West still in NFL kickoff plans

Kanye West will take part, as planned, in tomorrow's NFL season-opening extravaganza at Gillette Stadium. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said West has not been booted from football's big night for criticizing President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. ''Like many Americans during this emotional time, Kanye expressed his opinion," McCarthy said yesterday. ''We are working with Kanye and Green Day and the Rolling Stones for their entertainment value, not their political beliefs." Appearing alongside Mike Myers on NBC's ''A Concert for Hurricane Relief," West looked into the camera and declared ''[President] George Bush doesn't care about black people." The network cut away and then removed the statement by the time the show aired on the West Coast three hours later. Green Day and Santana will perform at Gillette during tomorrow's pregame festivities, while West and Maroon 5 will be beamed in from the LA Coliseum. (The Stones' two-song set was taped last week in Detroit.) McCarthy said there'll be a 10-second delay on the broadcast to prevent any unscripted moments, and the NFL and ABC have talked to each of the acts about refraining from political statements. ''They understand they'll be under a spotlight, and we don't want any issues," McCarthy said. Green Day, whose ''American Idiot" LP is nothing if not political, has made no secret of its dislike for Bush. At the band's show at Gillette Saturday, singer Billie Joe Armstrong introduced himself this way: ''My name is George W. Bush. My name is [expletive]."

Damon: Cheers to Kanye

Not everyone was bothered by Kanye West's anti-Bush comment. Matt Damon, a proud native of the People's Republic of Cambridge, told ''Access Hollywood" he's in agreement with what West had to say. ''I'm not a fan of [President Bush], so I let out a big cheer," Damon said. ''So this guy with his moment on live TV made a statement that hopefully now Bush will come out and address."

Brady connects with Visa, too

Keep an eye out for Tom Brady even during timeouts tomorrow. The Pats QB shows up in a Visa commercial debuting during the Pats-Raiders game. The ad tackles the issue of cardholder security, showing Brady shopping online, buying coffee, and eating dinner -- always surrounded by his offensive linemen Russ Hochstein, Matt Light, Brandon Gorin, Dan Koppen, and Tom Ashworth.

Director does it all in debut film

Michael Showalter's seen it many times before on the big screen: the guy who doesn't get the girl. ''All the great romantic comedies . . . have that guy who is not quite right. He just turns out to be Mr. Wrong." So Showalter wrote ''The Baxter," a comedy opening in Boston on Sept. 16. But Showalter didn't just write the script, he also stars as the title character, and makes his directorial debut in the film costarring Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Williams, and Justin Theroux. ''I never sought out to take on this much of a project, but it all seemed to work," said Showalter, whose face may be familiar as part of the sketch-comedy trio Stella, which appears on Comedy Central. Showalter's mother is a Brookline native, and he went to Brown University. He swears he was a Sox fan even before last year's playoff and World Series successes. ''I have an autographed poster of Carl Yazstremski," Showalter said. ''I really liked Yaz."

Around town

Ozzy Osbourne was spied getting off an elevator at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, yesterday, and word around the hotel was that the metalhead was off to the Sports Club/LA. . . .There are a few new signatures on the Mohegan Sun whale statue in front of Ciao Bella on Newbury Street, including the John Hancocks of NESN's Hazel Mae and former Patriot tackle Max Lane. . . A bevy of Boston writers are taking part in Writers4Relief, a fund-raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina organized by Amy Tan. On Sept. 11, writers Alice Hoffman, Tom Perrotta, Jayne Anne Phillips, Lois Lowry, and Alan Lightmanamong others, will read at Newtonville Books. The minimum donation is $30 and proceeds go to the American Red Cross.

Neat tricks

Got a smart pet that can do a stupid trick? David Letterman's peeps will be in Boston today auditioning folks for upcoming ''Stupid Pet Tricks" segments. Show up at CBS4's studios on Soldiers Field Road from 1 to 5 p.m.

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