Megan Fox Apologizes for Lindsay Lohan Comments

In the process of explaining her reason for removing a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her forearm to Esquire magazine, cover girl Megan Fox unleashed what appeared to be a harsh criticism of actress Lindsay Lohan. In light of all the attention Fox's words have garnered, the star has taken to Facebook in an attempt to clarify her comments. 

Pics: New Mom Megan Fox's Sexiest Shoot Yet

"In the newly released article that I did for Esquire, there is a reference that is made to Lindsay Lohan that I would like to clarify before it snowballs into something silly," began Fox in an open letter posted to her personal page.

"The journalist and I were discussing why I was removing my Marilyn Monroe tattoo, especially since, in his opinion, Marilyn was such a powerful and iconic figure for women. I attempted to draw parallels between Lindsay and Marilyn in order to illustrate my point that while Marilyn may be an icon now, sadly she was not respected and taken seriously while she was still living.

"Both women were gifted actresses, whose natural talent was lost amongst the chaos and incessant media scrutiny surrounding their lifestyles and their difficulties adhering to studio schedules etc.

"I intended for this to be a factual comparison of two women with similar experiences in Hollywood. Unfortunately it turned into me offering up what is really much more of an uneducated opinion. It was most definitely not my intention to criticize or degrade Lindsay.

"I would never want her to feel bullied, as she does not deserve that. I was not always speaking eloquently during this interview and this miscommunication is my fault."

Related: How Megan Fox Lost All That Baby Weight

Fox's original quote to Esquire reads as follows:

"I started reading about [Marilyn] and realized that her life was incredibly difficult. It's like when you visualize something for your future. I didn't want to visualize something so negative.

"She was sort of like Lindsay [Lohan]. She was an actress who wasn't reliable, who almost wasn't insurable. ... She had all of the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I'm not interested in following in those footsteps."

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Accused subway shover: I 'shouldn't have let this happen'

Now that’s an understatement.

Accused subway pusher Naeem Davis said he was in a bad mood and “shouldn’t have let this happen” when he clashed with a drunk man on a subway platform before allegedly pushing him onto the tracks, according to court papers.

“Yes, for the sake of argument, I could have walked away,” Davis told cops after he was arrested the next day. “But it was just bad timing. He came at the wrong time.”

Davis said he was still mad over an incident that happened two day before involving a man who threw away his boots.

Still, he claimed he was defending himself Dec. 3 when Ki-Suk Han, 58, confronted him on the platform.

Davis pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today .

His lawyer, Stephen Pokart, told Judge Bonnie Wittner that prosecutors should share its witness list so he can build a proper defense that would show victim Han was the aggressor and that Davis was merely protecting himself.

Even Wittner suggested that Davis’ self-defense claim may be going too far.

“There was no other way to prevent injury to himself except by pushing [Han] onto the train tracks with an oncoming train?” Wittner asked. “He could have been drunk, but I still don’t think it was in defense to throw somebody onto the subway tracks. I could be wrong.”

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Coral Gables culinary students learn the art of sushi making

Christian Rivas is still years away from becoming a professional sushi chef, but his hand-crafted California roll looks good enough to serve professionally.

“The hard part was getting the roll to be in good shape,” Christian, a 16-year-old junior at Coral Gables Senior High, said of his first attempt.

The Gables student was one of about 30 who stood in rapt attention inside the school’s kitchen classroom. He is a member of the school’s culinary arts program.

On Tuesday morning, chefs and executives from Sushi Maki, including CEO Abe Ng, volunteered to teach these students about the restaurant business. The main part of the presentation was Kingston-bred director of sushi education Steve Ho Sang’s instruction on how to make sushi rolls and hand rolls.

Sushi Maki goes through three tons of fresh salmon every week, Ng said. The succulent Norwegian fish in front of the class, expertly filleted via Ho Sang’s knives, looked like half a week’s supply.

The executives were there as part of the Education Fund’s Teach-a-Thon program which brings business professionals into Miami-Dade County Public School classrooms. These pros volunteer to teach a class at the elementary, middle or high school level to help raise money for school activities such as Coral Gables’ culinary program and to promote the value of public school teachers.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that teaching is really brain surgery,” said Linda Lecht, president of The Education Fund. “We want to call attention to the fact that teaching is a hard job and we, as a community, have to rally around our teachers if we are going to improve education. We want to get out the message of how important teaching is to our whole economy.”

Mercy Vera, Coral Gables’ culinary teacher, sought a partnership with The Education Fund — a North Miami-based non-profit that helps fund programs at Miami-Dade public schools from Homestead to Miami Gardens — to help prepare her students for careers in the profession.

The Education Fund’s latest fundraising campaign currently has $23,202 to split among 26 participating schools.

