Insider: Johnny Knoxville offers spin on tired rumors

Don't look now

There's a monkey on your back

Don't look now

There's a monkey on you

So you tell me that you won't do anymore

If I keep on askin', baby, maybe

I'll get what I'm askin' for

- "Monkey," George Michael

• THE 'SPIN' ROOM. It wasn't that long ago that Johnny-Come-Lately Knoxville (also known as PJ Clapp of the South Knoxville Clapps) returned phone calls for interviews with more, well, zest. Now he's all caught up in his latest movie, "Jackass Number 2," due Sept. 22.

But he did have time to talk to Spin magazine - where he looks all bruised and ripped (in every sense of the term). So let's see what they got out of him.

The magazine alleges he opens up on the subject of Jessica Simpson and the pitfalls (or is that pratfalls?) of being a "Jackass."

Says he on his alleged connection to the ex-Mrs. Nick Lachey: "You work in a business where people thrive on that kind of thing. I have a relationship with my wife. (I tell her) 'This is coming out. It's not true.' Either your relationship is strong enough to sustain it or it's not. And we have sustained it. So you can't take it all very seriously. They just write so much (manure)."

So once again, he denies those Jessica rumors. What's so newsworthy about that anymore?

Says he about his ma and pa, who still live in Knox Vegas: "My mom and dad were really terrified the whole time" while he was making "Jackass." "But I would just tell them that I am leaving the dangerous stuff to the other guys, so they wouldn't worry.

"I think they knew that I was lying. 'Jackass' takes a real strain - on my family, on relationships, everything." He confesses in the article his wife was not happy about the new film.

Once again, we've heard this same thing on David Letterman's show a million times. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff here.

But the Insider did happen upon the young Mr. Knoxville in Los Angeles recently. The actor was able to break the bounds of time and space by not being in Australia, where he was supposed to be working.

We talked about Tom Sizemore and the quirkiness of celebrities on press tour (yes, he loves to hear the dish just like anyone else). He recommended the controversial MTV series "Where My Dogs At?" and has befriended its creator, comic Jeffrey Ross.

Though we were not in official interview mode - that was going to come later when, as it turned out, we didn't get together as planned - he did reveal a few things before diving into his eggs.

The upcoming "Jackass" movie has gotten incredibly high marks from test audiences. So what's opening up opposite the movie on that weekend? What's the competition?

"Not to sound cocky, but it doesn't matter," he says.

Might we be seeing a movie premiere here in his long-forgotten but still-his-namesake hometown?

No, he tells me. Why? The movie is too dirty. (Now, that's something you won't read in "Spin.")

Ma and Pa, maybe you ought to sit this one out.

Whisperings

• PLAY, BOYS. Playboy's annual preseason pigskin preview top-25 list ranks the Vols at No. 22. Ohio State leads the list, with West Virginia and Notre Dame earning second- and third-place rankings.

The spread also includes Vols offensive lineman Arron Sears on its All-America team.

In the magazine's analysis of the upcoming season, it says: "Phil Fulmer is on the spot, and he knows it. Tennessee football fans are too demanding to tolerate another losing season."

Also: "Running back Arian Foster could have a breakout season."

The magazine predicts an 8-4 season for the Vols and forecasts we'll do well at home games.

That would be better than last season, of course, but can we be satisfied with that?

• Words to live by. "Drunk walks out of a bar and runs into a guy carrying an antique grandfather clock. The guy drops the clock, breaking it into a million pieces. He looks at the drunk and says, 'Why don't you watch where you're going?' The drunk looks at him and says, 'Why don't you carry a wristwatch like everybody else?'" - Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), "The Dukes of Hazzard"

Terry Morrow's blog is http://blogs.knoxnews.com/ knx/telebuddy/. He reviews for "Style," Fridays on WBIR, Channel 10, and "The Marc & Kim Show," weekday mornings, WWST-FM, Star 102.1. He may be reached at 865-342-6445 and Morrow2@knews.com.

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