The Amazing Mystery; Adele`s Flip Off Flip Out?
A.J. HAMMER, HOST: Big news breaking tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT - amazing mystery. Tonight, a reality show producer who once with worked for "The Amazing Race" found dead in his hotel room in Africa. Disturbing reports he was poisoned. But what really happened? Tonight a must-see SHOWBIZ newsmaker exclusive. Chris Brown`s wrestler smackdown. Tonight, Chris` bizarre feud with wrestling champion C.M. Punk over Rihanna gets raw. Punk`s brand-new video attack revealed today.</s>C.M. PUNK, WRESTLER: I will make you feel as weak and as powerless and as scared and alone as any woman who has had the misfortune of knowing the sad, cowardly little boy such as yourself.</s>HAMMER: Tonight, is C.M. Punk trying to body slam Chris Brown`s big comeback? We will ask him in yet another SHOWBIZ newsmaker exclusive.</s>ADELE, SINGER: Goodbye.</s>HAMMER: Adele`s flip off flip out? Why did Adele give the middle finger on the British version of the Grammys as SHOWBIZ dares to ask, did she really do anything wrong? TV`s most provocative entertainment news show breaks news right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go.</s>HAMMER: On reality shows like "The Amazing Race," adventure and danger are part of the game. But for the "Amazing Race," the danger may have hit frighteningly close to home. Jeff Rice, an American freelance producer who had worked on the current season of "The Amazing Race," died suddenly while working in Africa. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the death of this behind-the-scenes reality show adventurer is shrouded in mystery.</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRU TV: At this point, we really don`t know what happened.</s>ANNOUNCER: Exotic destinations -</s>HAMMER: Filming the exotic destinations in reality shows like "The Amazing Race" wouldn`t be possible without people like Jeff Rice. He worked as a facilitator who traveled the world making arrangements with local officials before American reality show casts and crews arrived to shoot.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s see if you have what it takes.</s>HAMMER: In addition to his freelance work on "The Amazing Race," Jeff Rice had also done work for the Animal Planet show, "Whale Wars." In this photo obtained today by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we see Jeff aboard one of the anti-whaling vessels feature on "Whale Wars." SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has confirmed Rice`s globetrotting had led him to the African nation of Uganda where he was doing film production work in the city of Kampala. He reportedly was found dead in his hotel room. A production assistant was found unconscious.</s>HOSTIN: The first reports that came out said that he may have been poisoned by local thugs because he refused to be part of a shakedown by those thugs.</s>HAMMER: But today, a Ugandan newspaper reported that police are refuting that poisoning theory. They say Rice apparently died from a cocaine overdose.</s>HOSTIN: At this point, details are very sketchy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frustrating challenges.</s>HAMMER: Although Rice had done work for the current season of "The Amazing Race" which premiered on CBS on Sunday, he was not working on the show when he died. The executive producer of "Whale Wars" remembered Jeff in a statement to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT saying, quote, "He was amazing, worked incredible magic and he and I have stayed very good friends since then. I`m devastated about his death. Such an incredible person. So heartbreaking." Jeff Rice lived in Africa with his wife ,Sally Blackman, and their two young children. On her Facebook page today was this posting, "To my dear husband Jeff - tragically, you left this world and only time will heal the void that you leave behind. Rest in peace, my darling."</s>HOSTIN: This is just a tragedy all around.</s>HAMMER: And now, as Jeff Rice`s family tries to come to grips with his death, there are so many disturbing questions tonight. With us tonight for a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusive, two friends of Jeff who worked with him. Joshua Gates is the host and co-executive producer of "Destination Truth" on SyFy. And Liz Bronstein is the executive producer of the terrific show, "Whale Wars" on Animal Planet. I want to thank you both for being here, and my condolences on the loss your friend and colleague. I know it must be such a tough time.</s>JOSHUA GATES, HOST AND CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "DESTINATION TRUTH" ON SYFY: Yes, it really is. It`s a very difficult story to accept.</s>HAMMER: Let me start with you, Liz. I know the details surrounding Jeff`s death right now are pretty sketchy. There are reports of an attempted shakedown, and that he may have been poisoned. And then today, we saw a headline in Uganda`s main newspaper where they quote police there as saying that Jeff died of a suspected cocaine overdose. Does any that make sense to you? Do you know anything more?</s>LIZ BRONSTEIN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "WHALE WARS" ON ANIMAL PLANET: That doesn`t make any sense to me. The Jeff Rice I knew was incredibly straitlaced, a family man with two beautiful daughters. I`ve known Jeff for four years. I`ve never known him to take any drugs at all, so that cocaine story just seems completely false.</s>HAMMER: It does seem baffling given all the other information that has been coming in. But as I said, it is all still pretty sketchy at this point. Joshua, what about you? Are you giving that report that Jeff may have died from a cocaine overdose any credence at all?