Enquirer settles with Cape Cod woman

You win some, you lose some. Just ask the National Enquirer. The tabloid, which is being celebrated for scooping the mainstream media on the John Edwards mistress story, has quietly settled a lawsuit filed by a Cape Cod woman who claimed the Enquirer published false and defamatory stories about her supposed "love child" with Senator Ted Kennedy.

Lawyers for Caroline Bilodeau-Allen provided DNA test results from 1985 that show Kennedy is not the father of Christopher Bilodeau, who was born in 1984. The settlement, first reported by TheSmoking Gun.com, was filed in US District Court in Boston. Terms of the deal have not been made public, but the website says American Media Inc., parent company of the Enquirer, made a "significant payment" to Bilodeau-Allen.

The stories, published in 2006, alleged that Kennedy and Bilodeau - she was unmarried at the time - began dating in 1983, while Kennedy was separated from his wife, Joan, just before the divorce was finalized. The tabloid claimed that after Bilodeau became pregnant, the senator, then in his early 50s, begged Bilodeau, then in her early 20s, to have an abortion.

Bilodeau-Allen subsequently sued American Media and two of its reporters, Richard Moriarty and Alan Butterfield, who is one of the reporters writing about Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter. David Rich, Bilodeau-Allen's attorney, did not return a call yesterday. Nor did Michael Antonello, counsel for American Media.

The case file does include a few e-mails revealing the Enquirer's strategy for placing the Kennedy story with other newspapers and TV shows. According to one e-mail exchange, the Boston Herald was given the story a day ahead of everyone else and Ken Chandler, then the top editor at the Herald, promised to "run it big (possibly page one)." In the end, it did have a front-page presence.

Eleven handsome young men will walk it out in the first-ever Mister USA pageant, right here in Boston on Sept. 23 at the Lenox Hotel. "There's so many opportunities for young women to participate in pageants . . . they even have mother-daughter pageants, for Pete's sake!" said Rafa Delfin, the 47-year-old Milton man behind the crown. "There's not enough for guys, and I want to change that." Mister USA contestants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 to compete internationally and should be at least 5-foot-9, the standard height for male models. The new winner won't be the first Mister USA; for the past two years Delfin recruited local gents - first Chaka Sedgwick of Dorchester, then Jake Hill of Plymouth. But the new titleholder will be the first to earn his place in a real pageant, and he'll move on to compete for Mister International 2008 in Taiwan in October after scooping up $20,000 worth of cash and prizes in Boston. The dudes - bodybuilders, a firefighter, and even an accountant - are coming from as far away as California to compete, though most are local. The contest will feature bathing suit and evening wear struts, plus an interview. Delfin ditched the talent piece. "That part is always so boring," he said.

Admit it. Reality TV just isn't the same without Bobby Brown. But no worries; our fix is here. "Outsider's Inn," which shows Brown and "Gone Country" costars Carnie Wilson and Maureen McCormick (yes, Marcia Brady) opening an inn in rural Cocke County, Tenn., airs tomorrow on CMT. And Brown promises plenty of weirdness. "We're kind of a strange combination, but we're really good friends," he said yesterday over the phone from LA. "I think because all of us got into the business at an early age, we have a lot in common. . . . our ups and downs. We've been through a lot." McCormick runs the inn, while Wilson whips up killer mac-and-cheese and other vittles, and Brown provides the guests with entertainment - everything from hunting trips to singalongs. He also does room service, including one guest's disturbing request for "pickled pig feet and bull testicles with whipped cream, in bed." The Roxbury city kid said the country wasn't really his thing, but he's gotten more open-minded in his "older years. I'm able to adapt to any environment." He hopes the show extends past its initial run of eight episodes. But for now, he's back to chillin' on the West Coast, having just returned from a Hawaiian vacation with all his kids. Despite his well-chronicled struggles with child support and the law, he said he's a great dad. "We're really close," he said. "I just hope my jobs keep coming in and I'm able to take care of my responsibilities. I'm happy; my kids are happy." Even the exes are under control. And those rumored reunions with Whitney? "No truth to that," he said. "There will be no reunion. I'm in a perfect relationship . . . with a friend of mine." Being Bobby Brown, he left it at that.

Sox catcher Jason Varitek is splitting with his wife, Karen. The team captain filed for divorce July 28 in Gwinnett County, Ga., where the couple live in the offseason. They were married in 1997 and have three daughters, ages 8, 6, and 3. Varitek is in the final year of a four-year, $40-million contract he signed after the BoSox won the World Series in 2004. He'll be a free agent at the end of this season, though he turns 37 in April and is hitting just .216. Neither Varitek's attorney, Pamela Tremayne, nor his wife's attorney, Jonathan Levine, returned our phone calls yesterday.

Harry Collings, a well-known volunteer in Boston's gay and lesbian community, is retiring after a dozen years as executive director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Collings, 65, first joined the office as a clerical worker in 1962, right out of high school, but left in 1982 to work in real estate and for Fenway Community Health. He returned to the BRA as director in 1996 and focused on projects with nonprofits and arts agencies, he said. He also proudly served as a liaison between Mayor Tom Menino and the gay community. "I'm going to continue my commitments to these groups, and still have time to lay on the beach," he joked. After Sept. 12, Collings (inset) expects to travel, volunteer with the Boston Arts Academy (which is looking for a new home), and hang out with his partner at his house in Truro. But he'll miss his "spectacular, professional, and hard-working" staff. He's just hoping to get out without a party. "I'd like to just have a quiet exit," he said.

William Finn, the Tony-winning composer and lyricist of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," yesterday dropped by the North Shore Music Theatre, where "Spelling Bee" is running through Aug. 31. He said hello to Barry Ivan, artistic director of the NSMT, and Julianne Boyd, artistic director at Barrington Stage Company, which put on a production of "Spelling Bee" this summer. Finn, a native of Natick, splits his time between Pittsfield and New York. . . . Former Sox slugger Mo Vaughn was back at Fenway the other night as a guest of Paul Foster in the Reebok box. We're told it was the first time the 1995 AL MVP had been back to the ballpark since leaving after the 1998 season. . . . Actor Rex Lee, better known as Ari Gold's assistant Lloyd on "Entourage," will host a party at McFadden's celebrating the season premiere of the HBO series Aug. 31.

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