David Duchovny sues Fox over ''X-Files'' profits

LAWSUIT Hang around the ”X-Files” set too much and you start to get some conspiracy theories of your own. David Duchovny has filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Film Corp., reportedly seeking more than $25 million because he claims that through sneaky practices the studio cheated him out of millions in profit participation, according to Variety. When Duchovny renegotiated his contract in 1995, he received a cut of the show, but he maintains that when Fox sold ”X-Files” into syndication, the company deliberately minimized revenues by selling to its affiliates and Fox-owned FX instead of shopping around for a highest bidder. Duchovny also claims that ”X-Files” creator Chris Carter was complicit in the plan to shrink the actor’s take (although Carter is not named in the lawsuit). Duchovny says that Fox secretly paid Carter ”millions of dollars in ‘hush’ money” and gave him a 13-episode commitment for a new series just to ignore the lowballing syndication deal. A Fox rep told Variety he had only heard of the suit through the press, and had no comment.

SCARED SICK Before heading out to ”The Blair Witch Project” this weekend, better pop a couple of Dramamine and bring an empty popcorn bucket: Across the country more and more viewers are vomiting after getting motion sickness from the shaky camera work and grainy footage of the roughly made horror movie. The Associated Press reported movie-theater employees from Atlanta to Boston griping about having to clean up sprayed seats and bathrooms. ”This past weekend we put up a sign that said the hand-held camera can create motion sickness,” said a managing director of an Atlanta multiplex. ”And if you’re susceptible to motion sickness you may want to rethink your viewing choice.”

CASTING Jennifer Love Hewitt may hang 10 — and conveniently wear a flattering bathing suit in the process — in the surfing drama ”Girl in the Curl,” which would start shooting next spring during her ”Time of Your Life” hiatus. She’d play a grieving woman who finds hitting the waves a good way to deal with her brother’s death…. Jon Bon Jovi has taken a guest role on ”Sex and the City” as a photographer who has a dalliance with Sarah Jessica Parker. The episode will air on Aug. 29.

GOING POLITICAL? Warren Beatty told the New York Times that he would consider entering the 2000 presidential race. He said that as a ”liberal democrat,” his political aspirations were spurred by displeasure with front-running candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley, and that his main platform would be campaign finance reform. ”Its tentacles reach into every other issue,”he said. ”I fear we’re getting closer to a plutocracy than we want to, and I believe that deep down the people want to do something about that.” If he did run, it would be as either a democrat, an independent, or part of the Reform Party, according to the head of Public Campaign, a campaign reform organization that has had serious talks with Beatty about his intentions.

NULL AND VOID A London judge has granted Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall an annulment. He agreed with the couple, who mutually argued that their 1990 ceremony, held in Indonesia, was not valid since it was never registered. Following this ruling, the judge accepted the couple’s financial settlement over the collapse of their relationship, which one estimate says would give Hall $48 million.

STAYING OUT OF THE RACE Sorry folks, Mr. Springer is not going to Washington. Jerry Springer has said that he will not run for U.S. Senate, letting down the Ohio Democrats who asked him to enter the race. “My current contractual obligations and commitments here in the United States as well as in England make it impractical if not impossible for me to run for the Senate at this time,” he said in a statement. “I am truly appreciative of the interest conveyed by Ohio Democrats. Indeed before my talk show, most of my adult life was spent in public service. I loved it. I look forward to one day returning to it. Just not now.” So we’ve still got a little bit of time before Armageddon.

BACKING OFF TBS has decided against launching its all-women’s TV network, which had been in development for the last year. Media analysts told the Associated Press that this was a wise move, considering it would have had to compete with two other female-driven networks, Lifetime and the near-to-launch Oxygen Network. A TBS statement said that it would devote its freed-up programming resources to developing another cartoon station and a regional Southeastern channel.

DELAYED Be-have? Be-lated is more like it for the proposed ”Austin Powers” animated show. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mike Myers and New Line have agreed to postpone producing the announced show, because they don’t want it to interfere with a third ”Powers” film. There’s no official deal to make another sequel, but it’s reportedly high on Myers’ list of priorities. Why, because he needs to get together a mortgage payment for a nice planet he’s got his eye on?

ARREST RECORDS All of the members of Motley Crue were arrested after a Las Vegas concert Wednesday night, according to AP. Bassist Nikki Sixx started the trouble when he tried to incite the crowd against the cops during the show. Sixx reportedly told the audience that every time the band was in Vegas, the police tell them they can’t be themselves, and then added that ”If they don’t like it, we can start flipping over cop cars like we did a couple of years ago.” The crowd of 8,000 started getting riled up, and some tried to throw their folding chairs, although in the end no damage was caused. The police went backstage after the show to arrest Sixx for encouraging violence, and when the rest of the band protested, they too were hauled off the station…. Believe us, we’d love to report some GOOD news on Ol’ Dirty Bastard just as soon as he gives us the chance. In the meantime, you’ll have to make do with the report that a Los Angeles Criminal Court has issued a bench warrant for the rapper after he didn’t turn up for a hearing on his February arrest for wearing body armor, according to MTV News. We’ll see if his attendance records pick up on Friday, when he’s set to appear in a Queens, New York, criminal courtroom to answer charges of drug possession, intent to sell, and driving with a suspended license. But… uh… we hear he hasn’t littered in a while. That’s good, right?

FINED The town of Mansfield, Mass., has fined its Tweeter Center $5,300 after two Bob Dylan/Paul Simon concerts on July 22 and 23 ended at 11:15 p.m. — 15 minutes past the town’s performance curfew. Something tells us Woodstock ’99 just wouldn’t have flown in Mansfield.