But having pros come into the classroom is also invaluable, Vera said, because it is impractical, if not near impossible, to cram 30 or more teenagers into a professional restaurant kitchen. And, of course, they would not be allowed to use the knives and other utensils. Here, in the school’s carefully stocked kitchen classroom, the guests give the kids a taste of reality.

“This brings a totally different dynamic to the classroom. This is an experience they normally wouldn’t have and this is the only way to show the children industry,” Vera said.

“I love the energy of public schools,” said Ng, 39. “I’m excited to do a restaurant 101, and to ignite a spark in them would be a big thing to me.”

The experience met with much enthusiasm from senior Jorge Castro, 19, who says he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Food Network star chef Bobby Flay, one of his inspirations in the culinary world.

“This is one of those jobs where you meet a lot of people and you make people smile when you make them good food and that counts — to see them smile,” Castro said.

Ng, a Palmetto High and Cornell grad, is part of a family that opened the Canton chain of Chinese food restaurants locally in 1975. His mom and dad still work at the South Miami and Coral Gables locations and the family also operates the spin-off Sushi Maki chain, which opened in 2000.

Ng enjoyed stepping out of the boardroom and into the classroom for his two-hour teaching experience.

“These students seem to have a good foundation,” he said as the students hustled to clean the kitchen. “The future generation of culinary, I’m optimistic about it.”

Follow @HowardCohen on Twitter.

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FAU professor with controversial theories on Newtown massacre says he was misunderstood

Most of the victims of the Connecticut school massacre were just like Florida Atlantic University professor James Tracy’s daughter: 7-year-old first graders at a public school.

“If a similar tragedy were visited upon me and my family, I would be beside myself,” he said. “But I think one of my ways of healing would be attempting to find out what went wrong, where was the failure.”

But trying to start a public discussion of the public’s small hope of ever finding out what went wrong has been costly.

Tracy, a tenured associate professor of communications, is in damage control mode after a disastrous interview he gave to a Sun Sentinel reporter who was following up on an entry in Tracy’s blog. The story, under the headline FAU prof stirs controversy by disputing Newtown massacre, portrayed him as a conspiracy theorist not completely convinced that the massacre had even occurred.

At the very least, as the story went, the event had been massaged by the government and cooperative “corporate media” into a parable on the need for gun control.

Tracy insists he was misunderstood.

But the story quickly went national, and a storm of anger, scorn and ridicule exploded over his head. Bloggers called him “the nutty professor.” Sun Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo urged students to boycott his classes. The top elected official in Newtown, Conn., called on FAU to fire him.

That has him worried, and his voice even shakes a little as he talks about it.

“I am sure [FAU is] receiving emails that are emotionally driven,” Tracy told WLRN-Miami Herald News. “But I would think if FAU wishes to revoke my tenure and terminate me, that’s a blow against academics’ being able to speak their minds on the events of the day.”

“Emotionally driven” is the thing that Tracy really hates, and that feeling goes a good way to the explanation of what he says he was really trying to express: That the news media’s first take on Newtown, guided almost exclusively by government sources, was likely to harden into the accepted history of the event, a history that could never be questioned without exposing the skeptic to a charge of being a “conspiracy theorist.”

Look at Pearl Harbor, he says. The sinking of the USS Maine. The sinking of the Lusitania. 9/11. All of those events are now viewed through prisms that, as Tracy warns his journalism students (now with the fresh lesson of his own experience), trigger vitriolic defenses when doubted.

And it’s all because the news media have never been good at their traditional duty of writing the first draft of history.

“The news media swooped into Newtown very briefly to cover the tragedy in a very vampiric sort of way, then swooped back out again without giving us any real answers,” Tracy says. “Then, they immediately went into the grieving mode. I’m not saying there’s not a place for that. But if we want to actually pay homage to the events, we want to find out what actually went wrong. That’s the greatest honor we can give them.”

Tracy’s theory does depend partly on a conspiracy theory that most journalists will scoff at: that a major news organization would agree to withhold major details of a huge story just to allow the government to frame the story as it wished.

Exposure would be inevitable, and the reporter who blew the whistle would get credit for a story bigger than Newtown itself.

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Pregnant Kristen Bell Gives Baby Update

A vision in lavender Jenny Packham, glowing mom-to-be Kristen Bell was all smiles as she gave ET an enthusiastic (and hysterical) update about her pregnancy on the Golden Globes red carpet Sunday evening.

Joined by fiancé Dax Shepard, 38, Bell seemed to take her impending motherhood in stride when speaking with our Brooke Anderson. Fueled by tea and coffee, Bell and Shepard (respectively) were giddy at the prospect of a fun night out.

Related: Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are Expecting!

