No, Really, Sean, Tell Us How You Feel

Sean Penn isn’t swinging at paparazzi anymore. Instead, he’s keeping his distance from Hollywood, living in Marin County with his wife, Robin Wright Penn, and two kids, and launching angry salvos at the media through the media.

In the February issue of Talk magazine, the famously fiery actor likened Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News Network’s talk show “The O’Reilly Factor,” to such villains as Adolf Hitler, Joe McCarthy and Osama bin Laden.

“There’s a long history of people who capitalize on the lowest common denominator of people’s impulses,” Penn said. “These guys ... die like everyone else. And when they do, their legacy is one of damaging the spirit of good things, and they become rather broken, pathetic figures. And it is going to happen to [O’Reilly].”

Late last year, O’Reilly drew ire from Hollywood for criticizing the belated distribution of the estimated $250 million raised to help victims of the terrorist attacks by the Sept. 21 celebrity telethon “America: A Tribute to Heroes.” O’Reilly ridiculed several participants, including Sylvester Stallone, Mike Myers and George Clooney for refusing to comment on reports that the funds hadn’t been directed in a timely fashion to the victims’ families.

“I’d like to trade O’Reilly for Bin Laden, and then we can decide [who is worse] when he gets here,” Penn said. O’Reilly is “an embraced pariah, that’s what he is. ... He’s a grumpy, self-loathing joke.”

A Fox spokeswoman told us that O’Reilly planned to address Penn’s comment on his Wednesday night show as “the most ridiculous item of the day.”

Double Duty

The battle between Dick Clark and Michael Greene, and their music award shows, escalated this week as Clark told television viewers during his New Year’s special that “Michael Jackson is a man of his word,” and that the pop star would appear on Clark’s American Music Awards show, which is scheduled to air Wednesday.

“Michael will be on the show. It’s confirmed,” said Clark’s spokesman, Paul Shefrin. When asked if Clark had spoken to Jackson’s manager, Shefrin said: “Dick may have spoken with Michael directly

Greene’s office did not comment, but a Jackson management spokesman said the star would do both shows. He will accept an “Artist of the Century” award during the AMA show and will perform on the Feb. 27 Grammy show at Staples Center.

Citizen Rudy

At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, Rudy Giuliani didn’t turn into a pumpkin. Rather, the mayor of New York and Time’s Man of the Year became a private citizen. Seconds later, he was kissing his paramour, Judith Nathan, live on national television in Times Square.

Giuliani’s personal life received much scrutiny during his tenure as mayor, particularly as the warfare with his estranged wife, Donna Hanover, escalated. At one point, Hanover got a court order barring Nathan from visiting the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion.

Acquitting Himself

It may have been a difficult year for Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, but that didn’t prevent the rap mogul from throwing an extravagant New Year’s party for nearly 1,000 guests at the Shore Club hotel in Miami Beach. The bash, an homage to Truman Capote’s famous 1966 Black and White Ball, featured fire eaters, mermaids and a $60,000 checkered, plexiglass dance floor over the pool. But, unlike Capote’s party, thrown in honor of Katharine Graham, the party was short on media moguls. Instead, revelers included Lenny Kravitz, Billy Corgan and members of N’Sync.

The multimillionaire rapper and entrepreneur had cause to celebrate. Last year he was acquitted of weapon possession and attempted bribery charges in a case stemming from a 1999 shooting at a crowded Manhattan dance club.

Combs, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, is due to be in L.A. next week to host Clark’s AMA award show.