Anita Walks, Talks

By ANN O’NEILL

May 2, 2001 12 AM PT

Hollywood Reporter editor Anita Busch, who in the jargon of the show biz trades ankled her job Monday, told us she couldn’t stand by while her publisher publicly bad-mouthed one of her most respected reporters while defending a columnist whose ethics she finds questionable.

Busch, brought to the paper two years ago to give it a competitive edge, said she’s always had her suspicions about social columnist George Christy, who was the subject of a lengthy investigation by seasoned labor reporter David Robb. “The Dave Robb story was a culmination of things I saw from the first week I arrived at the paper,” she said. “Christy was allowed to do things that no other journalist was allowed to do.”

Robb quit last week after publisher Robert J. Dowling pulled him off a story that accused Christy of taking favors from movie companies. The story, reassigned to two less-experienced staffers, appeared Monday--starting with a single paragraph on Page 4 and jumping to Page 19. It said that the Screen Actors Guild is investigating whether Christy received unearned film credits so he could maintain SAG health and pension benefits.

Christy denied the allegations to the Associated Press: “I should say that there is such a thing as a cutting-room floor.”

Dowling defended his decision and said he’d “do it again.” Robb, according to Dowling, “was more on a personal mission of investigation, and I didn’t feel it was appropriate.”

Christy and his column, “The Great Life,” have been Hollywood fixtures for a quarter-century. The issue of whether Christy received credits for movies he didn’t appear in has been raised at least once before. A 1993 lawsuit filed by SAG’s pension and health fund against Christy, Motion Picture Corp., and eight others was settled out of court, the Hollywood Reporter said. At that point, Robb, who had been at the paper a year, began looking into the columnist.

Robb praised Busch as “brave and honorable.” He denied that his probe was personal, saying that Dowling tried to “suppress the story” because he has “a blind spot for Christy.” Dowling denies protecting the columnist.

“I’m standing by the process. I’m not standing up for a person,” he said. “I switched a reporter on a story. That’s what I’m standing up for.”

Niki Taylor Badly Hurt

Supermodel Niki Taylor, 26, was in critical condition at press time in an Atlanta hospital with severe internal injuries from a weekend car crash. “She’s bad, plain and simple,” her agent Lou Taylor told Reuters.

According to news reports, the single mother of 6-year-old twin boys was a passenger in a 1993 Nissan Maxima that struck a pole about 2 a.m. Sunday. Driver James Renegar, 27, told police he looked down to answer his cell phone and lost control. He and passenger John Lack, 30, were treated for minor injuries and released. The were described as old friends of Taylor’s.

Taylor was wearing a seat belt and did not initially appear to be badly hurt. “There was no head injury, no facial lacerations,” said Lou Taylor, who is not related to the model. “It was all internal trauma. It was very touch-and-go. They were not sure she was going to make it.”

Her parents, Barbara and Ken Taylor, and older sister, Joelle, have been at her bedside, the agent said.

Niki Taylor had her first magazine cover at age 14 and quickly rose to become one of the world’s top models, representing Cover Girl cosmetics and Liz Claiborne fashions. Taylor’s sister, Krissy, also a promising model, was 17 when she died of asthma in 1995. Niki Taylor found her sister unconscious at the family’s Florida home.

That’s Dr. Cage to You

Nicolas Cage, who took the GED and left Beverly Hills High School a year early to pursue acting, will receive an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Cal State Fullerton on May 25. Cage also will speak at the school’s commencement ceremony, our spy behind the Orange

Curtain reports. Cage’s honorary doctorate--the highest honor the university bestows--is well-deserved, said CSUF President Milton Gordon. “Cage has achieved a high degree of excellence as shown by his body of work. And he brings a tremendous dedication--pours his body and soul--into everything he does.”

Cage could not be reached because he’s spending his nights portraying overweight twins in the new Spike Jonze feature “Adaptation.” But, said his publicist, Annett Wolf, “He is incredibly honored.”

Times staff writers Louise Roug and Gina Piccalo contributed to this report. City of Angles runs Tuesday through Friday. E-mail: [email protected].