Feeling "great," the 32-year-old House of Lies star revealed she and Shepard are expecting a spring arrival. Not one to miss an opportunity for humor, the dad-to-be made it known we shouldn't get our hopes up so soon about the baby's delivery.

"She's having an elephant," joked Shepard of their child's projected 2014 birth. "They gestate many months longer than a human."

Despite Bell's lengthy time spent with child, the couple teased they weren't ready for parenthood and would likely pass the baby on to a lucky taker.

Related: 'House of Lies' Stars Preview What's Next

"We're giving the child up for adoption," said Shepard.

Added Bell, "If anybody wants it, let us know."

Watch the video for more of the couple's hilarious interview.

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The beauty of Brooklyn

It’s been more than a century since Brooklyn was a separate city, but forgive residents if they think of themselves as the center of the universe.

The latest feather in the borough’s cap? It can now boast of being home to the newest Miss America. Crowned Saturday in Las Vegas, Mallory Hagan is the first city winner since Bess Meyerson back in 1945.

Like many a Brooklynite, Hagan wasn’t born in the borough; she moved to the Big Apple from Alabama five years ago. Twice runner-up in the Miss New York contest, she finally broke through in 2012 to represent the Empire State.

AP

Mallory Hytes Hagan

Hagan’s victory is the latest in a great Brooklyn winning streak — coming just months after the opening of the Barclays Center, home to a resurgent Brooklyn Nets and, in a couple of years, a transplanted New York Islanders hockey team. And Barclays has aready hosted concerts by Jay-Z, Barbra Streisand and the Rolling Stones.

More than just a tree grows in Brooklyn these days. It’s now a bustling borough, boasting basketball — and beauty.

Congratulations to Mallory Hagan.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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SunPass coming to Rickenbacker, Venetian causeways in 2014

The introduction of SunPass on two Miami-Dade causeways is the latest in a series of initiatives to expand use of Florida’s electronic toll-collection system beyond state highways.

“We are hoping that a year from now, in 2014, the new system will be in place on both the Rickenbacker and then the Venetian Causeway,” said Michael R. Bauman, chief of the Miami-Dade public works and waste management department’s causeways division.

Originally, the county had planned to activate SunPass on the causeways in 2012, but the project was delayed because of contractor issues and efforts by all Florida tolling agencies to centralize back-office operations that include billing and other customer services, Bauman said.

Conversion of causeways’ C-Pass system to SunPass transponders will be one of the most significant changes in the history of the storied roads that carry tens of thousands of commuters every day to and from the mainland.

The 5.4-mile Rickenbacker, the longer of the two causeways, is also the newest. It opened in 1947. The 2.8-mile Venetian opened in 1925.

Tolls have been charged on both causeways for decades. The Rickenbacker was the first to adopt electronic tolling in 1997 with the C-Pass system, followed by the Venetian shortly after.

Both causeways still take cash at some toll plaza lanes.

While the plan is to eliminate cash tolls, Bauman said details are more advanced for the Rickenbacker than for the Venetian.

As a result, he said in an interview, details of how SunPass will operate on the Venetian remain undecided.

On the Rickenbacker, however, he said the toll plaza will be removed and its eight lanes will be reconfigured into four lanes with electronic gantries. Cash will no longer be accepted.

In both cases, said Bauman, lower annual tolls paid by residents and commuters served by the Rickenbacker and Venetian will be preserved under the SunPass arrangement.

The vehicles of residents and commuters already registered with causeway systems will be recognized by SunPass, and no additional toll charges will be made, Bauman said.

The current cash toll price on both causeways is $1.50. Whether that rate will remain once SunPass kicks in is still under discussion, Bauman said.

On the Rickenbacker and Venetian, residents with C-Pass transponders pay a flat $24 per year. Nonresidents who drive the Rickenbacker pay $60 per year and Venetian commuters pay $90.

Registration will continue, but it will be done online.

Drivers who don’t have SunPass will still be allowed to use the causeways. They will be billed later via Toll-by-Plate, Bauman said.

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Jennifer Lawrence on Bradley Cooper Romance Rumors

Silver Linings Playbook stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper arrived separately at the Golden Globes red carpet on Sunday amid gossip that they might be romantically involved -- rumors that they both claimed to ET's Nancy O'Dell are completely false.

RELATED: 2013 Golden Globes Winners

"We've done two movies together," said Bradley, who also stars alongside J.Law in the upcoming film Serena. "If it didn't happen by now, it's not going to happen."

"I concur," said Jennifer, who appeared at the awards show despite her 100-degree fever.

"I'm fine," Jennifer said, going on to explain, "It's the flu ... I had the doctor come over and give me a shot of something in my butt today and tell me I had the flu."

