NAMES & FACES

Bristol's Ex Knocks Palin

Levi Johnston, ex-boyfriend and baby-daddy to Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, has put his would-be mother-in-law on the defensive by saying that the Alaska governor hastily abandoned her position in order to cash in on fame. "[She] had talked about how nice it would be to take some of this money people have been offering us and just run with it, and saying forget everything else," said the 19-year-old during a news conference in Anchorage.

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton suggested, and we're paraphrasing, that Johnston's story is a deeper stretch than those the former VP candidate demonstrated in a recent Runner's World photo shoot. "It is interesting to learn that Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills," said Stapleton, mocking Johnston, who is apparently considering cash-in options of his own by taking meetings with book and movie rainmakers.

MJ's Body in Crypt

Michael Jackson's body is being kept in a previously unused crypt belonging to Motown Records owner Berry Gordy, while the megastar's surviving family members squabble over his final resting place, reports the New York Post. The King of Pop's remains will lie -- without, incidentally, a brain, which is still being held by the coroner's office -- in an above-ground vault that Gordy had bought for himself in the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery, until it can be decided where the singer will be interred. Leading contenders: his Santa Barbara estate, Neverland Ranch, or, perhaps, his home town of Gary, Ind. "Jermaine is the one that wants him at Neverland -- he and Joseph -- because of the whole Elvis thing and the money potential," said a family source. "They are seeing dollar signs."

Spotted

-- LeAnn Rimes stopped in for an early dinner at Founding Farmers on Wednesday night. The actress and country singer, 26, was accompanied by three male guests and ordered the Southern fried chicken.

-- TV newsman Dan Rather, 77, was spied Wednesday afternoon visiting the International Spy Museum with his grandchildren. While the kids, 8 and 12, toured the exhibit, Rather hung back with the museum's executive director, Peter Earnest.

End Notes

Latest Role: Jim Carrey, star of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Yes Man," will soon be a grandfather, People magazine reports. The film actor says that his 21-year-old daughter, Jane Carrey, a musician who sings for the Jane Carrey Band, is expecting her first child. "I am very excited," said the expectant grandfather, 47, via press release. "Jane is going to be a great mom."

Quoted: When it comes to dorm rooms, "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson, who will attend college in the United States this fall, has only one request. "As long as there are no Harry Potter posters on the wall, I will be fine and happy," Watson, 19, told People, during a New York news conference for the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Her co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, felt otherwise, however. "I hope you walk in and the first thing you see is your face on a duvet," he teased.

-- Aaron Leitko, from staff, wire and Web reports