R.C. Phone Home, R.C. Phone Home

We remember a quainter time in the entertainment business when movie stars would promote their latest picture by doing an interview with Rona Barrett or going on "The Tonight Show" to crack wise and endure George Segal's banjo-playing.

Nowadays, you've got to make a complete ass out of yourself just to get noticed.

Hot on the heels of Tom Cruise's game of Twister on Oprah comes another arrest of Russell Crowe, whom New York's finest led away in handcuffs while the actor was wearing a promotional jacket for Cinderella Man. It seems Australia's answer to, um, temperamental assholes (OK, I couldn't think of a proper analogy) hurled a telephone at a hotel employee after the star grew frustrated with trying to make a long-distance call.

The Los Angeles Times has the story:

" 'After asking the front desk several times to replace a faulty phone in his room -- and getting only attitude from the clerk on duty -- Crowe brought the phone down to the front desk in an effort to address the situation in person,' Crowe's publicist Robin Baum said in a written statement. 'Words were exchanged, and Crowe wound up throwing the phone against the wall. He regrets that he lost his temper, but at no time did he assault anyone or touch any hotel employee.' "

Oh, well, of course! It was all just a big misunderstanding! It was all the phone's fault. Perhaps Crowe's familiarity with boomerangs led him to miscalculate the phone's aerodynamic properties. It coulda happened to any Australian.

Hey, as long as Russell Crowe is on a tele-rampage, how about someone point him toward this guy?