Silver Linings racked up four nominations on the night, while individually Bradley was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and Jennifer has already won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

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Go to Greg

I’m 28, single and work at a small company. One of my bosses is lazy, holds grudges and can be vengeful — and he just crossed the line: He asked me last week if I would do him a favor and have first-time sex with his 16-year-old son. The way I handled it was a laugh and quick, ‘Sorry, I can’t.’ If I report him to our parent company, I’ll get fired, and I can’t lose my job. If I engage a lawyer, I probably could get a settlement, but then nobody in the industry will hire me. Do I just forget it, and move on?

How can you forget working for a crass, offensive jerk? Those in positions of authority at work need to be held accountable for such blatant, flagrant violations of decency, ethics and morals. If you and your boss had a good, close working relationship, and he was a decent guy in every respect and jokingly suggested the scenario you described, I can see forgiving the transgression. But based on your description, the guy is a jerk — so nail the sucker. If you get fired for doing so, then your case just got stronger — because it’s classic retaliation, and courts don’t take kindly to employers who do that. Tell your other boss what happened, and make it the employer’s problem to solve it.

I’m over 50 and have been unemployed for more than a year. I think my age is a factor. I’m working with an outplacement counselor who has advised I get a makeover. I’m not a woman, and I’m not going to dress like a 20-something. Isn’t this enabling age-discrimination?

If you’ve ever been to a gym, you’ve seen guys primping themselves in front of a mirror as much as any woman — so your response suggests you’re a bit “old-fashioned.” I don’t think your counselor is suggesting dressing age-inappropriately or getting a funky ‘do. I’m not saying age isn’t a factor in some decisions regardless of the law — in reality, age is more about how one presents oneself. The workplace is full of 60-somethings for whom age isn’t even a consideration because they’re smart, professional, etc. If your counselor is saying you need a make-over, it’s not an insult, and it may not be just about what you project from the outside.

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Miami Dolphins worry Marlins stand between them and a tax-funded redo for Sun Life Stadium

The Miami Dolphins are reviving their failed bid to win tax dollars for a football stadium. But team executives want no comparisons to a successful bid to win tax dollars for a baseball stadium.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has called a press conference for Monday to unveil a plan for an improved Sun Life Stadium. Sources say the plan will include asking state and local governments to help pay for a $400 million renovation of the 1987 facility.

State lawmakers in recent years rebuffed the Dolphins when the team asked for help on a less-expensive renovation. And while the economy and state finances are more favorable this time around, Dolphin executives see a bigger challenge now from lingering backlash against the $639 million ballpark taxpayers built for the Miami Marlins in order to move the baseball team from their old home in Sun Life. .

“It can’t be anything close to what the Marlins did,’’ said state Sen. Oscar Braynon, a Democrat whose Miami Gardens district includes Sun Life Stadium and who sponsored a 2011 bill to raise hotel taxes to fund the Dolphins renovation plan. “Unless you do something totally counter to what the Marlins did, nobody is going to vote for it.”

Both the Marlins and the Dolphins declined to comment for this story. The Dolphins have not released details of how they want to pay for the renovation, or what they want to do the stadium. But sources close to the team describe an extensive renovation of Sun Life, including adding a partial roof, a redesign of the seating configuration to improve views of the field, and shifting capacity from the low-priced seats in the upper deck to the more expensive seating closer to the sidelines. Without the space demands of a baseball field, the front row will move 18 feet closer to the field, according to a person briefed on the plans.

Polls showed Miami and Miami-Dade’s 2009 votes to build the baseball stadium with 75 percent public money were never popular. But the Marlins’ recent stripping of star players from their payroll has made the new Little Havana park Topic A when it comes to plotting a Dolphins’ victory for winning tax dollars themselves.

Dolphins executives plan to pursue two funding sources from state and local government, according to several people familiar with the team’s plans. For the first funding stream, the Dolphins plan to ask Miami-Dade to raise taxes charged mainland hotels from 6 percent to 7 percent and earmark the extra money for the stadium. The Dolphins also plan to ask Florida for an additional $2 million rebate on sales taxes on top of the $2 million the stadium already receives from the state each year under a special subsidy for professional sports teams.

Ross is expected to pledge a significant amount of the renovation money himself. Sources who have been briefed on the Dolphins’ proposal say the total pricetag for the project is $400 million. That’s almost double the renovation budget the Dolphins proposed when the team last went to the Legislature for money in 2011.

Staying competitive

At the time, the Dolphins unveiled a $225 million redo of Sun Life with expanded sideline seating, high-definition lighting and a partial roof that would both shade seats during hot games and shield spectators from the kind of downpour that drenched the stands during the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami Gardens. The Dolphins, top executives at the NFL and some community leaders have warned that without upgrades to Sun Life, South Florida risks losing its standing as one of the nation’s top venues for the Super Bowl and college football championships.

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