• Entourage [HBO]

Jeremy Piven strikes again. The "Entourage" star and cad-about-town had a "knock-down, all-out screaming match" with a brunette by the pool area of Diddy's after-party for his Hollywood Star Walk of Fame ceremony.

Said our spy: "Jeremy was really chewing into the girl." Piven's reps didn't respond for comment.

We're suddenly overcome with the need to rise to Ari's defense: Can a guy with a strong opinion not make his point—albeit at a greatly elevated volume, complexion a deep beet-red, some wayward spittle-flecks landing into the cocktails of nearby guests—without being accused of having lost all sense of social decorum? Look: Ari yells, OK? That's how he communicates. That's how you know he cares. Just ask his mom. When he stops yelling, maybe mentions how nice it is to "finally see Pee-Didds get his due" while glancing over your shoulder at the next hot P.O.A. to saunter onto the veranda—that's when you should start worrying.

• Side Dish [nydailynews.com]

boomp3.com

The valet at the Malibu Nobu asked if, in lieu of the standard tip, he could have a much desired Hollywood moment and "hug it out" with Jeremy Piven. Piven reached for his wallet to only discover that it was full of large bills and slowly went in for the hug.

[Photo Credit: Flynet]

What happened to Ari? What's his secret pain? Piven: That's something I keep pitching to our writers. I came onto this show late in the game as a hired gun. So I would love to be more a part of ... Oh, I'm saying all the wrong things now.

Keep going, Jeremy. [Laughter] Piven: I don't care about titles or whatever, how you're billed on the back of your chair, any of that stuff. I just like to be in the mix, you know? So you asked: what is Ari's secret pain? I think this show can keep exploring these characters. Like, for instance, what is Passover like at Ari's house? Why does he desperately need to prove himself? It's kind of tragic. I mean, when people meet me, they're usually surprised that I'm so calm. They're disappointed that I don't bark at them.

We're sure it will come as a relief to his Entourage bosses that Piven isn't making a public appeal for a producer title, just taking the opportunity to humbly let the show's writers know that as an artist, he could make Ari's threats to "stab my sword-swallowing assistant to death with his own dismembered cock" if he fails to promptly roll an important call seem more validly motivated if the audience gets to see the volatile agent bickering with his family over their Passover plans in the preceding scene.

• The Emmy Entourage [Newsweek]

Before the show, says the snitch, it was understood among junior staffers at the agency that making eye contact or even sharing an elevator with the great man was to be avoided.

But Emanuel was thrilled with being a character on the show and behaved accordingly. "Every time he was on the phone with ['Entourage' executive producer] Doug Ellin, he did something outrageous to make it into a future script - throwing things, screaming at anyone nearby and generally throwing a tantrum," says the snitch.

The ex-Endeavorite admits to being "terrified of the man" and his influence in the industry. Emanuel's very public push to blackball Mel Gibson after his anti-Semitic tirade included a call to the top of HBO, which agreed to put him on a blacklist, alleges the source. (HBO did not comment.)

But the story has a happy ending. The former colleague says Piven's relentless portrayal of the character has actually made Emanuel a nicer guy.

"He's mellowed since America found out he's a douche.

While we love nothing better than a happy ending, a more likely explanation for any attitudinal change was the diminishing effectiveness of a Blackberry hurled at an incompetent staffer's head; after watching countless phones crash harmlessly off Gold's trusty Gaysian assistant Lloyd following abusive tirades, Emanuel's underlings began to see the projectiles for what they actually were: misdirected expressions of love, not malicious attempts to maim.

• Gold standard of 'Entourage' [Gatecrasher]