Friday, April 10, 1998 | 10:59 a.m.
Next time you host a squash match, make sure to invite the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson -- especially if you're delinquent on child support payments. On Wednesday, the outspoken redhead was in Pittsburgh playing the game at a charity event which raised nearly $10,000 for an inner city youth center. After she lost a match to Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, police, who had been waiting outside, arrested the program's founder, Ramon "Tru" Damon, for being $6,000 in arrears. Fergie to the rescue! The Duchess posted Dixon's $4,000 bail. "Here is a man who has so much to give to the community and inner-city kids and they get him for something like this," she was quoted as saying in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Michelle Davis, the mother of Dixon's daughter, Nakisha, said she doesn't understand "how Fergie could back somebody who shirks child support. He's not paying to help take care of his own child."
Hiding out
Since we've probably seen too much already, it seems the public won't see much of George Michael anytime soon. The English pop singer kept a low profile Thursday following his arrest earlier this week for alleged lewd activity in a public park restroom. But how he handles the situation could make or break his career -- as though the Wham! years didn't do enough damage. "What (Michael's) doing is disastrous," Michael Levine, a public relations expert who helped Michael Jackson retool his image, told the Associated Press. "We live in a culture in which a rumor unanswered in 24 hours becomes truth. What you want to do in crisis situations is get out your story and get it out fast -- with humility, with responsibility. Americans are generally willing to forgive and forget, he said. "But when you delay or act arrogantly, as O.J. Simpson did after the verdict, the tolerance is very low." While Michael's at it, he may want to apologize for "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
One in the oven
Sports Illustrated's favorite cover girl, Kathy Ireland, told "Entertainment Tonight" that she is expecting her second child, due this fall. The baby's sex? Who cares? "I'm excited that I'll have great maternity clothes to wear," the supermodel said.
Drama queen
LeAnn Rimes as a runaway? Isn't she too squeaky clean for that? Apparently the producers of "Days of our Lives" don't think so. Earlier this week, the adolescent songstress was on the Burbank, Calif. set of the legendary soap opera, where she taped 23 pages of dialogue for a trio of upcoming installments. She'll star as Madison, a teen runaway. Before you ask, yes, she'll sing, too. "Looking Through Your Eyes" is the theme song for the animated feature "Quest for Camelot." But what would a soap stint be without a smooch? Rimes' character will also give the show's teen heartthrob, 20-year-old Jensen Ackles, his first on-screen kiss in a fantasy scene in which Rimes becomes Cinderella. In real life the pair, who both grew up in Richardson, Texas., have been buddies since last summer. The episodes will air April 29 and 30 and May 1.
Compiled by Lisa Ferguson
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