobia," but luckily Spelling was there to stop him.

Ever famous for her discretion, Spelling shows Aiken that this isn't the time or the place for deeply personal revelations, no matter how obvious they may seem.

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Devin Gordon is the editor of Newsweek Digital, the umbrella company encompassing Newsweek's various web properties, including Newsweek.com and Newsweek Mobile. Previously, from June 2007 to June 2009, he was senior editor of the magazine's Periscope section, which was nominated for a National Magazine Award for "best section" in 2008. Previously, he was a senior writer, writing about film, television, sports and popular culture for the Arts and Entertainment and Society sections. He was part of the Newsweek reporting team for the past three Olympic games, including the Salt Lake City winter games in 2002, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he covered swimmer Michael Phelps, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for which he wrote Newsweek's cover story about skier Bode Miller.

During his tenure at the magazine, Gordon has written about everything from HBO's "The Wire" to rock band Coldplay to Oscar-winner film directors Ang Lee and Peter Jackson. He profiled "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator Larry David on the eve of the series' fourth season debut, and "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan just prior to the film's record breaking release. For Newsweek's year-end double-issue of 2002, he wrote "The Matrix Makers," (Jan. 6, 2003), a cover story about the two upcoming "Matrix" sequels—the first behind-the-scenes look at the new films by any publication.

Gordon joined Newsweek in 1998, after graduating from Duke University. His first cover story was "The Dominator" (June 18, 2001), an examination of what makes Tiger Woods tick. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Nicki Gostin interviews celebrities for newsweek.com. She has written for Newsweek, TV Guide, The Age newspaper, and Australian Women's Weekly, and has appeared on Entertainment Tonight. She dates her interest in celebrities and the Royal Family back to when she was five and wrote letters to Sesame Street, the Queen, and Basil Brush (a British puppet fox with his own TV show).

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.