Phillips Surfs in Kansas

MORE AND MORE RANDIED: Randy Phillips keeps shooting himself in the foot, the latest faux pas going down when he proclaimed that Lady Gaga would participate in the “We Are the World 25“ recording session without first getting confirmation from any of her representatives. The trouble started just before the Grammys, when emails sent by the AEG Live boss to the reps for a number of prospective contributors began circulating around the business. In each email, he stated that the act in question “would take his rightful place next to Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, Jeff Bridges, Kanye West, Usher, Beyonce and many more artists”—to the extreme displeasure of several of the acts he’d claimed were participating. Along with Lady Gaga, neither Timberlake nor Beyonce had confirmed they were coming. Phillips will look doubly foolish if rumors pan out that his spreading of this misinformation caused the Gaga camp to go with Live Nation for her next tour, which would be a huge monetary loss for AEG Live. On the heels of this embarrassment came published reports that Usher is close to hiring Phillips, whose lone current client is Lionel Richie, as his new manager, leading one industry wag to quip, “Randy is to management as surfing is to Kansas.” (2/11p)