</s>GATES: Look, I think it`s important to exercise a little bit of caution right now. You know, my understanding is that we`re just now seeing independent and outside journalists arriving in Kampala to verify the story. There are a lot of conflicting reports coming out of the region about the story. You know, it doesn`t square off at all with the Jeff Rice that I knew, not by a mile. But I think that there are a lot conflicting facts in this case that are going to take some time to sort out.</s>HAMMER: Is there anything more you`re able to tell us tonight about what you`ve learned?</s>GATES: No. I mean, you know, look, as you said in the introductory piece, Jeff Rice was a facilitator. We would call him a fixer. And you know, fixers really are the backbone of overseas productions, whether it`s a documentary or reality show or an overseas film. And these are people who have incredibly difficult demanding jobs. They travel often alone or in very small groups, sometimes to challenging regions. And they have an enormous responsibility to smooth the road for these big productions that come in behind them. I`ve worked in almost 100 countries. I`ve never met anyone better at fixing than Jeff Rice. This guy was a real maverick. He was confident and he was cautious. And he was - as Liz said, he was a straitlaced guy. He was very good at what he did. I`ve never known him to get into a situation where he was in trouble. He was great at getting out of those kinds of situations. So it`s surprising news to me, obviously.</s>HAMMER: Yes. Obviously, it takes a very special individual to do what he does, work in some very difficult places. I imagine you have to have terrific instincts and a pretty thick skin to have to deal with some of the things you encounter. Liz, can you give us a sense of how dangerous this work is, especially on these types of reality shows that you work on like "Whale Wars"?</s>BRONSTEIN: Well, the work that Jeff did on "Whale Wars" I wouldn`t say this was as dangerous probably as the work that he does on "Destination Truth." But I do know that Jeff was just so professional, and so good and so creative at what he did. I remember a story he told me once. He was working in a small African nation and he needed to get a film permit in order to shoot there for the show he was employed by. And none of the ministers of the country were in the same place at the same time, and he needed all the ministers to sign off on this film permit. And he was so charming and creative that he rented a van and drove around the village and got each minister and talked him into coming into the van and drove the van to the ministry and had them all come into the ministry and sign off on the film permit. And they just thought it was hilarious. So you know, it`s part, you know, pure courage and also part creativity and thinking on your feet. And you know, Jeff was the best at that.</s>HAMMER: And hearing a story like that, it`s no wonder that he was called the fixer, Joshua. Did he ever worry, though, about being in danger as good as he was, to your knowledge?</s>GATES: I think everybody who works in developing nations in the sort of work that Jeff did worries about that. I think a real testament, though, to his confidence is that Jeff fixed all over the continent. He fixed for "Destination Truth" in the deserts of Namibia. He fixed for us in the back country of Madagascar, in South Africa. And he was able to do that, not necessarily because he had contacts in all those places. He was able to do it because he was so good at bringing people together, at figuring out permissions and permits and how to get people to work together. And so I think that his confidence as a fixer superseded his fear about the work. He was devoted to his family. He talked about them often. And he really believed in Africa, and he was devoted to Africa as a place of great stories and great cultures, and I think his confidence is what drove him.</s>HAMMER: Well, it sounds like he will be remembered for being a very strong individual and somebody who really had a passion for what they did. I really appreciate you both taking the time to give us a better sense of who Jeff Rice was and exactly what he did. And hopefully, there will be some answers for the people who care about him. Joshua, Liz, thank you both so much. We move on tonight to going to the mat.</s>C.M. PUNK: I will make you feel as weak and as powerless and as scared and alone as any woman who has had the misfortune of knowing the sad, cowardly little boy such as yourself.</s>HAMMER: WWE wrestler, C.M. Punk`s raw challenge to rapper Chris Brown tonight. How their twitter war has turned into this brand-new challenge to actually get into the ring. Tonight, C.M. Punk right here in a SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview about his alleged feud with Chris Brown.</s>HAMMER: Also, Adele`s finger flip out? Why did Adele flip the bird at the British version of the Grammys? SHOWBIZ dares to ask, did she really do anything wrong? And star crossed.</s>WALTERS: The truth about your departure is that when your contract expired, a decision was made for various reasons.</s>JONES: Barbara, are we really going to go there? Do we care at this point, my sister?</s>HAMMER: Star Jones` explosive return to "The View" for the first time since that ugly departure. We`re going to show you how that went down. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views. This is the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" - more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.</s>TEXT: Adele`s album, "21," is number one for its 21st straight week. President Obama sings with B.B. King, Mick Jagger at "Red, White and Blues" event.