Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002 | 8:18 a.m.
Howard Stern is planning a return to Vegas in February at the Hard Rock Hotel. Stern, who brought his entourage to the casino last Super Bowl weekend, is tidying up a pricey contract for Part Two.
An official deal with the Hard Rock has yet to be signed, but Stern is already talking about his travel plans on his morning radio show. Last year's visit from the King of All Media (a title Stern has bestowed on himself) brought record crowds to Peter Morton's hipster hotel.
Rumor has it Stern's brief stay flooded the place with so much cash that the jock's astronomical appearance and lodging fees were chump change by checkout time. Prior to Stern's arrival last year, hotel insiders were grumbling that he was demanding upwards of $700,000 for the privilege -- but the hordes of patrons streaming through the doors promptly quieted detractors.
Stern plans to play the tables again, but he's not saying if he'll place another infamous $100,000 hand of blackjack as he did last year. Stern won the bet and gave the money to a needy fan. A final show date has yet to be decided as well. Insiders say details will be confirmed in the next couple of days.
There is no truth to the speculation that Tom Cruise made a Cruise-Cruz out of Penelope last weekend.
"They didn't have time (to get married)," said a source who was with the lovebirds during their Vegas visit. "They were just too busy having fun." So what about taking Cruz to Jasmine, a spot favored by Cruise and his ex, Nicole Kidman? "It didn't mean anything," the insider said. "He's a simple guy and that just happens to be his favorite restaurant."
Cruz, who some say turns on her English only when she likes the question, seemed to enjoy her trip to the Strip. She didn't mind when her beau posed for pictures with the female members of Siegfried & Roy's cast. Cruise even fixed a jammed camera just so a starstruck lady could have her turn.
Here's a final Slash story that might help clear things up following all that New Year's Eve hoopla:
Friends of the guitarist say Slash got the idea to see Guns N' Roses when he was in Henderson last month for the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino opening. "He just thought it would be funny," one close friend said. "So he got a room at the Hard Rock (Hotel) and we reserved a table in the VIP area of The Joint for the show. No problem." The pal said Slash hadn't even talked to Rose in "five or six years" and that he just wanted to go to hear "how his music sounded after all this time."
The trouble started when security personnel went to Slash's room and told him to stay away from the GN'R show. "They told him not to go near the place and to leave the hotel and even stay out of the parking lot," said the same friend, who was with Slash on New Year's Eve. "They didn't politely tell him at the door ... because he didn't even get to the door."
What's a spurned rocker to do when he becomes a hotel epidemic?
"Well, first we tried to go to ghostbar, but they couldn't get a limo to us fast enough." (I hate it when that happens.) "And then we decided to go to Whiskey Sky. We were all there partying until 6 a.m."
Sure, now we know him as the ex-con, rap mogul who served time after kicking a guy in the head during a Vegas brawl a few years back. But in 1985 Marion "Suge" Knight was just another UNLV Rebel. Knight, who at the time said friends called him Sugar Bear because "I'm sweet like sugar and tough like a bear," even earned the team's Rookie of the Year honors after his junior season.
On Wednesday Knight will be one of Carson Daly's first guests on the NBC talk show "Last Call," airing locally on KVBC Channel 3 at 1:30 a.m.
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